Chapter 239 - Only One Move
Chapter 239: Only One Move
“Little Brother, how much money did you say? I did not hear you clearly. Can you repeat it?”
The betting station’s boss swallowed his saliva as he stared at the boy in front of him.
A million dollars in gold. Torch Town had to pay tens of thousands of gold coins in taxes in a year. One million gold coins could cover Torch Town’s tax bill for the next twenty years. Even he, who managed a gambling den, had never seen such a large sum of money. The highest amount of money in a game was only a few thousand gold coins. He suspected that the teenager had duped him or that he had misheard. The youth must have meant a hundred gold coins, not a million.
“I said I wanted to bet one million gold coins. What’s the matter?” the boy said again.
He did mean one million gold coins.
The betting station owner felt suffocated, followed by a wave of anger. He could confirm that he had been fooled. The entire Torch Town might not even be able to take out so many gold coins even if they emptied their pockets. Furthermore, the youth in front of him did not look like he had any money with him.
“Men, get rid of that little brat! Don’t let him stand here and talk nonsense to affect my business!”
Two bodyguards appeared from behind the owner. They approached the boy and reached out to grab him.
Those two bodyguards were bronze-tier warriors. Before their powerful palms could touch the young man’s body, they were bounced off by an invisible force. They took two steps back and sat on the ground, revealing an incredulous expression.
As bronze-tier warriors, they were considered to be above average in Torch Town. However, they were no match for the young man in front of them. That young man was at least a silver-tier elite, but he only looked a little over ten years old. Such talent was too shocking!
“Boss, I placed my bet sincerely, but you sent your men to attack me. Do you think that one million gold coins are too much? Since that’s the case, I’ll bet less then. What about 100,000 gold coins?” The young man revealed a bit of combat aura in his body. After he defeated the two strong men, the youth calmly flicked the dust off his body.
“Well, if you can show us the 10,000 gold coins, then you’re good,” the boss sneered. He had already confirmed that the youth was there to cause trouble. Otherwise, why would he injure his subordinates and bet on Blackmoon Town to win? Who did not know that Commander Elvira would definitely win the duel?
He debated whether to summon the guards and chase that lad away when he noticed him twisting a ring on his finger. He chanted with conviction, “I want to make a wish. I make 1,000,000 gold coins. The price is to consume 500,000 gold coins’ worth of resources in Blackmoon Town.”
As soon as his voice faded, a massive black hole emerged above the young man’s head. Numerous gold coins dropped from the sky with audible sounds when they landed on the streets or people’s bodies; those coins almost completely covered the ground.
“Is money actually falling from the sky?”
“How much does it cost to cover the entire street?”
People around the circular arena raised their heads to look up at the sky and discovered that gold coins had taken up their whole field of vision. They sighed openly. They had forgotten to pick up the money on the ground as they were in shock.
The black hole in the sky lasted one minute before dissipating. There were a few small mounds of gold coins on the street—one million to be exact. The teenager extended his right hand and clenched it in front of the coins. “System fusion, Activate.”
The gold coins on the ground instantly transformed into streams of light and fused into a sculpture dozens of meters tall and entirely comprised of gold coins. That sculpture was of that young person.
The youth smiled contentedly as he admired the sculpture of his appearance. He turned to face the boss, whose face looked horrified. “One million gold coins take up too much space, so I condensed them into a sculpture! Do you now believe that I can have one million gold coins?”
“Who… Who Are You?”
It had only been a few minutes from the first rage of being duped, to the shock of discovering Watson’s strength, to his state of panic. It was a rush of emotions, and he felt a little disoriented.
It was no surprise. Anyone who witnessed a young person who could wave a million gold coins from the sky and instantaneously condensed them into a sculpture would suspect that they were in a dream.
“Are you asking me?” The adolescent lifted his hand and pointed to himself. “Oh, I nearly forgot to introduce myself. My name is Watson, and I am the person from Blackmoon Town who will duel with Elvira later.”
When Watson finished speaking, the entire room fell silent again.
Commander Elvira was about to engage in a duel with a young child. Her opponent should at least be at the gold tier. Was the boy a gold-tier elite rather than a silver-tier one?
The residents of Torch Town had always viewed Elvira as their pride and had shared the legend of how she became a gold-tier warrior before she was 30 years old. The appearance of the adolescent in front of them, however, had broken their pride. Furthermore, the youth had made a golden sculpture. Some people began to wonder if Elvira would be able to win the duel.
“I heard you making noises from two streets away, Watson. What are you up to?”
A stern lady’s voice could be heard on the other side of the street. Elvira approached slowly, accompanied by a couple of Torch Knights in red armor. Several knights raised their heads in amazement to gaze at the golden sculpture. Elvira’s expression was critical.
