Ethan finally understood what had happened.
Only now did he realize that the moment the Lord of Ravenshade mentioned a 1v1 battle, he had secretly activated his skill. Ethan guessed that the ability must restrict both fighters so that neither could escape the duel. Most likely, their feet were locked in place, forcing them into hand-to-hand combat only.
Wait—no, that wasn't right.
It wasn't triggered when they agreed to fight. It must have happened when the bearded master was knocked into the air earlier. At that moment, the Lord of Ravenshade must have quietly pressed the skill, and the duel was set.
No wonder the butler didn't attack earlier. At that time, the old man had simply watched as the Lord of Ravenshade slowly took out his axe. Ethan had thought it was confidence… but now he understood:
the butler had been shocked and frozen by the effect of the duel skill.
To be able to drag the opponent into a fighting style he excelled at, the City Lord's skill had to be extremely high-level. Ethan guessed it was at least a rare or elite-tier ability.
---
The battlefield became even bloodier.
Blood splashed everywhere, each impact sending bright red droplets scattering across the dirt. Both men continued to punch, kick, and slam into each other without pause. At first glance, the butler's injuries looked worse—with no weapon to block, he took many cuts and slashes. But Ethan could tell most of the butler's wounds were surface-level.
The City Lord was the one suffering real damage.
His skin was turning black and purple, his body covered in bruises. A few of his ribs were obviously shattered. Yet he still laughed like a madman, shouting:
"Feels great!"
Ethan felt chills. Only a lunatic would enjoy this kind of brutal exchange.
But the butler was not someone to take lightly.
Without warning, he suddenly spat a large mouthful of dark, clotted blood right at the City Lord's face. With the force he put behind it, the blood turned into something like a blood-arrow, sharp enough to pierce skin.
It shot straight toward the City Lord's left eye.
The City Lord had no choice. He had to turn his face away, barely dodging disaster.
The blood arrow slammed into the ground behind him. Ethan watched it pierce the dirt so deeply that it disappeared, leaving behind a small smoking hole.
This shocked Ethan.
The ground in that area had been stomped and hardened by the two fighters' earlier strikes—it wasn't normal soil. It was packed solid like stone. For a drop of blood to pierce that deeply…
the butler's attack power was terrifying.
---
The moment the City Lord dodged, the butler saw his chance.
Two giant hands clamped tightly onto the City Lord's head.
Then came the most shocking scene Ethan had witnessed so far.
The butler smashed his own forehead into the City Lord's face. Hard.
BOOM!!
Flesh and blood flew everywhere. The City Lord's once-handsome face instantly flattened. His tall nose collapsed completely, turning into a horrifying dent.
Anyone else would have collapsed crying. Usually, getting your nose broken makes your eyes water uncontrollably. But this was far beyond a simple break—this was the entire bridge crushed flat.
It hurt just to look at it.
But the City Lord didn't retreat. On the contrary, he threw his giant axe aside, freed his hands, grabbed the butler's head…
…and returned the attack with the same brutal headbutt.
With a cheerful tone, he even said:
"Your turn!"
BOOM!!
This time, the butler's entire body trembled. Ethan could practically hear the pain. That kind of impact wasn't something a normal person could survive, let alone tolerate.
---
And then the style of the fight changed completely.
No more dodging.
No more strategy.
No more talking.
Just…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two men grabbed each other and repeatedly smashed their foreheads together, as if trying to crush each other's skulls by force. Blood poured down their twisted faces like water. Ethan's scalp prickled just watching them.
Soon, the butler used his old trick again. But this time, instead of spitting blood…
he spat out a tooth.
Because the City Lord was grabbing his head, he couldn't dodge in time. The tooth hit the center of his forehead, causing his head to jerk backward.
The damage wasn't huge, but the real problem was—
the City Lord's stance broke.
In that split second when he leaned back, his chest was completely exposed.
That was all the butler needed.
CRACK!
The sound of breaking bone echoed across the battlefield. The Lord of Ravenshade stumbled backwards wildly, each step cracking the ground beneath him. Dirt shot into the air from the force. He stepped back more than twelve steps before finally falling onto one knee.
A deep fist-sized dent was in the middle of his chest.
He spat a mouthful of dark blood, then slowly pushed himself up again, trembling.
"Come… again…" he muttered weakly.
But right then, the duel skill finally collapsed. The backlash struck the City Lord hard.
His legs wobbled—
—and he fell to the ground again.
He couldn't stand anymore.
The butler immediately charged forward. His movements were smoother now, almost graceful. His right fist pulled back, the black lines on his arm twisting and writhing like living things.
The killing intent pouring off that punch was suffocating.
This attack was far deadlier than the one that had sent the bearded master flying earlier. It was meant to kill.
The Lord of Ravenshade looked down, closed his eyes, and quietly accepted his fate. His arrogance vanished. Perhaps, he thought, dying together with his beloved wasn't a bad ending.
---
But then—
A small palm appeared.
A tiny hand reached out from in front of the City Lord.
And with that small hand…
the deadly punch was completely stopped.
Lightly. Effortlessly.
The butler froze in shock. Ethan froze too.
The battlefield went silent.
Who was it?
Whose small hand could stop a punch like that?
The answer would change everything.
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