The Grand Duelist

The escape of the condemned Krid and the betrayal of an Inquisitor from the Underground Penitentiary caused so much trouble that the entire Reinhardt was now in the state of a lockdown.

Near the revival point of all players from Reinhardt...

A man clad in red slowly materialized.

When his eyes snapped open, deep-seated anger could be seen within his eyes as he opened his Main Menu and messaged a certain someone.

[The player you are trying to contact is currently unreachable or offline. Please try again later.]

"Shit, shit, shit! That bitch! Where is she?!" Vladimir angrily mumbled.

A flash of light occurred behind him, but he paid no heed to it as he repeatedly typed in some words within his Main Menu.

[The player you are trying to contact is currently unreachable or offline. Please try again later.]

"Ahhh... Fuck! Where is that bitch at! We clearly had a deal, yet she didn't deliver! I swear that I'm going to have her pay a price for disobeying me and causing such a headache!"

Vladimir violently cursed.

"Oh, you're accusing me of not doing anything? Is that it?" A cold and feminine voice rang out from behind him and Vladimir swiftly turned around.

There, he found the player whom he was looking for.

The player that was known by everyone as the Bloodstained Lilium.

"So, there you are!" Vladimir fiercely turned around and he was greeted with the sight of Lilium staring at him with a cold expression on her face.

"You are accusing me of not doing anything?" She raised an eyebrow and asked.

"That's right! Just where did you go when I needed you the most? I don't think that you really did follow the knights of the Kingdom towards the Forbidden Region, right? Knowing you, you'd probably find it too hectic to follow them." Vladimir replied.

"That's true. I didn't follow them. In fact, I stayed and helped you." Lilium coldly said.

"You helped me? Wow... You did? Hahaha, what a joke! If you really did help me then that bastard wouldn't have been able to escape from my hands!" 

Lilium stared at him for a moment.

After a moment of silence, she replied: "And why do you think did I appear from the Revival Point? I did the end of our deal, but unfortunately... I failed." 

"Oh? So you're admitting that you're useless?" Vladimir taunted.

"Useless? Hahaha, you're the one that's the joke here. If you're really that capable, shouldn't you be able to do everything that you wanted to do? Why would you even enlist my help?" Lilium mockingly replied. 

Anger flashed on Vladimir's face, but before he could even erupt.

Lilium continued on speaking.

"How about you tell me about how you died?" 

Astonishment flashed on Vladimir's face.

"How did you know that I died?"

"Have you gone senile? Didn't you also appear from the Revival Point?"

"Ah, that's right..." 

"Please don't act so stupid... Aren't you the Guild Leader of the Crimson Guild?"

"Say that one more time, and I will definitely punch you in the face, even if you're a woman!"

"Hmmph, do you even dare? You might be the Guild Leader of a formidable guild, but considering that you know about my identity. I don't think that you would do something stupid such as falling out against me, right? Vladimir..."

"..." Vladimir was rendered speechless amidst his fury.

Suppressing his anger by taking several mouthfuls of deep breaths.

Vladimir stared right at Lilium and said.

"It turned out that we were right. That player that I talked to you about yesterday really was a player that acquired a quest from that old blacksmith."

"That player? What do you mean?"

"What is wrong with you? Didn't you see that player interrupt the execution too? Come to think about it, I didn't see you around when the execution was about to happen earlier. Just where did you go?"

Lilium merely stared at him and didn't answer. But it was clear that even though Lilium was renowned for being a ruthless player.

She still wasn't so comfortable witnessing a cruel scene such as a public execution. Though, this was somewhat contradictory for she didn't mind gore or violence, so as long as it happened in the middle of a battle.

"Okay, fine. I'm not going to ask about that anymore, all right? But here's the deal. That player who was probably an Inquisitor of the Underground Penitentiary... I encountered that guy earlier."

"We fought, but unexpectedly... I lost."

"You lost?" Lilium looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Even though Vladimir may sometimes be stupid, and he often let his emotions control him.

He was still the number one Grappler within the world of Victory.

His skills were the real deal, and even Lilium herself knew that she would probably not win against him in a one-on-one battle.

Yet, that so-called Inquisitor from the Underground Penitentiary won against this number one Grappler? 

"Just how did you lose?" Lilium asked in an incredulous manner.

It was clear that she couldn't believe what she heard from Vladimir and wanted further confirmation from him if it really was the truth or not.

A helpless expression appeared on Vladimir's face as he replied: "I lost because I couldn't... I couldn't catch him..."

Lilium raised an eyebrow, disbelief flashed on her face as she said: "You couldn't catch him? What a joke!"

"You're the number one Grappler! I reckon that only those within the top five of the Universal Rankings can defeat you in a one on one battle, yet you're saying that a random player defeated you because you couldn't catch him? Are you trying to fool me? I'm not stupid!"

