"You unfilial son! Apologize to Lord William right now!" Draven roared in anger. The Duke of Rhode charged towards the boy and forcefully made him kneel in front of William.
"Apologize!" Duke Rhode grabbed his son's head and pushed it down on the ground.
"No! I will not apologize!" Kingsley tried to fight back. "Why should I apologize to a loser?! What? He became angry because I said that he lost to me? Is that it? How petty! Is this what the Knight Orders do? Eliminate those who defeat them in a fair duel?"
The old hag from the Misty Sect narrowed her eyes as he looked at the King of the Hellan Kingdom. "Your Majesty, are you sure you want to do this? Do you want to be on the black list of the Misty Sect?"
Noah smiled as he looked calmly at the Great Elder of the Misty Sect who was glaring at him.
"Misty Sect?" The corner of Noah's lips curled up in ridicule. "Your Sect has no power here. Did you forget? I merely allowed your sect to build a branch sect in my lands because you promised to abide by the laws of my Kingdom.
"Right now, a disciple of your sect has broken the rules of my Kingdom. No, Lady Miriam. I am not afraid of your Misty Sect. If you don't like my rules then you can take all of your disciples and scram."
Lady Miriam gripped her staff in anger as tendrils of magic power condensed inside her body. However, before she could even do anything, she felt a very powerful killing intent that was as sharp as a blade pressing over her heart.
Her instinct was telling her that if she continued what she was about to do, she would die before she could complete her spell. Miriam slowly dispelled the power she had gathered and sighed.
She looked at the boy, Kingsley, whose head was being forcefully pressed to the ground by his own father. As the Great Elder of the Misty Sect, being unable to protect one of her disciples was a slap to her face.
If not for the killing intent that had threatened her life, she might have raised a ruckus in order to tell everyone in the Hellan Kingdom that the Misty Sect cannot be humiliated. Unfortunately, she didn't have the ability to make that plan a reality.
After thinking for a while, Miriam thought of a plan that could at least save their Sect's face from the current situation.
"I have a proposal," Miriam said. "Since this incident is due to my disciple's arrogance, why don't we settle their grievances in a fair duel? All of us will stand here as witness that after this duel, both parties will put down the ill will they have for each other. How does that sound?"
Kingsley, who was being pinned down on the ground, struggled and raised his voice, "That's right! Do you dare to fight me in a fair duel?! I'll show everyone just what kind of weakling you are! Four years ago you lost to me and I hadn't even used my magic power in our duel. Do you dare fight me using my full power, or do you want me to give you a handicap?"
"You want a fair duel? Sure. I don't mind. However, a simple duel without any stakes in it is boring," William replied. "How about we spice things up and place bets to make it more interesting?"
"Hmp! Fine! Do you think I'm scared of a weakling like you?" Kingsley stood up and spat in disdain. "How about this, if I win, your position as the Head of the Knight Order will be mine."
"Okay, but what can you possibly give me in return if you lose?" William glanced at Miriam. "What can the Misty Sect possibly offer me that is equivalent to the position of the Head of the Knight Order of the Hellan Kingdom?"
Miriam had a calm expression on her face, but deep inside she was sneering. She had already subtly scanned William's body and found out that he was void of any magic power. Kingsley was a talented Magic Swordsman, so she wasn't worried that the boy would lose in the duel. She was even looking forward to seeing her disciple cripple the arrogant boy in front of her.
"What do you want in return?" Miriam asked.
"What I want is really simple…" William glanced at his Ex-Fiance for a brief moment before facing the old hag once again. "I want you, and all the representatives of the Misty Sect, excluding Rebecca, to kneel in front of me, and say 'You are the most handsome Half-Elf in the Southern Continent. No one in the world is more handsome than you."
The members of the Angorian War Sovereign rolled their eyes because of their Commander's antics. They had already gotten used to his narcissism and simply treated his actions like the passing wind.
"That's it?" Miriam inquired.
"Yes. That's it," William crossed his arms over his chest. "Simple, right?"
"Very well. I accept this condition." Miriam then looked at Kingsley with a serious expression. "If you win, I will allow you to train inside the Cold Prison for half a year. I will also give you three High-Grade Magic Crystals as a reward for your victory."
"I will not fail you, Great Elder!" Kingsley bowed respectfully.
Deep down he was very excited by the rewards that were promised to him. Training inside the Cold Prison and acquiring High-Grade Magic Crystals would speed up his cultivation and allow him to break through to the next rank.
"Well then, shall we start?" William asked.
"Let's!" Kingsley answered. "I will make you regret this."
William didn't reply and just walked towards the center of the venue, away from the crowd. He had forced the current situation using his authority as the Head of the Angorian Knight Order.
Why did he do this? The reason was really simple. He needed a demonstration of his power and authority. He knew that even though he was now officially recognized as the head of a rising force, his impression on the nobles and the students was still not enough for them to recognize his authority.
