Chapter 286: The challenger

“Is this kid the Bryan you've been telling me about?” One of the three Dark Mantle heavyweights, Amyes, asked elegantly as he observed Han Shuo in the Garden House with amusement.

Candide had on a disinterested expression as he said to Amyes, “That's him. He's truly done a lot of big things during this short span. His strength also seems to be unfathomable. However, I haven't really seen it for myself. Let's use this opportunity to see his real strength?”.

Amyes only looked to be around thirty some years old. He wore a fitted white robe without any other ornaments, which gave him a clean and pure look. This elevated his extraordinary handsomeness even more. In addition, there was an attractive, graceful charm about him.

However, to the nobles of the Lancelot Empire, Amyes’ ever elegant smile and graceful handsomeness was shrouded by a shadow of death. A noble was simply out of luck if they were targeted by him. At the bare minimum, they would be thrown in jail after their property was seized, and at worst, instantly executed.

Of the three heavyweights of the Dark Mantle, Cecilia usually carried out activities in foreign lands, and Candide was responsible for gathering domestic intel and investigating other Empires’ assassins. As for Amyes, he was in charge of monitoring and intimidating the dignitaries. The three of them coordinated with each other exceptionally well. Candide and Cecilia rarely showed their faces and never posed any threat to the Empire's nobles, so Amyes was the one that most of them were familiar with and also feared the most. There wasn't an aristocrat that wasn't afraid of him.

“You should know very well of Leah Cain’s strength. Besides, he has a relationship with the First Prince Charles. If this boy can't win against Leah Cain, I'm afraid he won't be able to leave this place alive.” Amyes squinted at the proudly standing Han Shuo in the Garden House, and said to Candide.

“Heh heh. That’s hard to say. Ferguson was a light grand magus like you, and yet he still died at Bryan’s hand. From what I know, Ferguson’s reputation isn't any inferior to Leah Cain’s. If he could kill a light grand magus, he should be able to kill Leah Cain all the same!” Although Candide wasn't so optimistic about Han Shuo in private, he still had to put up a front before Amyes. After all, Han Shuo had been promoted by him.

Amyes smiled elegantly and nodded slightly before sitting down leisurely on a stone bench above a high platform. He took out a set of fine tea accoutrements and began to enjoy it.

Han Shuo was currently quite worried in the Garden House. Through the three yin demons’ observation, he found Emily, Phoebe, and Fanny outside. Even though they weren't in the same spot, he knew they'd definitely rush to him once he left the Garden House.

Han Shuo wasn't too worried about Emily. After all, she was much more open in the matter of romance. She might feel a bit unhappy, but the possibility of her causing a scene was the lowest. However, that couldn’t be said for Phoebe and Fanny. They both knew nothing about his current situation. Once these two met, without a doubt, they'd raise a storm.

As Han Shuo wallowed in anxiety from this impending situation, the great swordmaster Leah Cain walked out onto the center of the Garden House. He carried a broadsword, his face cold and the look in his eyes brutal as he swept a glance at Han Shuo. Leah Cain sneered, “Little guy, are you that Bryan?”

“That's me, you must know everything already, so there's no need for nonsense. The two of us will fight it out on this spacious lawn and settle everything in one go. Does that sound alright?” Han Shuo immediately threw all of his worries to the wind upon seeing Leah Cain appear. He looked raptly at the latter and replied casually.

“That works. I will teach you a good lesson!” Leah Cain laughed coldly. He swept a glance around the crowd outside of the Garden House and suddenly proposed an idea, “If you don't mind, can we allow the outside people to come in and watch the fight?”

Han Shuo wrinkled his brows in thought for a bit before saying, “I don't mind myself, but there are too many people outside. I'm afraid it isn't very appropriate to allow all of them in here!”

“Then just let the nobles in. That shouldn't be a problem!” Leah didn’t actually care about any of this, but he couldn’t refuse Charles’ reminder to make this proposal.

Han Shuo was afraid of some unexpected stormy situations if the three women were to meet, so that’s why he’d been hesitant. Now that he heard Leah Cain’s words, he remembered that both Fanny and Phoebe didn't have noble titles. He instantly nodded and said, “Then so be it!”

