Chapter 149: Filial Piety
Wadsworth dismissed the guards stationed near the residence and pushed open the door alone.
A stifling atmosphere permeated the room, dimly lit by a magic lamp. A figure sat motionless in a chair, like a statue shrouded in shadows.
It was his son.
Once the Grand Prince of the Auville Empire.
But now, he looked incredibly haggard, as if he hadn’t slept well in a long time. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his skin was an unhealthy pale.
However, the Grand Prince didn’t appear tired. On the contrary, he seemed very alert.
His deeply sunken eyes gleamed with intense excitement, and his lips were curled into a nervous, almost manic grin. He was impatiently waiting for tomorrow…
He would kill the Hero in the arena, in front of everyone, proving to them that he was superior.
He would make that foolish woman Anastasia understand who the true powerhouse was.
Although he looked disheveled and haggard, the Grand Prince’s clothes were neat and clean. His posture, sitting upright in the chair, still exuded nobility and elegance. Even in his downfall, he seemed unwilling to lose his dignity.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the Grand Prince finally raised his eyelids, glancing at the newcomer with a mocking smile. “I wondered who it was. So it’s my most beloved father. Have you also come to see your son’s downfall?”
He had seen many such people these days. A fallen phoenix was truly not as good as a chicken. Even the servants who used to grovel at his feet, their faces full of flattery, now dared to bare their fangs at him.
With the Grand Prince’s strength, killing those fools wouldn’t take any effort at all. But the current Grand Prince was too lazy to bother with them. His only target was Qin Chu. He had to adjust himself to his best condition and defeat Qin Chu with absolute strength, proving his power to the world.
Others might underestimate the Hero, but the Grand Prince wouldn’t.
He had arranged for more than a dozen elite assassins to kill Qin Chu, but they were all wiped out. From that moment on, the Grand Prince knew that Qin Chu had been hiding his strength. He was far more powerful than people imagined.
However, the Grand Prince had absolute confidence in his own strength, because he had obtained a strange and powerful force from the Void.
He was far stronger than Qin Chu now.
He wouldn’t lose.
When he unleashed his power, he would shock everyone, and his father would regret his decision.
Wadsworth sighed softly. His expression was no longer his usual gruffness, but tinged with melancholy.
He didn’t answer his son’s question directly, but silently walked over and placed a set of knight’s armor beside the Grand Prince, “Your formal clothes are not suitable for battle. Wear this tomorrow.”
He also placed the Grand Prince’s sword beside the armor.
The Grand Prince’s body trembled slightly. He looked at Wadsworth in disbelief, surprised by his father’s actions.
“No matter what, you’re still my son, the one I value the most…”
“I’ve always raised you as my heir. You have great talent, and you’ve always made me proud. You don’t know how happy I was when others praised you.”
“But why did you have to fall for Loseweisse… You’re not stupid. You should know how intense the conflict is between the Empire and the Holy See, despite the superficial harmony.”
“No matter what, I will never allow you to be with Loseweisse.”
The Grand Prince lowered his eyelids, his fingers subconsciously clenching, but he didn’t speak. No one knew what he was feeling right now.
This was the first time his father had spoken to him with such an attitude and tone, which made the Grand Prince feel a little lost.
Perhaps only in this situation was Wadsworth not an emperor, but a father.
Wadsworth also seemed a little uncomfortable with this atmosphere. He shook his head anxiously and stood up, seemingly about to leave. But when he reached the door, he suddenly stopped, “Tomorrow, you must win.”
“There’s a potion inside the armor that can greatly increase your strength in a short time. For the glory of the Aberchian family, you absolutely cannot lose.”
“After you win, to appease the Hero’s resentment towards the royal family, I will strip you of your royal status, but I will give you your freedom. If you still want to pursue Loseweisse, go ahead, use your strength to conquer her.”
After saying these words, Wadsworth left without looking back.
Inside the room, the Grand Prince’s eyes gleamed, and his body trembled slightly with excitement.
After a long time, he murmured:
“Father, I will not disappoint you!”
