Chapter 1111: Chapter 271: As You Wish, Marquis
The Nun Princess Magdal was completely stunned. Among the core clauses laid down by the Flame Temple, nobles from Ancient Times were under protection. Though they still had to be punished if they committed wrongs, if anyone dared to strike at them in the dark, that would be an unforgivable crime. So when nobles clashed with nobles, they usually had to look for all kinds of high‑sounding pretexts. Of course, there was no lack of poisoning and assassination in secret, but that sort of thing was always shady business. No one had ever dared to do it so openly right inside the Holy Temple.
Magdal had opened her mouth in the first place because she was afraid Brand would get worked up and do something reckless, but she hadn’t expected she would still be a step too late. For a moment she couldn’t help staring at Brand, dumbfounded, yet all she saw in the young man’s eyes was a chilling cold light.
Brand had never been someone with a good temper; no one had ever dared to casually talk about hurting his people right to his face. Let alone a man actually laying hands on a Soft girl—stuff like that. As a staunch supporter of male chauvinism, Brand absolutely could not accept this set of practices from Marquis You Xi. Right now, in his eyes, this guy basically belonged to that category of people who were in dire need of some "education."
"You really are good at slapping hats on people, Lord," Brand answered coldly. "Did I sneak‑attack you?"
"You clearly—" Marquis You Xi suddenly turned his head. The Dagger Brand had thrown earlier was lodged in the colonnade at the back of the courtyard, almost buried to the hilt, and pinned to the Dagger was a white glove.
"You..."
Marquis You Xi was instantly a bit dumbstruck. Only now did he notice that at some point Brand had taken off one glove, and from taking it off to throwing the Dagger, not a single person present had clearly seen his movement. What kind of strength was that? He raised his head to look at Brand. "You actually want to duel me? Do you know who I am?"
"And who are you?" Brand had already decided in his heart to teach the other party a lesson, but on the surface he pretended to be taken aback.
"I am the former Your Majesty’s cousin! The current Your Majesty’s uncle! You damned country bumpkin!" Marquis You Xi roared. His status was special; when the old King was still alive, he had doted on him excessively. And since he had no interest in the throne, Oberg the Seventh also let this cousin run wild. As a result, his privileges were enormous. Inside the kingdom’s circle of nobles, aside from a few Dukes who held great power, there was basically no one who dared to provoke him. Of course, Marquis You Xi wasn’t stupid enough to go pick a fight with those Dukes who each dominated their own regions either. So in his several decades of debauched life, he had practically never encountered any real setbacks.
Even when he did get injured, it had only happened a mere handful of times, and this was the first time he’d ever been hurt by an outsider.
The Marquis couldn’t help fixing Brand with a resentful, venomous stare as he said coldly, "You’re dead."
"Ah!" Brand suddenly acted as if he’d been startled. "You said you’re the current Your Majesty’s uncle—don’t tell me you’re that Marquis You Xi?"
"Exactly. Well, country bumpkin, do you still want to duel me?" Marquis You Xi thought Brand was scared and couldn’t help showing a cruel smile. "But it’s already too late for you to repent now. I’ll let you taste what Hell is. Your women—I’ll have them watch you writhe in agony before their eyes, kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy!"
"Marquis, mind your words and actions!" The Nun Princess finally reacted at this moment. She had already made up her mind to help Brand out. She might not know this young man’s identity, but Marquis You Xi’s behavior truly made her sick. And as a Princess of a Duchy, while also being closely connected to the Holy Temple, Magdal still held a certain amount of influence inside the kingdom.
But what neither of them expected was that Brand was cursing "damn it" in his heart at this very moment. He hadn’t expected this Marquis would really follow the pole all the way up. He had long since heard all sorts of messy rumors about this Marquis in Amber Sword, but he hadn’t imagined that upon seeing him in person, the other party’s level of brain damage would still exceed his expectations. Looking at this guy with veins popping on his forehead, he couldn’t help feeling a bit sadly amused, wondering if this was the most brain‑dead opponent he had encountered since crossing over to this World.
"You’re already a man in your fifties or sixties—can you not act so damn chuunibyou? Is it possible to not be this melodramatic?" Brand couldn’t help shaking his head. Holding Magdal back with one hand, he replied in a somewhat offhand manner, "No, I think you’ve misunderstood, Marquis. I certainly wouldn’t dare duel you. I’ve heard you’re trash in the nobles’ circle; if I dueled you, wouldn’t that ruin my own reputation?"
As soon as Brand said this, the courtyard seemed to fall abruptly silent. A sea breeze blew in from the western waters off Ambeser, and the flowers and trees in the courtyard rustled softly.
The Nun Princess, Marquis You Xi, and his subordinates all stopped and stared at this young man in amazement, as if they’d just experienced an auditory hallucination. It took Marquis You Xi a good while to react and realize Brand had been mocking him all along. The arrogant noble almost went mad with rage and immediately roared, completely without any gentlemanly bearing, "Kagbo, go duel him!"
In Erune and Kruz, the nobles had long since been corroded by a life of drunken luxury; unlike a century ago, there was no longer a time when everyone possessed excellent swordsmanship. However, the trend of dueling still flourished in the upper‑class circle of nobles. To deal with rivals in love, opponents, or challenges from other quarters, nobles often had their personal Attendants fight their duels in their stead. This had already become one of the generally accepted rules. So at this moment, there was nothing at all inappropriate about Marquis You Xi giving that order.
Brand no longer had any Attendants at his side and could only draw his Sword himself. He looked up and immediately saw a large‑framed Swordsman step out from behind Marquis You Xi. Brand secretly gathered his focus. Although he had deliberately enraged Marquis You Xi to try and make him strike personally, he didn’t look down on the other party in the slightest. From what this Marquis had described, Qian should have been injured by that same subordinate. And while Qian’s combat technique was on the weaker side, she was still at Golden Peak level. For the other side to take Qian down so casually, they probably had at least the strength of Elemental Manifestation.
Speaking of Elemental Manifestation, there were only a handful of people in all of Erune with that kind of power. As soon as he saw that Swordsman step out, Brand instantly recognized him.
It was actually him—
Eagle Djal, the man who was as famous as Cross Hand Buga and Silver Knight Sivia, known as one of Anlek’s Three Swordsmen, a Great Sword Master. But unlike Buga, both he and Sivia served under Duke Anliek. So why was he appearing at Marquis You Xi’s side right now?
Brand was actually slightly taken aback.
...
(I originally said I’d do a double Chapter today, but something came up at the last minute, so I’ll just post one for now, mwah to everyone in the group...)(To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you’re welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast a recommendation ticket or Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