“Commander Elvira, you have arrived.” Everyone in the room nodded when they saw Elvira. Some of them even bowed politely.
“You will know when you see it, Miss Elvira. I am betting on myself. Right now, my chances of winning are one in a hundred! So, I bet a million gold coins on myself. Torch Town will have to pay me 100,000,000 gold coins if I win. Would you like to join the bet?”
“I’m not interested.”
Elvira sniffed bitterly in response to Watson’s question. She was an upright knight who had always despised gambling. She would have arrested everyone who put up the gambling dens if not for the approaching duel.
Her gaze was drawn to the sculpture Watson had fused as she looked around. “Even though I’m not interested, if I win, that sculpture will become a permanent fixture in our Torch Town.”
Watson’s creation of such a tall golden sculpture astounded Elvira as well. She had no idea Watson was so wealthy. The standard of living in Torch Town would rise several notches if she had that sculpture. She was considerably calmer than the rest because she knew Watson was Antonio’s pupil. The wealth might have been Antonio’s.
“Of course, if Miss Elvira wins, I will not only deliver the sculpture, but I will also leave Torch Town. But what if you lose, Miss Elvira?” Watson inquired, a pleasant expression on his face.
“If I lose, I will take off my clothes and run around the arena! Let’s cut the crap and start the duel.”
Elvira walked right to the round arena after she said that. She could not wait to get rid of Watson. She had only casually mentioned the punishment, so she did not expect to lose.
Watson shrugged and followed Elvira into the arena.
..
Time flew by, and almost twenty minutes had passed.
Watson and Elvira were more than ten meters apart on the rocky platform. Rows of seats were arranged in a round pattern around them. People were filling the seats as they yelled at the top of their lungs.
“Defeat that arrogant brat, Captain Elvira!”
“He dares to make a sculpture of himself.”
“He is clearly looking down on us!”
“The commander will triumph.”
Almost no one was cheering for Watson. The heated gazes of the residents were all focused on Elvira. They looked out from the seats in the arena and saw the towering sculpture of Watson outside. That made everyone in Torch Town feel unhappy.
The battle had yet to begin, but their opponent had already built a giant sculpture outside. Did they think that they would definitely win?
Elvira was glancing at the sculpture outside the arena as well. She reasoned that if she were to defeat Watson, she would not only have to leave the gold sculpture there, but she would also have to ask someone to change the sculpture’s appearance to hers.
Lubin led Antonio, Sylvan, Andre, and Gerant into the arena while she was thinking about it. They made their way to the front of the viewing platform. Lubin was holding a magical box that could be used to magnify sound. He used the box’s winding pipes to speak loudly.
“I am Lubin. First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for coming to see the duel between Blackmoon Town’s youngest Young Master and the head of the Torch Knights. According to the rules of the duel, one party must admit defeat or forfeit the ability to fight! This is a fight between two towns, as well as a battle between individuals. As a result, I hope that both sides will not hurt others deliberately. That is all I have to say. Next, I would like to invite the border count and the king’s astrologer to say a few words.”
Lubin switched his focus to the two significant men beside him. The entire audience’s attention was drawn to Sylvan and Antonio. It had been a long time since Sylvan, let alone Antonio, had visited Torch Town, but they were fortunate to be able to see the best mage in the kingdom. Even though more than half of the audience had come to watch Elvira, Antonio had a slew of fans.
“I have nothing to say. Besides, if you keep talking before the match, people will hate you. Let the two of them decide on a winner,” Antonio said with a smile. Sylvan, who was beside him, nodded as well. “I agree with Master’s words.”
“Very well, I shall announce the start of the duel.”
Lubin’s voice was transmitted through the loudspeaker to the entire arena.
On the stage, Elvira immediately acted after she heard that. She pulled a tiny blade from her waist and charged at Watson. During that process, flamed wings appeared on her back before they transformed into brilliant dragon scales on her body. She opened her mouth. Instead of a human language, she spoke in the roars of a dragon.
“Gold-tier battle technique, Flame Dragon Descent!”
The air beneath the entire arena had heated up, and several nearby residents had sweat trickling down their brows. Watson, who was in the midst of the attack, was under considerably more duress. Elvira’s entire body was engulfed in flames, and the ground beneath his feet had turned black. She had morphed into a ten-meter-long fire dragon and charged toward him as if she wanted to devour him.
Watson opened his mouth and gently blew at the air in front of him as he faced that horrific attack. The flames that had filled the sky faded with a swoosh before it revealed Elvira’s body. She half-knelt on the ground with a pale face, and the thin sword in her hand propped on the ground. She seemed to be under some heavy pressure; her body was bent into an arc that looked as if it was about to break.
Elvira, who was stunned, raised her head in bewilderment. “How is that possible?”
Watson had cracked her strongest gold-tier fighting technique in one move, and she felt as if she were dreaming.