Ch.432Chapter 432 – Duel (1)

Lizanis was descending from the sky with a roar.

Soon, with a tremendous impact, the spot where Lizanis landed was deeply cratered.

Above Lizanis, massive wyverns—somehow tamed—were flying through the sky, and from atop these wyverns, armed lizardmen were jumping down to the ground one by one.

Apparently accustomed to landing from such heights, the lizardmen who leaped without hesitation immediately began raising their weapons. Our companions, who had briefly dispersed at Sera’s direction but hadn’t gone far, instantly returned to stand by our side.

Then, Beatrice looked at Lizanis and said:

“Why is that thing popping up here?”

Everyone was probably thinking the same thing.

Naturally, only the Bear Tribe knew our exact destination.

But even they only knew that we were heading to the Warrior’s Sacred Ground and a bit deeper beyond that.

Of course, we hadn’t told them anything about Evgenia’s seal.

To begin with, only Chris knew the exact location of the seal, and Noah had merely calculated the time it would take to reach that area.

“Perhaps we underestimated the lizardmen too much.”

By whatever means, they had managed to track us precisely to this deep part of the snowfield.

They came flying through the sky despite the falling snow and poor visibility.

‘We underestimated our opponent too much.’

Quietly acknowledging this, I looked at Lizanis.

And for some reason, she appeared extremely angry, like she might explode at any moment, as I quietly said:

“You’ve done well to track us down.”

“Of course, that’s only natural.”

Lizanis answered while looking at me.

And her tone made me raise my guard.

For some reason, her words seemed tinged with a slight heat.

‘When we first met, she had a rough way of speaking.’

Her voice was clearly different from when we first met, now carrying a slightly clingy quality.

It felt like she was deliberately trying to use a polite tone to curry favor with me.

Of course, given Lizanis’s naturally rough temperament, it was obvious she was struggling to maintain this act.

“This Lizanis can go anywhere the White Dragon is, after all!”

“You were able to follow us?”

While I tensed up, wondering if we had left some trail to track, Lizanis opened her mouth.

“If I follow the White Dragon’s scent and presence, I can track him anywhere!”

“What?”

Lizanis looked at me and declared proudly:

“This Lizanis followed the White Dragon’s scent and presence all the way here!”

A chill ran down my spine.

‘Is she insane?’

I raised my guard to the maximum. This was a completely different kind of discomfort from when we first met, and my hands and feet trembled involuntarily.

I was both curious and not curious about what this madness meant.

How did she smell anything while flying through the sky? How did she sense my presence? I was curious but didn’t want to know.

All I could think was that I shouldn’t get involved with her.

And perhaps sharing similar feelings, Sera, her face slightly pale, carefully asked:

“…Why did you follow Kei?”

“How absurd, asking such an obvious question!”

As if she only wore a mask for me, Lizanis’s expression and tone immediately changed at Sera’s question.

While I was relieved that her attention had shifted away from me for a moment, as she fiercely showed her anger, Lizanis continued shouting:

“Obviously, it’s to drive away the fire fox—no, the fire bear that’s clinging to him!”

“Fire… bear?”

“Don’t play dumb, fire bear! I’ve already heard the news!”

For some reason, Lizanis pointed at Sera and shouted:

“I’ve already figured out the Bear Tribe’s plot to lure the White Dragon with their princess! All you have is strength! Even if you’re a bit smarter than others of your kind, you’re still just average. How dare you try to seduce him with your body?!”

Sera’s expression changed ambiguously.

It was clearly an insult directed at someone else, but somehow it felt like she was being insulted.

To be honest, I had no idea what she was talking about either.

Probably no one here understood what they were suddenly talking about, except for the nodding lizardmen.

“I’ve been training to become a woman worthy of the White Dragon. No one respects and loves him more than I do! I won’t forgive you for trying to cut in line, you fire bear bitch!”

“This has to be the most unpleasant confession I’ve ever received.”

I muttered quietly so Lizanis wouldn’t hear. At this point, I almost suspected their goal was to make us drop our guard out of sheer bewilderment.

Then Lizanis kicked off the ground and charged toward us.

“I can’t take it anymore! I’ll crush your head right now! I’ll teach you your place, bear!”

Lizanis approached with even greater speed than I’d seen before.

I quickly changed my weapon to a shield to block her halberd and moved Sera and the others behind me.

“Step aside, White Dragon!”

“Who would step aside just because you tell them to!”

Shouting at Lizanis, I quickly swung my shield wide to the side.

As Lizanis’s halberd was deflected, her stance crumbled, and I swiftly kicked her legs.

At that moment, Sia rushed past me, raising her greatsword, and the airborne Lizanis immediately lifted her halberd to block the attack.

“So she can still block this much.”

“Don’t underestimate me!”

Lizanis performed the feat of swinging her halberd while flying through the air, and Sia avoided the attack by twisting her body.

Then, Lizanis spun around and landed on the ground, shouting:

“Don’t interfere, human! I need to show that muscle-bound bear girl who’s superior right now!”

“Who are you calling muscle-bound?!”

Finally unable to contain herself, Sera shouted, and Lizanis made a fierce expression.

Then Sia quietly addressed Lizanis:

“Stop talking nonsense and look carefully. How does Sera resemble Jusha in any way?”

“I know everything! That Bear Tribe princess is definitely short! And being a bear, she’s definitely strong…!”

As she spoke, Lizanis looked at Sera again.

“Short and strong… That’s you!”

“No it’s not!”

Sera shouted.

