"I give you five seconds to cut the act. Otherwise, I will split you in half!"
Wolfgang's roar caused Konrad to open his eyes in a heartbeat and sweep the perimeter with astonishment.
"What? What? What happened?!"
"Oh, my head! I'm being assailed by monstrous headaches. Help!"
Konrad howled while clenching his head and pressing it harder against Iliana's chest.
"For real? Let me check."
The evident concern within her eyes caused him to further push the act with strong nods and false demonstrations of pain.
Count Wolfgang flew into rage! When did the daughter he carefully raised become so easily deceived?
That boy had to be butchered.
"Boy, I warned you. You can die!"
He summoned his energy battle-ax and was about to drive it into a fatal arc when Konrad promptly rose from the ground and stood straight like an arrow.
"Hum, hum!"
"No need to be so dramatic. After all, as in-laws, we should first learn more about each other and establish the foundations of a healthy familial relationship."
"As an elder, you should be the one taking the lead in such matters. Yet, since your arrival, you've only been causing trouble. You should reflect on yourself."
He admonished with the stance of a disappointed senior lecturing a junior on his many failures.
"Trickster!"
"Impudence!"
Iliana and Wolfgang roared like a choir, but Konrad remained complacent and unfazed.
"Humph!"
Iliana snorted, stood up and walked back toward her father's side. With the two now eying Konrad with a mixture of rage and vigilance.
But seeing that he had lost his dignity as an elder, Wolfgang straightened himself, turned his attention back to Iliana and asked.
"Where did you find that mobster? You said he's your savior?"
Wolfgang's inquiry caused Iliana to snap out of her exasperated state.
"He saved my life at multiple occasions. Once within the palace, and another one today. He also saved Daphne's and helped me reawaken her from her coma. And he's the one that managed to convince the Holy Empress to allow me to return home."
She explained with warmth flashing within her eyes.
Wolfgang didn't need to hear more. And although he couldn't comprehend how a young eunuch ( that probably wasn't a eunuch) managed to convince the Holy Empress to cancel the Holy Emperor's decree and return his daughter to him, he still was grateful.
Thus, his view of Konrad underwent a 180-degree change.
But the words that followed caused him to almost spurt blood and all goodwill to turn into fury.
"She is omitting a lot. Like our many embraces under the moonlight, or all the smooches within her bed, and even the cuddles on the way here. Speaking plainly, although she tries to put up a strong front, she's my wife in everything but name. We might as well sign the papers and move on to consummation."
"Father-in-law, do you agree?"
Iliana's cheeks burned with a flaming red while her eyes widened in shock. She hadn't expected Konrad to be bold enough to retell those events in front of her father!
And seeing her reaction that showed shame but no rejection, Wolfgang drove his battle-ax in a ferocious cleave, turning air pressure into blades that shot toward Konrad.
"Aaaargh!"
He turned into purple light particles and narrowly dodged every single one of them.
"You even dare dodge? Today if I do not beat you half an inch into death, I am not surnamed Kracht!"
Wolfgang snarled and shot toward Konrad, replacing his ax with his bare fists that threateningly approached Konrad's face.
"Catch me if you can!"
Konrad once again turned into purple light particles, intangible particles immune to physical harm.
In that form, he bypassed Wolfgang's fists and instantly reappeared by Iliana's side!
"So fast? Is that truly just a Grand Knight? Also, why have I never seen that kind of light attribute?"
Attributes were not all of the same level. Some inherently ranked above the others while there were also opposite attributes that mutually canceled each other out.
Light had always been a mighty attribute, possessing great regeneration properties and endowing its user with enormous speed. However, Wolfgang had never seen anyone able to turn into intangible light particles or being able to deploy such speed in the Grand Knight Rank.
"Is he possible that he's a secret disciple of the Holy Empress?"
He wondered. But at that time, his thoughts were interrupted by another display of insolence.
"Hum, hum! Killing me will not change reality. Your daughter's heart has already been snatched by me. And in any case, you need a man to carry on the male bloodline right. I promise you top-notch genes and dragon-like descendants!"
