Challenger

After various formalities during Veil's ceremony of being humanity's Hero, the country of Arnelia flourished even more.

Larger amounts of resources are now being traded due to more trade routes being established.

Generally, more citizens felt safe and reassured due to Veil's existence alone.

After a year of various races' bloom, only Elves and Elven cities' face a decline.

This is due to the disappearance of Elves' Hero, Riveria, and the last time Riveria was seen was during the War in Slovan'r near the lake of Slovan'r.

Since then, she has not responded to a single call even from various elders of their race.

In truth, Riveria was still sealed on the voids of the Dark Clown's Ethereal Cage, unable to escape due to lack of mana.

She must absolutely not lose her consciousness because she does not know if she would face death once she sleeps.

[...]

Meanwhile, during the full year of uneventful Terra, Veil went on various expeditions to learn more of the world.

She also took part in establishing trade routes between human cities and other races.

With a Hero negotiating, the agreements between sides would always pass smoothly.

The fallen cities such as Cilis and Plevo was also recovered, however, citizens still refuse to go back.

The now-recovered cities just became a local hub for guilds and Adventurer teams from around Arnelia.

They treat these cities as temporary bases before setting off towards Aeria to gain more skills.

On the year end, Veil travelled back to Marlov to settle down as she treated it as her birthplace.

After a week, she finally arrived, Lozzaro's Adventurer alliance never failed to welcome her.

Even before she became a Hero, these Adventurers always treated her as a good friend and ally.

This Adventurer alliance is now recognized by the Kingdom, on which Lozzaro named as Midnight.

As loud cheers fill the headquarters of Midnight, two Adventurers with a stifling aura suddenly approached Veil.

"Estemeed Hero, I am Gor and here is Lauron." The tall man pointed to the petite Adventurer beside him and added, "We are members of a guild from the Kingdom of Duran called the King's Guard."

The girl named Lauron nodded disinterestedly; it seems that she still refuses to accept the upstart Adventurer in front of her to be a Hero.

Veil remained unperturbed by the sudden conversation, she only watched the two.

Gor could only smile bitterly as he spoke again: "We wish to challenge you in a duel facilitated by the King."

Lozzaro and the other Adventurers in the hall turned quiet the instant they heard the word duel.

"What do you mean by a duel?" Lozzaro asked suspiciously.

"You see, there were disagreements with our Hero here. The King's Guard is the strongest guild in the entirety of Arnelia, fighting battles and battles against Otherworlders."

"However, an upstart Adventurer was called a Hero instantly from repelling one invasion?" Gor explained with a slightly proud tone.

"Who am I dueling with?" Veil finally broke her silence.

"You shall find out when we arrive at the Kingdom." Gor smirked.

"Let's proceed with it then." Veil as she prepared to make a gate.

Before she could slash the air and make a gate towards the Kingdom, Gor snapped a fist-sized crystal with his hand and a gate appeared just outside the hall.

"Allow me to be the one to make the gate, Hero. Conserve your power as much as you could." Gor explained as he flashed another smirk.

'That!' Lozzaro snapped inwardly but he soon calmed himself. "Allow me to escort Veil then."

Gor nodded as he walked through with Lauron following closely behind.

Veil and Lozzaro then followed momentarily.

Shururururuk.

The four arrived in a middle of a colloseum, the host then explained the rules for the duel between Veil and Lauron.

'!?' Lozzaro is filled with confusion as he stared in the cloaked petite girl in front of him.

Gor then asked Lozzaro to leave the battlefield as he leads him to the spectator seats behind the King.

The host slightly nodded as he saw only the combatants remain in the field.

"This duel's purpose is to pull back Adventurer Veil's title of Hero and transfer it to Adventurer Lauron if the latter wins."

As soon as the host finished speaking, Lozzaro abruptly stood up "What is the meaning of this?! You cannot just rescind Veil's title!"

The host turned to look at the direction of the complainant.

"Calm down. The condition of the duel is not unfair. When Lauron loses, she will give up her sword, one of the 4 Holy Swords, Durandal!"

Gasps filled the colosseum before loud cheers following.

Lozzaro then sat back down after hearing the winning reward for Veil, however, if the unfortunate result happens, their negotiations with various countries might fall.

