Chapter 758 - At the Mercy of the Ants Who Could Once Only Look up to Him
The entire palace suddenly fell deathly silent. Everyone looked at the wooden giant with wide eyes, and for a split second, they were struck by the illusion that the invincible War God was back.
However, the one inside the wooden giant was Yuri, not Alex, so what gave him the courage to challenge Slog? Wasn’t he just asking for a beating?
Slog himself also faltered slightly upon seeing this. In all honesty, he had almost fallen to his knees when the wooden giant extended a challenge toward him.
However, he quickly returned to his senses, and reiterated to himself that Alex was already dead, and the one inside the wooden giant was only the frail and useless Yuri.
Flames of fury were ignited in Slog’s heart. Even though he wasn’t a high-ranking official, nor was he very powerful, if he didn’t even dare to accept a challenge from Yuri, then he would become everyone’s laughingstock. In that case, he could essentially kiss his political career goodbye.
Slog turned to the king and cupped his fist in a respectful salute as he said, “Your Majesty, seeing as His Highness insists on challenging me to a battle, I would like to secure your approval to arrange a sparring match. No weapons will be used, and the battle will conclude before things get out of hand.”
Everyone turned their attention to the king. Even though Slog had accepted the third prince’s challenge, it was up to the king to decide whether this battle would eventuate.
No matter how forgettable of a figure Yuri was, he was still the third prince, and he represented the face of royalty. After bringing out a wooden block as a birthday present for the king, he had drawn much ridicule, but he had since proved all of his doubters wrong by a demonstration of the wooden block’s abilities.
However, if he were to lose in a battle against Slog, the royal family would be embarrassed once again.
Amy looked at the wooden giant with a curious expression as she murmured to herself, “Even Mushroom Head can fight? But the bird man he made earlier couldn’t even fly; how can he beat anyone in a fight?”
Could it be that this really is a Gundam? Mag also wore a curious expression. Even though Yuri was still quite young, he didn’t appear to be stupid enough to do something that would only bring ridicule to himself.
I’ve seen Little Mushroom Head trip over his own feet before, but he’s challenging someone to a battle now? How interesting. Irina was also quite intrigued by this turn of events.
In any case, Yuri was the third prince, so there was no way that Slog would actually dare to injure him; that would be a crime worthy of a severe punishment.
Yuri withdrew his extended finger before turning to the king as he requested in a firm voice, “Father, please allow me to battle him.”
The king was looking at the wooden giant with a rather surprised expression. In his mind, Yuri had always been rather frail and lackadaisical, but who would’ve thought that he’d have such a courageous side to himself? After a brief silence, he nodded, and said, “I’ll approve of this battle.”
The servants nearby quickly cleared out a large space at the center of the palace, while all of the officials burst into spirited discussion.
“General Slog is a 5th-tier knight; is his Highness really going to battle him?”
“His Highness isn’t a knight, nor is he a magic caster. Is he trying to exhaust General Slog to death with that suit of armor?”
“When you put it like that, it could be possible.”
“Sigh, if His Highness could work even half as hard as his elder brothers and not be obsessed with these useless activities, he wouldn’t be in his current situation.”
Everyone was generally quite skeptical of Yuri’s decision to challenge Slog, thinking that he had only done so in the heat of the moment. No one was of the opinion that this suit of so-called battle armor would actually let him win this battle.
A large space was quickly cleared out, and the two combatants faced off against each other.
The tall and broad Slog was only able to reach up to the wooden giant’s neck, and the flames of his fury were fanned even further by the fact that he had to tilt his head back to look up at his opponent. He wanted nothing better than to ram his fist into the face of the wooden giant, and crush it beneath his feet.
“Please get ready, Your Highness, Master Slog. Also, remember to stop before either side gets injured,” a servant yelled from the sidelines.
The chatter within the palace gradually subsided as everyone stared at the two combatants with intense focus. They had no doubts about the final result of the battle; they were merely interested in how many seconds Yuri could last.
Slog twisted his neck from side to side, cracking his joints in the process as he glared at Yuri like an enraged bull. He had already decided that he was going to take down Yuri in just a single attack.
“Be careful, Your Highness!” Slog roared before charging toward Yuri like a wild horse.
Yuri was the third prince, and no matter how angry Slog was, he still had the presence of mind to know that he couldn’t injure Yuri in this palace no matter what.
However, he had done all this so he could stand out in front of Sean, and he was a military official as well, so he naturally couldn’t show any weakness.
As for Yuri, he was just a useless prince anyway, so there was no need to take his dignity and thoughts into consideration.
The rapidly advancing Slog created a stark contrast with Yuri, who was rooted to the spot like a wooden pillar. It appeared that this battle would be over in a matter of seconds.
Gajeel wore an eager expression of ridicule on his face. It was hilarious to him that the third prince was about to be defeated by a lowly military official of his own Roth Empire, and it was a bonus that he was going to be beaten while bearing a strong resemblance to Alex. It was almost as if Alex himself was the one being defeated here, and that was a very satisfying notion to Gajeel.
“Go, Mushroom Head! Go!” Amy was cheering Yuri on in a quiet voice. She wore a nervous expression of intense focus on her little face, which was actually quite adorable to behold.
Slog extended his right hand toward the neck of the wooden giant, preparing to catch Yuri in a chokehold before throwing him to the ground to put an end to this sparring match.
Veins were bulging along the entire length of his bulky and powerful arm. The power of a 5th-tier knight could almost rival that of an Ironhide Bull, so it was naturally a simple matter for him to take down a stationary wooden statue.
A hint of a sinister smile appeared on Slog’s face. Alex was someone whom he could only look up to, and even though this was only a wooden statue of him, the notion of being able to defeat him was still quite an exciting one.
He could already see himself catching Alex in a stranglehold before throwing him violently to the ground. That was undoubtedly going to be the most brilliant highlight of his life.
Some of the female guests present had already covered their eyes, unable to bear witnessing such a horrendous spectacle. Many of them were Alex’s fangirls, and none of them wanted to see him being brought down—not even as a wooden statue.
Sean wore a cold smile on his face. At the same time, he was feeling rather curious; if he were to find Alex now, would he also be as easy to bring down as this wooden statue? Would he be completely at the mercy of the ants who could once only look up to him?
That would be a very interesting scenario to witness.
Just as everyone was waiting for Yuri to be taken out by a single attack, the stationary wooden giant suddenly sprang into action. It raised its right hand in a flash, displaying none of the clumsiness from earlier. The hand shot forth like lightning, catching Slog’s wrist in a vice-like grip before swinging him through the air in a perfectly coordinated motion.
Slog’s burly body drew a glorious parabola in the air before landing heavily on his back. The wooden giant immediately lowered itself before unleashing a punch directly into Slog’s face.