Crimson Eternal - Book 5 - Chapter 56

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Click on the following link for the 1473 word chapter 56:

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Or you can read the unformatted version below:

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Aria

“Hey, Little Red,” War suddenly calls out, making me furrow my brows at the new nickname he probably just made up. “What do you say to making a bet?”

“A bet?” I ask while crossing my arms on top of my horse. “What type of bet?”

“How about, since there’s not much fun in a battle neither of us can actually lose, we make the loser of this duel the first to be knocked off of their horse,” War continues with a grin beginning to spread across his face. “I won’t use any of my actual physical strength, and I will keep my magic limited. So if you can knock me off of my horse, then you win the bet.”

Now I find myself raising a brow at him as I ask in return, “What does the winner get, and what does the loser lose?”

“Nothing much,” War says. “No matter who wins or loses, I promise to put off my next war for a year. But if I win, then you have to grant me one favor that I can name after our duel.”

“Why would I do that?” I ask, my raised brow turning into a straight up frown. “That doesn’t sound quite even.”

“My favor will not involve you helping me in any way, nor will it directly lead to my killing or going to war with anyone,” War continues as the audience watching us starts to go quieter while listening to our little negotiation. “The favor will also not harm you or anyone else in any physical or magical way. I can even get a contract sent to you by my general of paperwork to confirm that before we start.”

Okay, it’s starting to sound interesting.

Although… general of paperwork?

Maybe I should get one of those.

“Send the contract,” I state, following which War nods his head with a smile. And just a few seconds later, I find my terminal buzzing, making me glance at it to find a very detailed contract.

The contract itself confirms with more clauses than I can count that the favor War will ask of me if he wins has absolutely no possibility of harming anyone on either side of the contract, nor can it harm any innocent bystanders. It also confirms that he won’t be doing anything to me whatsoever or even so much as touch me using the favor, or anyone I know.

Overall, it seems rather full-proof.

It also makes me wonder why he won’t just tell me what the favor is right now.

In fact, I go ahead and ask just that, “Why won’t you just tell me what you want right now?”

“Where would the fun in that be?” War asks while tilting his head. “But let’s forget about that for now and talk about what you’ll get if you win.”

Oh, right. It’s not one-sided after all.

“And what would that be?” I ask, still with my arms crossed.

War grins as he says, “Why, you will get unlimited access to all the Hunter’s Spots on the Scarlet Crucible! On top of that, I’ll let you set up your Death Court all across the planet and will have one of my armies go in there for an entire century just to slaughter mana creatures inside of your Death Court!”

“Hmm…” I hum as I feel the deal becoming more and more interesting.

“I will also craft explosives for you using War energy and gift you half of the wineries in the Crimson Flag,” War adds.

“We have a deal,” I state without hesitation. “Make sure to put that in writing.”

I ignore the laughter filling the stadium.

War chuckles as he snaps his fingers, following which a few seconds pass before I’m sent another contract. Which I read over to find all of the new details added in for if I win the bet.

It looks good.

Just in case though, I send it to the lawyers of my nation to have it doublechecked. Only to be told it’s a good deal.

So I sign it.

“Now let’s get this duel underway!” War exclaims while rubbing his hands together in excitement.

I just nod though.

And without another word, both of us immediately start charging straight at each other on our horses. All while summoning thousands of spirits on both sides that begin charging towards their opposing Horseman. Completely ignoring each other.

That said, I arm my Death Spirits with explosives. So they all self-destruct when they get near War. Leading to quite the number of explosions.

Only for the Horseman to break through the remaining smoke without a scratch on him.

Damnit.

As for the War Spirits that reach me? I kind of cheat them by opening rifts to the Plane of Death whenever one tries to strike me.

And since these are spirits as well, not mortals, they pass right through the rifts every time to end up falling into the Plane of Death. Where they’re beaten to death by Grand Death Spirits.

Or, at least, beaten until they retreat back to the Plane of War.

The audience watching us roars in approval at both of our strategies failing miserably. Clearly feeling entertained by it all.

I purse my lips as I try to think of a way to beat War in this before deciding on just setting a bunch of explosives on the ground in front of his horse with my Death Spirits. Blowing up the ground right when the horse’s hooves are about to hit it.

Not that it does much when the horse just continues by flying through the air with glowing platforms of scarlet energy appearing where its hooves land instead.

I try to have my Death Spirits jump at War to knock him off his horse, only for him to do the exact same thing I’ve been doing by opening rifts to the Plane of War that they fall into.

“Copycat,” I mutter as the two of us pass by each other and begin to circle around for another pass. Making War chuckle in response.

The two of us continue going in circles trying different ways to knock the other off their horses with him not using magic or his physical strength to do so. Only using magic to block my attacks and continue moving.

But as time moves on, I realize my mistake in all of this.

Our levels apparently do determine the strengths of our horses.

So when our horses end up clashing at some point? His horse literally crushes mine.

And while that isn’t a problem for my horse, since my horse rapidly restores itself, it is a problem for me. Seeing as I find myself falling through the missing parts of my horse.

Eventually losing me the duel.

Damnit.

War raises a fist into the air as silence begins to spread through the stadium. Only for him to chuckle and turn towards me as he says, “As per the terms of our bet, I will not go to war for an entire year. I will also go ahead and let you have your wineries and Death Court farm.”

I climb to my feet with a smile on my face.

Nevermind. This is perfectly fine.

Visions of different types of wine float through my head as I focus on the wineries, just for that to be shattered with War’s next words.

“Also per our agreement, you now owe me one favor,” War says with a grin. “And that favor is to let me join you as a traveling companion for this next year.”

I fall silent. The stadium falls silent.

Pretty much everything falls silent.

“You’ve had numerous traveling companions before,” War continues without batting an eye at everyone’s silence. “That little prince of the Dynasty, the noble girl from the empire, and even that little lyon. So let me join you just like they did for one measly year.”

I stare at him in silence. He stares back with a grin.

“Why?” I ask with a frown.

What’s the point of following me around all the time? And why go to the trouble of doing a bet like this for it?

He always pops in out of nowhere anyways after all.

“Because amusing things happen around you,” War says with that ever-present grin. And for some reason I see quite a few people, including my own parents and brother, nodding in agreement from the booths and bleachers.

Rude.

“As long as you stick to the terms of the contract and give me what you promised on top of it,” I eventually agree.

“Great!” War exclaims with a grin. “Glad to be traveling with you Little Red!”

My eyes roll up to stare at the sky.

This is going to be a tiresome year.