Valerian, The Legendary

86 Self Inflicted.

Valerian dropped the prince of Valkyria in the ditch and stood on the platform gazing down at Tyrant, the crown prince of Stella Empire. The latter was enraged at this, but at this moment, what must be prioritized was the rescue of his ally in the ditch.

Tyrant rushed forward, making his way through the crowd, his lackeys also followed, and with a combined effort they managed to pull out the victim. Tyrant passed the decree, “Take him to Archmage Medens.”

Just when his lackeys were about to move, Valerian said, “Lady Consano, please perform some first-aid spells for Prince Barak. I guess Crown Prince Tyrant would like to ask me for an explanation.”

Tyrant heard this and his jaws tightened. He took a deep breath to calm down and said, “You are wrong, I will not ask you for an explanation, but for your life.”

The people were all shocked, although they knew that the two nations were in an alliance together, this was a bit too thick of a relationship being displayed here. However, Tyrant was angered too much, and he did not care about public opinion. He wanted to kill Valerian and affirm his stand in front of his ally.

Valerian said, “Oh, well, I wonder if you can take my life.”

His expression was confused but his eyes were filled with sarcasm. He was mocking Tyrant in front of everyone in the academy. Tyrant said, “I call for a life and death duel, and I challenge this child on the platform.”

Valerian smiled and said, “Prince Tyrant, my name is Valerian, I accept your challenge.”

His smiling face sent chills down the spine of the spectators. Azula reacted, she said loudly, “Val, decline the challenge, have you gone mad?”

.....

The child smiled at her and said, “Trust me. It will be alright.”

Azula wanted to say something when Priscilla said, “Your Highness, trust him.”

The princess was not convinced, the maid leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “Valerian is yet to use his physical prowess to the limits.”

Yes, in the last match he only used magic spells, and even when he bombarded the enemy with fists, and broke his limbs it seemed as if he used an empowerment spell on his extremities to harden them with earth spells. Azula calmed down and nodded.

Valerian glanced at Tyrant and made a gesture to welcome him over the platform. The latter walked over with an indignant expression. The presiding elder said, “You two have to wait. The duel of life and death cannot be sanctioned without the presence of our masters.”

Valerian wanted to ask something when Tyrant took out the medallion from his waist and said, “This is the medallion of my master, and I will use this to bypass the wait time.”

The elder saw this behavior and nodded. He said, “Very well, what about you?”

His gaze was locked on Valerian and asked, “What about you?”

Valerian was about to take out a medallion too but an old voice sounded, “I will be his witness.”

An old man wearing a black cloak came over, it was none other than Fallax. He had been observing things from the past and decided to come out because this kid accepted the challenge of life and death. The only way this duel will end with the death of either of the participants.

The Presiding elder gazed at Fallax in shock, then he nodded and bowed slowly and said, “Greetings, Your Excellency, Magnus Magister Fallax.”

The behavior and the speech of the elder, who was known to be super strict had changed in a moment. This was a shock, and Tyrant understood now, where the courage in his heart came from. Fallax was someone that even the emperors on the western continent did not want to oppose easily, yet he was fighting against the apprentice of this person. To think this little one was a battlemage, the challenge had just escalated.

Tyrant was afraid of retaliation from this old man and thought he was a bit too jumpy right now. However, as if sensing his thoughts, Fallax said, “I will not interfere among you younger ones. Fight to your heart’s content, it just so happens, I have never seen this kid fighting when he came to test. You will be helping this old man. Go ahead.”

Valerian smiled and bowed his head to the old man slightly. His statement did not only mean for Tyrant to calm down but also to warn the warrior master of the prince to not trouble Valerian later.

The presiding elder nodded and said, “Tyrant has chosen up the right to bypass and forfeited his medallion. Valerian has called for his master to witness. The two participants do understand that this duel, once commenced will only stop when one of them is dead. There will be no surrenders. If you agree, then begin.”

As soon as he asked them to begin the two people vanished from their position, when they appeared the next moment, both of them were in the center of the stage. They had been stopped by the collision of their punches. The force generated a strong recoil and the two people had no choice but to retreat.

However, Valerian said at this moment, “Lutum Hastae.”

The sudden spell caused dirt spears to protrude from the ground. Tyrant was angry earlier and he did not notice that Valerian was able to cast spells. When he arrived at the scene, Barak was already dealt with.

Tyrant was not unprepared but not unadaptable, he stomped his foot on the clear ground and jumped up in the air. Valerian smirked and after a short sprint he also jumped up in the void and said, “Ventus Motus.”

Someone in the crowd could not help but scream, “Triage. Shit, this guy is a Triage.”

Triage was slang used to address those who could use triple attributes. Valerian had displayed light attribute and earth earlier but now he just cast a spell of wind attribute. Fallax furrowed his brows but did not say anything. He was sure that this boy knew what restrain meant.

The movement spell pushed the jumping Valerian to meet the Crown Prince, the latter was surprised but he knew that now was not the time to be in awe of his enemy. However, a warrior in the air was as vulnerable as a fish out of water.

Valerian suddenly threw an iron ball at the face of his enemy, and just as Tyrant caught the ball and moved his hand away, a small shoe enlarged in his vision.

Valerian had stomped on his face. The kick was hard, and the impact left Tyrant slightly dizzy as he descended. The spikes on the ground had vanished as the effect of the spell vanished. The two parties landed at the same time, and instead of charging forward, Valerian waited for his enemy to regain his senses.

The wait did not last long and Tyrant gazed sharply at Valerian, the boy had rushed over. The speed was faster than before. The punches were delivered from right to the guts and the bones were rattled. Tyrant was also hitting back but compared to Valerian the damage was not too high.

Valerian was slightly weaker but he took advantage with his little size and quick speed. The silver-headed boy was also using a stone fist and other similar spells to leave Tyrant wounded.

Suddenly, the crown prince grappled Valerian by his neck, immobilizing him. This stopped Valerian for a second, but then something gave him a fright and he quickly let go of the child, however, when he retreated there was a cold feeling on his wrist.

When he looked down, he found that his palm was missing, and a bleeding stump was left there for him to wail in pain. Valerian cast a wind blade and that was the dangerous feeling in his heart. The wind blades inflicted serious damage and the gruesome sight reminded people that this silver-haired child was not a simple one, he was a brutal killing machine.

Valerian said, “I actually wanted to use you to learn a few more things about close combat, but you could not play along, such a waste.”

He waved his hands and said, “Ferrum Ventus.”

A number of wind blades were cast and aimed at different points around Tyrant. The injured prince forced himself to focus on the incoming attacks. He did really well when it came to dodging the blades aimed at him, however, Valerian, the little demon has already cast blades at the plausible spots where he might move to dodge.

Just as Tyrant thought he was saved, his feet gave way. One of the blades cast from the side has swept over and left him to fall to the ground with no legs. The prince wailed and screamed. His screams were mixed with regret, resentment, and agony. Tyrant realized the meaning of self-inflicted in his ending moments.

Valerian walked over and did not humiliate him but silently cast another wind blade, and the screams replaced gasps. The child looked at the presiding elder and said after bowing, “Elder, although I had enmity with the Crown Prince, I would like to ask you if I can send him back to his empire, with all the honor and respect he deserved.”

The Elder could not say much and cast a gaze at Fallax, who was standing at the side. The elder nodded at his silence, and said, “Well go ahead.”

Valerian bowed and left the platform. Fallax took him back to the Battle-mage tower, and the matter of sending the body back to its home was left for Azula to deal with.