Chapter 003: You Win, I Lose

Landy was also a proud and arrogant person. If it weren’t for wanting Du Fan to suffer a humiliating defeat, he would never have conceded so easily in a fight like this.
Now, seeing that his opponent showed no signs of learning from his mistakes and instead pressed him hard, he couldn’t help but feel furious.
He absolutely couldn’t afford to lose now. With Du Fan’s sharpness, he must have realized that Landy had hidden his true strength. So why fight in such a pathetic manner?
With this thought, Landy’s pride gradually surged. His sword in his hand became steadier, and for the first time, his swordsmanship carried a fierce killing intent.
Suddenly, Adrian stretched and leaped, raising his sword and charging at Landy. Seeing this, Landy’s gaze turned even more ruthless. He swiftly swung his sword back, and with a clang, the two swords collided again, releasing a burst of combat energy.
Adrian suddenly let out a groan and staggered back several steps. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his face turned red, and his hand holding the sword began to tremble.
Du Fan, watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but exclaim softly, “Huh?” Landy had injured Adrian without using any combat energy at all. His swordsmanship was far beyond what Du Fan could match. With his mediocre skills, fighting Landy would likely result in his defeat…
But fortunately, he had more than just those skills, so he wasn’t afraid of losing in such a situation.
In the arena, after pushing Adrian back with a single sword strike, Landy wore a strange expression. He stared at Adrian and said calmly, “It’s not too late for you to admit defeat now!”
Adrian remained silent. Gritting his teeth, he saw a black mass of combat energy burst forth from the tip of his sword. Then, he took a deep breath, swung his sword, and the energy transformed into a sword beam that slashed toward Landy. At the same time, he darted behind Landy and thrust his sword at his back.
This move might seem slow, but it actually happened in the blink of an eye. The onlookers all cheered in admiration.

Suddenly, Randy on the field sneered coldly. His long sword trembled slightly, and it flew out of his hand. A burst of blue combat energy surged from the blade’s tip, instantly forming a blue barrier! Adrian’s sword energy struck the blue barrier, and both turned to dust almost at the same time. But in that fleeting instant, Randy spun around like a top. As Adrian’s sword came at him, Randy neither dodged nor avoided—it simply raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together, and pointed them at Adrian’s blade. With a “whoosh”… a ball of blue combat energy erupted from Randy’s fingertips, just barely blocking Adrian’s attack. On Adrian’s end, he felt as though his sword, infused with all his strength, had hit solid rock—his sword penetrated the opponent’s defenses but seemed to sink into mud, unable to move forward or even retreat by an inch. Yet General Adrian remained proud and unyielding. Seeing that he was certain to lose, he refused to give up. Unable to push his sword further, he suddenly raised his other hand and threw a punch at Randy’s head. Randy merely stared at him coldly. Seeing this move, a mocking smile appeared on his lips. Then he let out a light snort, and his joined index and thumb trembled slightly… That slight tremor wasn’t serious, but for Adrian, it felt as though he were in a storm. An extremely powerful force surged from his sword’s tip. Despite using all his strength, he couldn’t resist. Finally, he let out a painful scream as he flew backward, crashing into the barrier before falling down with a “thud.” Yet General Adrian, true to his proud nature, remained defiant. Though he fell to the ground and trembled uncontrollably, he clung tightly to his sword, refusing to let go no matter what.

Randy smiled, lowered his hand, and with a casual wave, his long sword returned to his grasp. He was about to say a few words to declare a winner when, at that moment, Adrian, who was lying on the ground, suddenly let out a fierce roar. Somehow mustering incredible strength, he leaped up like a nimble leopard. A powerful black combat energy surged from his body, and the blade of his sword grew several feet longer!

This made Randy furious! Although he had won, he had hidden most of his strength. Yet Adrian kept pressing him hard—what exactly was he after?

