Malon gasped slightly, his mouth opening as his eyes became tender and moistened only a little.

“Thank you.” He said, wiping his eyes as he roughly turned to face his uncle, “That was all I needed. A friend to believe in me, god damn it!” He roared, causing Tyr to chuckle slightly in disbelief.

‘What a crazy guy… a friend huh? Yeah, after everything, I’d say we are friends.’ Tyr thought to himself with a small laugh.

“If you want to take me, come and get me! I challenge you to a duel right here and now under the Gods and overseen by Mother Gaia herself!” Malon thrust his hand out, creating a robust shield.

The crowd gasped in shock at this proclamation, confusing Tyr who didn’t understand what all the hype was about.

“What!?”

“Is he serious? He’s practically giving himself over…”

“Damn… what a fool.”

The guards behind Malon’s uncle cast slight glances at themselves, staying right behind the man.

Out of nowhere, Malon’s uncle busted out into a peal of laughter, grabbing his face: “What? Hahaha! Have you grown brave now, little worm? You wish to challenge me, your own uncle Isavior to a formal duel?”

Silence washed through the crowd as anticipation brewed. Malon stayed silent, his anger-filled eyes glaring down at his uncle.

“Fine. So be it.” Isavior said, his expression becoming more stern as he unsheathed a long and shiny blade from his waist belt.

The three guards behind him stepped back in unison, blending into the crowd.

Malon stepped down, “Tyr, I noticed you were confused about what a formal duel is.”

“Yeah…” Tyr said, still taken aback.

“We hold ourselves true to Mother Gaia who may decide our fate, as do many other species and kingdoms around Subworld. The winner of this battle will have been pardoned of their crimes by the will of Mother Gaia… and the loser: subject to the will of the winner for eternity.”

Malon’s gaze was fierce as he said this, his jaws clenching as his fists tightened.

From his body language, Tyr could tell that the moosh was extremely afraid right now. He was trying his best to keep himself from shaking uncontrollably.

‘His uncle must be strong. Scan.’

┏━━━Status━━━┓

Name: Isavior Hevest

Age: 33 Years

Power Level: 110

Rank: Adept

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

Tyr’s eyelids expanded in slight disbelief, his pupils darting back to Malon: ‘H-he’s fighting a losing battle… there’s no way he could win, right?’

He looked down at his own hands, ‘If I have to step in, I will.’ He declared to himself.

“Not so fast.” A guard exclaimed, putting a spear in front of Tyr’s throat.

Another one appeared to his left, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Tyr paused, looking down at the blade at his throat for a second before suddenly ducking beneath it and pushing the spear-holding guard forward into a stumble.

“Don’t put your blade near my neck. I’ll stay here, but I won’t accept your arrogance.” Tyr said with a low tone, the guard grunting slightly in anger before standing in front of the boy.

Tyr looked at Malon with squinted eyes, “Win! Malon!” He shouted, crossing his arms.

A few dozen heads darted toward him for a short second, glancing with confusion and curiosity.

Malon smiled as he heard Tyr’s words from behind him, “If she wills…” He said under his breath, “You may start it.” He said aloud.

Isavior swung his sword around, sharp swiping noises echoing through the air as his blade suddenly expanded in size.

It became as long as a mushroom–standing over 20 feet in height with a flexible structure, similar to a silk rope. Its movements were carried by momentum, exactly mimicking a whip.

“If I win,” Malon shouted, “I shall be pardoned from all crimes placed upon me!”

“If I win,” Isavior yelled, “You shall be punished with life in prison or death… my decision. Begin!”

Isavior didn’t waste time, sprinting forward as he swung his sword all through the air.

He whipped it at Malon, the sword striking like a viper.

*CLANG*

It bounced off of Malon’s shield as he began to run around his uncle.

Isavior stood there, turning his body to face Malon as his sword continued to dance in the air.

*SWIPE*

It lashed out again.

*CLANG*

Malon managed to block but was thrown onto the ground from the powerful impact behind the attack.

He was facing someone far stronger than him, so even blocking the attacks was going to cause some damage.

A few murmurs began to spread through the crowd again as Isavior slowly made his way closer to Malon, who was scraping to get off the floor.

“Poor guy…”

“What can he do?”

“He only has a shield. How can he do anything with that?”

“Truly a rotten apple of the Hevest family.” Said a noble-looking moosh, who got several glares by the common folk as he said this.

Hearing those words caused Malon to have a slightly pale expression. He got to his feet, quickly beginning to run again.

‘Those words have haunted me for so long.’ He thought to himself as he continued to run.

“Seriously, what kind of God would punish a person with such a power.”

On hearing this from the crowd, Malon exhaled slightly–his eyes drifting to his shield for a second.

*SWIPE*

*CLANG*

He was thrown to the ground again, ‘Damn it! Stop getting distracted! You’ve heard this for so long…’ Malon mused, backing up from Isavior who slowly walked closer.

‘You’ve gotten used to it. You’ve gotten used–‘

*SWIPE*

This time, Isavior’s slash landed, lashing across Malon’s abdomen and tearing him open.

“ARGH!” Malon exclaimed in pain, getting back up to his feet as he clutched his abdomen and began to run.

*SWIPE*

It landed again, slashing across both of his back hamstrings and causing him to stumble forward and roll across the ground.

Panting, he lay on his back.

*SWIPE SWIPE SWIPE*

The sword slashes flew towards him at immense speeds.

*CLANG CLANG*

He managed to block a few, but he still got slashed here and there.

‘Damn it! Damn it!’ He attempted to get back up, but he fell right back down again.

‘Fuck!’ He screamed inwardly.

*SWIPE*

He turned on hearing this, positioning his shield toward the blade.

*CLA–CRACK*

His shield tore in half, digging into his body.

“AGGHK!” He exclaimed, making his wrist normal again and regenerating the shield. He turned, attempting to get up as he rolled over onto his stomach.

‘Stupid fucking shield! Can’t you even block anything!? I already can’t attack to save my life, just do something for a change!’ He screamed inwardly.

*SWIPE*

Another attack slashed across his back.

*SWIPE SWIPE*

His tricep was cut open, and then his calves took on a blow. He turned again, heavily panting as Isavior stood above him with a disgusted look on his face.

“I should just end you right here. Failure.” The man said under his breath so that only Malon could hear it.

At that moment, a flurry of emotions surged through Malon’s brain.

*SWIPE*

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep