Mandy’s leather shoes slapped rapidly against the polished marble floors of the Crowhurst Mansion.

His lungs burned but he didn’t slow his pace as his fingers gripped a thick, wax-sealed envelope tightly against his chest.

He turned the corner of the grand corridor with his breath coming in short harsh gasps.

"What’s going on Mandy?" the Head Maid asked, stepping out of a nearby parlor with a stack of folded linens.

Mandy didn’t stop as he just shouted over his shoulder.

"I need to deliver an urgent envelope to my Lord!"

He sprinted past the open double doors of the primary training hall. He instinctively glanced inside, fully expecting to hear the clash of steel but the room was completely empty as the training dummies stood untouched in the center of the mat.

Mandy let out a ragged breath. Instead of doing his regular work, his Lord had made it his absolute duty to be completely lazy.

Over yesterday, after miraculously sleeping through his extensive physical training, the young man simply woke up, ate massive portions at dinner, and then marched right back upstairs to go back to sleep.

’I don’t even think my Lord has packed up at all...’ Mandy thought with his chest heaving as he finally skidded to a halt in front of Ren’s oak bedroom door.

He raised his fist and knocked hard against the wood.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"My Lord, are you here?" Mandy asked, pressing his ear against the cold wood but there was no reply.

Mandy knocked harder with his knuckles rapping aggressively against the oak. "My Lord, are you awake?"

Still nothing.

Mandy reached into his vest pocket and his fingers brushed against cold brass. He brought out a heavy ring of keys.

As the personal butler of the Crowhurst heir, he carried the master keys to the entire wing but they were strictly meant to be used only in absolute emergencies.

He slotted the brass key into the door and he twisted it. The lock let out a sharp click and Mandy pushed the door open.

Ren was sprawled out across the massive mattress. He was sleeping on his stomach, using both of his hands to press two large, fluffy pillows completely over his ears to block out the noise.

Mandy’s left eye twitched.

’Didn’t my Lord get enough sleep yesterday?’

Aside from the fact that the young master had actively participated in the Pagoda Waterfalls expedition with the other noble heirs just recently, he had been sleeping like an absolute madman and he was still sleeping right now?

Mandy walked over to the side of the bed.

He stopped, closed his eyes, and folded his hands together in a small, desperate prayer, praying to the Goddess of Light that he was forgiven of this transgression.

He reached out, extending two trembling fingers, and tapped Ren on the shoulder.

"My Lord, wake up..." Mandy whispered.

The butler would never be used to waking up Ren. In the past, the noble usually woke up long before the staff to begin his obsessive training routines, so he wasn’t—

BOOM!

A blinding blast of blue lightning erupted directly from Ren’s shoulder.

The jagged arc of raw electricity whizzed barely an inch past Mandy’s cheek with the intense heat singing the ends of his hair.

The bolt arched violently through the air, colliding directly with the stone ceiling and leaving a smoking, black scorch mark before completely dispelling.

It was a small discharge, but the sheer shock made Mandy’s legs give out. He collapsed down onto his ass, hitting the floor with a heavy thud as he sat there with his heart hammering against his ribs as he breathed in shallow gasps.

’I-I-I almost died...’ Mandy thought, his hands shaking in his lap.

The mattress shifted and Ren rose up into a sitting position with the pillows falling away from his head. He blinked sleepily, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor.

"Uh," Ren mumbled sleepily. "Why the hell are you on the ground?"

Mandy swallowed hard, trying to steady his erratic breathing so he let out a long shaky sigh. "I was just... finding something on the ground, my Lord."

Mandy slowly pushed himself up with his knees trembling slightly. He reached out, extending the sealed envelope with incredibly shaky hands.

"My Lord," Mandy said, bowing his head. "New, important mail showed up for you. It was delivered directly by a Royal Guard on a white griffin."

Ren’s golden eyes widened, completely shedding their sleepiness and he took the envelope.

The only time any noble in the empire received a physical letter from Royal Guards riding on white griffins was when it was a direct Palace matter and there was only one logical reason why he would be called out by the Royal Palace right now.

’One of those nobles charged me to court,’ Ren thought, placing the envelope in his hand.

