Meihua's POV »☆●
The next morning at sunrise, I'm inside one of the tents with Lady Hera as she helps me prepare. The ring is already set in the center of the field surrounded by mercenary tents. I jog around the tent to get my blood flowing as I warm up for the duel.
"Remember your training. I want you to be confident and smart out there," she says.
I turn to look at her and nod, "I won't disappoint you."
She steps closer to me, putting a hand on my shoulder, "When I look at the woman you've grown into.. my queen, you can't possibly disappoint me."
I bow to her, "All I need is your blessing. Wish me luck."
"Luck has no say in this. Your focus and skills will see you to victory," she mutters with an encouraging smile but her voice drowns out by the screams of the excited crowd outside waiting for the duel. The announcement is about to begin.
With Lady Hera following after me, I step outside, making my way to the ring. While walking towards the ring, seeing D.O. all prepared in the ring, I honestly didn't think much of it at first. Then I glanced to my right, my left, and around. Hundreds upon hundreds have come to see this. My nerves shoot to hell realizing how big this is.
Before I step inside the ring, Chaen and Kai blocks my path, a mocking grin plastered on their faces.
Chaen scowls, "Too bad it came to this, Gongzhu. I was actually starting to like you, but no one beats Kyungsoo."
I smile, "You're hereby chosen to serve me the celebratory wine after I win."
Her eyes widen and the look on her face screams offended. Kai breaks out laughing. He quickly contains his laughter and smirks at me, "You're kinda cool. You're starting to make me regret betting against you."
"You bet against me?" I arch an eyebrow.
He raises his hands on his sides, shrugging, "No offense, it's easy money. Confirmed money, honestly."
"Is the little princess done blubbering? Because I'm itching to find out what it feels like to kill royalty," D.O. grins devilishly from the ring, "I bet you still red."
I take a deep breath and step inside the ring. The look on his face is filled with the rage of a savage beast and yet he's filled with joy of his complete dominance in the ring.
Se's concerned gaze fall on me and he mutters weakly, "Angel, are you ready?"
I nod, never breaking eye contact with D.O., "As ready as I'll ever be."
Se closes his eyes and nods. Taking a deep breath, he opens the scroll of Duel Rules and Regulations and reads the rules aloud. The first to surrender or become incapacitated loses. The winner decides their fate.
Se looks in-between me and D.O., "And now, let the duel..BEGIN!"
As D.O. and I circle each other, mercenaries scream and chant his name, which overpowers the few faint voices supporting me. Among my supporters, I can only distinguish the voices of Rosy and Lady Hera.
"Don't worry, little girl. I'll make it quick," D.O. taunts me, a pair of massive battle axes in his hands. I don't respond to his goading, instead I quietly study his weapons, armor and movements. Those axes are enormous, must be slow to swing, even for a man like him. I should be able to avoid them if my attacks are quick and precise. There's a gap in his armor at the ribs, right under his arms. Between his slow strikes and poor footwork, I should be able to get behind him.
"Well? Nothing to say?" he mocks.
"I see you picked the largest axes in the realm. One wonders what you must be compensating for," I cross my arms and smirk. Taunting him is gonna make him lose temper, along with balance.
"I'll start by cutting out your tongue!" screaming, he suddenly lunges at me in reckless anger. But I knew it. I deftly sidestep, letting him stumble past me off balance. Laughter ripples through the crowd seeing his foolish move.
"How you like that, Do Kyungsoo?" Rosy taunts, booing him, which leads a few more people to support me and boo him.
D.O. glances at the crowd, shocked and confused, then his angry gaze finds me, "You know what? It's not about only coins now. I'll enjoy killing you!" he closes on me quickly, swinging his axes. For one moment, his speed makes me hesitate in panic. I only dodge at the last instant, jumping away. But the tip of an axe gushes my side. I feel a burning pain in my arm from the slice. My hands quickly reach the cut.
Ahead, he bellows and storms at me again, axes high over his head. I dive forward, rolling past his legs just as his axe buries in the earth where I was standing. He tries to pull the axe out, but it's stuck.
I take the opportunity to attack, swinging my sword squarely at the vulnerable gap in his armor at his ribs. He groans in pain.
I smirk, "People pay you to fight for them? I hope you give refunds."
I bring my sword down at him, battering his armor. I move to swing again, but he parries me with his free axe, finally pulling the other free from the ground.
I wisely back away as I notice him recover. He swings his axe behind him, missing me by inches. I dodge in a circle. He pursues me, but stumbles. Off-balance, he awkwardly lands on his knee, facing away from me.
Confidently, I close in to strike at his back when he's down but I notice his balled-up fist in the dust. I frown, what's in his hand?
In a flash, Lady Hera's warning echoes in my memory and I bring up my arm to cover my face, but it wasn't fast enough.
He spins and throws a handful of dust in my face, and I'm too slow to shield my eyes. My eyes shut close as I'm instantly blinded for a while. My eyes irritate and water from the dust.
"Stay still, little girl. There's no point in prolonging your suffering," his voice looms from somewhere near me but all I see is darkness. I swing my sword left and right while trying to rub the dust from my eyes. I hear footsteps closing from behind. I try to back away, but before I can do so, his axe glances me.
