Chapter 002: Sword Duel

Adrian had originally been determined to fight Du Fan, but now Du Fan sent one of his subordinates instead, clearly showing disdain for him. The general in black armor was stunned and momentarily unable to react.
Garfield, on the other hand, gave Du Fan a deep look and asked, “Duke, what do you mean by this?”
Du Fan smiled slightly and said, “Your Highness, after thinking about what you said, I find it quite reasonable. Given my status, such a subordinate certainly doesn’t deserve to challenge me. Let’s wait until he defeats one of my men first…”
Du Fan emphasized the word “status,” making it impossible for Garfield to probe further. With that, Garfield could only grunt and say, “In that case, General Adrian, don’t hold back. Surely, with the Duke’s status, his subordinates aren’t all useless… Show them what you’ve got.”
Garfield’s words were essentially an implicit order for Adrian to kill. Du Fan, being astute, couldn’t miss the implication.
But since the people from the Lionheart Family and Prince Garfield had tried to kill him last time, why would he remind them of that now?
If Garfield’s men really killed Randy, it might not even be a bad thing!
Thinking this, Du Fan pretended not to notice anything and slowly returned to his seat, picking up his wine glass as he watched the hall with interest.
However, compared to Adrian, Du Fan’s attention was mostly on Young Master Randy.
Young Master Randy was an enemy, not an ally. Though he didn’t know Randy’s purpose for coming, it was unlikely he was there to help Du Fan.
If the people of the Laney Empire were brave enough to kill Randy, Du Fan would surely cheer. Even if they couldn’t kill him, forcing him to show his strength would at least give Du Fan an idea of his capabilities. He just hoped General Adrian wasn’t that useless.
While Du Fan was lost in his thoughts, Adrian was already furious. With Garfield’s encouragement, he no longer held back. Suddenly, he let out a low growl, raised his long sword, stepped forward, and swung at Randy with a fierce strike.
Randy, unsure of what to do, swiftly raised his own sword to block the attack.

With a crisp “clang,” sparks flew into the air. Under Adrian’s strike, Randy couldn’t help but take a few steps back. By the last step, a “snap” sound was heard as he left a footprint in the stone floor of the hall. Then Randy finally stopped, took a deep breath, and said, “Good!” Du Fan, sitting in the upper seat, couldn’t help but have his gaze flicker slightly upon seeing this… It seemed that this young master Randy wasn’t as weak as he had imagined—there seemed to be some real skill to him! On the other side, Adrian’s strike was blocked, and a fierce look appeared on his face. Without hesitation, he stepped forward again, twisting his long sword and launching a fierce attack! It seemed Adrian was also a skilled fighter—under this onslaught, the glow of combat energy on his sword flickered constantly, with its edge shifting unpredictably. With just this swordsmanship, it seemed no warrior below level six could withstand it. But Randy’s eyes showed a strange expression as he swung his sword, advancing instead of retreating toward Adrian, diving right into the range of Adrian’s sword. Immediately, the two clashed violently, almost merging into one. Adrian’s combat energy kept bursting forth, though still under control, while Randy showed no trace of combat energy at all, relying solely on his extremely precise swordsmanship to parry Adrian’s attacks. Others might not notice anything, but experts like Du Fan could see that Randy was skillfully hiding his strength. Otherwise, with his slightly superior swordsmanship, Adrian would have had no chance against him. The Blood Armor generals and Black Armor generals nearby also recognized the situation well—everyone saw that Adrian seemed to be in the upper hand on the surface, but in reality, everything was under Randy’s control. The faces of the Black Armor generals turned grim, while a few of the Blood Armor generals, impressed by the excitement, wanted to cheer, but remembered they were fighting against the superior enemy and held back.

