"...Lord Phainon! The kremnoan detachment outside the city is on the move!" The messenger's voice was sharp with urgency and unease.
"Oh? What are they doing?" Phainon asked, feigning calm composure.
"It seems... Crown Prince Mydei of the kremnoan detachment has stepped out personally! And just now, your brother, Lord Phaethon... he, he rushed out of the city gate alone!"
**BOOM——!!!**
Almost before the messenger's words had fully landed, a deep, earth-shaking roar erupted from the direction outside the walls! The sound hit Phainon like a physical blow to the chest!
"What?!" Phainon's composure shattered instantly.
"No! What's a fragile human like him doing out there?! Trying to feed himself to the enemy?!" he practically roared, "Quick! Everyone who can move! Follow me out of the city! Now!!!" Before the words had even finished, he had already transformed into a streak of golden light, racing toward the city gates in a frenzy.
...
Outside the city, the atmosphere was as heavy and frozen as solid lead.
The kremnoan detachment stood like a formation of silent black reefs.
At the front was Mydei—Crown Prince of the Kremnos. He is tall and will built, his muscles packed with strength. Merely standing there, he exuded a terrifying pressure, like a primordial beast awakening, making the very air congeal.
Proud and solitary as a lion king, his crimson-gold eyes locked onto the exceptionally slender figure opposite him—Phaethon.
"You coddled hyena," Mydei's voice was low, resonant, dripping with the contempt of one looking down at an insect, "Have the people of Okhema sent you out as an Envoy for—"
**HUM——BOOM!!!!!!!**
Before he could finish!
A pillar of pure, searing white light, thick as a temple column and so pure it made souls tremble, erupted without warning from beside Phaethon!
It slammed with pinpoint accuracy into the empty ground between the kremnoan detachment' formation and Okhema's towering walls!
**BOOM!!!**
The earth convulsed violently! A ring of violent energy shockwaves exploded outwards!
The ground touched by the light pillar instantly vaporized and melted, forming a bottomless crater!
The frozen earth for dozens of meters around cracked and flew up like fragile glass!
Countless rocks and dirt were snatched up as if by an invisible giant hand and violently hurled into the sky, creating a blinding, sky-darkening rain of mud and stone that crashed down upon the space between the two armies!
Dust billowed. Mydei's next words were choked off in his throat.
The contempt on his face froze solid, his crimson-gold pupils contracting sharply at this sudden, near-divine punishment.
Behind him, the kremnoan detachment broke into an uproar, their formation showing clear disturbance. The front-line warriors instinctively took half a step back, their warhorses whinnying nervously.
As the dust slowly settled, it revealed Phaethon's still-calm figure, as if the earth-shattering blast had nothing to do with him.
He brushed non-existent dust from his clothes and looked back at Mydei.
Mydei: "..." He remained silent for a full three breaths, his Adam's apple bobbing as if digesting the exaggerated scene.
Finally, with a rare, almost imperceptible stiffness, he spoke honestly: "...I admire your... courage." Even as he said it, the words felt wrong.
"Save the talk," Phaethon's tone was brisk and matter-of-fact, as if discussing what to have for dinner. "I know you just seek a place for your people to settle, and I respect the kremnoans' tradition of deciding things by duel."
He placed particular emphasis on the word "duel." "So, a duel. Just you and me. Saves the common soldiers unnecessary casualties. If I win, we sit down and talk properly. How about it?" Phaethon laid out his proposal.
A strange light flickered in Mydei's crimson-gold eyes: *Hah, impatient, and... you seems to know me well? But I applaud you for daring to challenge me alone?*
"I like your spirit," Mydei's voice regained some of its lion-like pride. His massive fists slowly clenched, knuckles popping with a heart-stopping sound, "And I commend your courage. Therefore..." He grinned, revealing a mouth of stark white teeth, his smile filled with pure, wild battle-lust, "I shall grant you a fitting end, worthy of a warrior! I accept!"
"Good." Phaethon nodded, pointing towards the massed troops behind Mydei. "Have your army pull back. Clear us a field big enough for us to... 'stretch our legs'. Don't let them get in the way."
The kremnoan detachment retreated a hundred paces (approx. 100 meters) in unison at a look from Mydei.
"Further back!" Phaethon's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetration.
The kremnoan detachment retreated another three hundred paces (approx. 300 meters).
Phaethon sighed, sweeping a gaze over the kremnoan detachment as if looking at fools. "Do you really think 300 meters... is enough to keep you safe from the aftershocks when your Crown Prince here, who could throw mountains around like sandbags, fights me?" He raised his voice, laced with obvious sarcasm: "Get back beyond 1000 meters! The further, the better!"
"ROAR——!" An angry roar erupted from the kremnoan detachment ranks, the warriors feeling insulted.
But amidst the commotion, an old warrior with white hair and beard barked a sharp reprimand.
Finally, the fierce army, seething with humiliation and rage, pulled back like a herd of driven beasts, withdrawing all the way behind a small hill about a kilometer from the center point before stopping.
Many soldiers craned their necks, glaring deathly in Phaethon's direction.
"Bold lad!" Mydei wasn't angered; instead, he let out a bell-like laugh, the battle-lust in his eyes burning brighter! He rolled his neck, producing sharp *crack-crack* sounds, the coiling muscles all over his body swelling and shifting like living dragons.
A visible wave of dark red, flame like energy aura rose from him, the ground beneath his feet silently sinking and cracking! The terrifying pressure of his presence was so intense it made soldiers far away on the city walls feel suffocated!
"Let's see what you're capable of! Surely you don't mistake my people's for those worthless Council elders in your city, who only know how to revel in pleasure?!" Mydei's roar thundered, rolling across the wilds.
Phaethon's inner thoughts: *See, this is what you call reputation. Even the enemy knows the Council is useless.*
"Mydei, get ready." Phaethon seemed utterly unaffected by the terrifying pressure that would crush an ordinary person.
He leisurely pulled out a Balance Coin glinting with a metallic coldness from his chest. "See this?" He showed the coin to Mydei.
Mydei's crimson-gold eyes locked onto the small coin, and he gave a slight nod.
"The rules are simple." Phaethon's voice was clear and calm. "I will toss this high into the air. While the coin is in the air, we may both begin preparing any means at our disposal. The moment it lands and makes a sound—" He paused, his gaze sharp as a blade's edge, "—that is the moment the duel officially begins! Any objections?"