Chapter 24:
Doppolia: A New Magical World
King Endo gazed at the wall for a while. He stood there as if reminiscing about the former owner who handed it to his father.
“This is where your belongings are, Mr. Satori,” He calmly explained. “Your armor… and the Tri-Carver. I decided to store them in here to serve as a reminder to myself… to surpass you.”
I began to subtly hear sympathy in his voice as he continued his story. “Back in your prime, you were the hero in everybody's eyes… including my father’s. He treated you like a brother, giving you more love than I had ever received.”
He went on, clearing his determined voice. “While you had disappeared, I took it upon myself to be the new face of Stalu, or perhaps, the new hero. I trained every day, honing my skills, to one day eliminate the Demon King that murdered my parents.”
King Endo lowered his head as he clenched his fist. He couldn’t erase his pain from the daunted memory that burned into his memories.
Soon after, the king turned his attention back to me. “Now that you’ve returned, wanting to reclaim the Tri-Carver, I must defend my position as the new hero of Stalu!” he declared.
Once he finished telling me his backstory, I understood why he wanted to fight me. He tried to fight me because of jealousy over his Father’s love for Mr. Satori.
Wow, mad because daddy didn’t give you enough attention. Tough luck, King. I didn’t get much attention back at home, but you don’t see me complaining!
I assumed the king solely took my saying as a threat because he’s the king. But who knew it was actually personal for him?
Also, I’m not Mr. Satori, so his problem wasn’t with me! But even if I explained my situation, I doubted he would listen.
His eyes locked onto me as he tossed his king's robe off his back. The aura emitting from his body intensified, threatening the atmosphere in the training ground.
Afterwards, he removed his white suit jacket and got comfortable. As he rolled up his sleeves, he revealed layers of bandages wrapped around his arms. What kind of training did he go through?
Judging by his usual appearance, I never would have guessed he trained that hard. Endo maintained his elegant image by hiding evidence of his intense training from the public.
Although the field was similar to the colosseum arena, it lacked bleachers for people to watch the fight safely. Because of that, the spectators remained standing towards the entrance to give the fighters space.
“That was a cheap stunt you pulled back there with your subordinate.” The king pointed out. “I see you have lost your honor, Satori. Not to say you had any before.”
“Subordinate?!” Anojin retorted to the king’s accusation. “I don’t work for this poser. In fact, he’s my subordinate because I’m stronger than he is!”
Anojin’s claims intrigued the king. Endo carefully inspected the crusader’s physique and shield. “Oh, really? Well, since you already regulated the rules, Mr. Satori, I assume we don’t need to have such minor things, such as honoring this battle. Do we?”
King Endo strolled to the table with scattered weapons. He picked them up, inspecting the quality of each blade. “Crusader. Since you claim to be stronger than Mr. Satori, I will allow you to join this battle. I believe a two versus one would be a fair judgment of my abilities.”
A two-on-one?! Gasps echoed from the crowd. Even the prince and princess were caught off guard by their older brother’s decision. I understood King Endo had immense power… but talk about overly confident.
Anojin released a light chuckle in response to the king’s suggestion. “Ha, don’t get ahead of yourself, king. In what world is that fair!”
The king inspected two long swords. The quality of the blades was average. However, he believed they were the perfect fit for the battle.
Anojin took his massive shield off his back, using his head to signal to me. “Hey, wannabe hero! Don’t bother trying to fight him. You couldn’t hit a piñata even if you weren’t blindfolded. Just stand behind me while I win this battle.”
“Shut up, stupid crusader.” I implied, smacking my lips at him. “I don’t need your help!”
“Of course you do! That’s because I’m the greatest cru-”
…
Suddenly, Anojin’s body flew backwards several yards, like a fast ball, towards the wall near the entrance. His body carved a massive dent into the stone wall. Thankfully, he avoided the prince and others.
As he crashed into the wall, an echoing boom rang in everyone’s ears. Everyone turned their attention to the ruckus near them.
Amada and Hinabe’s eyes widened in amazement at the power that targeted the crusader. He remained motionless as the debris crumbled around him. Hinabe immediately rushed over to heal Anojin’s injuries.
