In the brightly lit hall, Tails was condescending, bearing countless surprised glances, but only staring at Anker in shock.

Wait for his reaction.

"You...... You?"

It took a long time for Anker to look up in disbelief.

Tails was still staring at him coldly, his posture was free, but his gaze was pressing.

Like a hunter with a shot off the string, he confidently lowered his longbow.

"Your Highness, proxy duel," Anker finally sorted out what had just happened, his eyes were red, and his breathing intensified:

"Me and ...... You?"

Tails narrowed his eyes.

"No, no......"

The spoiler of the banquet poured grief and pain from his eyes, and hissed:

"No!"

In the hall, after the initial shock, everyone began to discuss the scene anxiously, but their voices became more and more restrained, and even the eyes that looked at Duke Xinghu changed.

The shackled Val Arend no longer drank, his gaze locked on the prince's body with no idea what it meant.

Jenn frowned, and kept looking back to ask his butler.

The one-eyed dragon Gouster smiled and responded to the private inquiries of the other guests.

Tails tossed aside the sights of the scene and snorted coldly.

"Why not?"

The young duke walked down slowly, and the royal guards behind him tried to follow, but were held down by Marios with an unquestionable gesture.

"Isn't that what you want?"

Tails stepped out of the encirclement and slowly walked down the steps, his voice like a sharp blade:

"A duel with the second prince himself will shake the kingdom, and everyone will hear about it, and it will be able to achieve your goal and seek justice—such a banquet dish ......"

"Doesn't it smell?"

Anker gritted his teeth, the dagger in his hand began to tremble, and his eyes almost burst into flames.

It's hard to believe that he's not alone.

D.D stood in place, watching Tails descend from the sky and slowly descend.

The never-ending aura in Doyle's body slowly subsided, replaced by a bewildered ignorance.

"Your Highness, you don't need it, I mean, you don't need to replace me, I can, you can ......"

Tails stopped, his expression unhappy.

On the other side, the old Baron Doyle, after the double torture of grief and surprise, showed disbelief in his joy, and he reacted and gave his son a desperate look.

But D.D obviously didn't notice his father's actions, he looked at the imposing Tails in a daze, the scabbard in his hand was raised, and his words were slurred, and he didn't seem to fully react:

"You don't have to, you don't, I'm the guard, protect you......"

Until Tails glanced sideways, the cold light swept away, and Doyle's words were sealed in his mouth.

"I didn't ask you for your opinion, Danny Doyle," Tails called out the full name of his guard impassionedly:

"I am commanding you: I will represent you in your duel. ”

Tails looked at the crowd and frowned:

"With the body of the bright star, order one of the seven servants of the bright star. ”

"You ...... Any objections?"

D.D was stunned.

As soon as these words came out, several guests standing in front of them also joined in, and they instantly became the focus of attention:

The young and promising Viscount Adrian let go of his wife and looked back at Tails solemnly.

The aged Viscount Patterson opened his cloudy eyes and pushed away the two nephews who were holding him.

The graceful Mrs. Eleanor firmly grasped Luther Barney, who was playing with her head down, and remained silent.

Baron Stowe bowed his head slightly, glancing at the prince with a faint sneer on his expression.

Lozano Gloover clasped his arms and stood still.

Tails' gaze swept like a blade.

A second later, the five nobles moved one after another, either hanging their heads and pressing their chests, or bending their knees and lifting their skirts, obedient and willing.

But no one reacted as well as Baron Doyle.

"No, Your Highness, no objections, no wow!"

Tails twitched his eyebrows.

I saw old Doyle crying, rolling and crawling, which frightened everyone:

"With you here, as the Seven Servants of the Bright Stars, the Doyle family of the Mirror River, we swear to obey each other to the death."

Before the old baron, who had a bruised nose and a swollen face, could say something, his shrewd wife quickly covered the baron's mouth and dragged him back into the crowd with D.D.

Tails exhaled.

He turned around and continued pacing.

The crowd below, both the guards and the guests, instinctively made way for the prince.

