The interior of the palace had lost its former grandeur and splendor, reduced to almost ruins by dust and debris.

Especially near the entrance, where a large-scale battle was taking place, the scene was like hell, filled with the screams and shouts of the knights, and the sounds of swords clashing.

Kwaang!

“Aaah!”

“Ugh!”

Every time a fragment flew towards them, most of the servants who followed the emperor had to shrink their bodies in fear.

“Your Majesty! It’s dangerous, please move back a little…”

“Shut up, all of you! I’m concentrating!”

But the emperor shouted angrily, trying to focus his eyes on the dust-covered palace.

He didn’t have to worry much about the south, where his forces were overwhelming.

Originally, Eurius had risked his life to send Nuada to the knights because protecting the emperor was his top priority.

Of course, when he first brought up the idea, the emperor was reluctant.

“You’re going to face the Grand Duke alone? Aren’t you afraid?”

“I think I have to do that. We don’t know what tricks the Grand Duke will pull, so we need at least one superhuman to pay attention to your security.”

“Hmm…”

The emperor agreed, but he looked unhappy.

The purpose of this plan was to reveal the Grand Duke’s treason to his servants.

It was to show them undeniable evidence that would silence the nobles who followed him.

In fact, the nobles who followed the Grand Duke looked gloomy and shrunk their bodies even more.

‘Did I choose the wrong side? How can he rebel against the emperor, even if he is the Grand Duke? What’s going on?’

‘This is crazy. Is this going to be another bloody purge?’

But the emperor had no time to care about them.

He was watching the center of the palace, where Eurius was.

It was hard to identify them with his eyes because they were superhumans fighting fiercely, but it was clear from their movements that Eurius was being pushed back by the Grand Duke.

‘He seems to be holding on well for now, but that bastard doesn’t have a scratch on him.’

As he said, Eurius had large and small sword wounds all over his body, and blood stains were visible on his lips as if he had internal injuries, but the Grand Duke was fine without any serious injuries.

No wonder the emperor felt angry. It would take some more time to suppress the other side and go to help Eurius.

“Hmm?”

The emperor’s expression changed slightly. The fierce battle in the center suddenly stopped.

Eurius and the Grand Duke suddenly backed away from each other as if they had agreed.

***

“…!?”

Eurius looked at the Grand Duke with a puzzled expression after backing away.

The Grand Duke, who had been attacking him relentlessly, suddenly retreated.

‘What is he up to? He’s not going to surrender, is he?’

He must have been very angry, because he spat out his words with a bitter tone.

“I admit that I underestimated you. This situation was beyond my expectations.”

“So? Are you finally going to surrender?”

Eurius pretended to be calm on the outside, but he felt bitter when he saw the Grand Duke without a scratch.

‘Damn old man. He didn’t earn his title of Sword Saint by gambling.’

He was momentarily shaken by the unexpected situation, but the Grand Duke quickly recovered his composure as a veteran knight and attacked him again.

He was barely holding on thanks to his characteristics, but he doubted if he could defeat the Grand Duke even if there were two of him.

‘But I can hold on until reinforcements arrive.’

He forced himself to smile casually, hoping to make the Grand Duke more anxious.

If one of the battles in the palace ended, he could turn the tide in an instant.

‘I need to buy more time.’

By chance, Eurius had many questions for the Grand Duke.

He would welcome it if he gave up and wanted to talk.

“Let me ask you something if you want to stop fighting.”

“…”

But the Grand Duke remained silent for a moment and then slowly answered.“If you have any questions, you can ask me after you defeat me face-to-face.”

“…!?”

He didn’t say much, but he was ten times more bitter than Eurius.

The current situation touched his inferiority complex.

His eyes glared at Eurius with rage.

‘I can’t believe I have to use this trick to catch a brat who is half my age…’

Kwaang!

Suddenly, an overwhelming aura burst out from him.

“Huh?”

Eurius looked at him with a curious expression.

There was something suspicious about the Grand Duke’s condition.

[Fried Wilhelm]

Disposition: Cold, Ambitious

Current State: Inferiority, Anger

‘What kind of inferiority complex does he have? He was overpowering me until a moment ago.’

Well, maybe it was because he was young.

But what really surprised Eurius was that the Grand Duke’s current state was similar to a [skill] that he knew.

Boom!

The ground where the Grand Duke stomped his foot sank in a circle.

His movement was so threatening that it seemed to break the ground.

And it wasn’t just his strength.

He was so fast that his body stretched out like an afterimage and rushed towards Eurius.

‘Damn!’

He was caught off guard and reacted late.

It was too late to dodge or deflect his attack!

Eurius had no choice but to defend himself as best as he could.

