Second World

"How dare he challenge our lord marshall?"

"He truly forgot his place. Did he forget he is just a weak outworlder?"

"The army has retreated. That phony king is vulnerable. Let's seize this chance!"

"Hold it, you fool! The lord marshall hasn't issued an order!"

Murmurs from the soldiers on the wall were getting louder by the second.

Warren was snickering at the sight. 'That stupid outworlder truly tries to eat more than he can chew,' he said in his mind.

"How should we respond, lord marshall?" Castus asked Arther, who remained silent at Jack's provocation.

"We should just rush out and capture him," Brussius uttered. "With him in our hands, his army won't dare do anything."

"I agree to that," Warren said. He very much looked forward to Jack bound before him so he could gloat to Jack's face.

Arther didn't respond. He continued to stare at Jack, trying to see what this outworlder king was up to.

"What is it, lord marshall? Are you so afraid that you don't dare to accept my challenge?" Jack's words were heard again. "I won't call my companion or my royal agents. It will only be me, my skills, and my spells. You can't be afraid of me, can you?"

"How dare you?!"

"Our lord marshall? Afraid of you? You are nothing compared to our great lord marshall Arther!"

The soldiers on the wall were again riled up from Jack's second provocation. They were even louder than before.

Arther frowned. He finally broke his silence, "What are you up to, outworlder? Your kind is always full of ploys. That's how you defeated His Highness Prince Therribus. Do you think I will fall for your tricks?"

Jack spread his arms. "Do you see my army? They are further to me than yours to my position. If we fight here, do you think they can come to my aid faster than yours come to you? I have no ploy! This is a bet between us, man to man. King to Lord Marshall. Fight me! If you win, I will concede my crown to you. But if you lose…"

"There is no way I will lose," Arther cut Jack's words.

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Jack said.

The lord marshall remained on the wall. He was uncertain. He was sure there was a ploy to Jack's act.

Jack chuckled with a disdainful expression. "I heard the great lord marshal Arther Pendrake is a courageous war hero. Turns out he is nothing but a coward. If that's the case, then forget about it!"

"You watch your filthy mouth, outworlder!" Arther boomed. A pair of silvery transparent wings spread from his back. He then shot up before crashing down a few meters before Jack. His landing was so hard that it cracked the ground and caused a shockwave.

The shockwave hit Jack but Jack's feet remained steady. Yet, he could feel from the force how powerful Arther was. He only saw Arther's fight from afar during the civil war. Only now could he feel the true pressure from this lord marshall, but he was not backing away.

Storm Breaker and Mana Leech Staff appeared in his hands. He cast Magic Weapon and the staff turned into a longsword.

The soldiers on the wall were clamoring. They were all shouting and cheering, believing that Arther would put Jack down in no time.

"Hey, are you really going to be all right?" Jack received John's message. John was watching from afar using his binoculars.

"Don't worry, and stop disturbing me," Jack replied.

Arther was still surveying his surroundings. He couldn't believe it. Did this outworlder truly intend on fighting him one on one? Without any tricks?

"Are you ready to fight? Or should I wait?" Jack asked.

"You are overestimating yourself, outworlder," Arther said. He decided that even if there were ploys, he would just smash them with his strength. He unsheathed the silver greatsword on his back. "You will regret challenging me."

With those words, Arther dashed forward.

His greatsword came slashing down with a might that could split mountains. Yet, when it collided with Jack's two swords, its advance stopped.

Arther stared at Jack in disbelief. How could this weak outworlder stop his slash?

Jack was grinning. He had activated Life Burning Art and Strength of the Wild. From this clash, he knew that his power was not too far off from his opponent.

These buff skills strengthened him. But mostly it was the Divine Might Potion he drank before the fight that magnified his base power, allowing him to stand against an opponent much higher level than him.

However, Arther was still stronger even with those buffs. Arther was furious that his slash was stopped. He stomped his foot and pushed Jack with all his might. Jack was unable to resist it this time. Jack was forced back several meters.

But a victory wasn't solely decided by who was stronger. Jack's feet regained balance in an instant and he dashed back.

Arther was executing his second slash then, intending to hit Jack when Jack was still unbalanced by his push. Never did he think Jack was so agile that Jack was already zooming past him by the time he slashed. It was Jack's sword that sliced him instead.

Arther stared in disbelief at the side that was hit. The ones on the wall who had been cheering for Arther to finish Jack in a flash were now as silent as a graveyard. They also couldn't believe what they had seen.

"Hehe. Are you going to be serious now?" Jack asked.

Seeing Jack's grin cause Arther to be unable to curb his anger.

"You want a fight?! I will give you a fight!" Arther roared. He used Holy Incarnation. His body enlarged and it was also covered by silver flame.

'Time to get real!' Jack uttered in his mind. He transformed into a supreme dragon and activated Gold Scale Armor.

His claws clashed with Arther again. They exchanged slashes many times. No skills. Just normal hits.

Arther's bafflement increased with each clash. The last intel he got was this outworlder king was still below level 70. He didn't believe that in such a short time, Jack could have leveled up to match his. That was just not possible, even for outworlder's insane leveling speed.

Yet, he couldn't deny that Jack was trading blows with him with equal power.

The fact that Jack could match Arther's power was not just because of the Divine Might Potion, but also because Jack's every slash was powered by strong mana manipulation. Arther could also manipulate mana, but his degree of mastery was not comparable to expert martial artists. He couldn't use mana manipulation often, while Jack could already enhance his every slash with mana manipulation as easily as he was breathing.

As the clashes continued, Arther's mana sense finally detected Jack's mana manipulation. This caused him even more shock.