"Satisfied or reimbursed!"
He complacently declared while wrapping his arm around Iliana whose mood fluctuated between bashfulness, shame, and rising fury!
But when she opened her mouth, her words caused both Konrad and Wolfgang to stare blankly.
"He slept with Daphne and all her attendants as well as many other palace maids."
"Dad, please beat him senseless!"
Konrad, Konrad, you have the nerves of proclaiming me yours when you have been fooling around with so many women?
Even shaming me so wantonly?
See how I rectify your misdeeds!
"End. My life ends…"
Konrad turned heels and was about to make a run for it when Wolfgang's tall figure reappeared in front of him.
"Even though Daphne is more hostage than consort, she's still…an imperial consort.
Before the emperor could touch her you…slept with her?"
Wolfgang asked in a slow, grave, and increasingly terrifying tone.
"Hum…it appears I did."
Konrad didn't evade, preparing for the worse. But to his and Iliana's astonishment, Wolfgang burst into laughter!
"Hahahahaha! Good son! Good, good son!"
"Serves that dog emperor right! In the future, you must bed more consorts! The more, the better!"
"Damn son of a bitch!"
His thunderous laugh pierced the sky and hammered Iliana and Konrad's ears. But although the change was brutal and sudden, Konrad took the bull by the horns.
"That was always the plan."
And with those five words, Wolfgang's appraisal of him rose to another level!
"Good! Very Good! I can see that you are a man of high virtue and talent. My daughter's eyes are truly outstanding. You will definitely have a bright future."
"So I give you an opportunity. If you can repel ten of my moves at the same level, I don't mind betrothing my daughter to you. In any case, it's clear that she's already lost."
Konrad's eyes lit up, his lips formed a radiant smile, and he immediately complied.
"Agreed! Agreed! I hope you won't renege on your promise."
"I am an Uradel. My word is my bound."
As for Iliana who had suddenly turned into the price of a sparring match, she failed to adjust to the situation. But then she recalled something, and worry appeared within her eyes.
"Konrad, my dad is a pureblooded Nature Serpent King. His speed, flexibility, strength, and resilience are all top notch. If you are not careful, you can easily be grievously wounded!"
She believed that Konrad's terrible strength mostly came from his demonic weapon and that without it, he couldn't receive a blow from her father at the same level.
And the thought that he could end up unwittingly injuring himself because of her caused discomfort to spread within her chest.
"Hey weren't you the one asking him to pummel me a moment ago? Now the opportunity has arrived. Why hesitate? Could it be…that you can't bear to see me harmed?"
"Unredeemable! I am just warning you in good faith. Since you don't appreciate my goodwill, you're on your own!"
Even at the gate of hell, she would never admit to it.
"In all honesty, it's your dad you should be worried about. The world is vast, but within the same level, across the entire Holy Continent, I fear no one."
The self-assured declaration that contained no hint of arrogance caused Iliana to doubt her previous assessment.
Their mental exchange ended, the contenders put a suitable distance between one another, and Wolfgang lowered his cultivation to the fifth step Grand Knight.
"If you're not feeling confident, you still have time to concede."
"Father-in-law, worry not. I won't go too hard on you."
"Conceited!"
Wolfgang channeled his stainless spiritual energy within his right fist, controlling his power to perfection, and shot toward Konrad at breakneck speed.
Konrad stood still, revolving his own spiritual energy within his fist while preparing for the collision.
While he had no doubt his body was much more powerful than Wolfgang's his control of spiritual energy was after all lacking when compared to the experienced warlord.
This was also an opportunity to test how outstanding that body of his truly was.
Wolfgang aimed at Konrad's chest and threw a full-force punch which Konrad met by hurling a blow containing the entire might of his bloodline, physique, and spiritual energy!
*BANG*
Their fists met in an ear-splitting boom.
Konrad staggered, taking three steps backward with a blood trail falling from the left corner of his lips while Wolfgang flew across the night sky like a meteor and crashed into the distance!