He stared at the red wax seal. He had honestly expected it. After all, dragging high-ranking noble sons across the dirt in ropes as if they were common slaves came with consequences.

’Time to hire a lawyer...’ Ren thought with a sigh.

He dug his thumb under the wax and tore the envelope open. He pulled out the folded letter, carelessly throwing the torn paper envelope to the side.

The discarded piece of paper fluttered through the air, smacking Mandy directly in the face and causing the startled butler to stumble backward and fall right back over onto his ass.

Ren ignored the thud as he unfolded the paper. However, to his absolute surprise, it wasn’t a formal summons asking him to defend himself in the Royal Court but a...

—

From the desk of Her Royal Highness, Princess Azayla.

Good morning, Lord Ren Crowhurst. You are receiving this official correspondence directly from the Crown Princess of the Socrates Empire. I am writing to relay a formal declaration. The Chosen Hero has formally challenged you to the ’Final Duel’ to settle your ongoing disputes. The match will be held in the private arena where you two previously conducted your spars. As per standard royal protocol for Heroic engagements, the duel will be streamed worldwide across the Mirror network, commencing exactly at 3:00 PM today. This is a highly important occasion for the morale of the Empire. I am assured that you will be in attendance.

—

"Ugh," Ren said. He crumpled the royal letter into a loose ball and threw it to the side, letting it hit Mandy’s face a second time just as the butler was trying to stand up. "I’m not interested, Mandy. Dispose of this thi—"

『Ding』

A translucent blue screen materialized directly in front of his face with the text glowing brightly.

『You have received an Important Main Mission』

『Main Mission: Disgrace the Hero, Jace, completely in this duel in the face of millions of viewers.』

『Reward: Hyper Mystery Box』

『Assigned by the 「Honored Venerable God of Games」』

『Did you think you were going to skip out on valuable work? Get your ass off, lazy fucking human, and get to damn work.』

Ren stared at the floating text.

’What an employer...’ Ren thought, swiping the notification away with a sigh.

He swung his legs over the edge of the mattress and turned to Mandy, who was currently rubbing his nose on the floor.

"Alright, Mandy," Ren said while cracking his knuckles. "Get me my best robes. I want the flowing ones, so I can put my hands behind my back like some kind of cultivator. No need to give me a sword, and also, pack everything up since we’ll be leaving tonight."

He rose up from the bed, and Mandy nodded immediately, practically diving toward the massive walk-in wardrobe. "It will be done, my Lord."

Ren stood in the middle of the room and stretched his arms high above his head with his joints popping loudly.

"It’s time to be an arrogant Young Master," Ren muttered under his breath.

He turned his head, glancing at the ornate mechanical clock sitting on his bedside table. The brass hands ticked forward as it was exactly 2:31.

That gave him just under thirty minutes to arrive. "I can’t believe I have to duel early in the morning."

By the wardrobe doors, Mandy’s eyes twitched. Could his Lord genuinely not see that the sun was glaring brightly through the windows and it was late afternoon?

...

"My Princess, he is already two minutes late," the maid at the Princess’s side said.

Clara stood with her hands folded neatly over her apron, looking down at the woman seated beside her.

Princess Azayla possessed long, royal crimson hair that cascaded perfectly down her back, and piercing crimson eyes that mirrored the shade.

She sat comfortably on a highly luxurious, cushioned viewing chair located in the absolute highest private box, overlooking the entire dirt expanse of the small stadium.

"Honestly, I don’t blame him, Clara..." Azayla said, her tone completely flat as she looked down at her expensive watch. "All I can blame is that man."

She shifted her gaze, looking down at the fighting field below.

Standing right in the center of the dirt arena was Jace.

The blonde-haired hero was currently stabbing his sword at the empty air, performing flashy unnecessary warm-up drills while the massive crowd of commoners packing the lower bleachers cheered him on wildly.

The high-ranking nobles, and anyone else with actual wealth, were watching the event from the comfort of their own homes via the Mirror network.

The Kingdom or her father, to be exact, gave that young man one hundred gold coins every single month.

That meant he was handed twelve hundred gold coins at the end of the year just for existing... While it didn’t sound like much to a reigning monarch, that was even more than what Azayla herself had been given as a baseline allowance before she built her own business empire and became incredibly successful.