Thinking this, Randy sneered. Then, his sword flashed suddenly, and a “ding” sound was heard…

Adrian’s sword had been cut in two by Randy. One half of the sword flew through the air and, upon hitting the ceiling of the hall, sank deep into it while still trembling violently.

Meanwhile, Adrian let out a “wah”—spewing a mouthful of blood mist. The combat energy gathered in his body seemed to explode all at once when his sword was broken, constantly battering his internal organs. If not for his strong physique, he would likely have collapsed completely by now.

Even so, the proud general collapsed to the ground, too weak to move. Blood droplets kept seeping from his right arm, clearly indicating that all the bones in his arm were shattered. Even if he recovered, General Adrian would probably never be able to make any progress in martial arts again.

Seeing this, Randy let out a low hum. He sheathed his sword, stepped forward, and knelt in front of Du Fan, performing a knightly salute before simply saying, “Your Excellency, the Duke, Randy has fulfilled his mission!”

Seeing his actions, Du Fan’s eyes flashed with a strange expression. He laughed a few times before saying, “Good! Very good, Randy! As a member of the Lionheart Family, you possess such skills—truly living up to the reputation of our family!”

Upon hearing the words “Lionheart Family,” Randy’s body trembled involuntarily. Gaffield’s gaze darkened sharply at those words, while Leopold’s eyes twitched slightly as he cast a puzzled look at Du Fan.

Even Count Christopher, who had been drinking nonstop since sitting down, showed an expression of astonishment upon hearing Du Fan’s words. After a moment, Garfield finally smiled and said to Du Fan calmly, “Duke, your subordinates are indeed strong. It’s clear that you yourself must also be formidable… In this battle, it’s you who has won!” With that, Garfield casually removed the protective barriers around them and shouted, “Someone! According to our agreement, make this good-for-nothing drink that jar of wine over there—no matter what, he must drink it!” Hearing this, Du Fan couldn’t help but show a strange expression. He originally didn’t have much goodwill toward Adrian, but at this moment, he felt a bit impressed by his pride. He shook his head slightly and said, “Your Highness, that bet was just a joke at the time. I think we should forget about it.” Garfield gave Du Fan a deep look before calmly saying, “Since it’s the Duke who speaks, then of course we must obey…” “Someone!” Garfield took a deep breath and pointed at Adrian, who was breathing heavily, and ordered, “Carry this guy away! He’s brought shame to my Lani Empire. Demote him by one rank and fine him half his salary. Once he’s recovered, make him clean toilets for half a month!” Several strong soldiers rushed in from outside the hall and quickly carried Adrian away. Soon after, someone came in to tidy things up, and in no time, the banquet returned to its previous state. Seeing Garfield’s actions, Du Fan said nothing more. He simply gave Landi a deep look, then chuckled lightly and said, “Commander Landi, since I’ve won this battle, I’ll surely reward you later. For now, you may retire.” Landi was filled with resentment, but given his status, he couldn’t say much. He merely nodded and quickly left. Du Fan laughed heartily, picked up his wine glass again, then walked over to another general and said calmly, “I didn’t finish toasting you earlier. General, what do you think? Shall we have another round? Or…” Among Garfield’s military officers, it seemed that Adrian had the best skills. Now that he had been defeated, the others didn’t dare to think otherwise. That general also didn’t dare to waste words. He just coughed once, quickly picked up his glass, gave a slight toast, and drank it in one gulp.

Seeing this, Du Fan once again smiled. He poured himself another cup of wine and then walked over to the third general. This time, before he could speak, the general had already stood up, his face full of respect. But halfway there, Du Fan suddenly seemed to remember something. He stopped and muttered to himself, “Prince Garfield is right. What kind of status do I, Du Fan, have? Offering wine to these generals would be overestimating them too much.” At that moment, Du Fan smiled lightly, walked up to Leopold, gave him a slight smile, and said, “Prince Leopold, among everyone here, only you deserve my toast! Please!”