Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Chapter 567 Bargaining Chips

"you……"

Raslaufer's attack was deadly and swift, leaving Sid little time to devise a more comprehensive solution. He could only respond by following the third approach he had left behind. Although this change was not enough to completely lose the initiative in the short term, his plan to render Raslaufer incapable of fighting as soon as possible had completely fallen through.

Solve this Doppler in ten seconds? Haha.

Sid suddenly realized just how blindly confident he had been. No wonder his teacher had repeatedly warned him not to underestimate others before sending him here. He had thought it was a mistake made by his teacher after years of retirement.

However... he had challenged one-third of the top swordsmen in the seventeen kingdoms of Kolasund within three years, so he wouldn't fail here!

With his plan failing, and after a brief one-on-one exchange with Raslaufer, the others reacted and began to surround Sid. Angrina and Mary, also using the Corazond swordsmanship, were supported by Bella and Daisy. Although Mary's well-timed sneak attacks forced Sid to readjust his strategies, Angrina's attacks were far less effective, and Sid even used them to block Raslaufer and Mary's attacks, hoping to buy himself a chance to breathe.

However, as the fight lasted longer than either side expected, the Corazonde swordsman began to furrow his brow.

"Enough!" He suddenly feinted and jumped out of the circle. "Where did you learn your swordsmanship from?!"

None of these individuals followed the most orthodox Corazonde style, but Sid himself was a student of one of the "modern schools." There are countless Corazonde sword styles, as numerous as the stars in the sky, so he had no right to call them heretics or anything like that, but…

Have the Inasans all gone mad? Don't you have any martial arts skills of your own or what?!

He used to spar with Korazund in his hometown, and now he's in Inasas and still sparring with Korazund—so what's the point of his trip?

“Of course it’s based on the book,” Mary said with a cold laugh as she sheathed her sword. “The foundation is the ‘Mathias Richter system,’ with some modifications, but the foundation remains the same.”

“Your style is quite obvious,” Sid nodded, glancing at Angrita with a hint of disdain, “and this lady is probably the inheritor of the ‘hodgepodge system,’ even incorporating magic? Ha, magic.”

How can weak magic prevail over a well-trained body and mind? This was a view that the Corazonde swordsmanship had always touted, and Sid was naturally a follower of this argument.

“I can roughly discern the origins of your theories, but theory alone is far from sufficient—who is your teacher in actual combat? To enable you to improvise to this extent, he is certainly no nobody,” a glint of fanaticism flashed in Sid’s eyes, “or perhaps a sword saint who lives in seclusion in Inasas? I want to see him!”

This sudden request startled everyone. Then, Sid was astonished to see that Mary and Angelita's gazes were both fixed on Raslaufer in the middle, who was waiting for his response with a mocking look in his eyes.

“You guessed pretty accurately,” Dople casually stretched his shoulders. “The one who taught them was certainly not an unknown figure, but he wasn’t exactly a reclusive swordsman either.”

"...It's you?" Sid immediately rejected the answer after a brief moment of surprise. "No, that's impossible. Although you do know how to use it, and your control over distance is far beyond that of ordinary people, your skill level is even inferior to this person's..."

“Margaret, surnames are not important—but if you think I am a better swordsman than Lord Leslaufer, you are sorely mistaken.”

Mary took a half step back, giving Raslaufer some space. Even though she herself was proud of her talent in swordsmanship, it was precisely because of this that she could see more clearly the gap between herself and Raslaufer in this area.

“Old Ray’s super intelligence tells him that he should use superpowers to solve the problem,” Daisy muttered to herself, but Sid overheard her.

“If that’s the case…” Sid hesitated for a moment, “Your Excellency! I hope to have the opportunity to have a fair one-on-one duel with you! One of the most important reasons I left Kolasund this time was to find sword masters from all over the world to test my achievements.”

"Although you are still using the swordsmanship of Kolasund, you have combined it with your own martial arts. If that's the case, then my trip here has not been in vain!"

