Chapter 43: A Challenge Accepted and an Unexpected Threat

“I recall a saying, how did it go? Ah, yes. ‘A simp licks until they’re left with absolutely nothing.’”

Pfft~

Observing the young girl’s playful antics, Lilia couldn’t suppress a burst of laughter. Beside her, Sina struggled to maintain her composure, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Only Anthony, upon hearing Hera’s words, was enraged to the point of fuming. His gaze swept over Hera’s form, a faint glint of avarice flickering in his eyes. Yet, mindful of the impression he wished to project before Lilia, he refrained from an immediate outburst.

“Young lady, do you even know who I am?”

“Oh?” Hera arched a brow, feigning intense curiosity as she inquired, “And who might you be?”

“I am the son of a Duke from the Klett Kingdom, the heir to the illustrious Bellis family.”

As he spoke, Anthony swelled with undeniable pride, convinced that the mere mention of his lineage would surely intimidate this exotic young woman before him. He even dared to hope he might capture the maiden’s heart.

Just as Anthony revelled in his pleasant fantasies, Hera’s next words dashed them like a bucket of icy water.

“Is… that all?”

These simple words delivered a devastating blow to Anthony’s ego, instantly shattering any concern he had for his image before Lilia. Consumed by fury, his mind raced with thoughts of how to subdue the young girl before him, the avarice in his eyes now brazenly unconcealed.

“Young lady, do you dare to challenge me to a duel? If I lose, I shall overlook your insolent mockery. But should I emerge victorious, you will enter into a master-servant contract with me. What say you?”

Upon hearing this, Hera’s eyes narrowed subtly, a glint of cunning sparking within their emerald depths.

“Such terms would be too disadvantageous for me. How about this: if I win, I’ll cut off *that thing* of yours, sparing others from your future mischief.”

A sudden chill enveloped Anthony’s nether regions at her words, but with the challenge so brazenly laid bare, refusing would only brand him a coward. Moreover, he held unwavering confidence in his own strength. After all, he was a scion of the Bellis family, a young master from a prominent house. He simply refused to believe that this seemingly unremarkable young girl could possibly defeat him.

“Hmph! You brazen wench, do not presume too much!”

With that, Anthony drew his longsword, and without a moment’s hesitation for Hera to react, he lunged, slashing towards her.

Hera’s eyebrow twitched upward. With a light tap of her toes against the ground, she drifted backward like a kite caught on the wind.

Once her balance was restored, all traces of amusement vanished from her eyes. She produced a wooden bow, grasping it loosely in one hand. Pale green magic essence coalesced upon the bowstring, swiftly forming into an arrow.

*Whoosh~*

The arrow streaked towards Anthony, who swiftly sidestepped to evade it, only to watch in astonishment as the projectile curved in mid-air.

A profound shock seized him. He hastily brought up his longsword to parry. With a sharp *clang*, the arrow struck the blade, yet instead of falling, it sprouted roots that burrowed deep into the sword itself.

*Crack~*

A faint crack marred the pristine surface of the longsword, accompanied by the chilling sound of splintering.

Anthony was utterly dumbfounded. He had never witnessed such an outlandish ability. Yet, he did not falter. With a defiant flick of his longsword, he lunged once more at the young woman.

A subtle curve played on Hera’s lips as she nocked another arrow, drawing her bow. A formidable arrow, sharp and swift, hurtled towards Anthony’s face.

This time, Anthony was prepared. He swung his sword, attempting to cleave the incoming arrow from the air. Before his blade could even touch the maiden’s projectile, however, the arrow fragmented into several streaks of light, each darting towards Anthony from different angles.

The pale green arrow shafts embedded themselves in Anthony’s body, yet caused no substantial harm—a clear indication that Hera had held back her true power.

“Well? It seems you’ve already lost.”

Hera stowed her wooden bow and approached Anthony once more. With a delicate flick of her hand, the arrows embedded in his body swiftly dissolved into nothingness.

Anthony remained silent, his eyes blazing with fury as he glared at Hera. Abruptly, he twisted his longsword and lunged, thrusting the blade towards her.

“Oh dear!”

Hera let out a sharp cry as the longsword plunged directly into her body. Curiously, however, no blood flowed forth.

The smile on Anthony’s lips slowly congealed into a grimace as he watched countless vines rapidly spread from his own longsword.

Before the young woman, a wooden breastplate had materialized unnoticed, and his longsword, impaled within it, was now being slowly consumed. He attempted to withdraw his longsword, but despite several strenuous pulls, the blade remained stubbornly lodged.

“Mr. Anthony, a sneak attack during a match is hardly sportsmanlike. As a lesson, I shall graciously accept this longsword.”

No sooner had the young woman finished speaking than the tendrils on the longsword completely devoured the blade. Anthony, having never witnessed such bizarre magic, could only release his grip to ensure his own safety.

The very instant he relinquished his hold, the longsword was utterly consumed by the woody tendrils, its metallic sheen replaced entirely by the dull hue of timber.