First, he raised his White Tiger Protection to the maximum.

He also used Distortion to alter the trajectory of the attack and prepare for the impact.

Finally, he confronted the Grand Duke’s strike with his Intangible Sword.

The moment their swords collided, a deafening explosion shook the palace.

Kwaang!

But even that effort was in vain, as the Grand Duke’s strike sent Eurius flying in one blow.

He broke the pillars of the palace and flew back dozens of meters before crashing into the wall.

“Cough cough!”

Eurius spat out a mouthful of black blood.

He avoided being split in half thanks to his desperate defense, but his insides were a mess.

‘The internal injuries are worse than I thought. I was stunned by the unexpected situation.’

But he didn’t have time to heal himself.

The Grand Duke seemed to be in a hurry and charged at him again.

“First Prince Your Highness!”

“Master!”

The collision was so violent that everyone in the palace turned their eyes to them.

It was obvious that Eurius was in a life-and-death crisis.

Crash!

Another violent explosion erupted.

But could Eurius, who couldn’t withstand the attack of the Grand Duke even when his body was relatively intact, survive this time?

The emperor and Eurius’s allies all turned pale.

Soon, the dust from the collapsed wall cleared and revealed the situation on Eurius’s side.

First, it was the Grand Duke who was staring at the wall where Eurius was buried. He was confident of his victory in his mind.

‘He even used an incomplete secret technique, but he must have been reduced to dust at least to the point where he can’t move.’

And if he threatened the emperor with the first prince as a hostage, he could easily return to his territory and seize the opportunity to recover.“Cough!”

“…!?”

But the Grand Duke doubted his eyes for a moment.

It was because Eurius walked out of the wall slowly, spitting blood.

And then he smiled slightly as if he felt relieved and opened his mouth.

“I have one more question for you, Grand Duke.”

“…”

He lost his words.

The aura that Eurius exuded was familiar to the Grand Duke.

[Skill Overheat is activated. According to the skill effect, the rank of Force increases from S+ to SS+.]

[You are receiving the fusion effect of Death God’s Blade. The duration is slightly increased. The backlash after use is reduced.]

“How did you, first prince?”

The Grand Duke’s face, which had been completely shattered, asked incredulously.

But what was more curious was rather on Eurius’s side.

How did the Grand Duke learn this skill?

“Isn’t that what I should ask? Do you have any connection with the player?”

“…”

The Grand Duke’s face became stiff again as if he had put on an iron mask.

And he quickly rushed towards Eurius again.

‘I have to finish this in time!’

‘No way.’

The skill that temporarily increased Force greatly gave him a huge boost in strength for a moment, but the side effects were too severe to use it unless necessary.

He didn’t use it this time because he knew well that he couldn’t defeat the Grand Duke even if he became stronger for a few minutes.

Rather, it would be a bigger loss in the long run if he suffered severe internal injuries from the backlash.

But since the Grand Duke used such a skill first, it was a different story.

The situation was exactly the same as before.

The skill that the Grand Duke used, which was presumed to be Overheat, seemed to be slightly inferior to Eurius’s skill in terms of amplification, but his basic skills were still superior.

‘But I can maintain the same level of resistance as before.’

A few minutes passed like that.

The Grand Duke, who had been overwhelming Eurius all along, suddenly backed away.

‘This is a bit bad. How could I make such a mistake here…’

The Grand Duke regained his calm expression, but his complexion had already turned pale.

The backlash of forcibly increasing Force was finally coming.

And the price was much worse than Eurius’s.

“Kuh…”

Thud!

First, his whole body muscles and bones screamed.

His secret technique Diamond Body gained overwhelming power and speed by enduring more than the limit of Force.

But there was also a limit to strengthening the body.

So his body began to collapse from overloading Force.

Not to mention the internal injuries that were inherent in Overheat.

On the other hand, Eurius still had some time left.

Thanks to his diligent efforts to raise achievements and collect the player’s legacy.

‘You dug your own grave by trying to get rid of me quickly.’

His judgment was off, but not wrong.

The Grand Duke’s attack that increased Force and rushed in just now was really scary.

If Eurius didn’t have the same skill, he would have been subdued or killed by his two attacks that blew him away at first.

But it didn’t mean that the Grand Duke was completely powerless when the backlash came.

The gap in their skills was still insurmountable.

[Remaining duration of Overheat 60 seconds]

Eurius sighed as he checked the remaining time on one side of his vision.

‘I’ll be in real trouble after a minute. I have to find a way out somehow.’

The Grand Duke was not in a comfortable situation either.

The price of increasing Force recklessly was eating away at his body every moment.

‘I can’t fight for long. I have to end this in one go.’