There was no telling how long it took for the rampaging magical energy to subside.
On the square in front of the palace, the spectators who were sprawled all over the place were still bewildered.
Rosie, Lia, Ancey, Alidia, Sanae, Worean, and the other dignitaries who were hiding in the shadows were staring at the stage without blinking.
There, Shien leaped away with the holy sword in hand, the huge magical blade on its blade vanishing at some point.
Upon a closer look, the stage did not suffer any further damage from that astonishing blow, and was exactly the same as before Shien swung the Demon Sword.
Javis held up the Thunderstorm Greatsword, as if he was ready to take on the blow a second before Shien struck, his face still filled with tension that had yet to dissipate.
Evidently, though Javis had hurriedly assumed a defensive stance, he did not have much confidence that he could take on Shien's earth-shattering strike unscathed.
The reason why he was able to stand there unscathed was because someone had suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Lockett?"
Javis immediately recognized the person's back.
It was the most powerful knight in the Empire who was in charge of protecting Javis — Lockett Bigusler.
The strongest existence in the Empire, who was level 97, was raising a greatsword that was even more exaggerated than the Thunderstorm Greatsword in Javis's hand, and the blade was flowing with magical energy as it blocked in front of Javis.
Shien could not help but narrow his eyes at the sight.
Because just now, it was this person who had suddenly barged into the field, pulled out that horrifying greatsword from somewhere, and with a swing, erased Javis's Demon Sword.
Yes.
It was erased.
Shien clearly saw that when his Demon Sword swung down and touched the greatsword, the magical energy gathered on the blade seemed to be forcibly dispersed by some mysterious power, vanishing without a trace.
That was why the stage was not destroyed. Because Shien's Demon Sword had been erased, only the airflow formed by magical energy swept in all directions like an avalanche, causing the tremors and roars.
Under such circumstances, Lockett rested that horrifying greatsword on his shoulder, looked deeply at Shien, and then spoke to Javis behind him without turning his head.
"Your Highness, you have lost this time."
Lockett made such a declaration on behalf of his master.
Only then did everyone present react. Some looked at each other in dismay, some still had lingering fears, and some stared at Lockhart with solemn expressions.
For example, An Xi and Rosie both had grave expressions on their faces.
Even Alidia's eyes flickered slightly.
Evidently, they had seen the scene of Lockett blocking Shien's Demon Sword.
Moreover, they also felt threatened by the power that Lockett had displayed.
Javis opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but after a while, he fell silent and exhaled.
The lightning on the Thunderstorm Greatsword in his hand quietly disappeared.
"Indeed, I have lost." Javis relaxed his body as he looked at Shien, and said calmly, "I didn't expect Qing to have such shocking magical energy and strength. I almost couldn't react in time, so I admit my defeat."
After saying that, Javis bowed to Shien to show his respect to Shien.
Seeing Javis like this, everyone's gaze on Shien also changed.
"This guy …"
Wally's expression kept changing.
"So … So he's actually this strong?"
Lia, Shana, and the rest also stared blankly at Shien, recalling that earth-shattering strike just now. They couldn't come back to their senses for a long time.
"Damn it …"
Edward's face was pale as a sheet. He cursed, but his eyes were filled with genuine fear and wariness.
Most of the nobles hiding in the dark were the same. As if they had completely understood Shien's strength, the way they looked at Shien and their expressions were different from before.
It was only at this moment that Shien more or less displayed some of his extraordinary strength in front of the others.
Being able to defeat the first prince of the empire, this would raise Shien's status in many people's hearts, right?
Only Rosie was not surprised by Shien's performance at all.
After all, only she knew that the strength that Shien had displayed was just the tip of the iceberg.
No, it was not just Rosie. There was another person who clearly knew this.
"He hasn't even used his Holy Sword, so the strength that he's displaying now is probably just a small part of it, right?"
No one could detect Naduna's presence, so she stared straight at Shien and exclaimed in her heart.
After witnessing Shien's strength with her own eyes, Naduna was quite satisfied.
Therefore, neither Rosie nor Naduna felt that Shien's performance was too much.
On the contrary, Harvey's performance made them look at him.
"So, Capelin's brother is this strong?"
Rosie was quite surprised by Harvey's strength.
With that strength, Rosie was not confident that she could win if she did not release the Holy Sword and use her unique skill.
Of course, the Holy Sword and unique skill were the true trump cards of the Heroes. If these two factors were not taken into account, all the Heroes were not actually very strong. At most, they would be at the level of Alidia and Lockett.
However, Harvey had not used his unique skill either. Rosie did not know if he did not use it or he was deliberately hiding it. In any case, Rosie had never heard of this prince of the empire using his unique skill in front of others.
