This will either become a bad day or a glorious day…I’m not sure, but…
He faced off with his opponent in the fields, watched by hundreds of onlookers.
I hope my little scheme works.
“So, how are we doing this?” Fritz calmly asked.
“To the death,” replied Prince Karstahl, his voice near arrogant. “With all means available to both parties.”
“I see,” Fritz nodded, readying his stance. “I hope you’re ready then.”
“I did not need to prepare myself any further unlike you, for a mere insect like you won’t even stand a chance.”
To underestimate your opponent just because he was crippled…I see, I really am dealing with a fool.
Murmurs from the nobles, soldiers, and even knights watching the proceedings grew. Dueling in Burgundy Square, right in front of the statue of Orellia’s once legendary hero-king, was certainly an audacious arrangement.
Fritz knew the implications of this duel, it was why he wanted it.
This was between Prince Karstahl—who represented the silently enraged aristocracy of Orellia, and him, the Royal Messenger of the ‘People’s Queen’. No wonder so many people came to see it.
Exactly as he planned. He could send a perfect message quickly and easily to the opposition with such an audience.
He briefly looked at the statue of King Frederick, who ruled Orellia back in its zenith, when it led the continent to vanquish the unholy demonic hordes in the name of humanity and the Celean faith. His actions venerated him into sainthood, and Fritz respected that.
I apologize for using this square for my silly schemes, but, I swear—I won’t let your 4th great granddaughter down.
“Heh, looking at King Frederick?” Prince Karstahl laughed. “I chose this venue for a reason. He must be ashamed of his once illustrious Kingdom going down in this direction. You, Mr. Rolentz, are a part of those who damage it from within.”
“Can we just get on with it?” Fritz replied, his tone barely interested. “I have a lot more business to attend to, Your Highness.”
He’s just a puppet dancing to someone’s tunes. Mother picked quite a useful idiot. No one, not even royalty, will speak so inflammatory of a monarch’s regime without someone big backing them.
His eyes scanned the crowd briefly.
Empress, it’s been five years…don’t you think it’s time to change strategies?
“You won’t even listen to me,” Prince Karstahl finally released his wand. “Who do you think you are? You’re just a commoner in the civil service! Sir Eric, will you please start this already?!”
The knight who attended Prince Karstahl, Sir Eric Koch, stood at the side with an imperceptible expression. He was a middle-aged man, clad in light armor, merely a cuirass. Of course, unlike Fritz and Karstahl, he was outside of their leagues, being a powerful knight at the level of Mary.
Still, he gave a gruff nod at the prince’s request, before turning to Mary.
“Dame Mary, is the honor to proceed to the countdown mine?” Eric asked. Mary, who stood near Fritz, stepped back, then, she nodded.
“Please proceed to it, Sir Eric,” Mary replied.
“As you wish,” Eric raised his hand. “We shall begin in three, two, one—start!”
Immediately, spells began raining in Fritz’s direction. Prince Karstahl opened up with a barrage of fireballs, which burned and stung even when Fritz moved quickly to dodge it.
Fritz for his part had already prepared for this eventuality, since he took the potion earlier. STR, SPD, MP, and MR were now all temporarily at E neutral, and he still had seven minutes on the clock before the effects ran out.
Thus, he capitalized on his expanded MP pool by finally aiming his wand at the prince.
In his head, he chanted the titles of the first three chapters in his notes.
The first principle of the suppressor class—deny.
“Eclipse Burst!” he chanted, sending in a burst of shadowy arcs of light at Karstahl’s direction. The prince barely had time to react to the attack, his eyes widening as he realized that his magic was now suppressed.
Still, Karstahl tried to cast a spell again.
“Furious Blaze!” the prince shouted, but instead of dozens of rods of burning spikes being sent at Fritz, barely four came out.
Fritz dodged it all successfully, then he tucked his wand and drew out his rapier.
The prince, already humiliated at his magic suddenly being removed, also unsheathed his blade, and met Fritz’s attack head-on. Their two swords met at once, and Fritz felt his bones struggling when they faced the sheer strength that Karstahl offered.
Backing off strategically, Fritz felt more of the weight from each slash being sent at him. His opponent did not hold back, with each strike growing in strength and nearly overwhelming Fritz. The only thing that tipped the scales was Fritz’s somewhat flexible and tactical parries.
Still, he knew his body wouldn’t be able to hold on against this pressure. Thus, he moved to the next phase of his plans.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The second principle—disrupt.
Fritz jumped backwards after a successful parry, before activating his second special skill with a snap of his left fingers. ‘Great Silence’ was no joke, because while its effects weren’t as absolute as ‘Arcane Suppression’, the darkness inflicted on those affected by it was still severe.
In the middle of the combat, Karstahl had his senses mildly blinded, his eyes and ears struggling to see and hear as Fritz rapidly took back the initiative. Instead of powerful slashes meeting Fritz’s desperate defense, the tables turned. The prince was now barely holding back the rapid barrage of attacks being sent on his sword.
“Having fun, Your Highness?” Fritz asked, sending a successful strike that sent Karstahl’s sword flying. He pressed his advantage, as Karstahl instead switched to his smaller dagger, blocking Fritz’s next strike. “It’s over now.”
“Not yet!” Karstahl hissed, backing off rapidly and dodging a nearly lethal thrust from Fritz’s rapier. He raised his free hand in Fritz’s direction, creating a flaming magic circle. “Furious Blaze!”