On the other side, the fatherly expression on Wadsworth’s face vanished the moment he stepped out of the room, replaced by a hawk-like, sinister look.
Just making use of waste.
Wadsworth hoped to use his foolish son to force out the Hero’s full strength.
He couldn’t describe this feeling. This Second Hero seemed far more mysterious and terrifying than the First Hero, sometimes even making Wadsworth’s hair stand on end. If he couldn’t know the Second Hero’s true strength and potential, he wouldn’t be able to sleep or eat in peace.
He wasn’t worried that the Grand Prince’s actions would affect his relationship with the Hero. After all, the Hero also knew that he and his son were like fire and water.
Moreover, if the Hero was really about to be killed by the Grand Prince, he could step in and kill his son in time, perhaps even gaining some favor with the Hero.
As the Emperor, he didn’t need any messy emotions. The interests of the Aberchian family were his top priority.
…
The next day.
The Arena.
This arena had a nice name: Knight’s Glory.
If there was a conflict between people? Put on your armor, pick up your weapons, and settle it here.
Of course, this kind of thing didn’t happen every day. Even if there was a conflict, it didn’t necessarily have to be resolved in Knight’s Glory. The rental fee for the venue was very expensive, so most of the time, it was actually used as an entertainment facility for nobles and wealthy people.
Strong men from the commoner district, in order to earn a high appearance fee, would wear their coarse clothes, carry their rusty weapons, and fight ferocious beasts here.
This tradition had lasted for a thousand years. The blood, gore, severed limbs, and shrill screams constantly stimulated the nerves of the nobles and the rich. Even after the appearance of the Demon Beasts, it hadn’t been cancelled. On the contrary, the owner here had developed a new way to play: capturing live Demon Beasts and letting dozens of commoners fight them. The ferocious Demon Beasts would tear apart one body after another, always eliciting shrill screams of excitement.
The entire building looked somewhat similar to the Colosseum in ancient Rome. The huge circular arena was surrounded by a large number of stone pillars, majestic and magnificent. The arena was enclosed by metal fences, reinforced by high-level mages, so there was no need to worry about the Demon Beasts breaking free from the cage.
Further away were a large number of stands, which could accommodate tens of thousands of spectators.
The owner was overjoyed today. All the seats in the arena were filled. Even after increasing the ticket price tenfold, they were still instantly sold out. His business hadn’t been this good for a long time.
After all, the duel between the Grand Prince and the Hero, one a renowned and talented member of the royal family, the other a Hero from another world with two Super-tier abilities, was truly eye-catching.
The two protagonists hadn’t appeared yet, but the arena was already packed.
Noisy voices filled the air, and there were even large crowds in the corridors and aisles. The owner shamelessly started selling standing tickets, and the price wasn’t any lower.
The only thing that made the owner unhappy was that the royal family, the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, and the Holy See took many tickets, all VIP seats, and they didn’t even pay… This made the owner curse them in his heart for three days and three nights.
In the VIP seats, Wadsworth, Saint Monique, Augustus, and Zimmerman sat in the center, with some members of the royal family, important figures from the Church, and Natia, the only representative from Sage Mountain besides Zimmerman, scattered behind them.
Natia had been in seclusion at Sage Mountain for the past few days. She seemed to need some time to calm down, but after hearing that Qin Chu was going to duel with the Grand Prince today, she couldn’t help but break through her seclusion and come.
At this moment, Natia was frowning, her face filled with visible worry.
Zimmerman glanced at his most outstanding disciple with a strange look. For Natia, who always had an indifferent expression, such an expression was extremely rare.
She definitely wasn’t worried about the Grand Prince… Could it be that the cabbage he had painstakingly raised was really going to be taken by the Hero?
This made Zimmerman feel the displeasure of an old father… Although he understood that Natia had to interact with this world, otherwise, her future would be very lonely and bleak. The Hero’s talent was undeniable, and he was indeed a good choice… But he was still displeased.
“Who do you think will win?” A lazy voice came from the royal family’s side.
It was the Third Prince, Bernard Aberchian.
