Antonio immediately woke up when his face was splashed by drops of cold water. He saw Luke and Leon in front of him. His gaze fell on the giant man who was bound by thick metal chains. Some time ago, this giant man tried to kill him but, Antonio fainted before dying.

"Are you okay, Antonio?" asked Leon.

"Yeah, We tried to reach as fast as we could. I hope it wasn't late enough," informed Luke.

"No no, it was the perfect timing. Thank you guys, I know that I can trust my fellow Dragon Knight friends," said Antonio in a weak tone.

"Indeed you can. Here drink this, it will make you feel better," said Luke and passed on a glass flask containing a green liquid which Antonio drank in one gulp.

Antonio stood up and stretched himself, curled his fingers, and uncurled them repeatedly before dashing at the Giant man, unsheathing his Falchion and killing the giant man in one single blow. Luke and Leon on the other hand stood there frozen. They were shocked by the actions of Antonio.

"I know what you both are thinking, I activated the [Duel Mode] before killing him. His life force won't be triggered and my count also won't decrease. I discovered this trick when I had to kill one of the guards back there." explained Antonio.

"To be honest, we already knew about this trick. We are shocked by the way you just killed that man without any hesitation. It was the moment of surprise for both of us." told Leon.

"Should we proceed to the fortress, Now?" asked Luke who already mounted on his Dragon and was hovering in mid-air.

"Okay, Antonio, You come with me. And you all stay here and guard for we don't know what might happen there," ordered Leon.

Antonio, Leon, and Luke landed on the top of the fortress and unmounted to move further. Antonio peeped inside the building through the glass window, he saw the great hall which had several chairs on either side, there were a few wall paintings that adorned the walls. On the farthest corner was a raised platform and a royal throne made up of glass. 

There was someone sitting on the throne who seemed more feminine than masculine. Antonio tried to focus his gaze on the figure and the next thing he saw came as a great shock to him. Hector, whom he thought had captured the Woodrow city was not to be seen anywhere and the figure sitting on the throne was of Natalie Chase, whom he regarded as an ally.

"Betrayal! Another Betrayal, Leon and Luke, The figure sitting on the throne is none other than Natalie Chase, whom I was traveling with this whole time," informed Antonio, anger flashing in his tone.

"This was the girl you were traveling with?" asked a shocked Leon.

"Yeah, I didn't have trusted her in the first place," said Antonio keeping his voice low.

"Okay, What do we do now?" asked Luke

"We break in and I will challenge her for a duel and beat her in that," replied Antonio.

Luke cut through the glass with his sharp dagger and all three of them break into the throne room. Antonio immediately unsheathed his Falchion and ran towards the raised platform. But unfortunately, he was stopped by the guards and was thrown back.

"I challenge you for a duel, Natalie Chase." challenged Antonio.

"Yes, I am ready for anything, Antonio Vanguard. But, first, let's make a deal," suggested Natalie.

"What deal, I am not making anything with you," argued Antonio.

"My deal is simple If you win, You get this city and everyone's life including your dearest friends' but, if I win then you will marry me and become my slave," said Natalie.

"Okay, I agree to your terms. Let's begin now."

As soon as Antonio said those words, he got a message which read, 'Natalie Challenged you for a Duel, Will you accept it?' and Antonio accepted it. Immediately, A countdown started, and [Start Battle] flashed in bold letters.

Antonio dashed towards the standing Natalie with the Falchion tightly gripped in his left hand. But unfortunately, he missed his attack when he tried to hit the standing body of Natalie. He again dashed in her direction and tried to stab her stomach but, the weapon just went through her body without dealing with a single amount of damage.

"What is happening, I am not able to even touch her, like it's not her but an illusion," said Antonio in confusion.

"Indeed, You're correct, I am here but, an illusion. My specialty is illusion magic." boomed Natalie.

"Huh, you are annoying me now, It's time for some action," commented Antonio and immediately turned around and slashed his blade in the air.

"No, This can't be, Not even a single person had have been able to par with my illusion method," exclaimed Natalie between breaths.

Natalie who had used the illusion and invisibility spell on herself became visible when she was hit by the blade. The weakness of invisibility spell was that it doesn't make the body which was solid to any other state instead it made the body invisible without changing its state of matter.

"How you did this, I wasn't to be discovered by someone incompetent like you, who cannot even beat Hector." cursed Natalie as her body turned into small shards and disappeared.

"Woo, that was easy. Isn't it Luke and Leon?" said Antonio casually and started walking towards them.

"That was sweet. This is your first victory. So, we should celebrate. Also, you would be granted this city soon." praised Luke.

"Wait! Something's not right here. I don't know but, I am getting a bad feeling about this." cried Leon as he scanned the whole hall.

"Nothing can go wrong now Since I defeated Natal..." Antonio hadn't yet completed his sentence when he felt a sharp pain as something stabbed his stomach.

"Not yet, Not yet Antonio. You're mine now. How foolish of you to think that the duel ended." laughed Natalie as he suddenly appeared at the back of Antonio.

"You, How is this even possible, How?" yelled Antonio as he fell down on the ground.

Leon and Luke tried to reach near Antonio but, the duel area was separated by a thick invisible wall that cannot be breached until the duel is over. Both gazed at the fallen body of Antonio helplessly. They cannot do anything for him and won't be able to help until one of them has perished.

"Huh, you seriously thought that I died?" mocked Natalie.

"How, How did you did this?" asked Antonio.

"It's simple, I am an illusionist and to be honest, You never even touched me. There was no announcement of the duel getting over and you thought that you killed me. You are more foolish than I thought." replied Natalie and again stabbed his stomach.

"What, What did you just do?"

"I coated the edges of the dagger with poison. You would die a slow but, painful death." laughed Natalie as she watched Antonio in pain.

Slowly but, steadily the Hit Points decreased reaching a hundred. Antonio shut his eyelids waiting for the time to pass.