One-on-One

Finley felt a lightness behind him, then heard the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

His horse, having regained its balance due to the rapid reduction in weight, quickly widened the distance between him and the other rider at Finley's command.

Just as the knight was about to attack Finley, he saw Eric be knocked off his horse by Fran's sword, and Finley immediately distanced himself from him.

At this point, there wasn't enough time to attack Finley, so he steeled himself and charged directly towards Fran.

He had planned to take Fran away before she could regain her balance upon Fran, thus depriving Finley of this crucial support.

However, to his surprise, Fran nimbly flipped over and landed back on the Black Horse that was also moving forward, thwarting his plans once again.

Even here, it doesn't matter. He still has a chance. As long as he catches up and takes Fran away, he can erase Finley's advantage.

But just as he was urging his horse on, he was surprised to find that it couldn't catch up.

With a heavy heart, he had no choice but to take out the enhancement potion from his waist and inject it directly into the horse's abdomen.

He hadn't originally planned to use this thing; he just bought it on a whim, just in case.

As he expected, at the start of the game, both Eric and Cliff's horses were given performance-enhancing drugs to improve their abilities.

In this situation, he had almost no chance of winning, so he didn't give his horse any booster.

But things are different now. He just looked around and didn't see any trace of Cliff, although he didn't know what had happened to Cliff.

However, he also knew the rules of the duel; since Cliff wasn't in the ring, he was out.

Now that Eric has also fallen from his horse, he is basically no match for those of them who have horses. So now his only real opponent is Finley.

With a winning chance, he decisively used the enhancement drug, planning to deal with Fran later and then quickly duel Finley with the help of the drug.

He had planned out everything that would happen next, but reality didn't unfold as he had imagined.

He stared in shock at how, even after the enhancement drug had boosted the horse's speed, it was still slower than the Black Horse in front of it.

No matter how much he flattered his horse, trying to make it run faster, he could only watch as the Black Horse in front of him gradually widened the gap.

Only then did he realize what the difference in mounts meant.

This baffled him. Had the other horse also been given enhancement drugs? How could it run so fast?

No matter how many doubts he had, it was all in vain.

Finley chuckled and spurred his horse forward, launching an Axe attack at him. Meanwhile, Fran, seeing the two locked in combat, slowed down.

The knight wanted to make one last desperate attempt.

"Brother Finley, could you spare us a fair duel, considering we fought side by side before?"

Finley responded with a smiling, somewhat overly excited face. Finley's movements didn't falter at all, but he still returned the greeting.

"Haha! What did you say? I didn't hear you."

He was already furious when he was chased by three knights at the beginning, and now that he had finally gotten his revenge, he was determined not to let this opportunity slip by.

Thus, despite being besieged by Fran and Finley, Fran won the victory without revealing that she was also a formal-ranked Profession.

When they finally defeated the knight, the entire arena erupted in loud cheers, except for many nobles on the high platform who wore dark expressions.

Many local nobles had already chosen sides before the duel began, with most of them siding with Eric and Cliff, knowing that the two had a good relationship.

But the result was completely unexpected; in the end, Finley, who was not favored by anyone before the war, emerged victorious.

A minor nobleman hesitated for a long time before finally speaking to Count Ian:

"Your Excellency, I think Eric and his companions are having some bad luck..."

Before he could even finish speaking, another nobleman slapped him hard across the face, making him stop.

Count Ian glanced at them and said sternly:

"It was Theodore's order to hold the Knight's Duel. If you have any objections to the outcome, you may speak to Duke Theodore..."

The nobleman who interrupted the junior nobleman glared at him and quickly demanded an apology.

Only then did the minor nobleman realize that Knight's Duel couldn't be conducted through the usual underhanded methods of controlling the city, and he quickly apologized.

After this little incident, everyone on the platform walked down and came to Finley and the others who were celebrating.

When Stefan saw that his knight had won the battle, he rushed over to celebrate, but when he saw Fran, he turned his head away embarrassedly.

He also knew that he had done nothing in this duel, and that his absence would not change the outcome.

At this moment, Count Ian came before Fran and asked:

"Elan warrior, are you willing to join Duke Theodore's knightly order?"

Ian turned his gaze to the person who had shone brightly in the battle just now, and began by offering to recruit him.

Fran smiled and said;

"I'm sorry, I have matters to attend to and must travel to the Northern Territory. I cannot agree to this."

Fran rejected the offer with this explanation, her gaze sweeping over the entire crowd.

To her surprise, Count Ian was also a First Order Profession. She had expected him to be a Second Order Profession User, given that he was Duke Theodore's trusted subordinate.

There were far fewer Second Order Profession User in Antir than she had imagined, but she remained unmoved.

"Is that so? That's a real shame." Ian seemed genuinely disappointed that Fran hadn't been able to join Duke Theodore's knightly order.

Immediately afterwards, Ian called Finley to his side and said loudly:

"Sir Finley, you have won this duel. One more win and you will become the new lord of White Flower City..."

Finley burst into laughter after hearing this; he had already learned just how brilliant Fran's performance on the Battlefield had been.

If he had approached this duel with a "let's give it a try" attitude beforehand, he is now confident of victory.

"Don't worry, Your Excellency, I will defeat the winner of the next group and become the new lord of White Flower City."

Finley's words elicited no reaction from Count Ian. Did Ian think it was perfectly normal? What's wrong with a little boasting after a victory?

However, these words stung the minor nobles behind him, and their sinister gazes all turned toward Finley.