Hearing Lilium's reply, an indignant expression surfaced on Vladimir's face: "I really am telling you the truth! I didn't lose because I was weaker than him! In fact, he's the one that's vastly weaker than me! I only lost because I couldn't catch him!"

He tried on rationalizing the reasons why he lost, but he was met with a burst of cold mocking laughter from Lilium.

"Hahaha... This is really too funny. The number one Grappler lost because he couldn't catch his enemy? Hahaha, this is the first time in ages that I heard such a hilarious joke!" 

Vladimir raised an eyebrow and replied: "If you're not going to believe me, then fine. But you must not mock me. A man may be defeated but never humiliated. Do not go too far, Lilium. You may be a woman, but you know that I do not hesitate against my enemies, right?"

Lilium stared at him for a moment before she chuckled and said: "That is indeed the case, but I am curious..."

"Just how did you really lose? The number one Grappler losing against an enemy because he couldn't catch him really isn't a viable reason to say, right? If that's the case then you shouldn't even be called the number one Grappler in the first place."

Vladimir revealed an expression that looked like he was about to cry.

But knowing that Lilium would probably not believe him if he explained even further.

He couldn't do anything other than keep his explanations to himself.

"How about you? You also came from that Revival Point, right? Just how did you die?" 

"I fought against the disciple of the Legendary Blacksmith and died." Lilium simply said.

Vladimir looked doubtful: "You fought against the disciple of that old blacksmith, and you died? Wait, how did you even find the disciple of that old blacksmith when you weren't even there when the execution was about to happen? And also, why did you not report that information to me?" 

A menacing aura escaped from Vladimir's body as he stared at Lilium with a serious expression on his face...

But Lilium remained steadfast in the face of such pressure.

She also stared coldly at him and said: "Does that even matter at this point in time? I actually didn't know what the disciple of the Legendary Blacksmith looked like..."

"All I knew was that she was a woman. I just took a risk at that time after seeing that she was the only NPC within the area when every resident were within their houses, refusing to come out." 

Vladimir revealed a sly smile: "Did that risk of yours, paid off?" 

Lilium coldly laughed, "Paid off? Didn't you see that I died?" 

"Yeah right, hahaha." 

"Look at you laughing at me... At least, I died under the hands of a powerful NPC."

"But you? The number one Grappler actually died under the hands of a player with the reasoning that he couldn't catch him? You're more of a joke than me!"

Vladimir glared at the young woman who was known as the Bloodstained Lilium.

He didn't know what to say. Because what she said was the truth, but her words were incredibly vicious for they directly targeted Vladimir's pride as the number one Grappler.

But of course, he knew that this wasn't the right time to argue.

Right now, they must do what must be done and pursue their targets.

"You, stay with me and follow my orders. If you still want to get paid then don't do anything arbitrarily! Consult me first before doing something!" Vladimir fiercely ordered and a mocking smile emerged on Lilium's lips.

"Well, fine. If that is what you want. Then? What should we do now? Although I am sure that they're still not anywhere near the Eastern Gate of Reinhardt. I don't think that we can easily find them with the sheer size of this City." Lilium shrugged and Vladimir turned to look at him with a frown.

"Did you even read your system notifications? It describes the marker of the Capture Order as bright orange and always floating on top of that person's head. Such an eye-catching marker should be easy for us to see, what do you think?" 

Lilium didn't reply to what Vladimir was saying.

Instead, she opened up her Main Menu and skimmed through the updated contents of the Kingdom-wide Quest. 

"This will be annoying... The quest is saying that we must not damage even a strand of that woman's hair..." A cold expression appeared on Lilium's face.

She was apparently unhappy due to the addition of such a rule. 

Vladimir nodded his head and replied: "That will indeed be too hard. But she's just a woman. I don't think that it will be easy for her to escape if the entire Crimson Guild is surrounding her..."

"Even if we cannot really do anything against her, we can just isolate her and she will be forced to surrender eventually..." 

Lilium nodded her head.

What Vladimir said made sense so she didn't refute his words.

After a moment of silence, she emerged from her contemplation and was about to speak to Vladimir when the latter suddenly cursed out loud.

His fingers that repeatedly tapped on the air made it clear that she was chatting with someone else.

"Fucking hell! Those creepy bastards from the Pro-NPC Alliance. Are they planning on rebelling? The King himself had ordered a community lockdown within the City of Reinhardt, yet they are trying to exit the Capital? They really are provoking my anger!"

"The Pro-NPC Alliance?" Lilium had a faint idea about that particular alliance. But before she could think about it...

Vladimir turned to look at her and said.

"Follow me, let's see if those bastards dare to disobey the Crimson Guild with me right there!" He then leaped towards a nearby roof and proceeded to run his way towards the direction of the Eastern Gate.

Lilium soon followed after. 

When they arrived at the scene, what welcomed them was a fierce scream of fury and anger.

"Do you bastards dare open up that carriage? The honorable person inside the carriage is a Princess of the Kingdom of Burning Heaven!"

"Knowing that fact, do you bastards dare?!"