Until Tails stepped into the arena and stepped onto the lowest ground, standing at the same height as a tense Anker.

"As for you......"

But Tails didn't stop, but steadily moved forward, towards the center of the hall.

Anke looked up in a trance, slightly surprised.

He realized that the blade in his hand only needed to catch up with two steps, and he would be able to reach the prince.

D.D., who was closest to him, was the first to react, and he put down his father and rushed forward, exclaiming at the same time:

"Your Highness!"

The guards who followed Tails quietly down also sensed that something was wrong, and Marlos frowned and raised his voice:

"Your Highness, it's close enough!"

Count Godwin panicked:

"Prince Tails, you are a daughter......"

Beside Marlos, Vogel, who was devastated by a series of unexpected blows, directly ordered:

"Surround it! Protect Your Highness!"

In the hall, the stunned guards and the nervous royal guards moved at the same time, and for a moment their footsteps were chaotic, startling the voices of the guests to exclaim.

Until Tails roared loudly and shook everyone who lost his temper:

"Stop!"

He turned around and raised his arms and pointed directly at Doyle, who rushed forward:

"Stand back!"

"You all stand back!"

The footsteps of the royal guards breathed in unison.

In the midst of all the attention, Tails ignored Marlos's frown and Vogel's anxiety, and turned his head to himself.

Look at Anker, who subconsciously raised his sword to defend himself.

"Since my guest has the guts to go alone and go to the meeting with a sword," Tails looked away from the other's dagger and focused on Anker's eyes, his footsteps non-stop:

"Then I naturally have the courage to stand in front of him and look him in the eye. ”

Anker shuddered.

"Calm down!"

In the midst of the chaos, Marhros defied Vogel's angry protest ("Get him back!"):

"Your Highness has spoken!"

He raised his fist in the air and motioned to the royal guards to calm down.

Seeing that Marles blatantly set the tone, Vogel could only grit his teeth and shut up, glaring at the watchman's presumptuousness.

Finally, Tails stood in front of Anker, facing the anger and grief of the other side.

"Duke Tails," Anker lowered his dagger and looked at the Duke with resentment:

"Why?"

Tails' face sank like water, not impatient or impatient:

"Why?"

He snorted coldly:

"Anker Al Bilal. ”

"You think you can come to my territory and do whatever you want, you think you have caught my vital point, used it to hurt me, and threatened me?"

Anker clenched the sword in his hand.

His gaze kept wandering between Tails' chest and abdomen.

This made Vogel more and more nervous, and he kept urging Marles to act, but the latter did not move.

Like Tails, he didn't care.

"I don't know who gave you this bad idea, but, duel?"

Tails chuckled and glanced at the crowd, intentionally or unintentionally:

"Just because I'm coming back from the North?"

Tails turned around slowly, and turned his back to Anker, who was holding the blade in his hand and was emotionally unstable, carelessly:

"You, and the people behind you, you don't know, I've spent my whole life facing such predicaments and problems, struggling to survive between the last and most desperate choices. ”

Tails glanced around at the guests around him before turning around.

He looked speechless, as if hesitating to take the opportunity to slash out and kill the prince's Anker.

"Now, Anker, it doesn't matter who you are, or whoever you are. ”

Tails opened his mouth in a cold voice, ignoring the other man's blade, and continued to approach the other as everyone inhaled, until less than half an arm between the two men.

"It doesn't matter if you're doing it for yourself or for someone else. ”

Tails said in a deep voice:

"Choose. ”

At such a close distance, Tails found that the other party had been shaking, his breathing was chaotic, and his expression was cloudy.

He's not in the state.

Tails in the senses of hell knew it at just a glance:

As far as the other party's current situation is concerned, let alone a duel, even the sword style may not make the standard.

"Choose?"

Anker finally couldn't hold it anymore and spoke angrily.

"Kill you or ......"

His breath was so heavy that he could almost hit Tails' face:

"You didn't give me a choice, did you!"

Anker's eyes were red, his expression was hideous, and the short sword in his hand trembled.

