The Herb King

147 Prince Christopher

There are ten remaining participants who would fight today and whatever the outcome was, all of them would be able to join the Leone Empire’s army as high-ranking soldiers!

The rules of the final round go like this: First, the participants will fight two random opponents, and based on the results of their battles, they will be temporarily ranked from top 1 to top 10. The second part was that each participant has one chance to challenge anyone who has a higher rank than them and if they win, they will replace the defeated opponent’s rank.

To ensure the fairness of the temporary rankings, five judges will decide this between themselves, and Prince Calvin, as the main organizer, will give the final decision.

“Grace Urgel and Janrose Yanez. Please step into the stage.” An organizer announced.

The crowd was immediately enlivened when they heard the announcement. The two were the only women among the top ten and they will now be fighting against each other.

“Who do you guys think will win between the two?”

“Who else would it be? Of course, it’s Miss Janrose! She is a peak stage Level 1 Esper! On the other hand, Miss Grace is only a mid stage Level 1 Esper. Just the difference in their levels alone is already a huge factor and Miss Janrose also showed combat prowess that is beyond her age group. I believe most people here share the same opinion as me.”

Meanwhile, in the section where the imperial was seated, the emperor was looking at the stage with a thoughtful look on his face. He then stared at the young boy who was sitting beside him. He looked like an eight-year-old boy based on his appearance, but the young child showed a calm expression unbefitting for his age. “Christopher, do you see that older sister right there? She is a student of Sir Aethelwolf. I heard that he only taught her Alchemy for one day and she was already able to summon her Red Pill Fire. She was even faster than you.” The emperor chuckled.

The young boy was genuinely surprised when he heard those words. He was praised by his teacher for being able to summon his Pill Fire after a few weeks of training and the young boy also thought that no one would be faster than him so this news made him very shocked. “Father, how old is that older sister?” The young boy asked.

.....

Emperor Ragnar grinned and answered. “I think she is nineteen this year.”

Prince Christopher moved his gaze back to the arena as he snorted. “I’m only eight and I’m better than her.”

Smack!

The young boy grabbed the back of his head while looking at his older brother in surprise. “What was that for, brother?”

“You think you are bigshot because you are more talented than her? Let me tell you this. You are very wrong. As the crown prince of our Leone Empire, you have an access to an unlimited amount of resources which made your progress much faster than the others. However, Janrose is only a commoner with no resources at her disposal. She had to earn everything herself and she reached her level with her own effort. Now that she has the support of someone like Sir Aethelwolf, it’s only a matter of time before your position as the number one genius of the Leone Empire is taken by her. Do you understand now?!” Prince Calvin scolded his younger brother.

The young crown prince was scared when he saw that his older brother was angry and he also felt one more thing after hearing his older brother’s words. Pressure. It was something that he didn’t feel before since no one was able to match his talent, but Janrose’s existence was giving him a formless pressure.

Prince Christopher showed a determined look as he muttered while facing Prince Calvin. “I will work harder from now on!”

Prince Calvin’s face broke into a smile when he heard this. “Good!” He was pleased by the sudden change in his younger brother’s attitude.

Emperor Ragnar didn’t stop Calvin from doing this. It was also good to make Christopher know that there are some people who are as talented as him. It would give a huge boost to his diligence since his son was the kind of boy who doesn’t want to lose.

“It’s starting.” Emperor Ragnar muttered as he looked at the two girls in the arena. One was holding a pair of daggers, while the other was calmly holding a sword.

Grace stared at her opponent with a serious look on her face. Her sister warned her to be careful when facing Janrose. This was a person who suddenly shot up in the battle event, shocking everyone with her explosive increase in power. Even she felt admiration towards this woman of average background. No. She was now someone who had a special status. A student of Aethelwolf.

“Begin!” The referee signaled the start of the fight and both participants immediately dashed forward.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Grace was showing her advantage in speed as she executed lightning-fast slashes. Her arms could be barely seen because of her speed, but Janrose was able to calmly deflect her strikes without a change in her expression.

Janrose was surprised by Grace’s nimble movements and she found it a bit troublesome. It was a unique fighting method and it would be even more effective for an ambush. However, the battle was a straightforward match and there was no opportunity for an ambush. Grace wouldn’t be able to fully exhibit the potential of her technique.

“What a pity.” Janrose sighed as she thought about this.

Grace felt a bit irritated when she heard her words. Was she insulting her? She didn’t know.

Janrose’s figure blurred and she suddenly reappeared behind Grace like a phantom. She brought down her sword and stop when it was only inches away from her neck.

Grace didn’t dare move when she saw the sword’s blade hanging on her neck like a grim reaper. She was defeated and it was an overwhelming defeat...