"Challenge me?" Leslaufer planted his black flame greatsword in the ground, leaning on his gauntlet as he looked at the young man before him. "Fine, but on what grounds?"

"I'm a mercenary, and I have more men on my side right now."

Generally speaking, to spare Reslaufer's interest, the poet ladies behind them would not even use spells like immobilization or command. If they really swarmed at them, let alone Sid, even the real Kolasond Sword Saint would not be able to gain much advantage.

Sid gritted his teeth, silently weighing the options in his mind: in his eyes, Finnan was a good-for-nothing with no real talent, and besides, this halfling mage had only shown a little interest in the things his teacher was involved in before...

It is something that can be sold.

“If you win, I’ll clear the way; not only that, I’ll help you catch that halfling!”

This was a very tempting price in Sid's eyes, but Leslaufer simply shook his head:

“I can kill you just as easily, you don’t need to worry about it—is there anything else? If not, you can die.”

"You—" This rejection, leaving no room for negotiation, left Sid seething with anger. He was the Sword Saint's last disciple; when had he ever been rejected like this? "I have nothing else to give you!"

"You don't have it, but I do!"

A shrill voice suddenly rang out from behind Sid, but it still came from a loudspeaker, with no sign of the halfling: "Your name is Raslaufer? Very well, whatever your name is, I am Finnan! I surrender to you! I've had enough of this two-faced scoundrel who appears out of nowhere!"

"If you can kill him, I'll surrender, tell you everything I know, and stop attacking your shitty king and his men!"

When Finnan stated the first two conditions, Reslaufer didn't pay much attention, but upon hearing the latter, he couldn't help but look up:

"Terminate? You've already made your move once?"

“It was just a test, but he seduced me!” Finnan spoke quickly and seemed a little nervous. “But let me tell you, I haven’t even used my ultimate weapon yet. If you insist on teaming up with this little brat who reeks of rotten fish, I’ll have no choice but to release him before I die! Neither of us wants things to come to that point, right?”

Henning and Raslaufer didn't care, but Skadi was still there. There was no need to consider just how powerful Finnan's "ultimate weapon" was; as long as he had a few of those two-headed tigers or petrifying lizards, those people would have a hard time handling him.

“See that?” Raslaufer walked straight toward Sid, the blade of his greatsword carving a deep furrow in the paving stones behind him. “Your bargaining chips have to be useful for it to be called ‘negotiation’.”

"However, I intend to grant both of your wishes at once—come on, one-on-one, you will die peacefully."

Chapter 568 Class Dismissal

The building the Scott family built for Finnan had corridors wide enough to allow giant beasts to move freely, but it was still not wide enough to deal with Raslaufer's greatsword.

The moment the blade slashed down like a raging black flame, Sid's rapier, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, rose up and thrust towards Raslaufer's eyes. Then, as Doppler parried, it transformed into a feint, instead slashing towards his opponent's thigh.

The Swift Sword in Sid's hand was just an ordinary weapon, but under his wielding, it seemed to be imbued with magic, the tip and blade leaving a trail of orange light as they cut through the air.

If Raslaufer had simply relied on his dwarven-forged armor to withstand the attack, his injury would have been inevitable. Sid would then turn his attacks to his shoulders and chest, slicing through the armor like butter and taking the warrior's life in the process.

He had tried it before in Western Inathas, where he defeated a black dragon named Mascara. If it weren't for the intervention of Dragon Pointer Fidel, she would have been severely injured or even killed by Sid on the spot.

Her supposedly blessed scales were utterly ineffective against his sword.

But the man before him was far superior to the Black Dragon. His movements appeared to be wide and sweeping, mainly consisting of slashing and even smashing, but in reality, he never strayed from the center line. This allowed him to further amplify his already superior strength and stamina, making it impossible for Sid to find any rhythm in his attack.

