The man looked at Arturia and answered her. “What? Are you saying that you can defeat the Witch of Envy if she reappeared?”

“I don’t know. I have yet to meet her, so I don’t know. But I’m confident that I could hold my ground if I fight her.” Said Arturia.

Arturia turned around and was about to leave with Reinhard. But, a purple-haired man with knight attire stepped forward from the knight line and said.

“Then, are you confident to fight the knight of this kingdom?”

Arturia looked at him and recognized him. The Finest Knight of Lugnica, Julius Juukulius.

“You were saying that you were a knight all this time, but only Reinhard believe you. You also said that you will prove yourself as a knight with a duel. Did you not?” Asked Julius to Arturia with a serious expression.

Arturia looked at him and nodded her head. “That was what I said.”

“Because you are one of the candidates to rule Lugnica, then please allow my rude behavior. I admit that you are skilled, but I had not recognized you as a Knight yet. I, Julius Juuklius ask you for a duel.”

Julius unsheathed his sword and raised it in front of his face. However, Arturia didn’t unsheathe her sword. She nodded her head with a serious expression and answered him, “I accept. Tell me about the place and time after this conference is over.”

Julius sheathed back his sword and answered with a smile. “Certainly, I will inform you about the location of the duel later.”

Miklotov that was watching all of that suddenly stood up from his seat and shouted.

“In any case, although there were some debates amongst the candidates. All candidates are here at last! The Royal Selection will now begin!”

***

Arturia stood in the middle of an arena with Reinhard on her side. Julius who issued the duel to Arturia stood in front of her while loosening his arms and legs.

The duel that they agreed to have was held right after Miklotov announced the beginning of the Royal Selection because of the Knights’ request. Right now the Knights of Lugnica were watching the duel from the spectators' seat.

Not only that, but the other candidates were also watching the duel between Arturia and Julius. Reinhard was chosen to be the referee because everyone trust him and even Reinhard himself propose that he will act as a referee.

His reason for being the referee was that only he could stop Arturia or Julius if they went too far. Nobody refused his proposal and now they were getting ready for their duel. Julius was wearing the Lugnica’s knight attire while Arturia was wearing her dress without her armor.

She didn’t wear her armor mainly to made it fair for both sides. Julius was also not wearing armor, that was why Arturia took her armor off. Not only that, Arturia held a normal standard sword for Lugnica’s knight instead of her Caliburn because of Reinhard’s suggestion.

Julius looked at her with a narrowed gaze and asked, “Why don’t you use your sword? Are you belittling me?”

Arturia’s Caliburn was still strapped on her left waist, she was afraid to lose it. She looked at the iron sword in her hand and after looking for a while she threw it away.

“You’re correct, I must not underestimate my opponent.” Arturia said to Julius.

She looked at Reinhard as she unsheathed her Caliburn, “Reinhard, my sword is not like yours. I won’t hold back in the duel. That was not like me at all.”

“I see, forgive me for misunderstanding the situation, Milady. I thought that you can only draw your sword when fighting against injustice.” Said Reinhard as he bowed his head.

When Arturia’s Caliburn was fully drawn, Julius narrowed her gaze even further. He could feel that the spirits around him became restless as soon as they saw that sword. He had a bad feeling about the sword. But, as a Knight that was called a Finest Knight, Julius will not be afraid against his opponent. He looked at Arturia and asked.

“Shall we begin?” Julius unsheathed his sword and went into a stance.

He held his sword with his right hand and pointed it at Arturia while his left hand was placed behind his back.

“Let’s begin.” Answered Arturia as she held Caliburn with both of her hands and pointed it at Julius.

As soon as Arturia said that, Reinhard raised his hand and shouted, “Begin!”

Arturia gathered mana around her body and released it all at once. She used the technique that was often used in the Fate series by Saber, Mana Burst. But, because Arturia just used it for the first time, she still couldn’t control the flow of Mana as well as Saber.

As the result, she used too much mana and her movement was too fast for even her to control. But, she managed to stop herself right in front of Julius and swung her sword upward.

Julius was surprised by Arturia’s speed and it could be seen from his expression. But, as a Knight that goes through hard training everyday, his muscle memory managed to save him from the brink of death. He used his sword to deflect Arturia’s slash and stepped back immediately.

Arturia who saw the chance attacked Julius relentlessly with Caliburn. Slashes were sent towards Julius's body, torso, arm, and legs. She purposely didn’t target her opponent’s vital, but Julius was still overwhelmed by Arturia’s attack.

As Julius kept stepping back to block Arturia’s attack, his back touched the wall and he knew that he can’t run anymore. With last resort, he called a lesser fire spirit and feed it his mana. The lesser fire spirit sent a fireball towards Arturia, but she ignored it.

But, as the fireball was about to hit Arturia, a seemingly invincible barrier extinguished the fireball. The spectators were surprised by what happened in the arena, Julius was also surprised too.

Arturia used this chance and swung her Caliburn horizontally, targeting Julius’s neck. She stopped when the sword almost behead Julius and said.

“Surrender.”

Julius threw away his sword and raised his hands, “I admit defeat. You are truly strong, but you were holding back, right?”

Satisfied with his surrender, Arturia stepped back and sheathed her Caliburn back, and said. “This is a duel, I didn’t hold anything back. If I held back in a duel, then that will hurt my pride and my opponent’s.”

Julius was surprised by her answer. He smiled at Arturia and said, “It is my utter defeat then. You are truly an amazing Knight.”

As Julius said that, a shout filled the arena and Reinhard announced the end of the duel with Arturia as the winner.

*****

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