“Besides, I’m not a beastkin! What part of me looks like a beastkin to you?!”

“How should I know! You might have transformed to try to seduce the White Dragon!”

Lizanis pointed at Sera and shouted:

“I won’t let the White Dragon be taken by the likes of you or any other women! I will definitely reclaim him from all of you and take him away…!”

Whether she was getting excited by her own words, Lizanis’s voice grew increasingly louder.

Soon, Lizanis pointed at herself with her thumb and shouted:

“I am the one who will bear his child!”

At Lizanis’s words, which were problematic on so many levels, a momentary silence fell over our side.

But it didn’t last long.

An ice-cold voice quietly resonated.

“You really say the most outrageous things when we’re being patient.”

Eve said with a smiling face.

From a distance, if one didn’t hear her voice, it would have looked like her usual gentle smile.

But.

It was terrifying.

“Just when Kei and I had reconciled and the atmosphere was good, you ruined everything, which makes me angry, but you’re saying such amusing things that I can’t help but smile.”

Eve was smiling.

Her eyes were not.

“Not only are you rudely mistaking Sera for Jusha, but I also don’t understand by what right you claim to be able to stand beside Kei. As far as I know, you’ve only met Kei when you attacked us that time.”

“That’s…!”

“Moreover, you boldly claim things we haven’t even decided yet—your audacity is astounding. Kei always considers us and is careful with his words and actions, but you think you can do whatever you want with him? Is Kei your toy? Do you have rights that even I don’t know about?”

Eve, who usually didn’t speak unnecessarily, was becoming increasingly verbose.

Anyone could see that Eve was furious.

Even we, her allies, were slightly intimidated by her anger.

Lizanis, who was directly facing Eve’s wrath, also seemed intimidated as she stepped back and shouted:

“I swore to serve the White Dragon…!”

“Kei never asked to be served. Besides, you don’t call Kei by his name, but ‘White Dragon.’ Does that mean you want the White Dragon more than the person named Kei?”

Eve was no longer smiling.

“Tell me. Do you want Kei, or do you want the White Dragon?”

“They’re the same thing!”

“Not to you. Just as our case—those of us who knew and interacted with Kei before he was called the White Dragon—is different from yours.”

Eve pointed her sword at Lizanis and said:

“I, and the others I acknowledge, can declare that even if Kei were to become a truly ordinary person, we would still stay by his side and cherish him. But would you? Aren’t you just infatuated with the idea of serving something? Can you truly see Kei as just himself?”

“You…!”

“Are you getting angry because you’re losing the argument? If so, shouldn’t you have come prepared with statements that are factually correct? Shouldn’t you be talking about reality rather than some strange story that only makes sense in your head?”

“This…!”

But having no proper response, Lizanis couldn’t answer.

And while her face turned red, the lizardmen began to waver as they watched Lizanis unable to properly refute.

Looking at those lizardmen, Eve smiled coldly and said:

“You’re all the same. Fixated not on Kei himself, but only on the name ‘White Dragon,’ acting recklessly. Just how lightly do you take him? Do you believe that all this unreasonableness is permitted under the pretext of being for him?”

“How dare a human speak like this!”

“How dare a slave! What nerve…”

“Calm down, Kei.”

In an instant, Eve reached out to stop me.

Looking down at my hand, I realized I was already holding an axe.

It seemed I had unconsciously moved to throw it the moment the lizardmen insulted Eve.

Even I had moved unconsciously, but Eve had noticed.

“…You noticed well.”

“That’s because we’ve spent time together.”

Eve smiled gently at me.

“I don’t mind such words since they aren’t true. I don’t think there’s any need to stain your weapon with unnecessary blood.”

“Eve.”

After looking into Eve’s eyes and lowering my arm, Lizanis made a slightly confused expression.

Looking at Lizanis and the lizardmen, Eve coldly said:

“The Bear Tribe princess, knowing we are human, learned various customs to ensure we wouldn’t be uncomfortable, but expecting the same from you would be too cruel. Do you consider me beneath him just because you see me traveling with him? How do you think Kei would feel hearing that? It seems you should refrain from acting and speaking so rashly.”

“This…!”

The lizardmen were angry.

But that was as far as it went.

Even though they wanted to refute, they had no way to defend their actions after behaving so simply.

“You claim to follow and serve Kei with your words, but you have no resolve to match. That’s why you’re stumped by words like these.”

Eve coldly addressed Lizanis.

Lizanis looked angry but couldn’t respond.

“I will not allow such selfish and thoughtless people like you near Kei. Even if he tolerates it, I won’t.”

Having said that, Eve deliberately stood in front of me.

Then, smiling slightly at me, she turned back to face the lizardmen.

“Kei has always protected us. So I will protect Kei. For his sake, I will raise my sword against you. I cannot easily tolerate those who only cause him trouble.”

“How dare you run your mouth…!”

“Then try to silence me with words I can acknowledge. Can you do that?”

At Eve’s words, Lizanis could no longer speak.

Watching her face alternately flush and pale, Eve coldly said:

“I see you cannot. This is too one-sided. Very well. I’ll show mercy and give you a chance.”

“A chance?”

“It seems Bestia beastkin decide many things through strength. So, let’s compete to see who thinks more of Kei and who is truly for him.”

Having said that, Eve immediately removed one of her gloves.

Then, throwing the white glove directly at Lizanis, she said:

“Let me put it simply. A duel, Lizanis.”

Eve looked at Lizanis and said:

“As you wish, let’s see who loves Kei more.”

At Eve’s challenge, Lizanis’s eyes wavered.