Even more fatally, although the opponent did not intend to use the Corazonde sword technique at all, the ground he was standing on was still the basic circle and tangent of all Corazonde sword techniques, which concealed all his weaknesses. If Sid wanted to attack rashly, he would only expose his own weak points in defense.

When both sides attack at the same time, the heavy greatsword will definitely strike him faster than the swift sword in his hand—the blade is almost two or even three times longer!

However, Sid was not only capable of passive defense. The Corazonde swordsman lightly touched the ground with his toes and took a half step back, his sheepskin boots leaving a crescent-shaped trail on the scorched earth. But it was just a feint. Raslaufer shattered the floor tiles beneath his feet with a single sword strike. Sid then used the momentum from the wall to leap up, pressing his entire weight onto Raslaufer's sword. At the same time, his swift sword danced out several afterimages, like a magnificent sword dance, but each move was aimed precisely at Raslaufer's chest and face, which were now wide open.

There was no gasp or scream, but Angelita's hand was already on the handle of the pistol. If anything went wrong in the next second, she would immediately show Sid her brains.

Similar to Angelita, Daisy was also prepared, but her preparations were not aimed at Sid, but at Raslaufer.

Even Raslaufer himself probably didn't know as much as she did about the extent of his power, but if that power wasn't restrained, perhaps only a living "person" would have walked out of here today. Raslaufer's nature was special; if he really wanted to resist, he could break through the suggestions she implanted in him once a month. At that point, she would have to do everything she could to win him back and stand on the side of the material world.

...as much as possible, at least that much.

Raslaufer's eyes reflected the tip of Sid's thrusting sword, but he neither tried to withdraw his greatsword nor back down. Instead, he simply smiled coldly as Sid's sword continued to advance, until...

A wave of light blue ripples suddenly appeared around him, easily blocking the swift sword outside the barrier!

"A protective spell?!" Sid immediately leaped into the air, landing several times in succession, until he was nearly twenty meters away and certain that Leslaufer could not take the opportunity to pursue him. Only then did he shout in surprise and anger, "That's foul play! This is a sword duel!"

“Let’s have a sword duel (between relatives),” Raslaufer grinned, prying the greatsword out of the ground with one hand, slinging it over his shoulder, and then approaching Sid step by step. “I never agreed to your request; I agreed to that halfling’s conditions.”

"He abandoned the attack, and you will die here. I'm only being merciful by giving you a one-on-one chance."

"But...you...I..."

"Whatever you think I might have said, it was all just a joke—the halflings said you threatened someone."

Suddenly, Raslaufer's expression changed. The protective barrier formed by the water mist emanating from the Adas artifact shattered instantly. His speed and power at this moment were more than double what they were before. The Black Flame Greatsword in his hand was swung like a one-handed sword, creating afterimages as it split into two and attacked Sid almost simultaneously.

At this moment, the color drained completely from Sid's face. At first glance, Raslaufer's sword shadow seemed similar to his own, but he knew clearly that only one of his sword strikes in that dazzling display was a true killing move.

But now, there is more than one deadly move in front of him!

The crisp sound of metal clashing was filled with despair. Sid's heartbeat became a single line. He squeezed out his potential and finally pushed his movements beyond the limit. In an instant, he intercepted the two swords that were attacking from both sides of Dobulle. At the same time, he flipped his wrist and pressed down, deflecting the dark red glint hidden under the black flames by a few centimeters, so that it only grazed a large area of ​​flesh near his right shoulder.

However, Raslaufer's elusive movements were even easier than his. After all the seemingly two-in-one sword moves were broken, Doppler suddenly swung his headbutt forward. The hard metal instantly shattered Sid's defense, which he could no longer keep up with, and hit him solidly on the forehead. And this was far from the end.

Dopler's gauntlet slid across the greatsword, leaving a trail of sparks. The heavy counterweight suddenly flipped over and slammed into Sid's chest, pushing him further backward as he began to lose his balance. Unfortunately for Sid, Raslaufer had no intention of letting him go so easily. Instead, he switched hands and pulled Sid back into his arms, using the momentum to swap positions with him so that he could steadily catch his subsequent attacks as Sid further lost his sense of direction.

