Seeing that Xyenna finally finished with her teasing, Mike exhaled with exhaustion. While she was very attractive and this sensual teasing she subjected him into, there were far more important matters on hand!

With the duel becoming an attraction to the entire city, both factions were bound to meddle with the rules and the overall situation. The question of how would they do that remained unanswered though! There were so many ways to interfere with the fight, that Mike couldn't revise a foolproof countermeasure to them!

The best way to avoid any mishaps was to force Xyenna to give up on the fight and do it himself. While he wasn't the strongest person in the world, his immense experience gained since he was just a few years old would be a great bet against whatever his enemy would put up.

Sadly, there was no way to convince the girl into that solution. Lack of action annoyed her and Mike intervening with all the problems before brought her to the verge of erupting. This fight was a kind of catharsis for her! Only God could know how she would react if he tried to propose or just mention this kind of solution!

"Are you sure you can pull it off? We can't possibly figure out what gifts they will use during the match, putting you at the great disadvantage!"

Mike tried to implant the idea of danger into Xyenna mind. Considering her previous attitude, the enemy didn't amount to anything in her eyes! While that would be initially true, the problem laid in her identity!

While the guard that she was supposed to fight with was an anonymous figure, she was a mercenary, an adventurer! Checking her proficiency out was an easy task to any figure with just a bit of influence.

"I don't think you should worry about it too much. Won't the Nobles simply hire some Nulifiers to prevent any of outsiders gifts from affecting the fight?"

Xyenna got slightly confused. After the show back in Burgen, her impression of this profession skyrocketed.

"It's not that easy."

Mike sighed and felt back on his chair.

"They are using their gifts just like anyone else. It's possible to break through their blessing; You just need to try it hard enough. In the end, the outcome depends on the strength of both parties blessings."

"Oh? Why didn't you mention it back in Burgen?"

Xyenna finally realised that the situation wasn't as simple as she took it to be. Without the Nulifiers screening, a lot of strange things could happen in the arena!

"So that's why you bought this armour…"

"Actually no, I was just expecting my reward!"

Mike laughed in response, instantly putting his guard up to defend against the incoming fist.

"Ok, stop it! I hoped that Nobles will somehow bring forth the third level Nulifier, but they would inform us about it already if that happened. So we can't count on this duel to be fair."

"Don't worry about it. No matter what they will attempt to do, this swine won't win against me!"

Xyenna proudly announced while pushing her chest up. Her eyes were filled with determination, unspoiled by any doubts!

Noticing that the noise from the city was steadily growing, Mike stood up, moved to the window and confirmed the position of the sun.

"I think it's time to go."

"Roger that!"

Smiling mischievously, Xyenna looked at Mike shyly while lowering her head a bit.

"You just wait until I will clear this mess. Don't even dream about ever forgetting what will happen tonight!"

With those words, Xyenna stretched herself and walked calmly to the door.

When they left the Inn, a carriage was already waiting for them right in front of the doors.

'Those Noble's will make use of every single possibility to boost the popularity of this event…' Barely able to hold his anger, Mike could only grit his teeth. This perfectly showed what did they mean with all of their apologies for blowing the duel out of its initial proportions! Just a load of bullshit!

Not having much choice, the duo moved towards the wagon. As soon as people around realised that they were the one to board the carriage, they began loudly cheering!

"You couldn't just pick us up on the way? Weren't you supposed to help us, instead of exposing us to danger this way?"

Noticing the Damash already sitting inside the vehicle, Mike sneered with displeasure. Giving them a lift all the way from the Inn was done only to showcase them to the public and boost the citizen's morale!

"You really take it that way? Have you ever thought about City Hall trying to handicap you even before the duel? Streets aren't as safe as I would want them to be. The only way I can ensure your safety is to escort you guys to the designated place by myself!"

Contrary to Mike's expectations, the burly man didn't back out this time. He seriously thought he could provide them with any help in case any brawl erupted on the way! While this might be a Mike habit of thinking, by walking all the way to their destination, they would avoid any attention! The best way to secure themselves was to get there incognito!

"Oh, stop it guys!"

Right as the carriage finally twitched and started moving, Xyenna stopped the argument between her current companions.

"What's done is done and we won't be able to change it! And look at all those people! Their cheers are making me all fired up!"

"And that's exactly why he did that. Showing off is for the nobles and rich people, not the common folk like us!"

Despite the girl's attempt, Mike couldn't leave the matter like that. After all those fancy words of helping them out to repay them, every single of the action they took… They were all aimed directly against them!

Not wanting to waste his energy on arguing with this shameless blockhead, Mike kept silent as they were riding through the city. Only after a while did he notice the amazed Xyenna stare directed to the outside. The roads they were going through were densely packed, yet somehow the carriage swiftly followed the road, just as if the people in front of them didn't exist at all. This fact made Mike very curious! Did those people make the way by themselves - despite how hurried they all were to see the duel - or was it a work of some strange gift? Just this showed how varied the blessings could be!

Their travel ended as soon as they passed through the city gates. Thankfully, they didn't encounter any 'unfortunate accident's' on the way there! But the carriage stopped as soon as they entered the former farmlands. Be it the gift user exhausted his energy or the masses of people became just too dense, but they couldn't move forward even a tiny little bit!

