Chapter 27: A Duel?

"So it was you—well, if it isn’t Young Master Anderson!" Chu Tian cast a sidelong glance at the newcomer, his voice dripping with sarcastic mockery.

The man was none other than Anderson, only son of the Right Chancellor, Andor—a so-called ‘old friend’ of Chu Tian’s. Ever since Chu Tian began pursuing Selina, Anderson and his coterie of young nobles had gone out of their way to make trouble for him. And after Chu Tian finally won Selina’s heart, the relationship between Anderson and himself plummeted to a freezing point. If not for Chu Tian’s current status and standing, which matched Andor’s, Young Master Chu would likely have been left for dead in the streets long ago.

Yet despite this, Anderson still seized every possible opportunity to provoke Chu Tian. Just as today—upon entering the Sig Hotel and hearing that Chu Tian was present, Anderson had rushed over, eager to cause mischief.

"Tsk, tsk, quite a spread you’ve got here—must have cost a pretty penny, hmm? I wonder if the Marquis has enough to pay the bill?" Anderson tipped his chin in disdain, casting Chu Tian a derisive glance. "I doubt you do! Well then, I suppose I’ll stoop to lending you a little."

He spoke slowly, producing a purple crystal card from his breast pocket and waving it in Chu Tian’s face, flaunting it with a flourish. "Didn’t bring much cash today, but... it should be enough to cover a few of your meals, I’d think?" Hah—did Chu Tian really believe that the emperor’s mere tens of thousands of gold coins could put him on par with Young Master Anderson? That Selina would ever marry a pauper?

"No need to trouble yourself over the bill—I can manage it," Chu Tian replied with a genial smile. He drew out a colorless crystal card from his ring, toying with it in his hand as though it were a trinket of no consequence.

"Ah, Lord Damar is here as well!" Anderson’s face darkened as he nodded curtly to Damar—a perfunctory gesture of respect. Upon seeing the colorless crystal card, Anderson knew he had no chance of outshining Chu Tian in wealth. Still, he was quick to change tack, shifting his attention to Damar, the Minister of Magic, renowned for his honest and steadfast nature—a man Anderson had never held in high esteem.

"Hmph! You finally noticed me!" Damar’s voice, though honest and hearty, was by no means timid. "If you find the time, do pass my regards to your father—and perhaps he might teach you proper noble etiquette!" Damar had no fondness for wastrels who bullied others with their status—especially not when they dared provoke the kind-hearted Marquis Vladino, who had lent him fifty thousand gold coins without so much as asking the reason! How could such a good man fall prey to the likes of Anderson?

Amused by Damar’s stance, Chu Tian mused inwardly, Perhaps I ought to lend him even more in the future.

"You—!" Anderson managed only a single word before falling silent. Damar’s expression was cold and stern, his eyes fixed on Anderson with a chilling authority born of high office and true power—something that a shallow noble like Anderson could never hope to withstand.

"What? Not pleased? Or do you intend to challenge me to a duel?" Damar’s eyes flashed with a cold glint as he spoke, straightening to his full height and casting Anderson a sidelong glance. Waves of intense fire-element magic pulsed from his body.

"N-no, I didn’t mean that..." Anderson’s bravado wilted instantly in the face of Damar’s anger. For all his bluster, he wasn’t a fool—a fourth-rank Bronze Knight dueling an eighth-rank Grand Magus? That would be suicide!

But then Anderson’s lips curled into a sly smile, sparked by a memory—a careless comment his father had once made: the Marquis Vladino seemed to lack any magical aura!

With this thought, Anderson turned to Chu Tian. "But I would like to duel Vladino!"

The secret of Chu Tian’s lack of magical aura was known only to the empire’s top echelons, who had accepted the excuse that the Crimson Flame’s blood masked his magic. After all, everyone vividly remembered the spectacle of Chu Tian healing the warhorses with magic whirling through the air. Neither Emperor Ludi III nor Selina had ever bothered to check him closely. Still, some harbored doubts—Andor among them.

"A duel?" Chu Tian’s eyes narrowed. He tapped his fingers on the table, then lifted a glass of Foster slowly to his lips, sipping with unhurried grace. Smiling, he asked, "You mean to challenge me—a Grand Priest and Mentor of the Eighth Rank—to a duel?"

He stood, looking down at Anderson, who was half a head shorter. "Are you certain you want to duel a Grand Priest Mentor who commands offensive magic?"

Chu Tian’s calm yet somewhat overbearing manner produced the desired effect: Anderson hesitated. The rumor that the Marquis Vladino had no magic was just that—a rumor. For a fourth-rank Bronze Knight to probe the powers of an eighth-rank professional? Hardly realistic.

Heh, got him. Chu Tian chuckled inwardly with satisfaction. Though lacking real strength, he had no trouble playing the part of a top-tier expert of the continent!

Beside him, Damar laughed aloud. "Ha! That’s the finest jest I’ve heard all day!"

The three spoke loudly enough that the surrounding private rooms soon rang with laughter and jeers.

"Young master!" An aged voice announced the arrival of Andor’s steward, Dirk. He bowed respectfully to Anderson. "Young master, perhaps we should go—your friends are waiting." He then saluted Chu Tian as well, smiling. "Marquis, our young master was only jesting. Please don’t take offense! How could he possibly be your match?"

"No! I am not jesting!" Dirk’s well-meaning advice only stoked Anderson’s fury. In a flash, he drew the knight’s longsword from his hip and drove it into the floor, declaring in a harsh, unyielding voice, "I—Anderson, Bronze Knight—hereby formally challenge Grand Priest Mentor, Marquis Vladino, to a duel!"

His shrill, indignant voice echoed throughout the restaurant, stirring the crowd to excitement as they pressed toward Chu Tian’s private room. In Caesar, a nation built on martial prowess, there was nothing the people loved more than a contest of the strong!

Chu Tian laughed with delight, surreptitiously brushing the spatial ring on his left pinky. "Very well! I accept your challenge!" He narrowed his eyes, a cold, mocking smile on his lips. "To keep things fair, I won’t use advanced priestly offensive magic against a mere Bronze Knight!"

The onlookers erupted in commotion at Chu Tian’s words. A duel between an eighth-rank Grand Priest Mentor and a fourth-rank Bronze Knight was inherently unfair. A priest of the seventh rank and above could cast offensive magic as potent as a mage of equal standing. To pit such magic against Anderson, who could at best muster fourth-level battle aura? The outcome was beyond doubt.

But now, Chu Tian had declared he would forgo offensive magic. Did this Grand Priest Mentor possess some other means of attack? Without offensive spells, a priest might be a fine healer—but never a warrior. Could Marquis Vladino dabble in curses and poisons, like a necromancer?

Impossible! The crowd immediately dismissed this notion. Vladino, the pride of the priests, student of the Holy Light, would never stoop to such base tactics!

The audience buzzed with speculation, but Anderson heard none of it. He was seething, utterly provoked by Chu Tian’s proud and scornful words. Anderson fixed Chu Tian with a venomous glare and sneered, "You’re looking to die? Then I’ll oblige you!"