I Reincarnated as the Bastard Prince? Well, At least I'm OP!-Chapter 28: The duel

Raven stirred from her sleep and woke up with a yawn.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was me, sitting cross-legged beside her.

"Rise and shine," I said gently. "It’s time we leave this godforsaken place."

Before she could respond, I showed her the strands of Ice Giant I gathered in my pack.

Raven’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it. "Are those what I think they are?"

I nodded, "Indeed. Now we can move to the final stage of the exam."

The others began to wake up as well.

"The blizzard’s gone," Anais said, peering out the frosted window. "It’s... it’s actually over. What a miracle."

When they saw the Ice Giant hairs in my hand, they all stiffened.

"How did you get those?" Anais asked, his jaws ajar.

"I found them near the mountain ridge," I lied smoothly. "When I woke up, the blizzard had stopped. You were all still asleep. I wandered a bit until I stumble upon these hairs, lying in the snow."

They all believed my lies without question. Every single one of them except Raven.

Raven knew I had done much more than I claimed. But she wasn’t going to probe me any further.

She seemed glad amd relived that I finally solved their major problem. That was enough for her.

Just then, Dawken and his lackeys woke up as well.

At first they were startled to find their blankets were yanked off them during the night.

This infuriated Dawken.

"Who dare took my blanket?" Dawken demanded, his voice booming in rage. "Trying to freeze me to death!?"

He darted his angry eyes to us, finally settling on the Ice Giant hairs.

His face lit up.

"Well, well..." he grinned, rising to his feet and rubbing his palms together. "You children are full of surprises. Where did you get those?"

No one replied him. We were too wary to reply him.

"Well, no matter," he stretched out his hand, a smug smile appearing on his face. "Hand them over."

Raven stepped between us, her arms spread wide. "Not happening. I won’t let you do that."

Dawken scowled, his grin vanishing. "Don’t start, Raven. We had a deal. Half of everything you worked for."

"That deal was never fair," she fired back at him. "You’re cheating, preying on us because we are weaker. But that’s where you’re wrong. We are not weak. We’ve faced Giant Snow eagles and survived direwolves. You don’t scare us."

Raven’s words seem to have taken effect on the others.

Anais stepped forward, his eyes drawn to a frown. "Raven is right. I’m not taking orders from a bully like you."

Pandra followed suit, her eyes hard. "You held a dagger to my neck. That’s unforgivable. Enough is enough. I’ll take you on if I have to."

The others joined Raven, standing up to Dawken and his lackeys. There were no atom of fear in their eyes.

Dawken hadn’t expected this little rebellion but it wasn’t enough to shake him.

He scoffed, raising his hand. "You must’ve thought you’re all hot stuff. I’m still more powerful than you seven put together."

Violet energy began pooling in his palm, ready to be unleashed. "Raven may prove difficult for me but I won’t hold back even against her."

"Then how about a duel?" I suggested, stepping forward. "Winner takes it all. Losers stay behind—disqualified."

Dawken narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"All these while, you haven’t proven to us how strong you are as a mage," I said. "If you’re all talks, we wouldn’t be intimidated by you. Show us your full strength by dueling with us or you could just kill us and wander off like a loser."

Dawken lowered his hand, his mind racing.

"Don’t listen to him, Dawken," one of his lackeys said. "We can take them, just the three of us. They’re obviously trying to bluff their way out of this."

But Dawken was no fool. He was an asshole with a big ego.

I’ve seen his type at the office I once worked.

They’re the big mouthed ones, always talking down on those below them.

Their ego are fragile. Due to their insecurity, they are always out to prove themselves.

Dawken was much like that. My experienced eyes could see through the airs he was putting on.

"Very well," Dawken smirked wickedly. "I’ll duel with anyone of my pickings. Whoever emerges victorious takes it all."

"But that’s not fair," Anais protested. "We can’t go up against you by ourselves. It should be a team duel."

"You are one to talk," Dawken wrinkled his nose. "There are seven of you and three of my party. How is that fair?"

Raven turned sharply to me and whispered. "Hope you know what you’re doing?"

I winked at her. "Trust me."

Raven smiled. She seemed to have a lot of faith in me.

"Agreed," she said, facing Dawken. "Loser stays behind. Choose your contender."

Dawken won’t pick Raven.

He still believed the lie that she took down the elder lich all by herself. He wouldn’t risk dueling with her.

The person he was likely to pick was someone he felt was weaker than him.

Someone who suggested the duel in the first place.

He pointed his finger at me. "Me and you, boy. Outside."

* * * *

Dawken and I faced each other outside the camp.

The others formed a loose circle around us, watching with eager eyes.

"So, what are the rules?" I asked Dawken.

"I don’t believe in rules," he said, his smile stretching up to his face. "I’ll keep going until you stop breathing."

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

Dawken smirked, raising his hand. "I’ll start with the basics. Let’s see how you take this."

