CHAPTER 330: HONORING LOYALTIES, HOWEVER RISKY

[KAWAI]

"What about the palace? I have to prepare before lunch time. I have to be there to serve the crown, please chief," Sanji insisted and Igor stared at the man in disbelief.

He had expected this from the man but the fact that Sanji was telling him this openly was intriguing and boring at the same time. Perhaps Igor had hoped that at some point this man would step up and fight bravely before him instead of hiding in the shadow of a title he had handed himself.

It was a pathetic excuse for a man who knew nothing of loyalty and hate for the man who reigned in the ruins of lives that would have been peaceful. Sanjiro was the kind of man that Igor would ensure fell like the winter wheat.

He hated the man so much that if it wasn’t for the fact that they needed all the men in war, Igor would have torn him apart. He would ruin him for the next generations and he would make sure the stories about Sanji.

The palace disruptor eventually drifted off into the title that he hated himself. A title that would have the entirety of Kawai hunting him down. But perhaps the day wasn’t here just yet.

Perhaps this was what life was bound to be like, but even then, Igor knew that this was never going to be easy.

Deserters would be punished, no matter how long it took. And traitors? Oh, but Igor would have the pleasure of handing them over to his Erasthai. That was the best part of all this.

"When was the last time you were in armor, Sanji?" Igor asked as they made their way to the border between the greatest kingdom of beasts and the free lands that they were under orders to claim.

It wasn’t going to be easy because this right here would be a violation of the alliances that Kawai had long signed.

But then the fact that the rogues had let themselves be used in every possible war aimed at numbing down Kawai, this was not something that was negotiable, and even the dead already knew that.

Life was fickle and many would eventually understand that. Then again, Kawai was in shambles because of a group of bastards who wanted what they couldn’t handle. A truth they couldn’t let themselves bleed through.

A reality that had them fighting against armies of thousands when in reality the war was gaining momentum. It was just a matter of time and that was no secret. After all, the men would always be haunted by the vastness of what eternity looked like.

Maybe in the coming years when the strangers of the future learned of how fierce the battles they were going to fight to reclaim their honor were. They would have the best names on their lips. But what was the prince for that?

"Come on, Konstantin. You can’t be taking a palace servant to the battlefield when you know how messy it gets over there. This wouldn’t be fair to me or the other servants," Sanji tried to argue, and once again, Igor sighed.

There were just some aspects of life that never made sense to him for the longest time, but he had to admit that Sanjiro was a piece of work that even he didn’t understand just yet. But understanding was never owed to traitors.

And Sanjiro was a treasonous one.

"Akila, hand him the weapons. If he fights me and fails, then I will let him go back to the place. If he matches me, he comes to war with us. What do you think of that?" Igor said to Akila who was watching keenly.

He knew that this was a game of choices for everyone, but from the look on Igor’s face, there was not that much of a choice here. This was. Gamble for Sanjiro and for the first time, Akila wished a warrior well silently.

He knew how hard this test was going to be for Sanjiro because the man was one of the best in Kawai. But hey, he had to prove just how useless he was right? He had to prove that he was a sacrifice that was worth leaving behind.

Because at the end of the day, as long as Igor Konstantin was the Lycan chief, Sanji would be on that battlefield. He was a bargaining chip for the Furfantes, a beautiful piece of meat dangled in front of their allies and tricked into a sense of comradery.

But perhaps Sanji was beyond that, right?

"There," Akila said to Sanji, his eyes filled with pity for the traitor Ho would be bested by the worst of the realm. The barbarian Lycan chief had never been one to take prisoners and it was no secret. Even the king knew that.

If Igor bested Sanji, the man would be dead, but perhaps for the first time that wasn’t the goal this time, right? That wasn’t what they were all losing their minds over at this point in time, no? Would it be worth it? For Sanjiro perhaps?

Sanji was staring at the bundle of weapons thrown to the ground. He popped like he was not ready for this, and honestly, he couldn’t be blamed for suddenly not being so certain about this.

There was a crowd of Kawai warriors that had started to gather and Sanji could smell the danger coming from afar. This was not what he had hoped for when he had managed to change his rank and find himself in the palace as a servant.

He was better than this and yet as he looked at the determined yet deranged barbarian before him, Sanji finally understood why the word was cruel to the weak. But was Sanjiro a weak Lycan or was he hoping that his facade would be bought into so easily?

This was not going to be right, because it was every Lycan’s nature to protect themselves. Would Sanji let himself be outed? Had he fought to come this far just to be bested by the royal omega? What if he tried to save himself? But how, when the portals were closed off?

"And what if I prove to you that I am just a servant?" Sanji asked and Igor raised a brow. He wasn’t sure what the man was playing at, but he was ready to bite into it. Maybe they were both insane for this, but only that would make the battle a fair one, right?

"I will give you whatever you want. No matter what the price will be," Igor said and Sanji stared at him curiously. This man was in, way over his head; and if he wasn’t careful, they wouldn’t even have a battle to fight over.

This was a time for them to make the grandest of decisions and frankly, it was crazy how they had managed to get to this point. Perhaps life was just another game for the immortal and untouchable Igor Konstantin, right?

"What if it doesn’t have a price?" Sanji asked and Igor laughed sinisterly. He had expected this. He had hoped that the man would ask this of him. It was the craziest of things, and the worst of risks, but it was one that Igor wasn’t worried about.

Besides, the worst that could have happened had already happened. There was nothing that could shake Kawai ever, and if Sanji had an idea in mind, then this was the chance to figure out what monstrosity it was.

This was madness but it was also a chance for them to figure this out once and for all.

"Anything you want, Sanjiro. Anything. Even if you want me for a mate, I will give you that," Igor said and everyone began whispering. They all knew who the Lycan Chief belonged to and the mating rules demanded that the Lycans only ever had one mate.

But then that didn’t seem to matter to the Lycan chief right now, even as he staked the most important bond for him and the entire realm. But then what the fuck was this? The man was risking it all, and for what? A duel with a mad servant who was not with it?

Then again, Igor had raised the stake, which meant that the entire kingdom would hear of it. The realm would hear of this battle, and regardless of what happened, the outcome wasn’t even a matter anymore.

Igor was planting the seed of doubt in the people of Kawai and even if Sanji won this, the Lycans would never stop asking questions about what Sanji could have done that had the Lycan chief staking the most essential of things to him.

It was the kind of madness that the barbarian wasn’t afraid of, and that scared Sanji for the first time in so long.

"Are you sure about that?" Sanji said as he looked at Igor, who was staring at him boredly. This was not a battle of what he was thinking and he was understanding that faster than anyone could breathe out to him.

It wasn’t even about what he could do anymore because there wasn’t a thing that he would be able to get out of this. It was a trap, the start of his undoing but Sanji had to fight to the end. He had to make sure that he came out of this a winner.

"You’re stalling, Sanji. Everyone has his duties and you are the reason we haven’t gotten to that side just yet. Pick up the weapons and fight me. Make sure to think of the best ask from me," Igor said, and this time, it was Sanji who sighed.

He would never forgive himself for whatever the outcome was, because he had just realized what he had been roped into when he saw the smirk on Igor’s face. He had to win or lose, but even that wouldn’t matter. And it sucked.

"Alright. Shall we?"