369 Prince Vs. Prince
Fwoosh—!!
Lucas evaded a dangerously fast sword slash by sidestepping. He then rolled on the ground and quickly sprang to his feet.
It was enough time for his opponent to lunge at him from behind. His opponent was a young man with ashen hair and silken gray skin.
He had a tall and robust figure with firm muscles rolling under his red and black robes like boulders made of steel.
He wielded a longsword that he deftly swung at Lucas's right shoulder, aiming to chop his hand off.
Lucas reacted with the speed of lightning and spun around on his feet, swirling his jian in a wide arc.
Lucas' sword intercepted the long blade of his opponent, changing its trajectory just in time.
Thwaam—!!
His opponent's longsword struck the spot on the ground beside Lucas, instantly cracking the concrete.
With his hands and longsword out of the way, Lucas' opponent had his entire front side left wide open, making him vulnerable to follow-up attacks.
Of course, Lucas didn't let go of this sweet opportunity. He quickly raised his leg and ruthlessly thrust it forward.
The forceful front kick landed sharply on the robust young man's sternum, causing him to slide backward. He then drove his sword into the concrete ground to kill the inertia and come to a stop.
It had been six months since Lucas arrived at Mount Hua with Leo.
Under Ifa Zenith's harsh training, he had grown significantly.
Lucas' height had notably increased, and his physique had become more defined. In simpler words, he looked taller and more shredded.
He still retained his slender yet toned figure, but his muscular build was now impossible to ignore even from under the red and black robes of Mount Hua.
Even his silver hair had grown so much, now falling down to his shoulder blades.
But despite his growth, Lucas' opponent was still at least a whole foot taller than him, and unnaturally more muscular.
Regardless of that, however, Lucas' kick still managed to push him back, as if his massive frame and bulging muscles were just for show.
The luminous sun hung in the center of the cloudless blue sky, illuminating the entire colosseum below.
A gentle breeze, carrying the scent of spring, lifted Lucas' shoulder-length silver hair forward, while the lower edge of his opponent's robes fluttered backward.
The robust young man clenched his teeth in a blinding rage. He glared furiously at the silver-haired boy in front of him and spat, "I'll kill you, Morningstar!"
Lucas chuckled as if he had heard a joke after a long time.
Raising his jian and pointing it at his opponent, he retorted to the threat, "At this point, you guys are just embarrassing yourselves. I'll be generous and offer you a way out, Arnold. Grovel before me now, beg for mercy, and I will at least not break both your arms."
The young man named Arnold widened his eyes, which were bloodshot-red from clear anger, and yelled, "Break my arms?! Now I will definitely kill you, brat!"
As soon as those words left his lips, Arnold dislodged his sword from the ground and charged forward like a raging bull about to go on a murderous rampage.
Right now, Lucas and Arnold were fighting a battle to submission in a dueling coliseum owned by Mount Hua.
The whole audience stand was brimming with spectators. In fact, the entire venue was so crowded that people were short of seats and were standing around to look at the match.
This was to be expected.
After all, this match had been in the making for two months. Yes, for two long months, the people of Mount Hua had been eagerly anticipating this fight.
No matter who they were - instructors or disciples - everyone was hyped for the face-off between Lucas and Alfa.
Morningstar versus Zenith.
Prince versus Prince.
The backstory to this fight was rather simple and straightforward.
In short, around the end of last year, Alfa began causing trouble for Lucas. It started off as typical bullying and stuff.
The reason was simple - he didn't like the fact that Lucas was training with Trish.
Now naturally, bullying someone as proud and narcissistic as Lucas was sure to yield consequences.
Within a matter of days, Lucas began biting his poor bullies back and their plan to subdue him backfired.
Usually, anyone bold enough to challenge Alfa's authority would have met with an 'unfortunate accident.'
However, Lucas not only hailed from one of the four ruling houses but was also the direct disciple of Leo Kurogami and Ifa Zenith.
To top it all off, the guy was ridiculously strong. His status and strength made it challenging to crush him.
And as if that wasn't enough, he had an unyielding spirit, so the so-called bullying and pathetic attempts at threats were not very effective against him.
But Alfa Zenith was not one to back down either. After all, he was also very prideful like the certain silver-haired boy.
Soon enough, fights started breaking out.
On one side was Lucas while on the other side was Alfa and his whole gang.
It was evident that Mount Hua wasn't big enough for two princes, and a deadly clash was inevitable.
In an attempt to defuse the situation before it escalated into a full-blown bloodbath, the officials of Mount Hua cleverly suggested a way to settle the matter peacefully.
Or… at least as peacefully as a matter like this could be settled.
They suggested a formal showdown in the dueling arena, before thousands of spectators.
More than half of Mount Hua would be present there – instructors, disciples, even some of the high-ranking officials and the Sect Leader, Selena Zenith.
The loser would have to apologize to the victor, and they would vow to put this matter to rest in front of the Sect Leader.
Naturally, Alfa, with his fox-like mind, added a condition to the match.
He said that before fighting him, Lucas must first fight his subordinates.
In his words, "Why should a Prince deign to fight an unworthy peasant?"
So basically, by first fighting his group, Lucas was simply 'proving his worth' to ultimately face him.
Lucas, of course, had no objections.
Why would he?
He would have the chance to publicly humiliate the bugs who dared to pester him and bask in the glory of conquering a weak opponent!
The cheers and applause he would get from the crowd… Oh, it was everything he could have wished for~!
Right now, Lucas had already defeated twelve out of thirteen of Alfa Zenith's lackeys.
Once he defeated Arnold, he would have the right to beat the everliving fuck out of the Prince of Mount Hua himself!
