Second Arc (His Art of War) - 149. Rematch II

After those words, Artheur took an attack stance. His eyes stared at Angel sharply trying to find gaps and determine his target point. From their last fight, Artheur was able to measure Angel's fighting ability. He knew that apart from his dark power, Angel had the advantage over his speed. Unlike the previous duel which required him to win if he still wanted to be with Rose, currently, even though Artheur's emotions were still unstable and anger still filled his heart, there was no pressure on him. So although he lost this fight, he had nothing to lose. But unlike Angel, if Angel lost then he would be a laughing stock for others. Still, Artheur wanted victory in this 'friendly' duel. Though that meant nothing to Draconis or his family, he wanted to do it for himself. Maybe because he wanted to replace his lost pride after yesterday's war took everything from him.

Meanwhile, rather than taking an attack stance, Angel just stood, staring at Artheur. His eyes were watching Artheur, trying to figure out where he could attack him since he had to avoid Artheur's neck. One point caught his eye, but he didn't know whether this would work or not, since Artheur's stance was pretty strong.
'I have to make him lose his balance,' thought Angel.

"What are you waiting for? Take your stance," said Artheur impatiently.

"This is my attack stance. You can attack me at any time," said Angel in a casual tone. He had no intention of attacking Artheur, so he didn't take his stance.

Upon hearing those words, King Esteve who had been watching them in worry quickly caught Angel's good intentions from his gesture.
'I see ... He's not a man that eats his own words. Let's see how Artheur deals with him, 'thought King Esteve. He took his teacup casually and sipped it since his worry lightened. Still, his eyes were focused on Artheur and Angel.

While Artheur captured Angel's gesture as something different.
'How arrogant,' thought Artheur as he let out a short condescending chuckle.
"As you wish, Your Majesty."

Then without further ado, Artheur lunged at him and threw his high kick to Angel. Since he knew he shouldn't give Angel a chance to fight. But Angel simply retreated to dodge it. Then without a pause, Artheur quickly closed their distance and threw an uppercut to him. Again, Angel simply tilted his head to the side to dodge it.

Feeling furious since Angel only avoided him and didn't attack him at all, Artheur's anger was getting higher.
'Is he look down on me ?!' Mercilessly, Artheur attacked Angel repeatedly with his kicks and punches.

But as before, Angel continued to dodge it without attacking Artheur. With his speed as a Reinheart, it wasn't a problem for him. His eyes were fixed on Artheur to find opportunities and openings to take him down.

As expected, by exploiting Artheur's unstable emotions, the angrier Artheur was, the more eager he attacked Angel. Artheur panted in exhaustion since his condition wasn't fully recover yet. As Artheur threw another high kick, Angel dodged and simply threw a side kick behind the knee of his other leg.

With Artheur's body condition and his exhaustion since he wasted his energy in the previous attacks, Angel's sudden attack knocked Artheur down.

"You lose," said Angel calmly despite his victory. His eyes were fixed on Artheur since he remembered how Artheur had refused to admit his defeat two days ago.

And just as he expected, Artheur stood up and tried to attack him again.
“I haven't lost yet!” shouted Artheur Angrily. He was insulted by his defeat, especially since Angel defeated him in just one strike. Even he could still put on a fight in the previous duel, but now ... He completely lost.

Seeing Artheur who was about to stand up, Angel flowed his dark aura to his hands and feet. Quickly, he approached Artheur and pushed him to the ground. Then he bound Artheur with his dark aura.
"Don't push your luck, Prince Artheur. We have a deal," he reminded in a cold voice.

Seeing that, reflexively, Queen Thea stood up from her chair.
"Artheur!" she called in worry since she could remember how Angel beat her son two days ago.

As her feet were about to move toward them, King Esteve caught her wrist.
"Let them be," he said in a calm tone.

"Why?" said Queen Thea with a frown. Their eyes met.

King Esteve turned his gaze to Angel.
"If he wanted to kill Artheur, he would not tie him with his power but he would beat him up like the last time." King Esteve had been king for a long time and his experience in fighting was countless, therefore he knew Angel didn't want to hurt Artheur, but only wanted to make him give up.
"Besides, your action will only hurt Artheur's dignity," said King Esteve again. Two days ago, he had no choice but to interfere in their duel, even though he knew his action would hurt his son's pride. Now, since he had understood Angel's intentions, he decided to let them settle everything on their own.

Queen Thea looked at Angel and Artheur for a moment before returning to her seat with a heavy heart.
"Just promise me, you have to help my son if that king tries to hurt him."

"I promise," replied King Esteve without taking his eyes off Artheur and Angel.