I wince in pain, but my vision slowly begins to clear up, only to see him upon me once more. But with clear vision, I slash at his outstretched hands, hacking off two of his fingers.
He growls and launches to his feet, lashing at me, his full strength behind the blow. His axes knock the sword from my hands.
No..
I can't be defenseless against his two massive axes. There's no chance for me to win then.
I try to reach my sword but he gets between me and my sword, the noise from the crowd builds to a roar.
D.O.! D.O.! D.O.!
There's no option other than taking the risk. I run to the side and dive for my sword. He swings at my head. I roll to the side, dodging his blow. He heaves his axes up, preparing to swing again. I have a split second to act..
I dive for the sword as fast as possible. My hand closes around the hilt just as he turns to me.
"So you got your sword back," he scoffs, "But it doesn't matter. I'm still gonna win because you fight like a royal and I fight like an animal."
He's right. If there's no rule in this battle, there's none to break.
Holding my sword, I face him. He swings hard, his axes humming through the air. I duck the blade and pop back up. With lightning quickness, I shoot my hand forward, jabbing him in the eyes. He stumbles back, clutching at his face. While he's stunned, I hammer him with three quick strikes. He grunts in pain.
"We both can play dirty," I smirk.
"In another life, you'd have made a good mercenary," he groans.
"If there's one thing I learned from you mercenaries in this life, it's that honour is dead," I say.
He nods, "On that, we agree. Now it's time for you to join honour in grave."
He charges, his heavy axe lunging at me. He hammers me with a brutal onslaught of axe strikes. I parry and dodge, but my strength is sapped from many wounds. I struggle to breathe, as though, I won't breathe ever again.
"Angel, you can't give up," Se's screaming voice muffles and clears as my hearing flickers constantly. I heave my sword for an attack but my wounds have taken their toll. He effortlessly knocks my sword away, and it falls to the ground, out of reach.
He rests his axe on my shoulder, grinning, "Kneel."
I try to catch my breath. I'm all but spent. I wobble on my feet but refuse to let my knees buckle.
He laughs, "Stubborn till the last. I'll pass along my admiration to Prince Karry."
I look around desperately, to find anything that may help, any strategy. My eyes scan the area and meet Chaen, who smirks seeing me.
"Aw, poor thing. Don't be sad. At least, you'll die knowing you tried well," Chaen mocks sarcastically. I notice she has a weapon at her waist, a massive flail with a skull at the end. I know what these are: the mercenary flail - extremely powerful weapons that only mercenaries have. I smile, I found my strategy.
"Wait! Hey!" Chaen screams as I quickly reach her and grab the weapon from her waist. She tries to stop me but I've already ran out of reach. I need this now more than she does anyway so I shrug at her unapologetically.
D.O. laughs, not making any attempts to stop me, "Are you sure you can handle that? I bet you can't even swing it."
Overconfident, just like Lady Hera mentioned. I swing the flail with all my strength. He's taken by surprise, barely crossing his axes in time to deflect the blow.
I spin with the deflection, bringing the flail around to his other side, burying the spikes in his leather armor before he can knock me back.
Kai gasps, "That fancy girl can do that? Never seen a princess fight like that!"
Lady Hera nods, smiling proudly, "You'll come to find that she isn't like most princesses."
"Kyungsoo's blood is in my flail.." Chaen mutters in shock.
Many of the mercenaries begin to cheer for me, chanting my name. Se begins to hype them up. Utter shock and terror fills D.O.'s eyes.
D.O. groans, looking at me, "So you're stronger than I predicted you to be, I give you that. But you're still no match for me."
He swings an axe at me. I duck under it and swing at his leg. The spiked skull buries itself deep in his leg. He falls to one knee.
"Give up," I command.
He glares at me, bleeding heavily from the wounds I've opened, "It's just a flesh wound," D.O. forces himself to his feet, supporting himself on one of his axes, "You think you've won. But you know nothing about real fight. Your fairytale ends here."
He summons last of his strength and unleashes a final onslaught. I weather the storm until he howls and slams a massive boot into my chest. I fall backwards, tumbling to the ground.
The crowd grows excited, sensing the fight's end drawing near. Lady Hera calls to me, crossing her arms signalling something. And her words echo in my brain.
Make his weakness your strength.
D.O. grins with arrogance as I struggle to push myself up, "And so the legend of the lost princess comes to a bloody end."
I realize he's getting loose, thinking he has won. I let him think so, not moving, making a show of my exhaustion. He saunters toward me. His colossal boots come to a stop right before me, "Time to die, princess."
"You're right," I jump up immediately and snatch the flail. With two quick whirls, bring it crashing into his jaw, "But it's your time to die."
His face falls at my feet as he loses conscious. I stand up, brushing hair from my face. "And so, the legend of the strongest mercenary leader falls on the feet of a future Queen."
Se approaches the center of the ring, squatting down to check D.O., a sly smile plays across his face, "He's incapacitated. By the laws, the winner of this duel is WU MEIHUA!"
A blast of cheers echo all around me. Rosy rushes toward me and raises my arms. She addresses the gathered crowd, "All hail Princess Meihua!"
In her gesture, everyone responds and follows after her. Hail Princess Meihua slogans deafen my earbuds. I try to catch my breath and smile.
Baba, I did it.
To Be Continued »☆●