Chapter 461: The Faker

When the warriors inside Eden heard about Hagen’s challenge, they all thought the Chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe was only trying to save face.

They all knew the young Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe was brave, but he was no warrior.

Even Godwin, Malik, Duncan, Oswald, and Garen believed that Hagen was just grasping at straws, hoping he would get a chance to reclaim his honor.

On the other hand, Troy didn’t make any comment. But he also found this situation quite amusing and waited for Leone’s official response.

And to everyone’s surprise, Leone had agreed to the duel. No one saw it coming!

Not even those who genuinely believed in Leone!

"Meet me in the arena. I’ll be there."

That was the young chieftain’s reply. It was simple, and yet carried a confidence that couldn’t be denied.

Everyone heard it, and so they hurried to the arena to spectate this farce.

Yes.

A farce.

From the start, no one thought Leone could win.

They believed he was only humoring Hagen, who was desperate to regain his honor.

Even so, the chieftains, except for Troy, couldn’t hide the worry on their faces.

Hagen promised that he would only dodge and block. He wouldn’t take the initiative to attack, nor would he hurt Leone.

But whether he was telling the truth or not, many believed he was only looking for an opportunity to kill the young Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe at the cost of his own life.

Gundar had visited Leone for a talk, asking him to reconsider. However, the young chieftain only said that his Great Uncle shouldn’t worry and that he knew what he was doing.

Hagen, who stood at the center of the arena, had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked very much like the formidable chieftain that he was.

A warrior through and through.

Someone whom many had looked up to until they discovered that he had schemed against their Barbarian King candidate.

Even his own tribe no longer thought of him as highly as they used to. His reputation among warriors had tanked so much that Gundar had been appointed as the temporary head of the Grimhowl Tribe.

Suddenly, everyone heard the sound of something flapping.

A moment later, they saw Leone wearing the ceremonial armor he wore during the battle against the Monster King.

His cape fluttered behind him, and his good looks made the ladies blush.

He was none other than Leone Frontera.

The candidate to become their Barbarian King.

And now, he had come to fight in front of everyone, showing everyone that he honored the traditions of the barbarian tribes.

"Before we start, I want to change a few conditions of our battle," Leone said calmly.

Hagen nodded. "Very well. I will allow you to change the conditions."

"Good," Leone replied. "The original condition of this duel is for me to land a hit on you within an hour. You will not attack or hurt me in any way. You will simply dodge or block my attacks.

"If I land a hit on you within the designated time period, you will become my slave. If I fail, you will be forgiven for your transgressions. That’s the gist of it, right?"

"Yes," Hagen answered.

"Very well." Leone smiled. "Let’s change the conditions. If you can remain standing and capable of battle within an hour, you will win. However, neither of us will use weapons.

"We will simply use our bodies in this battle. I have no intention of hitting a stationary target, so I will permit you to fight. You can hurt me, break my bones, and make me bleed."

The young man raised his closed fist, pointing it in Hagen’s direction. A confident smile could be seen on his face, while his voice carried a firmness as if he had everything under control.

"Do you dare accept these conditions?" Leone asked.

"Hah! Do I?" Hagen grinned. "Of course I accept. But are you sure I can fight back? I might destroy that handsome face of yours."

"You truly are the Chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe," Leone replied, waving his hand in front of his nose as if trying to swat away an unpleasant smell. "Is howling your specialty? Did anyone ever tell you that your breath stinks?

The grin on Hagen’s face disappeared and was replaced with a sneer.

Leone... no. Leone’s clone, on the other hand, simply flipped his hair and made the come-over-here gesture.

However, Hagen didn’t lunge at him.

He instead glanced in Gundar’s direction, waiting for the great shaman to give the signal to start the battle.

Hagen didn’t want others to say that he had launched a sneak attack on his opponent before the fight officially started.

Gundar looked at Leone and sighed in his heart.

"Duel, start!"

The moment the signal was given, Hagen disappeared from where he stood.

No.

