Chapter 71: I Accidentally Crushed a Prince’s Wrist, So I Challenged Him to a Duel.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

The moment I looked at that obnoxious face, I couldn’t suppress my bloodlust any longer as I reinforced my hand with as many vectors as I could, tightening my grip around his wrist.

"Zen? What happened?"

Amyra immediately jumped to her feet and tried to pull my fingers away but a grip reinforced by vectors wasn’t something she could break away easily.

Crack!

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!" His face twisted in pain. "Y-You’re crushing my wrist! D-Do you even know who I am?!"

The commotion immediately attracted everyone’s attention but before I could completely crush his wrist, Aurelion appeared beside me and forcefully pulled my hand away with all his strength.

"Zenith!"

Only then did I realize what I had done.

I immediately controlled my bloodlust.

Even though I had directed it solely at that bastard, anyone with a sufficiently strong soul would have sensed that something was off.

"Ah... sorry about that." I forced out an apologetic smile. "For a moment, I thought you were someone else."

Even as I spoke, my mind raced.

How could I forget?

This bastard was attending the academy as well and a second-year student at that.

"I apologize on my brother’s behalf, Prince Ruvian."

Amyra lowered her head as the sight only made my blood boil even more. Beside me, Aurelion silently observed the situation with a conflicted expression.

"What is the meaning of this, you pathetic b-bastard?" Ruvian clutched his injured wrist. "Were you trying to crush my hand or something?"

Now that I had calmed down, I took a slow breath before letting a faint smile spread across my face.

"I sincerely apologize, Senior but as I said before, I mistook you for one of my friends and I was merely trying to greet him. Besides, unless your arms are fragile, how could someone renowned for having a physique even weaker than a goblin possibly crush your wrist?"

My smile widened just a little while his expression twisted instantly.

"Do you think you can get away with this?"

He snapped, the aura of a Fourth-Tier Awakened erupting from his body as if sheer intimidation could compensate for the humiliation he suffered.

Despite being a second-year student, he was weaker than his own little brother, Aurelion but then again, that had always been the case.

He was an incompetent bastard who knew nothing except how to bark orders, flaunt his royal blood and hide behind people stronger than himself.

And if that wasn’t reason enough to hate him, he was one of Rodrick’s closest friends, the same Rodrick who was behind the crime I was framed for.

He also couldn’t go five minutes without drooling over Amyra.

It was only when I destroyed the Ruinbringers that Rodrick had revealed the truth.

Prince Ruvian wanted Amyra as his wife and Rodrick had happily thrown himself into helping make it happen which meant, every scheme, accusation and conspiracy against me for stealing the undergarments of twelfth queen had been for one reason alone.

To take Amyra away.

But not anymore.

"As I said before, Senior. I sincerely apologize for my mistake but if you truly believe that I, a first-year with the weakest physique, could crush your arms then maybe you are simply too weak to call yourself a student of the Arcanum."

I smiled faintly as a few soft chuckles spread throughout the banquet hall and exactly as I had expected, Ruvian’s face twisted crimson, his pride taking a far greater hit than his arms ever had.

"Zen? What are you doing?"

Amyra’s concerned voice came from beside me as I ignored it and looked in the blue eyes of Ruvian.

"Y-you insolent little rat!" He shouted, pointing a trembling finger at me. "How dare you speak to me like that? Do you have any idea who I am?"

He puffed out his chest, practically begging everyone to acknowledge his title.

"I am Prince Ruvian, heir to the Holy Empire, son of the Eternal Sun! Men and women bow their heads when I walk past and even nobles kneel before me. Even your so-called heroes know their place!"

He scoffed, looking at me as if I were something stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"And you? You are nothing more than a filth. A stain of Ruinbringer whose only purpose should have been is to serve people like me. You should be on your knees thanking me for allowing you to breathe the same air!"

He pointed a finger toward the floor.

"So stop acting clever and kneel to apologize properly and maybe if you beg loudly enough, I will be merciful and pretend this embarrassment never happened."

His lip curled into a smug grin.

"Know your place, trash. A mutt shouldn’t bare its teeth at its master. The only reason I am even giving you this chance is because I respect your sister. So, be grateful."

"I am deeply sorry for my brother’s behavior, Prince."

Amyra lowered her head. "I apologize on his behalf and I promise that nothing like this will ever happen again."

She was about to bow once more when I gently caught her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Prince Ruvian." I smiled calmly. "I have neither acted disrespectfully toward you nor was that ever my intention."

"We are both students of the Arcanum and as such, there is no distinction between us within these grounds."

I continued before anyone else could interrupt.

"But, if you truly feel angry and wish to settle this matter, how about we do so in a manner recognized by the Arcanum itself?"

The smile on my face widened as I looked around the vast banquet hall, the crowd of all three years of students, once before looking directly into the eyes of Ruvian.

"I, Zenith von Ruinbringer, a first-year student of the Arcanum, challenge Ruvian Divus Auremont, a second-year student of the Arcanum to an honorable duel."

"Let the sacred beast, The Arcanum, bear witness to our duel."