Three punches, just three punches. Even the most talented young swordsman in Corazonde couldn't withstand such blows with his own body. When Raslaufer got up again and everyone caught up with him, the Corazonde man who had been carelessly thrown to the ground was beyond simply being out of breath: his entire jaw was gone, with only some mottled marks remaining at the base of the wall; his entire chest and most of his hip had been smashed by a single punch.

Unless the most powerful mage or someone blessed by the gods intervenes, no one can pull this person's soul back into their body.

“A duel? That’s meaningless,” Dople said, looking down at the young man who could no longer hear him, his fist still dripping with blood. “Perhaps your mentor is so famous that most people would give him some face… but this is East Inasas. He should give me face, not let you provoke me.”

"get out of class dismissed."

Chapter 569 Finnan's Intelligence

“Dead…dead?” Louise of the Strongman family stared in horror at the pool of blood and flesh on the ground. “But shouldn’t we interrogate them first…”

“It’s us, it has nothing to do with you two,” Leslaufer waved his hand casually. “Go have fun, I won’t forget to call you when I leave.”

"As for that little dwarf, what was his name again? I know you're listening and watching. If you don't want to die, get out here!"

The corridor was silent for a moment, then Finnan's dry voice rang out after a clearing of his throat: "Of course... but I think it would be better if you all came over to my place and took a look. There are some things that you might understand as soon as you see them."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't dare to play any tricks. Although I'm confident I can hide the trap very well, even then I'm afraid it won't be able to catch you..."

Finnan's eyes snapped off the arcane projection screen, and he slowly slid off the chair to the floor. He felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest. Sid, he was just killed like that?

Even here, he could see that Dubul probably still had untapped strength, and his surrender was the right choice!

In theory, all he needs to do now is keep being right... for example, continue using the monsters he sends out as leverage to ensure that the man won't discard him after he's served his purpose and kill him off.

Although he was a spellcaster, or even a mage, Finnan devoted his entire life to the fusion and modification of creatures and the creation of hidden fortifications and traps. In terms of direct combat, he was only good at defense and escape; his other skills were at best limited to not returning the book to its original state.

After all, if he were to use conventional spellcasting against a monster like a two-headed tiger, he probably wouldn't even be able to finish his incantation or pull out his scroll before being torn to shreds.

But the uninvited Dubler is far superior to the monster he created.

The gate let out a hiss, and the door, which had been reinforced several times but still not necessarily able to stop the enemy, rose up. Raslaufer stepped in first, grabbed Finnan by the collar, and lifted the mage in the dark green robe into the air.

"You were so arrogant before. Come on, shall we practice some more?"

"No, no..." Finnan could only smile bitterly, not daring to struggle too much, and could only grab onto Reslaufer's wrists with both hands to prevent him from throwing her to the ground. "I was blind before, I surrender, I surrender!"

"Your monster really didn't cause any damage over there?"

“Absolutely not—look this way!” Upon hearing this question, Finnan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pointed to a projection screen on the side that was clearly monitoring the outdoors, not the indoors. The screen displayed countless blurry small images that combined to form a precise and clear wide-angle image. “This is a modified giant fly that I sent out with the monster horde. Through it, I can remotely control it to ensure that all monsters are under my control.”

“I’ll make it invisible and get close to that king’s camp. You’ll see for yourself.”

Raslaufer put Finnan down, and as he cast some kind of spell, the scene on the screen began to move, moving towards a spot where smoke was rising not far away.

"Why is there no sound on your live stream?" Daisy shook her head and sighed after watching for a while. "You already have this much skill, is it really that hard to add a sound recording function?"

“Even halflings only live for less than two centuries, little girl,” Finnan glanced at the bard. “A picture is enough for me. I don’t have the time to study unnecessary things.”

