Chapter 003: The Bet

To be honest, Du Fan wasn’t exactly weak. Having practiced various martial arts for less than a year, he had already managed to break through to the Saint rank. In a sense, he was quite strong. Unfortunately, everyone he encountered was far too powerful—against an eighth-level fighter at the sixth level, a Saint-level fighter at the ninth level. Now that he had finally broken through to the Saint rank, he faced another peak Saint-level fighter, which left him extremely frustrated.

At that moment, he stood there, barely able to muster any strength, staring at Garfield before him, unsure whether to smile bitterly or sigh.

Garfield noticed Du Fan’s expression and his expression shifted slightly. After a moment, he suddenly realized, “Originally, my combat energy should have blown you seriously injured, but since there’s still magic power in your body, you managed to withstand my attack with it, which is why you’re not too badly hurt… Still, you must be in quite poor condition, right? Duke, the outcome of this battle is now decided. It’s up to you to decide what to do.”

Du Fan sighed. He thought that if he pulled out the Holy Radiant Staff, he might still have a chance to fight, but it would just be a last-ditch effort with little chance of winning. In that case, it was better not to fight at all. With that thought, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly and said, “You’re strong. I’m no match for you. The winner takes all. It’s still up to you what to do now. If Your Highness wants my life right now, I have no chance to avoid it.”

“Good,” Garfield nodded. “It’s good that you recognize this. But as I said, I suddenly don’t want to kill you anymore… Since you managed to escape death under my attack, you must have some skills. Although I have many subordinates, none of them have your abilities. How about you join me?”

Du Fan sighed and said, “I’m not used to serving others. If that’s what Your Highness Garfield wants, you’ll be disappointed… So, it’s better if you think of another way. I’ll never submit to you!”

A smile appeared on Garfield’s face. After a moment, he nodded and said, “You’re right. If someone like you simply submitted to me, it wouldn’t be as interesting… But Duke Du Fan, I really appreciate your talent now and truly don’t want to kill you… But since you refuse to submit… How about we make a bet?”

Du Fan coughed a few times, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and smiled bitterly. “What kind of bet?”

Garfield watched Du Fan gritting his teeth and smiled lightly. “I’ll give you half a day to escape. If you can make it, that’s fine. But if you can’t… then you’ll have to obey my orders. Do you agree?”
“What if I don’t agree?”
“What do you think?”
Du Fan gave a bitter smile. After thinking for a moment, he quickly realized that if he refused now, Garfield would surely kill him on the spot. But if he agreed, there might still be a glimmer of hope.
With that in mind, Du Fan simply nodded and said, “Okay, I agree!”
Hearing this, Garfield just smiled lightly. Then, with a casual gesture, he turned to look in another direction and said indifferently, “Then let’s go. Remember, you only have half a day.”
Although Du Fan wasn’t sure how likely he was to escape, he gritted his teeth and said nothing more, turning and rushing northward.
The clouds in the sky kept gathering, as if darkness was approaching soon.
Du Fan had been racing through the forest for less than a moment before reaching its edge. Looking at the vast plains to the north, he sighed. After scanning the surroundings, he headed east.
To be clear, the west of Roland Continent was ocean, and from the southern plains, it was mostly flat land. Even if there were occasional swamps or jungles, they weren’t good places to hide.
But to the east lay the Dusk Mountains. Although the journey would be more difficult, if he could hide in the mountains, there might be a chance to escape.
As for returning to his own province…
Du Fan had no intention of doing such a foolish thing.
Rushing eastward, he didn’t dare stop at all. He kept using the remaining combat energy in his body to keep moving. Although he used magic potions to restore his strength along the way, his injuries were too severe. Even if he regained his combat energy and magic, it wouldn’t be of much use.
Under normal circumstances, he should have found a place to rest and recover properly. But with a killing god chasing him, how could he dare to stop?
If Garfield wasn’t confident he could catch up, why would he make such a bet?
He agreed to the bet just to seize that last one-in-ten-thousand chance. If Chenchen could arrive along the way, then he would be considered a winner.

Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn’t help but smile bitterly. After running non-stop for a day and night, he didn’t even have time to stop and drink water. Early that morning, he finally stopped in a forest. Looking around at the desolate landscape, he couldn’t help but feel bitter. He had been full of confidence when he was in Odinburg—how could he have imagined he would end up in such a situation? And after running all day and night, Garfield still hadn’t caught up, so it seemed he had managed to escape. With this in mind, Du Fan scanned the surroundings, looking for a place to rest properly. But as he looked around, he saw not a single sign of human presence. All he could do was sigh… He didn’t know what to do next. Returning to the Gavin Empire was probably out of the question. If he wasn’t mistaken, Garfield must have deployed countless troops to lure him into a trap. Thinking of this, Du Fan smiled bitterly again. He sat down to rest, but suddenly, he heard a faint laugh: “What? Has the Duke had enough running? So, does this bet mean I’ve won?” Hearing this, Du Fan’s expression changed drastically. He thought he had barely managed to get away from Garfield, but from Garfield’s tone, it seemed as if he had been following him the whole time. Yet, with his strong mental power, he hadn’t noticed anything at all—this was truly… As Garfield spoke, his figure slowly appeared in the air. He looked at Du Fan and said leisurely, “The Duke has worked hard by running non-stop all this time… But now, will you admit defeat willingly, or will you try to escape again?” Seeing Garfield’s cat-and-mouse expression, Du Fan sneered and said, “Since you’ve already caught up with me but haven’t shown yourself, Your Highness Garfield, you really have a refined taste!” Garfield smiled and was about to say something, but suddenly his expression changed, and a serious murderous intent flashed in his eyes. This was a serious look Du Fan had never seen before.

Suddenly, Garfield slowly descended from the air and landed on the ground, facing north. With a laugh, he said, “Excellent! I never expected there to be such a powerful warrior on this Roland Continent… How fortunate I am to encounter someone like this here! Hahahahahaha…” After laughing for a while, he suddenly declared loudly, “Garfield, the first prince of the Lanny Empire, demands that you come out and meet me!” Du Fan was slightly stunned, but quickly understood what was going on! Sure enough, from the woods to the north, a figure slowly stepped forward. The person was tall, casually wearing a robe, with long hair fluttering in the wind. Combined with her stunning beauty, it formed a nearly perfect scene. Who else could it be but Chenchen?! Yet, at this moment, Chenchen simply stood there quietly, without any trace of energy, her gaze fixed on Du Fan. After a long while, she sighed softly and said, “My dear little master, it’s been so long since we last met, and you’ve already broken through to the Saint level… That’s beyond my expectations… But you’ve been seriously injured… Was it that guy over there who did this?” Du Fan smiled but simply replied, “You’ve finally come! If you hadn’t come, I would have died here today…” Chenchen snorted and said, “Did you count on me always showing up to clean up your mess no matter what happens, that’s why you keep causing trouble…” Du Fan shook his head and said nothing more, only coughing lightly, with more blood spilling out. Seeing this, a hint of murderous intent appeared in Chenchen’s beautiful eyes. She suddenly stared at Garfield and said calmly, “Even I hesitate to harm him, yet you’ve injured him. It seems that even if I don’t kill you today, I won’t be able to let it go…”