Upon hearing the approval, Leah Cain waved his arm towards the guard standing in the distance. The guard seemed to have known beforehand as he shouted, “Those with a noble title in the Empire can come inside to watch. Civilians will not be allowed entry.”

The nobles wandering outside one by one elegantly walked in with their noses held high. The civilians in the surroundings had no opposition to this. The nobility held certain privileges on the Profound continent. The people here all understood and were used to this, so they didn't feel surprised

The nobles walked in with their followers. Phoebe and Lawrence also took this opportunity to come in as a couple. Phoebe suddenly felt that someone was watching her the moment she walked inside. She lifted her head to notice Emily's surprised look.

Emily was wearing a purple dress, her skin delicate like white jade as she stood with old Mister Hahn’s group. She looked beautiful with an inviolable, noble air and had none of the melancholy that could usually be seen from a widow. She was too dazzling for words.

“Damn that Bryan! This Emily must’ve used that magical pill too. Does he have some relationship with Emily?” Phoebe immediately recognized the effect of the Rebirth Pill with just one glance at Emily’s delicate, pure white cheeks. On the other hand, Phoebe's eyes were filled with surprise as she looked at Emily. The two women only needed a single glance at each other to understand the matter.

“Hey! Bryan, you’ll definitely win!” Lawrence was very optimistic as he cheered for Han Shuo from afar.

“Humph, wanting to win with his strength? Dream on!” Not far from Lawrence, First Prince Charles said disdainfully. The bunch of nobles behind him immediately chimed in to lick his boots, taking turns to analyze the reasons why Han Shuo would lose. Their goal was to gain some goodwill from Charles.

There was a grassy lawn as big as a football field in the middle of the Garden House. Han Shuo and Leah Cain were currently standing at the center of this lawn. The Lancelot Empire's nobles sat in the surroundings. They brought their own highly skilled guards and kept their distance so they didn't need to worry about their safety.

Leah Cain's facial expression was stern, it was clear he didn't care much for Han Shuo. When he saw the nobles come in, his eyes moved to Charles. The chattering First Prince slightly nodded in response to Leah Cain's gaze, indicating that he could start making a move.

Only now did Leah Cain look at Han Shuo again as he gripped his broadsword. His voice resounded coldly, “Little guy, ready to die?”

Taking in a deep breath, Han Shuo cleared all distractions from his mind. His face instantly became unemotional and ruthless, but the arrogance in his voice wasn't a whit below Leah Cain’s, “Mister Leah Cain, before this fight, let me remind you that I'm also an archmage necromancer in addition to being a martial artist. I hope you’ll be careful!”

“Humph, nothing but a useless archmage necromancer, wasting your power to train that kind of useless magic. I can already imagine how much skill you have. I really don't understand what kind of garbage that great swordmaster that you killed was. He couldn't even win against a brat like you who doesn't focus on martial arts. It seems like your Lancelot Empire doesn't have a single truly strong expert!”

Leah Cain was truly too cocky. He had offended every noble around him with just a few sentences. Even the nobles betting on his victory revealed angry expressions.

Fool! Even if you win, don't even dream of a gaining a foothold in our Lancelot Empire anymore. No wonder you had to flee from the Brut Alliance. With your hot temper alone, you should've long since been killed if it wasn't for your power! First prince Charles cursed non-stop in his heart as he looked at the arrogant Leah Cain. He secretly made up his mind to absolutely not reveal his relationship with Leah Cain, even if the latter managed to kill Han Shuo. He needed to prevent this from impacting the nobles’ opinions of him.

“Mister Leah Cain, I hope you won't let me down!” Han Shuo's mind moved with a thought and the Demonslayer Edge appeared in his right hand. The two-meter long edge didn't look very sharp, and the body of the weapon was an unusual dark brown. Basically, the Demonslayer Edge didn't look at all prominent without being injected with magical yuan.

“Little guy, since you dared to find me, I'm sure you must be well prepared. Today, I’ll let you know the true power of your seniors. Don't think that you’re invincible just because you won against some garbage!” Leah Cain let out a cold harrumph. His sword lifted to point at Han Shuo as he said haughtily.

Han Shuo no longer responded to Leah Cain, his face ice cold. He slightly raised the Demonslayer Edge and shot forward. Blurring through the air, he created several shadow images on his path, so fast that it was difficult to tell which one was real and which one was false with the naked eye.