He turned into a blur as he charged at Leone with great speed.

The Chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe actually used partial transformation.

He transformed his legs into those of a Fenrirkin, drastically boosting his movement speed.

Leone’s clone, on the other hand, remained standing.

And yet, he raised his hand to flip his hair.

A second later, Hagen’s fist swung with force enough to smash his opponent’s nose.

Originally, he only planned to fight a passive battle, dodging and blocking Leone’s attacks to make everyone realize that he wasn’t fit to lead them.

Hagen still clung to the idea that the Barbarian King should be the strongest warrior of the tribes.

That had always been the case from one generation to the next.

In fact, all Barbarian Kings could be challenged for their title at least once a year.

And if they were defeated in the duel, the victor would become the new Barbarian King.

Sadly, Hagen couldn’t use that rule here.

Leone wasn’t a warrior.

But he had the heart of one.

Hagen could acknowledge that.

However, that was that, and this was this.

Today, he would fight to reclaim his honor and show the tribes that their candidate to become the next Barbarian King wasn’t as awe-inspiring as he claimed himself to be.

’You dare do something stupid in this sacred duel?’ Hagen sneered as his fist closed ?on the young man’s face.

But when it was just a foot away from hitting Leone’s nose, the young man’s hand, casually swatted Hagen’s wrist, making his punch completely miss Leone’s head.

Before Hagen could even comprehend what just happened, Leone’s voice reached his ears.

"Grit your teeth," Leone’s clone said.

A moment later, a palm strike slammed against Hagen’s chin. It had enough force and strength behind it that it actually managed to lift the chieftain’s body from the ground.

The Chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe’s world spun in response. By the time he regained his senses, he had already fallen to the ground.

Hagen slowly raised his head and saw Leone standing a foot away from him, looking down at him with a smirk.

"Take a good look, Hagen," Leone’s clone said while pointing a finger at his face. "Does this look like the face of mercy to you?"

"H-How di—arghhh!" Hagen found himself flying towards the corner of the arena.

Leone had kicked Hagen from the side, sending the latter crashing a good distance away.

"You dare propose that if I can land a single hit on you in an hour, you will become my subordinate?" Leone’s clone flipped his hair. "What a bunch of hogwash. Stand up, Hagen. We still have plenty of time before your suffering ends."

Back in the Aslan Tribe, inside Grimjaw Mountain, Vlad laughed out loud with his hands resting on his waist while watching the projection of the battle in front of him.

Leone was also there, watching alongside his vassals, Yuni, and Aria.

None of them expected Leone’s clone to be such a strong fighter.

Now that they were seeing its capabilities firsthand, Leone was starting to think of other roles for his clone.

It seemed to genuinely enjoy thrashing the Chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe, who had repeatedly tried to scheme to kill the Master whom it served and protected.

Hagen forced himself to stand up, wiping off the blood that seeped out of the corner of his mouth.

He didn’t know what kind of trickery the young man was using, but it would all end here.

The Chieftain of the Grimhowl Tribe was now planning to fight at full power.

His fangs grew, and soon, his body was slowly transforming into a Fenrirkin.

But before he could finish his transformation, Leone closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

"There’s no rule that states that you can’t attack someone in the middle of their transformation. Sorry, not sorry."

Suddenly, a loud slap reverberated across the surroundings, followed by the sound of something smashing against a wall.

Leone’s clone stood at the center of the arena, his cape fluttering behind him.

A faint smile hung on his lips, but his gaze looked like a child that had found a toy it could play with.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A roar exploded from the place where Hagen was a while ago. Then, a Fenrirkin lunged at Leone with its jaws wide open, coming for the kill.

Leone’s clone remained unfazed as he uttered two words.

"Domain Expansion."

The noise of the crowd suddenly disappeared as the clone brought Hagen to that special domain.

The place where he would understand what it truly meant to fight against... his worst nightmare.

—---------

(A/N: Somewhere in the vast multiverse, The Copyright God sneezed.)