Han Shuo surveyed the nonagenarian magus in front of him. Crowley was a dark Grand Magus. An average student at the Babylon Academy of Magic and Strength might not have any impression of him. However, Han Shuo, who once did odd jobs within the Necromancy Major, knew of this person's existence.
Back then, Han Shuo and Jack were always in charge of cleaning the statues along the path first thing in the morning. All of the outstanding graduates from previous years of the Academy had a statue placed along the path. Crowley was impressively one of the many statues that Han Shuo had spent time cleaning.
The time when Crowley was in the Dark Major was also the time of glory for the Dark Major. Ever since Crowley had become a journeyman mage, the Dark Major's team, led by Crowley, had won the Academy's competition between majors for four consecutive years. After graduating from the Dark Major, Crowley quickly became a Dark Archmage. Crowley really had many great achievements before he travelled around the Profound Continent in recent years.
But too much time has passed. Due to Crowley's fascination with advancement, his reputation had slowly faded and he was gradually forgotten by the people of the Lancelot Empire. It had even reached the point where some of the new teachers and students of the Dark Major had never heard of him.
Han Shuo looked at Crowley who had challenged him and remembered the time when he was an errand slave looking up at Crowley's statue. Han Shuo suddenly had an absurd feeling in his heart. Just a short while ago, he had actually become the opponent of such a person and was even being challenged by him. Han Shuo could feel a sense of pride rising within him.
It was precisely because of this that Han Shuo had an extremely magnificent smile on his face. However, when Crowley saw Han Shuo's magnificent smile, Crowley interpreted it as Han Shuo looking down on him completely. Feeling insulted, Crowley held back the anger in his heart and said, "Count Bryan, what is the meaning of this? Could it be that you despise my challenge and intend to refuse it?"
Smiling as he shook his head, Han Shuo couldn't help but straighten his wildly imagining mind. Then he looked at Crowley more seriously, hesitated for a moment before knitting his brows and saying, "You misunderstood. I was merely recalling past events. When I was a rogue servant in the necromancy department, I cleaned your statue. Who would have thought that today you would challenge me? Frankly, I feel extremely honoured!"
Crowley was astonished and couldn't help but turn his head to look at his old friend in the Dark Major, Deo, apparently seeking confirmation from Deo on the matter.
"That's right. A few years ago he used to clean the corridor leading to the Dark Major's building. Ah, when you became a Dark Grand Magus, you had previously applied to the Dean to have your statue placed there. What he said is true, he had indeed cleaned your statue before." Deo felt a little awkward as he explained, but he went on in great detail to dispel Crowley's doubts.
When Crowley heard Deo's explanation and considered that Han Shuo had cleaned his statue before, he couldn't help but hesitate in his heart and didn't really want to challenge Han Shuo anymore. No matter what, Han Shuo had shown him respect earlier. For him to act this way seemed a little disingenuous.
Off to the side, the Dark Major's person in charge, Deo, saw Crowley showing some hesitation, he couldn't help but give Crowley a hasty, meaningful look before smiling slightly and saying to Han Shuo, "Count Bryan, do you really intend to accept Crowley's challenge or not?"
"Of course, didn't I just say so a moment ago, I'm extremely honoured!" Han Shuo smiled happily as he replied, glancing at Deo. Han Shuo understood what Deo was planning, but he had absolute confidence and wasn't afraid to defeat Crowley here.
"Very good. In that case, I will act as a witness, are you both okay with that?" Suddenly, Amyes walked over from the Light Major's area, smiling gracefully as he proposed.
The Light Major's superior, Voigtlander, had also come over with Amyes. Voigtlander had a look of schadenfreude on his face as he looked over. Regardless of the Dark Major's Crowley or Han Shuo, they were considered Voigtlander's enemy. For these two sides to fight, he would be happy no matter who won or lost.
"Crowley, this is Lord Amyes, you should have heard of him!" When Deo saw Amyes turn up uninvited, and even made such a suggestion, he hastily introduced Amyes to Crowley, who had left the Lancelot Empire for a long time.
Previously, when Crowley had left the Lancelot Empire, Amyes had only been a Dark Star emissary of the Dark Mantle. So of course he would not know Amyes. However, when he returned to the Lancelot Empire, he learned of the current bigwigs in the Lancelot Empire. When he heard Deo's introduction, he immediately greeted Amyes respectfully, grinning as he said, "Of course. Having Lord Amyes witness this battle would be for the best."
"I am extremely honoured as well." Han Shuo bowed politely to Amyes as he replied, causing Amyes to return the greeting.
