Protracted Battle

The crowd immediately erupted into chaos after Fran knocked the soldier away.

Many people in soldier uniforms immediately left the crowd, seemingly to report the matter to their superiors.

Among the crowd, one person boldly approached the soldier who was already lying on the ground and felt the soldier's heartbeat with his palm.

After examining the situation, he shook his head at the crowd, indicating that the soldier was dead.

This made everyone present swallow hard, not daring to look at Fran riding the Black Horse.

Having seen this, the crowd figured there was nothing more to see and was about to disperse when suddenly one side of the crowd was pushed aside, creating a passage.

Andrew squeezed through a gap in the crowd to the soldier lying on the ground, his brow furrowed.

Then Andrew raised his head, his gaze fixed on Fran, who was sitting on the Black Horse, his hand already on the long-handled sword at his waist.

Do you know what you've done?

Andrew loudly questioned Fran, speaking with great force.

"I killed someone who provoked me, that's all."

Fran didn't indulge him at all and said directly:

"Alright..." Andrew drew his longsword from his waist and pointed it directly at Fran, his tone calm.

"Since you killed one of my men... that can be seen as a provocation, right? Get off your horse, I'll give you time to prepare."

Andrew was a squad leader under Knight Eric, and the soldier who had just been killed by Fran was in his squad.

He confronted Fran out of sheer necessity; with his men so badly beaten, he had no choice but to draw his sword and meet them head-on—this was what Knight Eric had ordered of them.

If he didn't do that, he might be out of a position as squad leader, and Knight Eric didn't like a cowardly squad leader.

He knew from the horrific state of the soldiers on the ground that he didn't have much of a chance of winning. The soldiers' heads were so badly disfigured that their original features were almost unrecognizable; only their body shapes and the patterns on their clothing allowed him to identify them as his men.

Considering the red stains on Fran's leather gloves, it's easy to deduce that Fran knocked the soldier down with a single punch.

Although he was a squad leader who had learned two Combat Technique and received the Breathing Technique passed down from Knight Eric, his strength was far beyond that of ordinary soldiers.

But looking at the soldiers' bloodied and mangled faces, he knew that his chances of winning this battle were slim.

Fran scoffed at the sight, dismounted, and drew her longsword.

It was only then that Andrew realized that Fran was a bit 'short' in height. This was already somewhat apparent while she was on horseback, but it became even more tangible after she dismounted.

Looking at Fran, who was almost half a head shorter than him, Andrew's feeling of encountering a formidable opponent lessened somewhat.

At this moment, the soldiers behind him seemed to have also noticed Fran's current state and began to mock her:

"Shorty, how did you get on the horse?!"

"Black Rat, you're so short, yet you dare to duel our captain."

"Our captain has the title of 'Duel War God War'."

The soldiers behind Andrew were also his subordinates. They seemed to be cheering him on, just like they used to 'spar' with other squad leaders.

Andrew said nothing; he was used to his soldiers doing this behind him. It was a way to slightly provoke the enemy and perhaps cause them to act irrationally.

Fran simply smiled, ignoring the commotion behind him, pointed her sword directly at the ground, and beckoned to Andrew, signaling that Andrew could attack.

Although he was somewhat puzzled that Fran hadn't adopted a defensive stance, his extensive dueling experience told him that this was an excellent opportunity to attack.

Almost the instant Fran signaled to attack, Andrew suddenly struck, raising his sword, gripping it with both hands, and charging straight at Fran with a slash.

Fran deftly dodged to the other side of Andrew's raised sword, avoiding the slash.

Andrew's sword, however, changed direction rapidly in mid-air and slashed horizontally towards Fran.

This time, Fran simply held her longsword upright, using an angle that made it difficult to exert force to block the powerful blow.

Even Andrew himself was not prepared for this attack to be blocked. He only unleashed such a heavy blow because he saw that Fran was not carrying a shield.

The attack was blocked, causing Andrew to lose his balance slightly. However, Fran did not take advantage of this opportunity to attack. Instead, she stood still and waited for Andrew to recover.

The crowd erupted in cheers, some supporting Fran, others supporting Andrew, all shouting excitedly for the two to fight even more fiercely.

Fran had just knocked the guard away, but the audience didn't even get excited before the game ended.

Now, with ample preparation time before the battle begins, the audience's emotions are immediately heightened, and each exchange of attacks is met with thunderous cheers.

Andrew continued to launch several powerful fast attacks, but Fran blocked them all with ease.

By now, Andrew understood that his attack was unlikely to be effective, so he stood still, allowing the crowd's shouts to subside slightly, and asked:

Why don't you attack?

Fran flicked her sword, slowly approached, and replied:

"I'm looking for the right angle."

After saying that, Fran launched an attack, slashing her sword at Andrew's head. Andrew used all his strength to block the blow.

Before he could even catch his breath, he noticed that Fran hadn't stopped and was rushing straight towards Andrew.

Andrew didn't react in time, and even if he did, his speed wouldn't allow him to react that quickly.

He felt an immense force compress his chest, breaking several of his ribs and sending him flying backward, crashing into the soldiers who were trying to help him.

A burst of cheers erupted from the crowd, and some people even threw their hats into the air.

Fran waited in place, glanced around the crowd, and thinking that finally no one would challenge her to a duel anymore, she walked to the back.

Just as he was about to mount his horse, he heard the shouts of the crowd pause, almost coming to a halt.

At the same time, a heavy clang of metal armor rang out on the street, causing the surrounding crowd to hold their breath and dare not make a sound.

The newcomer was a man dressed in dark silver armor, with a poised lion emblem on his shoulder, indicating that he was a true knight.

"You're the one who beat them up?" Knight Eric's face was covered, so his expression couldn't be seen, but his voice was low, as if he was in a very bad mood today.