Chapter 23 Cave Duel

Hearing this, Rosyth's breathing grew ragged, and he cursed, "Who is it that resorts to sinister plots and schemes? Who is it that employs despicable means? It's none other than you, you shameless bastard. Do you think you could have won against anyone without them!"

Benson, feeling a sense of shared experience painfully, pointed at him and said, "Ivan, I never would have thought you were such a person. You have not a shred of a knight's virtue and yet you're born of nobility."

Their cursing caused echoes to reverberate throughout the cave, a testament to the depth of their previous grievances.

Ivan replied with irony, "Hah, you speak of knightly virtues? Your virtue is to push companions into danger at the first sign of trouble, using their lives to shield yourselves while you flee in panic. Listen to this—such nobility from you gentlemen."

He had actually arrived there before dawn, cautiously waiting near the entrance of the cave for two hours. He witnessed the two men making their way here, their careful movements, and deduced that they had not arranged for any other help.

The reason they hadn't sought help was easy to guess—they feared the events of the past would come to light and tarnish their reputations. After all, their actions during the crisis had been disgraceful, and it was best kept secret unless absolutely necessary.

Rosyth, furious, said, "Enough talk, today we'll definitely teach you a lesson."

Benson chimed in, "Our past camaraderie ends with this strike today. Wherever we are, you shall not be."

Both men knew the other possessed poison dust powder and didn't rush forward recklessly; instead, they prepared themselves for battle, waiting for their opponent to come closer.

The three men stood facing each other in two groups.

"Go."

Rosyth had already secretly gathered his blood energy in his arm and signaled Benson with a glance before lunging forward with his sword first.

Benson followed closely with his sword. As alumni of the 'Mieyan' Swordsmanship Hall, even an impromptu strike demonstrated a certain level of coordination between them.

Two swords, one wide and one narrow, one after the other, thrust toward Ivan.

"Good timing."

Ivan was already familiar with the fact that the Mieyan Swordsmanship Hall had a set of 'Upper Thorn Sword Technique' that excelled at thrusting attacks. He faced the assault with composure, his blood energy in his feet surging with his blood circulation. With a push from his legs, power flowed from bottom to top, and the Quillen Sword swept forward in his arm's arc.

"Clang!"

The Quillen Sword struck the blade of Rosyth's longsword.

In sword clashes, there wasn't a place for fanciful moves; it was a contest of strength and speed.

Under the influence of overwhelming force, Rosyth's longsword veered off course, getting pushed towards Benson's wider sword.

"This is bad."

Seeing Rosyth, along with his sword, veering towards him, Benson inwardly cursed his luck. If he didn't dodge, he'd collide with Rosyth and end up in a heap.

Sadly, the situation didn't allow Benson much time to think.

The next second, the two figures squeezed together, and as the ground of the cave already sloped slightly towards the sea, it became even harder to stand firm.

"Get the hell down there."

Powered by his blood energy, Ivan kicked out nimbly, striking Rosyth at the waist and sending both men tumbling uncontrollably toward the sea surface, rolling into an entangled mess.

In an instant, Rosyth crashed onto a strange rock below, while Benson rolled farther out into the water, splashing up a wavelet.

The cave echoed with the disgraced cries of pain from the two men, and the reverberation within the cave disturbed even the insects on the rotting ship inside, scattering like a black cloud out of the crevices, the swarm chaotically fluttering about.

"You—don't come any closer."

Rosyth leaned against the rock behind him, twisting his body involuntarily a few times from the pain, and with a look of terror on his face, he watched Ivan approach step by step.

Just three steps apart, Ivan stopped walking, slowly lifting his sword and pointing it at Rosyth.

Under Rosyth's gaze, Ivan made a gesture as if to swing his sword down.

"Die."

In a flash, Rosyth raised his arm, and a crossbow bolt shot out from his sleeve, flying straight towards Ivan.

After he had fallen into a disadvantage, he realized that his opponent was no longer what he once was, and his strength had surpassed his own by a margin.

He needed to feign weakness before striking with a hidden arrow.

"Ding."

However, Ivan's footsteps didn't move, and the Quillen sword happened to drop down and send the crossbow bolt flying away.

Rosyth wouldn't give up and shook his arm lightly to fire another bolt, which Ivan easily blocked.

"What---what strength do you actually have!"

As the third bolt missed and flew into the air, Rosyth began to feel an uncontrollable sense of fear rising within him.

Scanning the debris-strewn ship in the distance, Ivan said, "Me? Why should I tell you?"

Strength: 2.8, Agility: 2.2, Constitution: 3.0, Spirit: 1.4

These were his current body stats, and if measured in graduated degrees, his constitution had already reached the standard of a squire, and his strength test was infinitely close to a squire's as well.

Rosyth couldn't care less about losing face and hastily begged for mercy, "Ivan, I was wrong. We shouldn't have harmed you before, we shouldn't have abandoned you---"

A crossbow bolt flew past, cutting off his words abruptly.

Seeing Ivan flick the second bolt back at him with his sword, he shouted in a panic, "Stop, stop, the arrow is poisoned."

Ivan's eyebrows lifted, revealing a meaningful smile.

Terrified, Rosyth quickly explained, "It's just a paralytic toxin, I just wanted to make you lose your fighting ability and then defeat you." He wanted to viciously trample him into the dirt and break his legs, but he dared not speak the second half out loud.

"Candlelight jellyfish toxin."

"Yes, yes, the candlelight jellyfish toxin, it paralyzes---ah."

Although Rosyth wasn't lying, Ivan still let an arrow fly as a response.

"What's the fuss about? It's just a little prick in the flesh." Ivan grumbled as he walked forward. He had intended to give Rosyth's legs a thorough piercing but misjudged the aim slightly, with the arrow veering off quite a bit. "Oops, sorry, I stepped on your foot."

With a 'crack,' someone's foot bone broke, twisting Rosyth's face into a grimace as he forcefully refrained from crying out loud.

Ivan was satisfied, the aim had been spot on.

"Get lost! Keep away from me." At that moment, Benson, who had been still for a while, found himself in trouble.

After taking a few gulps of water, he staggered to his feet, aware that he could not compete. He had intended to slip away across the water's surface, but ended up attracting bugs and inadvertently suffered a bite, walking in the footsteps of Ivan's earlier mishap.

"Splush!"

Benson regained consciousness and dived back into the sea, not daring to surface again.

Only then did the two on the shore realize that the swarm of bugs had spread, occupying a large area.

Seeing the dark mass approaching, Ivan involuntarily shuddered.

"Listen up, where I am, you aren't, got it?"

"Understood, understood."

Thinking it over, Ivan kept an eye on the sea while backing away, soon leaving the cave entrance.

The reason he didn't kill the two was that he feared alarming the parents from both sides, leading to an undying hostility and endless troubles. With only the strength of a squire, he really couldn't afford to be arrogant in front of their parents.

As for some minor injuries, as long as they could be healed, they were considered trivial in the eyes of the parents here, who might not even inquire further—hadn't his father Leider done just that before?

"Hope you have the sense to take a hint."

Leaving the cave and climbing the cliff, Ivan felt refreshed. He glanced down the cliff once more and turned to walk away.