Fortunately, Kingsley acted according to the "script" and couldn't keep his arrogant mouth shut.
The disciple of the Misty Sect in front of him had donned his own armor in preparation for their battle. Like he had declared earlier, he would be using his full power to humiliate William in front of the nobility of the Hellan Kingdom.
William waited patiently for his opponent to finish his preparations and simply stood with his arms crossed over his chest.
'The grudge I held from long ago will now be repaid in full,' William mused. 'I just hope that I don't accidentally kill him in the process. While that would be unfortunate, I have to give his Majesty some face. This will allow him to look good in the eyes of the other nobles.'
While William was thinking these things, he felt a heated gaze in the distance. The red-headed boy casually turned his head to see who was staring at him, and found a beautiful girl with long blonde hair, and blue eyes, looking at him anxiously.
William smiled and waved at Wendy. This action of his was seen by everyone, and their eyes locked on the girl whom the handsome Half-Elf had waved at.
"Hmmm?" Lawrence eyed the young lady who had visited their domain many times in the past. With a glance, he could tell that Wendy liked William, and the latter seemed to have good feelings about her, too.
The Old Fox of Griffith felt his liver itch when he saw Wendy's face turn beet red when William waved at her.
'Not good,' Lawrence thought. 'I'd better do something or else someone might get other ideas.'
The Old Fox of Griffith glanced towards his right side and saw a middle-aged man looking back at him. The man still looked handsome, even in his middle years, and he was looking at Lawrence with a calm expression.
He was none other than Spencer's and Wendy's father, Joaquin Armstrong, the current Duke of the Armstrong Duchy.
Spencer had already written a letter to him telling him of Wendy's infatuation with his Head Prefect. The reason why Joaquin came to the academy was to have a better look at the boy who had caught his daughter's fancy and see if he was a possible candidate to become his son-in-law.
The two men stared at each other for half a minute before averting their gaze to look back at William. Both of them weren't able to read each other's thoughts, but one thing was clear. They would look at the results of this duel first, before making their final decision.
"I'm ready," Kingsley announced. "Let's begin!"
"Alright," William stood straight and placed his arms on the sides of his body. "Let's start, you can attack me anytime."
"Don't blame me if I accidentally kill you," Kingsley stated. "It's been a while since I've used my full power."
"Don't worry. Even if you team up with that old hag from the Misty Sect, you won't be able to kill me."
"Are those your last words?"
William didn't reply, instead he yawned as if ridiculing Kingsley's attempt to taunt him.
"Die!" Kingsley unleashed all of his magical powers and gathered it in his sword, manifesting a sword aura.
"Final Phase, Phoenix Annihilation!" Kingsley roared as he became one with his sword and charged at William like a burning blue comet.
Miriam clenched her fist in triumph because Kingsley initiated the third strongest move of their Misty Sect. Its power was enough to create a two-hundred meter wide crater and annihilate everything within range.
She was not worried about getting caught in the friendly fire because the court magicians had already established a magical barrier to prevent the bystanders from getting hurt.
'You will pay for your insolence!' Miriam sneered as her eyes focused on the arrogant boy that was about to die a miserable death. However, what she saw made her feel that something was amiss.
'Why isn't he moving?' Miriam thought.
Everyone in the venue had the same thought and they were wondering why William was just standing there like a street lamp.
Finally, when the blue comet was only meters away from the red-headed boy, William raised his hand and casually threw a punch. Just a simple punch and it made everyone's eyes widen in surprise.
A powerful shockwave erupted from the collision of William's punch and the blue comet. In that brief moment, the comet shattered into a shower of sparks and William's fist connected with Kingsley's chest.
The arrogant boy spat out a mouthful of blood before his body was blown away due to the force of William's casual strike. In the eyes of others, it was just a simple punch, but it was actually William's strongest attack.
Cid felt his heart itch when he saw the same move that defeated him a few weeks ago. He knew from first hand experience how deadly William's blow was. If he wasn't wearing the special armor given to him by his Master, he might have died back then.
"So weak," William muttered. "I only used twenty percent of my power and it's already over? Are the disciples of the Misty Sect really this weak?"
The boy's words, which were filled with ridicule, brought everyone out from their trance. Eleanor, Rebecca's Master, rushed in the direction of the fallen boy to check his condition. Just like her Great Elder, Miriam, Eleanor thought that the one who would have a miserable ending was William.
Never in her wildest dreams did she consider that Kingsley would be the one to suffer such a tragic end.
Suddenly a notification appeared on William's status page. When he read the message, he almost laughed out loud due to the irony of it all.
-----
< Ding! >
< Hidden Quest has been cleared! >
< Vengeance is Always an Option >
< Reward: 2000 God Points >