The day of the duel. 90% of the people or Goblins have packed up the arena. There were Goblins even on the streets outside the arena and even the entrance was packed. City square was packed as well. Due to overly packed situations like this, there have been magic screens which shows what happens inside the arena placed outside the entrance and the city square. These Goblins were a bit big in size compared to normal Goblins.
Unlike normal Goblins, they are well dressed like normal people. They are waiting. Waiting for the first duel in fifteen years to begin. Not only the Capital but also the other four major cities and towns as well as military bases are waiting for this. Magic screens have been set everywhere.
Surprisingly, even the old Goblin mages who almost never leave their towers and schools have come to watch this duel as guests. There was a lot of Goblins, literally lot. Too much to count.
"Hey, I heard that the opponent of our King is a human!"
"It's rumored that he is the friend of our prince!"
"Still, can a human really fight against our King? Won't he be trashed?"
"I heard from a soldier that this duel is related to the upcoming battle with the Orcs!"
"Rou! Come on! The fight's gonna start soon!"
"We are not here for entertainment, we are here for reporting the provisions details and return, that was our objective! Not to see some silly fight! And we can't see it anyway, the arena is packed and the city square is packed as well, if nothing we can only see it in a military base." Rou said as he dragged his friend with him.
"Come on! Aren't you interested in the duel? Isn't the opponent of his Majesty one of the Human you came with? Aren't you interested in what he can do? Do you think he can hold a candle against his Majesty?" Rou's friend, captain of an another unit in Iron Guard stationed at the same place as him said.
The two of them were old friends who learned fighting together. They enrolled in academy together and then got appointed as captains at the same time after finishing their course. They were first stationed apart in the beginning, but they rejoined later.
Rou and his men were dropped at their base which was on the way to capital when they were returning. The Iron Guard soldiers at the base were really shocked at first when they saw the King and the prince with Wyvern Riders Corp as they dropped off Rou and his men. The Wyvern Riders Corp then took off and proceeded towards the capital while acting as the escort for the King and prince and his friends.
While he did hear about the King going to fight in a duel with someone, he didn't expect it to be him. Because apart from that guy, no one can fight the King in the arena among that group.
"Change of plans, we are going to watch the fight and then we shall proceed with the task." Rou changed his direction but still dragged his friend. "Fine I get it! But let me go at least! I can walk!" Rou's friend struggled to break free.
They both reached the city square. It was PACKED! Goblins everywhere! There really was no room to even stand. Every place where they could stand were filled with people(Goblins). It was a closed out zone. (Sure enough, Goblin slayer would love to be here '-')
The Iron Guard soldiers were trying their best to keep the crowd under control. There was only around 80 soldiers sent here on duty but there was more than thousand civilians, maybe even more than that. Rou looked at the crowd and his friend.
"This........ Is not what I expected." Rou's friend said. "We can't do anything, but this is way too disordered." Rou said while looking at the crowd with serious eyes. Something did not seem right. This is the capital and there are more than three city squares. Other places have tight guards as well as ordered crowd control. But this place is way too disordered. Something seemed wrong.
Surely the capital had tons and tons of soldiers and they would not cheap on guard duty. "Bog, go to the nearest garrison and tell them to send word to the Hunters Corp as well as bring few hundred men the moment the word to Hunter Corp is sent!" Rou said with a serious tone.
"What wrong? Did you find something?" Bog asked in a serious tone. "Time is of essence, we have intruders! Go now! Make haste!" Rou seriously said before leaving Bog and rushed into the flood of Goblins. Bog also didn't say a word after than and ran toward the direction of the nearest garrison.
Rou rushed to the square center. He pushed the ones in his way aside while squishing through the crowd.
"Hey! Watch where you're going! There is already a lot of people at the back and you want to go front! Get behind!" A Goblin dressed in civilian clothes shouted at Rou. Rou didn't give a fuck and just continued going forward. The Goblin shut his mouth and his face went dark after seeing his armor and the huge battle Axe on his back.
The fight was yet to begin. Rou finally found a soldier and grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to his side. "Hey! Watch it! Who the fuc-?" the Goblin's face paled after seeing the symbol on Rou's chest plate near heart. It was a two sided battle Axe. It was a famous symbol that famous and strong battle Axe warriors have. And everyone of them have the rank of "Captain" of a unit or above. If he didn't even know this, he might as well quit the military and go home to his mama and learn common sense again.
"Sir? What is wrong? You seem to be in a hurry." The Goblin soldier tried to appease Rou. "Take me to your officer! Now!" Rou said with a hurried as well as serious tone. The Goblin was scared out of his pants. He thought that Rou was about to have his higher officer fire him.
"Si... Sir? You don't have to go to him for a small matter like this, we ca-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND TAKE ME TO HIM!" Rou shouted at him. The Goblins in the surrounding all looked at them. The square was already noisy so his sound only attracted the attention of some near them. The Goblin looked like he was about to cry. He was here because the city guards alone can't control a crowd this big. Not because there is not enough men but that also a reason and they also have to guard the city as well as go on patrols. The Iron Guard does not do patrol duty since their job is only to defend and assist the city guards in case of emergency. And since the crowds this time is too big, they were asked by the city guard to assist them in keeping then under control. Still he did not expect only around 80 soldiers to be stationed here where there is a crowd of thousands. Other places are not any better, in fact they are worse. So there were hundreds deployed in other places while there is only below hundred men here. They had to spread their formation and thin out since there is so little soldiers here. To get into such trouble, he did not expect that.
"Yes sir." In face of a higher officer, he can only obey. He took Rou to his Lieutenant through the crowd. Even though they are soldiers, it wasn't easy for them to get through this crowd.
"Sir! I'm Sel, Lieutenant of this unit! is there a problem?" Luckily their leader was near so they don't have to swim longer in the crowd. The Lieutenant stood at attention. After all, Rou is a superior officer and he had to respect him.
"Lieutenant, tell your men to watch out for anyone suspicious and immediately call for back up the moment they spot one! Do not take this light! I'll go look for them myself so you better have men walking in three man teams, go!" Rou said and walked towards the center of the square where the magic screens are located. There were four screens facing four directions. It was full blue. The duel haven't began yet.
The center of the square had some space. Since the screen was guarded by soldiers, there weren't people near it. Rou climbed the platform and stood right below the screen with a serious look. The soldiers didn't say anything since they understood he was a superior at first look. They just kept the people at bay. Rou looked at the crowd seriously. The Goblins couldn't understand as to why there would be someone standing below the screen. But since he looked like a soldier they didn't mind it since they thought he was the leader to the ones guarding here.
Looking at the crowd, he couldn't find anyone suspicious. The Lieutenant followed the order and assigned three men for a team and let them go on rol.
"Seriously, what is that guy on the platform even thinking? We're in the Capital you know? What is he worried about?"
"I don't know man, infiltrating Capital isn't an easy task, there's too much risk."
"Well it isn't easy but at the same time, it isn't impossible, what if someone really did infiltrate? What will we do when it is too late? He might look like a normal run-of-the-mill type of officer, but he's one of the "Axes" and if he said that there is something wrong, then it can't be entirely wrong."
One of the patrol team spoke among themselves. Rou was looking at the crowd without even flinching a bit. He walked around the screen in circle while scanning the crowd. While looking for anyone suspicious, his eyes caught two figures with a hooded cloak on. They seemed a bit suspicious.
Rou didn't even doubt or wait a bit and jumped right into action. He pushed through the crowd and headed to them. The guards also saw his reaction and followed him. The crowd got surprised when they suddenly made their move. The two figures were even more surprised. They didn't expect to be caught this quick. They didn't expect to be caught in the first place.
Rou took his Axe and pointed at them. "Identify yourselves!" He ordered. The soldiered who followed him had surrounded the two mysterious guests. Everyone stationed here were swordsmen so they naturally had shields with them. More than twenty swordsmen rounded them.
While there was a commotion going at the front, the three soldiers from back then turned back. "What's happening? Did they really find someone?" One of then asked. "Nah, I don't think so, must be something else." The second one said. "Enough, stay sharp!" The third one said.
Just as they were about to leave, someone suddenly bumped onto one of them. Looking at the cloaked individual who didn't even say a thing after bumping raised suspicion. "Hey! Stop!" the third Goblin went and grabbed the shoulder of the one who bumped onto him. The guy stopped. "Turn around." he said. The guy didn't turn nor did he reply.
"Hey, who's this guy?" the first Goblin asked. "He bumped onto me earlier and didn't even say a word, seems suspicious." the third one said. "Well our order was to check anyone suspicious around the square so why not check the guy?" the second one asked. While they were talking, the crowd at the front suddenly went on their knees. Everyone followed the suite. Even the Iron Guards went on their knees.
"OMG! It's the princess!"
"Holy! She's so beautiful!"
"I can see her whole day and not get bored!"
"Why is she here in such a place?"
"Don't you know? The princess doesn't care about the status at all! That's the reason why she's here."
All kind of remarks were made. Even Rou didn't expect her to be really here and to bring Lily in top of that. She was about to ask them to stand, but suddenly a green arrow came down flying towards her at incredible speed.
*clang*
The arrow was deflected by Rou's battle Axe. "PROTECT THE PRINCESS!" Rou shouted at the top of his lungs. This looked bad.
"What! We're under attack! Sound the alarm in the city center! And g-" the voice of the first Goblin was cut off since his neck has been slit. "You fuc-" the second one also got slit as well as the third. The people started to become fearful and ran away in disorder.
The Swordsmen surrounded the princess and Lily and formed a circular defense formation. Their eyes became very sharp. They didn't let the civilians near their formation and kept the formation tight. Rou looked at the cloaked figures rushing towards them at high speed. There were around 20 or less in his field of vision rushing towards them. Rou held his battle Axe with both his hands.
"Give thee thy power and strike down thee foe, STRENGTH BUFFER!!!!!!!" Rou finished his chant. His muscles expanded bit by bit and he became an Ogre. An 8 feet tall Ogre. The Iron Guard soldiers were in awe. The figures also stopped and looked at each other. The civilians all cleared the square and looked at the scene from the sides. They were in awe as well. Looking at these human sized figures, Rou smirked.
"Come on!"