It made the viewer's heart worry, and they couldn't help but sweat for His Royal Highness the prince - Marhros had to hold down the gritted Vogel, and the fist that restrained everyone never let go.

But Terston paused for a moment, and said softly:

"Not true. ”

The prince's tone became serious:

"I gave. ”

"What I'm giving you is not only a choice, but also a chance. ”

Tails looked into Anker's eyes, rendered by despair and desolation, and tried to be sincere:

"The best chance, another option. ”

"You know that. ”

Tails' voice unconsciously carried a hint of anxiety:

"You know!"

But Anker, who looked back at him, was unmoved, and the other party's eyes changed from hot to cold, from bright to dark, from resentment to loss, from pain to numbness.

Finally, Anker gently closed his eyes.

"Your Highness, can you do me a favor," Anker said faintly, his voice as if soaked in a dark tone:

"Kill me?"

The crowd of onlookers and the vigilant guards were stunned.

Tails' eyes darkened.

"Of course. ”

But the next moment, Tails' voice became cold again:

"But only in a duel—on the terms we agreed. ”

Anker was silent.

One second, two seconds......

Until the third second, Anker suddenly opened his eyes!

At the same time, there was also the blade of the sword in his hand, cutting through the air and driving the sound of the wind.

Straight to Tails!

In the next second, the crowd of people who were engrossed in it instantly exclaimed!

"No!"

"Damn it!"

"Protect Your Highness!"

"Murder again!"

The chaotic crowd either retreated or moved forward, blocking the view for a while, and shackling the royal guards who were ready to rescue!

"Damn, Marios, your bad idea......"

Vogel pushed away a guest who was in the way, angry:

"If the prince he—you're done!"

Marles didn't say a word, just clenched his fists calmly, signaling his subordinates to maintain order.

Until a loud shout, from the center of the hall, from the center of chaos!

"In the name of Tails Bright Star, I said it!

"Fuck everyone!"

Tails' voice had never been so furious, even shaking the dome:

"I can handle it!"

The chaotic scene suddenly fell silent.

It took a few seconds for the guards to re-discipline the crowd, and the royal guards rushed to the front, led by Marlos and Vogel, respectively, and surrounded the center of the hall.

Only the two people who were left in the center were almost everything.

Seeing the scene in front of them clearly, many guests gasped:

Anker's blade rested between the necks of the two men, neither forward nor backward - his wrist was firmly grasped by Tails, unable to advance or retreat.

Tails and Anker looked at each other, one calm, the other desperate, trembling slightly in the tense wrestling.

Marlos frowned.

Vogel was furious, and he instructed his subordinates in charge of the flag wing to move forward:

"Damn, don't hurry up-"

But Marhros's words are louder than his:

"Steady!"

The watchman's fist was raised again, causing everyone to froze:

"Your Highness's order cannot be violated!"

Vogel's steps forward paused.

Marlos said coldly:

"Your Highness is dealing with it. ”

"Don't be disturbed. ”

Vogel froze for a moment and lowered his voice:

"You're the captain of his guard, in case something happens to him......"

This time, Marlos did not swallow his anger, but replied coldly:

"Then I'm also the captain of his personal guard. ”

Choked the words of the Vice-Captain to death.

In the field, Tails carefully appeases the arms-infused Hellriver, thwarting Anker's intentions while preventing the Terminator from turning into a bloodthirsty beast.

"Anker, don't do that. ”

Tails shook his head, his eyes tinged with warning:

"The Warning Ones haven't been brought yet, and our duel hasn't begun yet. ”

But Anker shook his head.

"Let go, let them kill me," Anker lowered his voice, his words full of gloom:

"I have to die, I can't walk out alive like this. ”

Tails frowned.

At that moment, it was as if he had returned to the prison of bones.

Right in front of him, Barney Jr. swiped the blade of his sword against his neck.