Hera effortlessly removed the wooden breastplate from her front, and with a graceful movement of her hand, the transformed longsword settled into her grasp. However, unlike before, the sword now appeared, from every angle, to be nothing more than a common wooden blade.

Seeing this, Anthony’s heart instantly swelled with rage. This sword was a prized possession, one he had acquired from an alchemist at no small cost. How could he not be furious, now that his cherished blade had been reduced to such a pathetic state?

“You little wench, do you dare to fight me again without resorting to *that* power?”

Hera arched a brow, finding the man before her utterly amusing.

“It’s my own ability. Why wouldn’t I use it?”

“You—!”

Witnessing Anthony’s face flush crimson with impotent rage, Lilia, who had been observing the spectacle with keen interest, finally stepped forward.

“Alright, alright, Anthony. There’s no need to be angry. A loss is a loss.”

She offered a seemingly conciliatory smile, yet in the very next breath, her tone took a sharp turn.

“Anthony, a loss naturally entails a consequence, wouldn’t you agree?”

As she spoke, Lilia’s gaze drifted pointedly to Anthony’s lower body, and a crimson longsword materialized in her hand.

Anthony shivered involuntarily at her words. Instinctively, he recoiled two steps, a placating smile plastered across his face.

“Your Highness, surely this young lady was merely jesting, wasn’t she? Right?”

Hera blinked her large, dark green eyes, then slowly shook her head.

“I was quite serious.”

“…”

Anthony was now thoroughly panicked. The combined strength of these three women before him verged on Tier Three, and he was the strongest among his own companions.

“Your Highness, I find myself with urgent matters to attend to. I shall take my leave now.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than a tremendous crash erupted behind him, as if something immense had slammed into the earth.

“Brother! Brother! This is bad! While we were patrolling the vicinity, we encountered… we encountered—”

The messenger stammered, clearly terrified beyond words.

“What in the world happened?”

“We saw a monstrous serpent, thicker than the largest trees, and it has already wounded many of our men.”

Upon hearing this, the three women behind Anthony exchanged a grave look, a single thought crystallizing in their minds.

“’A Corrosive Viper!’”

With this dire situation unfolding, their earlier conflict with Anthony was instantly forgotten. The immediate priority was to escape this place with haste. An adult Corrosive Viper possessed at least Tier Four strength, a formidable power that their group of Tier Two individuals stood no chance against.

Before they could even begin their retreat, however, a colossal serpent’s head honed in on their position.

Haa~!

The air was rent by an unknown liquid, and the ground sizzled ominously. Any vegetation touched by the potent venom instantly corroded into nothingness.

That very spot, their only path of retreat, had now become a forbidden zone for any living creature. The surrounding dense tangle of weeds and bushes, once vibrant, now formed a despair-inducing wall. Without dedicating precious time to clear this vegetation, escape was impossible, and they had no idea how thick this natural barrier truly was. For the moment, their only recourse was to contend with the colossal serpent, buying themselves time to seek an alternative escape route.

“Anthony, take your men and find a way out! We’ll hold this creature off for now!”

Lilia ordered Anthony, her priorities clear. There was no time for other considerations; if they wished to survive, they had to unite every available force.

Anthony’s eyes instantly brightened at her words. At last, an opportunity had arisen to change Lilia’s perception of him.

Without a word of wasted breath, he immediately instructed his three remaining able-bodied men to forge new paths through the surrounding thickets. He then moved to check on his two injured brothers. One had profusely bleeding legs, as if crushed by some massive weight. The other had only sustained minor scrapes, which would be fine after simple treatment.

What he failed to notice, however, was the young man leaning against a large tree, whose eyes had begun to glaze over. He tried to speak, but no sound would escape his lips.

Anthony first examined the severely wounded man, discovering that both his legs were fractured.

“Do you have any healing scrolls?”

The man nodded with difficulty, too much pain to speak, every part of his body devoid of strength. In his condition, simple bandaging would be useless; a healing scroll was absolutely necessary.

Without hesitation, Anthony broke the seal on the man’s ring and retrieved a scroll from within. This was a healing scroll, imbued with the restorative power of Holy Light. Its quality seemed poor, and it was uncertain if it could adequately treat his leg injuries.

“Bear with it. It might sting a bit.”

“Mmm…”

The healing proceeded smoothly. Under the radiance of the Holy Light, his legs rapidly began to mend. However, due to the scroll’s low quality, he wasn’t fully healed; some defects remained, but this was still far better than lying there waiting for death. Having dealt with him, Anthony turned to check the other man’s condition.

As he turned around and saw the distorted expression on the man’s face, he recoiled in shock. The man’s face was grotesquely twisted, as if enduring immense agony.

Anthony cautiously approached and gently touched the man’s body, but received no reaction.

“Wake up, brother, wake up.”

He shook the man several times in quick succession, yet there was no response.

………………