Unbeknownst to him, the goal of this duel is ultimately to reduce Marlov's potential to overtake the resources of the Kingdom; the revocation of Veil's title is just the beginning.

"Without any objections, let's start the duel! Veil versus Lauron!"

Louder screams of cheer from the audience is reaching a blood-boiling level of excitement, even Lozzaro's heart is trembling; the trade-offs are just too much.

Lauron removed her cloak and threw it on the ground, as light shines on the Holy Sword on her waist, it slightly trembled and glowed with bluish and golden hue.

Lauron flashed a cold smile towards her opponent, "Your days as a Hero are over!"

She then dashed towards the static Veil as she unsheathes the Holy Sword Durandal.

Skill: Light Judgement!

Mana danced around the Durandal, Lauron tightly held the sword with two hands as she slashed the ground in an upward arc.

Swing! Rumble!

A massive tidal wave of light rose up from the ground Lauron slashed as it slowly grew bigger and wider travelling towards Veil.

Veil, an instant moment before the attack reaches her, finally made her move.

Skill: Shadow Weave!

Thread-like shadows appeared behind Veil and rained down on the battlefield.

Boom!

Lauron sheathed her sword and slowly walked away as if she knows the battle is over, however, just as she was about to exit, her warning bells rang loudly.

Danger! What she felt next was massive danger looming over her entire body.

As she turns on the dust settling after her attack, what she saw was hundreds of black needles raining on her.

She immediately unsheathed Durandal as she black rain.

Skill: Illuminant Barrier!

She made a cross slash above her, the slash grew wider until it becomes a golden barrier blocking the rain of attacks.

Ting ting ting ting!

As Lauron is still busy with repelling the attacks that she failed to block with her barrier, Veil established her domain.

Mana Expansion: Shadow Envoy's Descent!

This is the rule in battle, the first one to set the proper cards right will be the victor, her opponent has not established her domain due to massive confidence that she could end the battle in one attack.

A dark terrifying color spread through the entire battlefield, shadow tentacle-like limbs sprouted from the ground.

Within a few seconds, the sky is full of black needles raining against Lauron and the ground is like the Abyss, full of black tentacles that are glowing with golden blade of mana.

At this point, it looks like a one-sided massacre!

Lauron finally broke free from the Shadow Weave's assault; she lightly jumped to avoid the tentacles sending thrusts on her.

Swoosh!

However, she never fell back on the ground after jumping, in truth, she is now flying!

Only peak tier Adventurers have learnt the skill of flight, with decent mana control and relatively good grasp on one's surrounding is a must for learning flight.

Humans are born without wings and the ability to fly, however, with enough training and mastery, one would be able to.

Lauron, escaping the assault of the shadow tentacles, released a glow on her body.

It is like an Angel visiting the human realm to punish them for their sins.

Steel-like wings appear on Lauron's back as she slightly changed in appearance, white battle armor now protected her torso.

'A Valkyrie?!' Lozzaro almost stood up in shock.

Valkyries are higher lifeforms whose sole purpose is to repel dark forces that are using taboo skills in various worlds.

No one knew if they really reside in Heaven or a higher realm of their own, only a few Valkyries ever descended on the human world.

But now, a Valkyrie suddenly appeared?

Bloodline Expansion: Radiance Inundation!

Darkness fills the ground, now, a great light appeared above; this does not look like a battle between humans anymore, but Gods instead!

Golden rays of light battle against the shadow tentacles, the battle is now almost equal.

Veil, standing on the ground, looked up on her enemy.

Skill: Shadow's Wings!

A burst of mana wrapped Veil's boots as she flew towards Lauron.

The latter is not surprised that Veil is also capable of flight; she then sent a counter of her own.

Skill: Virtuous Assault!

Two clones of Lauron appeared on both her sides as all of them attacked and surrounded Veil.

Skill: Shadow Dance!

Skill: Severer Blade!

Boom! Boom! Shing! Woosh! Vuoom!

Only vibrations can be felt in the battle before them, the ordinary citizens in the audience could barely perceive the battling participants.

Meanwhile, the top Adventurers could at best, see the bodies of both combatants; they cannot see where they would reappear.