"Yes," said Tails, surging away the unpleasant memories, firmly:

"But that's just the choice he gives you. ”

He balanced the strength in his arm, preventing Anker from moving a single bit, while staring into the other's eyes:

"The man who gave you this sword, he doesn't deserve your life. ”

Anker seemed to be enraged, his pupils shrank, revealing anger:

"I'm not for him!"

Tails showed no weakness:

"I know!"

The prince stared at the pair of eyes, which went back and forth between anger and despair, hoping that the other would read what he meant:

"So I gave you a chance. ”

"Hold on to it!"

Tails' voice was a little eager.

Anker was in a trance for a moment.

His breathing slowed, and his pupils refocused:

"Why ......"

"Because I know you're not his pawn," Tails said categorically:

"I know what you really want. ”

Tails pressed his hand to close the distance between the two, and said in a voice that only they could hear:

"You don't come for revenge, you don't come for personal gain. ”

"Not even more for your father. ”

Anker was stunned at first, then incredulous.

"You, how did you ......"

Tails said coldly:

"Because I believe that we are the same people. ”

The same people.

Anker's palms trembled slightly:

"What?"

"But the one who gave you the sword," Tails stared into his eyes:

"He's definitely not. ”

Separated by a short sword, the two looked at each other, one insisting, the other confused.

Anker's hesitation only lasted for a moment.

He gritted his teeth, his eyebrows twitching:

"He gave me a sword, and you gave me a 'bet'. ”

Anker stared at Tails fiercely:

"You're all pushing me to take the next step you want. ”

"Is there any difference between you and him?"

Tails was silent for a moment.

After a second, the strength of the prince's hand weakened a little.

"He wants to be a chess player and win chess games. Tails whispered.

Anker sneered sarcastically:

"And you want to lose?"

Tails looked up slowly.

"Nope. ”

"I just, just understand......"

He was exhausted to the extreme:

"Other chess pieces. ”

Anker was stunned.

"As I said, we're the same kind of people. ”

Tails said with difficulty:

"Anker Al Bilal. ”

The strength of Anker's hand loosened, and the distance between the two returned to an arm's length.

But the dagger still stood in between.

The prince looked at each other with burning eyes, tentatively touching the other's weapons:

"Now, let go and give me the sword. ”

Anker's eyes were confused, and he glanced around, it was the royal guards who were eyeing the enemy.

He gritted his teeth and said:

"I can't. ”

"Chess pieces can't," Tails' left hand pressed the hilt of the opponent's sword, his eyes firm, "you can." ”

"Anker Al Biral, you can. ”

Anker hung his head.

"If I let go," Al al-Bayal's eyes returned to clarity, but then became distressed:

"What should I do?"

Faced with this question, Tails was also silent for a while.

But he quickly raised his head:

"I don't know, but I'll do my best. ”

Anke snorted, unrecognizable, sobbing and laughing.

"I've done my best. ”

"No, you don't," Tails shook his head in no uncertain terms:

"You didn't see me. ”

"Me. ”

He said firmly.

This time, Anker stared at him for a long time.

Under Tails' gaze, the other party's eyes passed through a series of confusion, pain, torment, struggle, anger, and resentment.

In the end, there is relief and silence.

The next second, Tails felt a lightness in his hand.

In front of him, Anker's body fell forward.

"Boom!"

Hearing only a muffled sound, under the gaze of countless eyes, Anke closed his eyes and knelt beside Tails, and the whole person went limp.

Tails let out a sigh of relief, raised the dagger in his hand, and turned around with mixed feelings.

"It seems that the duel did not happen. ”

He raised his voice and reverted to the same Duke of Star Lake, forcing away the gazes of many onlookers who swept like a blade.

The Duke stepped forward and walked towards Marios, who had been clenching his fists.

Tails nodded, and while feeling indescribable, he forced himself to say the same as before: "The bet is unfinished." ”

"It's a pity. ”

Under the gaze of countless surprises, Marlos waved his hand.

The royal guards, who had been prepared for a long time, rushed up and brutally suppressed Anker, who had already given up resistance and was numb, to the ground, and tied them up.

(End of chapter)