My body froze in shock. What happened to Anojin? I slowly turned my neck to where Anojin stood. To my surprise, King Endo stood with his blades extended in Anojin’s original position.
“Down goes one.” He seriously muttered.
The king erased all emotions and glared with his soulless eyes towards the crusader. In a split second, the king rushed to Anojin and struck him with the long swords.
I sharply glanced over at Anojin, with a look of worry planted on my face. Is he dead? My eyes did not adjust to the king’s movement.
Amada grew curious about the king’s attack, “What just happened? How did the king reach him so fast?”
Prince Kaito gladly answered her question. “Older brother uses a specific type of magic when he enters combat.”
“Allow me, Prince.” Garlan proposed. Prince Kaito approved his request. Garlan began his explanation. “King Endo’s feather magic allows himself to enhance his overall speed. He lightens his body as light as a feather, allowing him to produce lightning-fast attacks.”
“What! Isn’t that cheating?”
“It is definitely a form of magic that increases his chance of winning his battles. Unfortunately, despite the king’s speed being unmatched, his defense was his only flaw. That’s why he consistently trains his body every day.”
Garlan pointed towards the king’s bruised arms. “Those injuries are the result of his training.”
Amada and the others stood too far away from me. I was unable to hear their conversation, meaning I did not understand the king’s powers.
Amada averted her eyes towards the downed Anojin.
Hinabe extended her arms towards Anojin and proceeded to heal his injuries. “Are you ok, Anojin?”
“I’m amazing now that the beautiful Miss Hinabe is healing me.” The crusader charmingly shouted before switching back to my normal personality. “That king wasn’t bluffing.”
As he attempted to move, a sharp pain pierced his stomach. He gritted his teeth, trying to relieve the pain as he firmly held his stomach.
He groaned, “That attack hurt badly. It was so fast I couldn’t even see it. I had no time to use my block spell.”
“Stop moving. Let me heal your injuries before you get up.” Hinabe softly advised. Anojin happily took her advice and sat in the wall as Hinabe healed him.
…
With Anojin out of commission for the time being, I began to accept my fate. There was no way I could possibly defend myself against someone moving at the speed of light! It might be over for me!
After releasing his deadly attack, the king retracted his weapons and straightened his posture. Now, it was my turn.
“Unlike you, Mr. Satori, I haven’t lost my honor. I will allow you to choose any weapon you like from the table.”
I humbly accepted his offer and sprinted towards the table. There was a vast selection of different weapons to choose from. Long swords. Short daggers. Cleaver. Scythe. Which weapon do I pick?
If I can’t see him attack, I shouldn’t pick a short blade. But if I use a bigger sword, my swings would be easy for him to dodge. The Scythe looks cool, but I might cut myself before I can attack the king! Oh man… I hate decision-making! What’s the correct answer!?
I doubt I would land a hit on him. I need all the distance I can get. With that in mind, I quickly grabbed a great sword. Coincidentally, it was the same type of blade as the Tri-Carver. It was an average steel great sword.
The king took a quick exhale, amused by my choice. “I see… You want to defeat me with the weapon that resembles your own?” He shook his head in disappointment. “Still taunting your enemies, I see you haven’t changed.”
I held the giant sword with both hands. Compared to keeping Astra’s weapon, this great sword was twice as heavy. Judging from the blade, I could understand how Mr. Satori had developed such remarkable body strength. I had no choice but to fight. I leaned forward, pointing my blade towards the king.
King Endo responded with his own stance. He leaned his body forward and aimed both his long swords towards me, angled diagonally from each other. Although this was a personal fight for the king, he still showed his sportsmanship. “Let’s have a good fight, Mr. Satori.”
“Yeah, let’s-” Before I could finish my sentence, I was rudely interrupted by a sudden strong gust of wind. It felt like a wake-up call, snapping my senses to the threat in front of me. In the blink of an eye, the king cut the distance between us. He tricked me!
Forget about sportsmanship. He never had any intention of being a good sport during the battle. His blade pierced through the air.
Before I realized it, the fight was already beginning…
…
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