Violet magic energy pooed at his fingertips.

In a split second, he unleashed three bolts of violet energy towards me.

I sidestepped, letting the bolt sail past me. It exploded against a snowbank, sending up a plume of powdery white all over the place.

Dawken’s gaze faltered for a second, but his smirk returned.

"Not bad," he said coolly. "I never expected you to dodged my attack so effortlessly. Let’s see how you handle this."

This time, he raised both hands, summoning an even larger, more concentrated blasts of lightening.

He fired the blast at me with everything he got.

I summoned a partial barrier just in time, shielding me from impact. The blast struck with a thunderous crack across my barrier but it held strong, absorbing it’s energy effortlessly.

Dawken’s smirked slipped off. He couldn’t believe it.

My party were also surprised. They never expected me to block Dawken’s strongest attack like that.

"Wow," Pandra said. "Archer is amazing."

"I never knew he could do that," Odessa added. "He’s so cool."

Dawken’s lackey urged him on. "Dawken, it’s just a fluke. You’ve got this."

"Shut up," Dawken snapped at them. "You actually think I’ll lose to a child like that?"

"It’s best you surrender, Dawken," I said, drawing his attention back to me. "Unless you still want to go. I’ll defeat you."

Dawken chuckled as he tilted his head. "Interesting. I must admit, you’re better than I thought. But don’t rejoice yet. I haven’t even gotten serious yet."

He reached to his waist and drew his long sword. He began whispering an incantation.

Violet flame danced along it’s edges, reinforcing it’s magic.

"One cut from this sword would scorch your skin," Dawken taunted. "Let’s see how you’ll handle this."

He was getting serious, so should I.

"INVERSE BARRIER," I whispered under my breath.

Suddenly, an invisible barrier shrouded only Dawken and I inside.

The Inverse Barrier was a barrier I developed to create mirrored illusion, hiding the true events inside the barrier while showing outsiders the opposite of it’s reality.

Now I could go all out, knowing those outside would see a different fighting entirely.

Without warning, Dawken surged forward.

He was fast, slashing high and low, them jabbing at me with relentless strength.

I dodged all his strikes, his blade missing me by inches each time.

My eyes studied his every moves, the rhythm of his footfalls and his fighting style.

He was using the Moon Blade Dance, a sword art native to the western coast of King Godfrey III kingdom.

It involves a lot of sword swinging, covering up distances and blending blade clashes with magic firepower.

Every knights in King Godfrey kingdom adopts this sword art. I’ve seen it over and over again.

Dawken unleashed a torrent of violet magic energy at me while slashing diagonally but I managed to dodged it all.

"Stop dodging, you rat," he swore under his breath. "Fight me like a real man. Let me kill you."

I didn’t answer him.

Instead, I opened my Infinity Vault and drew out the Dragon’s Tooth.

At first Dawken was stunned at the intricate design of my dagger.

"Where did you get that?" He demanded.

I beckoned him forward. "Why ask questions. Why not just come at me?"

He grinned. "Finally, a real fight. I’m going to enjoy this. Die."

He covered the distance between us in a flash and swung for my neck, but my blade blocked his strike from decapitating my head.

Dawken gritted his teeth in disappointment.

"I’m not done yet!" he shouted, raising his other hand and formed a sphere of raw energy blast.

Before he could fire it, I leapt in the air and kicked him hard in the chest with both feet.

The impact launched him backward. He crashed to the ground hard like a fallen tree.

"I’m not going to lose to you, Dawken," I stood tall. "You made a mistake picking me. I’ll be the one who humbles you."

Dawken struggled to his feet, breathing heavily. That double kick on his chest must’ve shaken him.

"I underestimated you," he muttered, spreading his legs wide. Then with a gleam in his eyes, he focused his magic at me. "If I can’t take you down with me, then I’ll need some assistance from hell."

Suddenly, he made a cut in his hand and began summoning a demon.

I was startled. That was a forbidden spell.

It’s the type for demon summoning. Why was Dawken conjuring such magic in a friendly duel like this?

A black sigil swirling with strange symbols appeared on the ground.

The moment Dawken’s blood hit the sigil, a demon emerged out of the swirling glyphs.

Dawken passed a tongue across his lips, his eyes filled with desperation. "Demon, I offer you my soul. Now, kill that boy."

This guy. He seriously summoned a demon over a duel match. How low could he possibly go to win?

The demon looked like a human-sized bat creature with an expanded jagged wings and long claws as sharp as razor.

"You fool," I barked at him. "You’d trade your soul over a simple duel?"

"I’m not going to lose to a child," Dawken laughed maniacally. "It’s your fault pushing me to use my last resort. For that, you must die."

The demon faced me, ready to strike.

I sighed. "Very well. If you’re going to play it that way, then I won’t hold back either."

Taking a deep breath, I uttered, "Skadra, appear."

Skadra, the Ice Queen’s princess appeared beside me.

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