His talent in Battle Qi wasn’t outstanding, but among all the princes, he was definitely the most insidious and cunning. After the Grand Prince fell from grace, Bernard was immediately entrusted with important tasks, and he was currently in his prime.
“The Hero will win,” replied a charming young lady in a purple dress.
A section of her slender leg was exposed beneath her skirt, her delicate toes swinging her black high heels back and forth, revealing the curve of her arch.
The black lace garter belt contrasted beautifully with her fair skin.
Bernard sighed helplessly. This was his younger sister, Carol Aberchian.
She had such a beautiful name… Well, her appearance was also quite beautiful, but her behavior was completely devoid of the
decorum expected of a royal family member. She even had her legs crossed… It was too inelegant.
Their father also had a headache because of Carol. He had arranged several etiquette teachers for her, but without exception, these elegant etiquette teachers were all driven away by Carol with a whip.
And her personality was extremely twisted. A young master from a duke’s family had a crush on Carol and once confessed to her publicly. As a result, his sister took out a metal collar from somewhere, saying that she didn’t need a boyfriend, but she hoped to have a well-behaved pet…
The duke’s face turned green at that time. Just thinking about that scene gave Bernard goosebumps.
It seemed that their father was preparing to send Carol to the Hero’s side. It should happen within the next few days.
Bernard withdrew his gaze, “Carol, you seem to have a lot of faith in the Hero? However, you might be overthinking it. Although I also hate Big Brother, his talent and strength are undeniable.”
Carol scoffed and didn’t say anything more.
Actually, almost everyone in the arena had similar thoughts to Bernard. No one thought Qin Chu could win. The difference in strength between the two was simply too great.
The Grand Prince’s public level was 75.
And the Hero’s public level was 47. His most notable achievement was defeating the level 60 Horn, seemingly through a sneak attack.
As everyone knew, the higher the level, the greater the difference between each level.
Although the Grand Prince was hit by dozens of beer bottles by Qin Chu at the banquet, that was because Qin Chu launched a shameless sneak attack, catching the Grand Prince off guard.
Once the Grand Prince was prepared, Qin Chu wouldn’t have a chance to launch a sneak attack.
At some point, the topic of discussion had changed. Even the gambling odds had changed from who would win to how long the Hero could last against the Grand Prince.
“I bet 1000 Mana that the Hero can last five minutes.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s the Grand Prince! Level 75, and the Hero is only level 47. With a 28 level difference, there’s no way he can last that long. Besides, I heard that the Hero even snatched the Grand Prince’s fiancée. Now, the Grand Prince’s fiancée is living in the Hero’s residence. Maybe they’ve already done this and that. Think about how the Grand Prince must be feeling, he must hate the Hero to death. Once the duel starts, I think it will be a storm. In that case, the Hero probably won’t even last a minute. I’ll also bet 1000, three seconds…”
“Don’t be so sure. Of course, I’m not saying the Hero can win, but haven’t you heard of a cat playing with a mouse? I think the Grand Prince won’t defeat the Hero so quickly. Maybe he’ll toy with him a bit, making him lose face in front of so many people. I bet half an hour…”
“Hehe, I don’t think so. I believe the Grand Prince will use his absolute power to instantly kill the Hero. I bet 500, one second…”
In the preparation room, Qin Chu sat quietly in a chair, his eyes closed, meditating.
Angelica, Violet, Ekaterina, Athena, and Anastasia were all accompanying him.
The soundproofing here wasn’t very good, and the voices outside clearly reached Angelica’s ears, making her feel very uncomfortable.
“Angelica, there’s no need to be angry at those people, they’re just having fun…” Qin Chu stretched lazily.
“But if no one bets on me winning at all, it would be a bit embarrassing.”
“Although my level isn’t as high as the Grand Prince’s, after three days and three nights of Athena’s guidance, I still have some confidence.”
Athena’s face flushed slightly, and she glared at Qin Chu.
“So let’s play a little too, a small gamble can be enjoyable…”
“Angelica, go place a bet, just a symbolic amount, don’t bet too much…”
“One hundred million will do!!”
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