The spell sent another barrage of burning rods in Fritz’s direction, which he dodged by going low and zigzagging swiftly, which wouldn’t have been achievable without his potion.
The crowd, which was by now utterly invested in the fight, gasped and screamed, with one noblewoman fainting at watching the still bloodless duel.
Finally, the third principle—destroy.
Deciding that this fool’s errand had completed its course, his message sent to Cecilia’s opponents clearly, he finally engaged his main card, which he had charged since the start of this duel. A pulse of light emanated from Fritz’s body, right when he was close enough to Prince Karstahl.
The prince found his magic completely failing. Even when he chanted again, nothing came out of his hand but a whiff of air. Karstahl dodged a swift thrust from Fritz’s rapier, just enough that only a tiny slice registered on his left shoulder. Then, with a quick downward slash, Fritz sent the dagger in Karstahl’s hand on the dirt.
Slipping on a pebble as he backed off, Prince Karstahl collapsed on the ground, right when Fritz aimed his rapier at his neck.
Victory.
“So, is it still a duel to the death, Your Highness?” Fritz asked, breathing heavily. “Because quite frankly, if I were in your position, I’d be begging for my continued right to breathe, then and there.”
“Please don’t kill me!” the prince shouted, panic now setting in his voice. “I…I…”
“Victory is mine?”
“Victory is yours, yes! What?!”
Fritz sheathed back his sword.
“You’ve heard it folks,” Fritz shouted at the crowd. “He said it himself. Victory is mine. Has the duel ended, Sir Koch?”
“Aye, Mr. Rolentz,” Eric confirmed. “One of the participants voluntarily gave up. As the terms stipulated, you win.”
Well, at least this guy has some honor in him. Unlike this garbage. He looked back at Prince Karstahl, who stared at Fritz with rage. Gah, I swear, why do so many people like him find themselves born into powerful families? That’s messed up.
Fritz walked away from his defeated opponent, as Prince Karstahl shouted profanities after profanities while he exited. Truly, it was a good demonstration of strength. He wouldn’t look like a useless cripple to the court and palace anymore.
Mission success.
+++
The audience did not applaud. Not even the soldiers, who also knew the rumors about the feared herald of the Queen, stood in applause. It was a surprise of the highest order.
It seems like the rumors of his downfall have been greatly exaggerated.
One of those who watched Prince Karstahl’s duel against Mr. Fritz Rolentz was Sophie von Wismar, the eldest ‘daughter’ of the Count of Wismar. She watched the entire fight with an observant eye, greatly taking care to see more details about Mr. Rolentz’s way of fighting.
It wasn’t an unknown thing in the Kingdom that he was perhaps the single mage with shadow affinity, the rarest affinity out there, that the number of its users was barely even known. It was one of the main reasons why Queen Cecilia acquired his services.
Sophie stood up, calmly assessing the situation. Then, she walked out of the spectator’s area, the shocked onlookers barely noticing her. The way he fought reminds me of something. She knew someone so strong, who had always been unable to truly wield a sword well but fought anyway in the most underhanded manner when needed.
Of course, it could just be a hunch, but something changed in the ways that Fritz fought. Changes which, according to Sophie’s assessment, were a clear deviation from what he showed during the incident.
Worse, the changes might be a style too close to what Sophie’s long-gone ‘comrade’ used.
I need to look further into this.
She gave a brief look at Prince Karstahl, who was now complaining and whining at his knight.
That idiot needs to be straightened up. He’s becoming a liability.
She huffed—she’d deal with the rest later.
For now, what she needed was to get close to her target. After all, a job assigned to her by the 'most valuable person' in her life wasn’t something she’d fail.
“Mr. Rolentz, would you please give me a minute?” Sophie called out, rushing behind Fritz, who was walking away with another knight, Dame Mary von Bayern. The two turned their backs to Sophie, and for a brief second, she watched Fritz’s eyes tensing up a bit.
He seems surprised. Did he perhaps notice me back during the incident?
“Sure,” Fritz replied, his brief second of discomfort dying into a deadly neutral stance. “What is it…Miss?”
“Sophie von Wismar,” she took his hand with a disarming smile, shaking it briefly as a greeting. “I merely wanted to ask, why exactly did you take this duel?”
“Because…he started it?”
“You punched him.”
“He punched someone else first,” Fritz replied. “Someone who is a valuable asset of Her Majesty. Then he even tried to punch me. At some point, self-defense has to kick in.”
…This wasn’t how he acted back then. She remembered the Royal Messenger to be a more…charming fellow. Diplomatic even. This man however seemed a bit different with his mannerism.
Most importantly, she could notice the way he looked at her. His eyes moved in subtle ways to search for any weapons in her person.
He did it in the same way she sized him up with her surgically enhanced eyes earlier.
Where the hell did he learn that?
“You’re surprisingly astute at responding to threats to Her Majesty, huh?” Sophie said, smiling further. “That’s good, she needs more allies in these trying times after all.”
“Indeed,” Fritz nodded, still neutral. “I hope your family and the Queen are on good terms. Anyhow, I apologize, but I need to attend to pressing matters at the moment.”
“Oh, no worries, I was simply curious about the duel,” she respectfully nodded. “Carry on.”
I need to analyze this further.
She watched the two walk away, as her interest grew.
Your stubbornness in refusing to die is quite amusing.