"It seems that we will have to go on the foot. There should be some of our people around…"

Damash lurked through the carriage window, before opening the door and stepping out.

"Make the way! Duellist coming through!"

After this loud shout, the crowd somehow managed to make a small passage that instantly filled with the noble's henchmen. Creating a cordon by smashing their great shields around, they created enough of the open space for Mike and Xyenna to leave the carriage.

Jumping down without bothering to use the steps, the girl smiled as the people around started to cheering yet again. Seeing the cute face of the contestant made them root for her, no matter what faction did they identify with. For most of the commoners, this whole political war was just a game played between the higher class, with some spoils like this duel sometimes falling from their table.

As time was rather tight, the surrounding guardians didn't pay much heed to the people around, forcing them out of the way. In just a few moments, the whole group arrived at the only one empty spot in the area!

Every single place around was crowded with people! It seemed that both the City Hall and the Nobles gathered everyone they could here! This spelt yet another trouble. In such a crowd, there was no way to spot any danger. If one were to get creative a bit, it was possible to hide an entire army out there!

There were loads of different hand-pulled carts filled with snacks, drinks, and other refreshments. Most of those small merchants would make a killing today! That was the power that combined might of both factions could bring!

As usual, two of the empty arena sides were closed for the higher class. With small tribunes built to create a better viewing spot for the rich public. There was even a small stall with commentators!

Just to make sure that no funny stuff would happen either during or after the duel, they separated the whole population between the remaining open sides of the arena. With the City Hall taking the spot closer to the city, Nobels had to settle on the worse but bigger location on the opposite side.

There were many distinct differences between the separated masses. The town citizens were, for the most part, better dressed and behaved. While only a small fraction of them had a good viewing spot, there wasn't much small fighting going on, with the overall peace well kept.

Compared to them, Noble's subordinates presented a lot worse attitude. Except for a significantly smaller high class that secured their spots on the tribunes, an immense crowd on the plains was in a constant state of boiling. No matter where one looked, there were small duels and even group fights going on!

Well, there was nothing anyone could do! Compared to rather unified town inhabitants, the crowd gathered on the far side of the arena came from a lot of different places and backgrounds. With the constant rivalry between those villages for better land and resources, no one would expect them to go along!

As soon as Xyenna finally reached the arena, she was swiftly noticed by the announcer. Her beautiful set of light armour made her stand out, not to speak about a dozen of heavily armoured guards surrounding her!

Immediately coming to the middle of the arena with two other people, Announcer started shouting!

"Both of the challengers have arrived! Gather up people for the great duel to the death between mortal enemies! This will be the show that no one of you has seen before!"

Taking a short, deep breath, he extended his hand towards the City Hall tribunes.

"On my left side is the great Marcus! Know from bravely fighting in the early days of the recent war! After being gravely wounded on the battlefield, brass sent him home and put into service to defend our dear city against trespassers!"

With his voice greatly amplified, everyone standing on the field could clearly hear him. At that point, a blurred image of the arena showed up high in the air!

"I've never seen a gift like that!"

Mike muttered with astonishment. While he went through a lot in his life, he was learning about new things all the time! No matter what it was used for, it was still an incredible blessing!

"Welcome the City Hall challenger, the brave Marcus!"

With a great announcer shout, a wave of cheers resounded on the east side of the arena. It was like and berserkers army suddenly appeared and tried to kill everyone with their epic war-cry!

Along with the announcer words, a figure in full plate armour appeared on the duel site. Holding a mighty war axe, it was hard to say for sure that he was the same person who was challenged in the first place. With every step he made, his feet sank into the ground, bearing testimony to the weight of his crust!

When the man was entering the arena, the image in the air suddenly turned sharper, allowing the viewers from far away to see his silhouette clearly.

"And on the other side, we have a Xyenna, an Imperial mercenary! Welcome her to the arena!"

With a great difference between the announcement, Mike's bodyguard got introduced.

Unbothered by the great disparity between the introductions, the girl swiftly entered the enclosed area. Joyfully trekking forward to the middle grounds, she stood up in the very centre.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?"

Infuriated by the unfair treatment even in the announcements, Mike turned to the Damash. When he saw a smile on his face, he realised that something wasn't right!.

"Just look at the illusion!"

Only after listening to the man's word did Mike realise what was going on. Compared to the outline of the Marcus figure, they showed Xyenna in great detail! He could see a small, provocative smirk on her lips, he could see how relaxed she was when she detached the sword from her belt, moved one leg forward a bit to get a stabler position and threw her main weapon on the ground! He could swear that he spotted small drops of sweat on her face!

"City Hall demanded that since we can produce those images, they will get to choose the announcer! By introducing her unfairly, they only shoot themselves in the foot!"

Damash laughed out loud. To be fair, he was right! Compared with the empty words that most of the people recognised as nothing else than bullshit, Xyenna's cute face, slender figure and mischevious disposition appealed to the public a lot more!

"Just to let you know. We sacrificed most of our opportunities to smack their faces, only to let Marcus have a better standing on the betting tables. I need not mention that all the bets are guaranteed by the faction's treasury? For all the trouble we put you guys into, you will get half the spoils from them!"

Just as Mike wanted to ask something, an announcer shouted yet again.

"Let God be the witness to this sacred duel! Challengers, begin!"