In such a situation, it was either that he did not have any unique skill at all, or he was just like Rosie. His unique skill was too powerful and special, so he was unwilling to show it in front of others.
Rosie felt that it was the latter.
Even Naduna felt the same way.
"Humans are still the same as before. Although there are many people and most of them are just ordinary commoners, there will be some amazingly talented people appearing in every generation."
Naduna sighed.
Shien did not think as much as the others. He only looked at Lockett, then at Harvey, and smiled.
"Is that it?" Shien said meaningfully. "Your Highness should still have some tricks up your sleeves, right?"
What he meant was that it was too early to admit defeat.
Harvey could not help but laugh at this.
"I do not deny it, but this is only a duel, not a fight to the death. Moreover, I am indeed convinced. I can gladly accept this result."
As Harvey said this, the comfortable feeling that made people feel as if they were bathing in a spring breeze was vividly displayed. Coupled with his humble and calm appearance, many people looked at him in a new light. Some girls even blushed, looking at Harvey with infatuation in their eyes.
However, Harvey changed the topic again.
"Moreover, I feel that Mr. Pottutt still has many tricks up his sleeves." Harvey smiled and said, "You're much stronger than the rumors say. I already know this. Since that's the case, that's enough."
After saying this, Harvey nodded at Lockett, who was beside him, and immediately looked at the royal family on the open-air platform.
"I've lost this duel!" Harvey declared loudly. "As expected of a talent valued by the kingdom. I, Harvey Ragnar, believe that only such a hero is worthy of Princess Rosie, so I am willing to withdraw!"
As soon as these words came out, not only the royal family, but the surrounding audience also broke into an uproar.
Rosie was also stunned. She did not expect Harvey to say such a thing.
Shien also raised his eyebrows.
Because he knew that he might owe this prince a favor.
As the rival of the Mithra Kingdom, the son of the royal family of the Ragnar Empire, and the first prince in line to the throne, had actually admitted his inferiority in front of everyone and declared that Shien was qualified to be Rosie's husband. Then, the originally skeptical commoners would probably start to accept the match between Shien and Rosie, right?
Especially the people of the kingdom. If they knew that Shien had made the prince of the Empire admit his inferiority, then they, who had always regarded the Empire as an imaginary enemy, would definitely feel honored, and their resistance toward Shien would be greatly reduced.
In the future, the public opinion of the kingdom would definitely be biased toward Shien.
"That despicable prince!"
"How dare he do such a thing?"
"Bastard!"
The expressions of the sons of the nobles changed drastically, and they began to curse.
If the public opinion was biased toward Shien in the future, then as his opponents, their chances would undoubtedly be greatly reduced.
After all, the higher the rating of the people, the greater the chance of being recognized. A competition like this was the basis for raising the kingdom's rating, right?
Harvey's words directly created Shien's prestige, and suppressed the competitiveness and influence of the others.
In this way, how could those competitors not curse?
If this was a fair competition, after this incident, the chances of Shien becoming the husband of the princess would undoubtedly be greatly increased.
Unfortunately, there was an inside story in this competition …
Shien's expression became rather strange.
Only Rosie, who did not seem to have changed much, was secretly overjoyed.
This result was undoubtedly something she was very happy to see.
Although she had long recognized Shien, if the people of the kingdom could also recognize Shien and think that Shien was a good match for her, then she would naturally be even happier.
With this happiness, Rosie also felt that Harvey was much more pleasing to the eye.
Hmm, if Shien was a hundred points, and the other stinky men were all zero points, then this prince of the empire would reluctantly give him a point of 0.1.
An Xi also gave Harvey a serious look.
"Lia, you understand, right?"
An Xi said to Lia beside him with a serious expression.
"… Yes." Lia nodded with a heavy expression, and said in a low voice, "If he is the future emperor of the empire, then the empire will probably become more troublesome in the future."
Without a doubt, the strength, character, quality, and intelligence that Harvey had displayed had won the approval of the two.
"This is the prince of the Ragnar Empire …"
Shana murmured.
Alidia, on the other hand, exchanged glances with Locute, who was standing beside Harvey. One looked calm, while the other's eyes were filled with the desire to fight.
As for Harvey, he had already arrived in front of Shien.
"Go for it, Mr. Boztute." Harvey extended his hand to Shien, and said with a smile, "I really like you, you know?"
Sean stared fixedly at Harvey. After a while, he shrugged his shoulders, reached out his hand, and shook hands with Harvey.
At this moment, Harvey whispered something to Shien.
Shien's eyes flickered slightly, but before he could react, Harvey had already withdrawn his hand and returned to Wally's side with Locute.
There, Wally was staring at Shien with a completely different gaze than before. It seemed to be fearful, but also gloomy.
Shien looked at all of this and suddenly smiled.
"Looks like it won't be boring anymore."