The surrounding teachers and students from the various factions all rushed over. These people had heard of Han Shuo's great name, and when they saw Han Shuo, an upstart grand magus necromancer who had recently broken through, sparring with a dark grand magus of unknown origin, they were all excited beyond words.
There weren't many Grand Magus within the Babylon Academy of Magic and Force, most of the teachers of the various factions were at the level of Adept Mage or Archmage. As Since the students rarely saw teachers sparring with each other, they had definitely never seen a sparring match between two Grand Magus, so they were extremely excited.
"Bryan, good luck, you will definitely win!" Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in his ear. Han Shuo turned to look and noticed Lisa in a corner, waving her fist animatedly to cheer him on.
Han Shuo felt a warmth in his heart as he remembered how Lisa had always believed in him and supported him long ago. After all this time, Lisa had matured from being an unruly and headstrong girl, not only appearing more youthful and energetic, but also possessing an additional unyielding temperament. It seemed that the time she spent in pain had done her some good.
As Han Shuo looked at Lisa, he also saw Fanny standing next to Lisa. Fanny did not have the same unconditional trust that Lisa had in Han Shuo. Instead, her eyes were forever filled with worry. No matter how strong Han Shuo became, as long as there was a hint of danger, she would worry about Han Shuo.
Admiring the two women's gorgeous grins, Han Shuo then turned back to Crowley and politely inquired, "How would you like to compete? With my tenacious character, those who have fought me in the opening have never been able to survive."
Upon hearing this statement, Crowley was startled and showed an obvious stunned expression. What Crowley knew of Han Shuo's origins and past was based on what Deo had told him. He personally didn't know much about Han Shuo's affairs. Now that he heard Han Shuo make such a statement, he suddenly had an uneasy feeling.
"On this point, I can help Bryan elaborate. Including Leah Cain of the Brut Merchant Alliance, Bryan had dueled and killed his opponent thirteen times. Right, just to warn Mr Crowley, among those Bryan has killed is the commander of the Redbud Knights, the dragon rider Celt. Hehehe, I was afraid you didn't know, so I'm informing you in advance." Amyes could see that Crowley was somewhat astonished, figuring that he might be aware of Han Shuo's past and therefore couldn't help but enlighten Crowley.
Hearing Amyes' comments, Crowley was once again shaken, his gaze towards Deo already containing hints of resentment. When Deo saw Crowley looking at him resentfully, he clearly had a guilty conscience and turned his head awkwardly. After hesitating for a moment, Deo suddenly said, "Forget it, hehehe, you are both considered members of our Dark Major. Let's not compete on such an auspicious day, lest we damage the friendly relations."
When Deo saw Crowley's resentful look, and heard Amyes' reminder, he finally let go of his anger. Crowley was invited by the Dark Major, if he was defeated by Han Shuo, Deo would definitely be blamed, and perhaps even the Dark Major's teachers would blame him after the event.
""Mr Crowley, I think we should just let it go. Hehehe, what Mr Deo said is reasonable. Let's not disturb the harmony, both of you are considered to be on the same side!" Amyes smiled softly as he advised Crowley.
"No, I still wish to compare notes with Count Bryan." Under the eyes of the crowd, Crowley could not back down. So he forced himself to insist on competing.
At that moment, a ray of white light shone in the centre and the Dean of Babylon Academy, Emma, appeared. She looked at both Han Shuo and Crowley before smiling and saying, "Comparing notes in magic is a common way for Mages to improve. However, since you're not enemies, there's no need for a duel to the death. Bryan, today is our annual recruitment, you wouldn't think of not showing your alma mater a face, would you?"
"Of course not, I was just joking. Hehehe. Anyway, it's just a spar. If Mr Crowley doesn't mind, how about we change our location?" When Han Shuo saw Emma appear, he immediately had a friendly smile on his face and invited Crowley to another location.
Crowley was clearly relieved and laughed hard as he replied, "I've been away too long and I'm not familiar with this place. Where do you think would be a more suitable location?"
"There is no need to choose, just use the number one training ground of the Dark Major. There's a large magic barrier there. It should be fine as long as you both pay a little attention, please don't damage the friendly relationship," Emma felt relieved when she saw that Han Shuo wasn't serious and smiled as she spoke.
Just like that, Han Shuo and Crowley agreed. The recruitment was suddenly stopped in the middle, and when Han Shuo and Crowley entered the large training grounds, the teachers and students of the various majors had also rushed over.
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