The giant fly's perspective slowly zoomed in. As it approached the Henning camp, its speed noticeably slowed down. However, Raslaufer finally saw what he wanted to see—the flags of Doller and Skottie herself were still flying over the camp, and she herself seemed to be safe and sound.

In another direction, he also saw some monster corpses being processed by soldiers, seemingly to be prepared as spoils of war.

"So, you can rest assured now, right?" Finnan turned around. "But don't be too happy yet. They are all under my control now. If I die, they will go out of control. The different habits of various creatures and the pain of their existence will drive them crazy. Even if you fly, you probably won't be able to get there in time to rescue them."

The druid exhaled slowly and deeply, staring intently at the halfling: "...This is why I haven't killed you."

"You don't think this is the result I wanted, do you? I'd rather weaken them than not have them under my control. Otherwise, what do you take me for? A little boy who can play a jigsaw puzzle at will and then swallow the pieces and choke himself?"

“More than that, I think what you’d like to know is why I did this,” Finnan walked to a corner and pulled out a leather trunk with a large family crest on it. “Look, the Scott family crest. That’s the reason.”

"Their family has been sponsoring my research for a long time. Here, I've become the backer of what they call a 'powerful but eccentric' mage, helping them secure their position in the court—otherwise, why do you think this family is so favored? Is it just flattery?"

Although the Kingdom of Wenzel had always claimed this area as its territory, it had never been able to govern it effectively until the old king granted the land to the Scott family. This could be considered a win-win-win situation.

“But that hothead Henning, he wiped out the Scott family,” Finnan snorted. “Although the last few accidentally wandered into the petrified lizard’s lair, they wouldn’t have ended up like this if they hadn’t been relentlessly pursued and lost their way. In short, I plan to take revenge on him.”

"But before that Sid came, I didn't even know they were going to hold this hunt, so if you have to find someone to blame, a dead man would be the most suitable—and according to him, you two have a grudge for a long time."

Before Leslaufer and the others could ask any questions, Finnan used his magic to sketch a rough pattern in mid-air: circles and spirals, five curves, and a sun doodle.

"Dragon Finger!" Daisy exclaimed immediately. "How come these people are even more troublesome than the Emperor of the Empire?!"

"The Emperor of the Empire?" Finnan was slightly taken aback, but quickly ignored it. "That's because their area of ​​operation is in Inasas—otherwise, do you think those chaotic events in western Inasas were completely random or accidental? Although those kings and nobles who didn't have a single brain were all involved, the mastermind and instigator behind it all was that guy named Fidel!"

"That Sid is just a subordinate. The one who is nominally his equal is a real Corazonde Sword Saint. His name is Rodriguez. If I remember correctly, that guy should be over eighty years old as a human now. I really don't know how Fidel managed to persuade him."

Chapter 570 In principle

Eighty years old. Even in this world, that's not a young age for a human being.

"He can still lift a sword?" Mary raised an eyebrow. "Or is he just a mascot, or is Dragonfinger preparing to train an army of dragonborn swordsmen?"

Although Mary had never met Fidel before the City of the Broken, she had heard Daisy and Angelita mention that he commanded a number of dragonborn.

“Then you’ve asked the wrong person,” Finnan shook his head. “But he can still run around with his apprentice, so his spirits must be pretty good. It’s just a pity that he miscalculated this time, insisting on sending Sid to the east as a messenger, and also having some kind of will to hone his swordsmanship. Now look what’s happened.”

"What do they want with you?" Leslaufer pulled up a chair and sat down, continuing to press for an answer.

“Of course, it’s my skills. They promised to sponsor me, which is great, but there are still some other technical issues that haven’t been resolved yet,” the halfling glanced at the screen, where Sid’s corpse still lay on the floor like a dead dog in the corridor. “I guess we’ll never reach an agreement.”

“Oh, right, there’s one more thing: he mentioned before that if I agree, he will go to ‘Little Finger’ later, and then I will meet with him to collect my money.”