As the empowered attacks of Veil's Shadow Dance end, the clones on Lauron's side also disappeared.

Pant pant pant.

Both women now showed a hint of exhaustion after their recent trade of attacks.

Lauron smiled bitterly, after tapping into a Bloodline Expansion to reach the level of Valkyries, she is using more mana more than usual.

It has only been a dozen minutes since the battle started; only a few more and she will be on mind down.

"Let's end the battle here!" Lauron loudly declared as she charges every bit of her mana for her last attack.

"Agreed." Veil replied.

It is all or nothing; she must end the battle with this attack.

Sure-kill Skill: Empyrean Awakening!!!

Lauron's eyes become gold as her wings expanded; she straightened her body as a posture for properly delivering her skill.

Veil just watched quietly as she slowly absorbs atmospheric mana.

Thunderclouds form in the skies, a storm is brewing due to the intense battle between the two women.

Golden arcs of lightning danced around the Holy Sword Durandal, the audience is feeling slightly dizzy and uncomfortable due to the massive energy coming from Lauron.

Lozzaro could only gulp down his saliva as he alternates his gaze between the still unmoving Veil and Lauron charging a massive attack.

Veil, still watching Lauron charge her attack, flew up to match Lauron's altitude.

She then spoke: "You will instantly collapse the moment you release that attack."

"I do not care as long as I snatch your title away from you!" Lauron retorted.

As soon as Lauron filled her sword with all of her mana, two more pairs of wings appeared on her back, she even evolved in this battle!

Valkyries' strength could be defined by the number of wings on their backs, now, Lauron, a human, has now 3 pairs of wings.

"Die!!!" Lauron swung the Holy Sword downwards, a massive light erupted from the ground and a massive beam of light appeared from the sky.

Before the slash and the 2 lights could devour Veil, she finally made her move.

Third Divine Technique: Transcendental Severance!

Suddenly, all colors from the world disappeared, as perceived by every single person inside the colosseum.

Time also seemed to slow down for some of them.

Veil did not even use her sword for this attack; she only extended the Divine Technique through her hands.

Veil then slashed diagonally, hitting all 3 attacks simultaneously.

Crash! Booom!!!

A blinding light then washed over everyone, only after a few seconds did the expanding light dissipated as it also restored the colors in the world.

Lauron, who received the force of the attack, was caught by Veil through a shadow extending on her free hand.

Lauron suffered a mind down; however, Veil transferred some of her mana onto Lauron.

As the two landed on the ground, the black ground reverted its appearance and revealed various craters, the rays of light in the sky also disappeared.

With this, the battle is over.

"V-veil, the Hero, will retain her title! And as promised, Lauron will give her the Kingdom's most treasured artifact: the Holy Sword, Durandal!"

The host barely reported after recovering from the great shock.

Veil's attack is just unimaginable; she indeed deserves her title as a Hero.

Lauron then opened her eyes; her head is relaxing on Veil's lap.

As she fully regained her consciousness, she looked at the emotionless Veil staring at her.

Blood filled her face from embarrassment; she greatly blushed until she abruptly stood up and ran away from Veil.

Veil then dusted her knees and stood up, she spoke "I will not steal your sword from you; your compatibility with your weapon is superb."

Lauron, who is just as young as Veil, welled up tears in her eyes.

She is still a kid in her heart; she could not help but cry because she will not have to say goodbye anymore to her favorite sword.

King Krieg then approached the two while clapping.

"You two have truly exceeded every expectation. Well done!"

"F-father… but I lost!"

Lauron, whose real identity is the daughter of the King, cried even more.

"Do not worry about it, you did your best." Krieg patted Lauron's back.

He then turned around and asked Veil: "What reward do you seek, Hero? This is the greatest treasure of the Kingdom; we would not be able to give you a similar reward…"

"Esteemed King, I appreciate the offer, but I want help in something else." Veil unhurriedly rejected the offer.

"Say the word and I shall provide you any help you want as long as it is within my power." Krieg's visibly showed his gladness.

"Provide me authority to visit the Elven city, Alvanheim!" Veil declared with a determined look.

"Alvanheim?!"