After fighting like this for a while longer, Randi, seemingly lost in thought, suddenly stepped back half a meter. His long sword intercepted Adrian’s strike, and with a clang, he who had been in the upper hand was forced back several steps. Then he heard Randi shout loudly, “Stop!”
Adrian was stunned by this, but the continuous attacks had also drained his strength. He stopped immediately and stared at Randi, asking, “What’s the matter?”
Randi glanced back at Du Fan, a playful look in his eyes, before shouting, “That’s enough! Under your relentless attacks, I don’t have the strength to fight back. This match is yours, the Laney Empire!”
With that, Randi lowered his sword and prepared to leave.
Both sides were taken aback. After all, none of the people present were fools; they all realized that Lord Randi was deliberately yielding. But if he admitted defeat, then undoubtedly Du Fan’s side would lose.
The people from the Laney Empire wore strange expressions, unsure of Randi’s intentions.
Du Fan, on the other hand, sneered inwardly, understanding the situation. Although the Laney Empire had lost in this match, in his eyes, they had actually won—their reputation as the Lionheart family hadn’t been tarnished at all. But if he lost this bet, it would be his own face that suffered.
What cunning tactics!
Du Fan was about to tease Randi and ruin his plan.
But before he could speak, he saw Adrian in the hall shout angrily, “As a warrior, how can you give up so easily? I can tell you hid your true strength earlier! Don’t think others can’t see through it! Are you insulting me?”
Du Fan hadn’t expected Adrian to be such a person. Hearing his words, Du Fan quickly swallowed back his prepared reply. He glanced at Garfield, who was frowning slightly, and thought to himself, “I owe you thanks, Garfield, for sending such an arrogant person here! Otherwise, I, Du Fan, would have suffered a great loss today!”
With that thought, Du Fan began to feel a hint of admiration for Adrian. Just his warrior pride alone made Du Fan look up to him.

In the hall, upon hearing these words, Randy’s expression changed slightly. His initial plan had been that the other party would surely take advantage of such a bargain, but he never expected that guy to expose it right away, leaving him somewhat embarrassed. He snorted and said, “We’re just having a sparring match—do we really need to distinguish between life and death?”
Adrian snorted in reply, “Even if it’s just sparring, it shouldn’t be like this. Show me your true skills!”
As soon as he said that, Adrian suddenly gripped his sword with both hands, and a surge of black combat energy ignited at the blade’s tip. Then, with a swift slash, he charged at Randy’s waist.
Seeing this attack, Randy immediately realized that if he continued to hide his strength, death would be his only outcome. Gritting his teeth slightly, he thrust his long sword forward. With that, a blue stream of combat energy enveloped the blade, heading straight toward Adrian’s attack.
With a loud “Boom,” the air exploded violently, knocking over countless things. However, everyone in the hall was quite skilled, so the explosion didn’t cause much real damage.
Only then did Garfield smile slightly and say, “I failed to prepare properly—my mistake. I hope the Duke won’t be offended.”
After saying that, he suddenly took out a magic scroll and tossed it lightly. Four beams of light appeared in the hall, enveloping the two fighters inside.
In just a short while, some of the warriors in the hall couldn’t help but cheer.
It turned out that in that brief time, Adrian had revealed his true strength. The black combat energy around his sword was extremely dense, and with a fierce shout, he launched eleven slashes at Randy like lightning!
Each slash was like a black lightning bolt, with strands of sword energy mixed within, forming a net that surrounded Randy.
Though Adrian attacked swiftly, Randy moved even faster. His long sword, infused with blue combat energy, swung continuously, while his figure appeared and disappeared unpredictably—no one could tell what moves he was making. Yet, despite Adrian’s fierce attacks, not a single one landed on Randy, not even touching the edge of his clothes…
Even the sword energies that rushed toward him were easily deflected by Randy’s slight movements, sending them elsewhere.
At this moment, Randy’s figure appeared almost like a ghost in the eyes of everyone present.

Whether it was Garfield in the front row or Leopold in the back row, upon seeing this scene, caution appeared in their eyes. But Du Fan couldn’t help but sneer inwardly: This guy really hides things well!