And how did the supposed Hero of the Kingdom spend it? Buy this... Buy that... He spent absolutely all of it on a girl that just liked feeding off people that supported her, and when his pockets went completely dry, he would come running right back to her father begging for more money.

Even though he was chosen by the divine sword, he really was entirely pathetic.

’All of that money could be used to invest, and he uses it to go on dates?’ Azayla thought, her manicured fingernails tapping an irritated rhythm against the armrest of her chair.

So what if he was the literal reincarnation of the Hero of Legends that had slain the Demon Lord in one strike? She couldn’t stand people without a single financial bone in their body.

Just then, the commoner crowd let out a massive deafening cheer as the sheer volume rattled the glass of the viewing box.

Azayla chose to look up.

Descending from the clouds was a blue-haired young man with striking gold eyes. He was wearing an immaculate deep blue robe that billowed dramatically in the wind. He didn’t sit in a saddle as he stood perfectly upright on the feathered back of his white griffin with his hands clasped casually behind his back.

Ren looked down at the dirt field and Reo opened his beak, inhaling deeply, wanting to caw loudly to announce their arrival to the masses.

"No, Reo," Ren said quietly. "We must not reduce ourselves to their level."

Reo snapped his beak shut and calmed down instantly.

The griffin angled his wings, landing on the compacted dirt of the arena without making a single sound.

Ren stepped off the beast’s back smoothly with his boots hitting the earth. He reached up, giving the griffin a firm pat on the head.

Reo shot back up into the sky with a powerful thrust of his wings, leaving Ren standing alone on the field as he turned his head to look at Jace.

Immediately, Ren’s vision shifted.

Perhaps it was due to the passive effects of the Fatebreaker skill, but he could literally see it... A massive, swirling pillar of blinding golden light was surrounding the entire arena, rising directly up into the heavens.

In fact, it was so incredibly bright he probably could have seen it from miles away.

’Is this Plot Armor?’ Ren thought, raising his right eyebrow in absolute disbelief. ’I knew it! This fucker is a Plot Armor merchant!’

He focused his mana, tapping into the core of his unique skill.

『 Fatebreaker (EX) has dispelled all Plot armor in the air!』

With a sound like shattering glass that only Ren could hear, the massive pillar of golden light that had shot into the heavens vanished completely.

The air cleared leaving Jace standing there looking completely normal as he was entirely stripped of his universal protection.

Ren let out a long sigh, rolling his shoulders under his robes. He ignored the Hero for a moment, turning his gaze up toward the private viewing boxes to look at the crimson-haired woman in the distance.

’Oh, so that’s the Princess?’ Ren thought, looking directly at Azayla.

She was widely known across the continent as the Princess of Technology. She was the one who had physically created streaming in this world when she was only ten years old.

Azayla had the function installed directly into the magical Mirrors, creating a system where people who wanted to watch live streams had to pay a monthly allowance of coins to subscribe.

It broadcasted really interesting stuff, though Ren didn’t really know what the standard programming was.

’She’s like some of the streaming services back on Earth...’ he mused. Depending on your payment plan, you would get higher or lower visual quality and different streaming options.

When the original author was asked in the comments why a ten-year-old kid had designed a complex subscription-based network, the man completely ignored the question.

Ren didn’t hate the concept, though.

’In fact, this makes her better Sugar Mommy material...’ He thought.

If she loved him, she would absolutely baby him with gold and feed him for the rest of his life. Alas, securing Jace’s Aunt for his future plans came first.

Finally, Ren looked over to Jace. He kept his hands securely clasped behind his back, standing perfectly straight while Jace glared forward at him from across the dirt.

’If I win this fight against Ren... maybe Lumi will talk to me again...’ Jace thought, desperate for any shred of validation from the Saintess.

The Hero took a proper wide combat stance leveling the tip of his blade toward his opponent.

"Where is your sword?" Jace asked. "Ren, You should take this seriously before you get hurt."

Ren let out a slow mocking chuckle and he tilted his chin up, looking down his nose at the blonde boy.

"Courting death."

The words left Ren’s mouth like a proclamation of fate itself with his arms remained crossed as his posture spoke of absolute confidence or perhaps absolute disdain.

"Why would this young master dirty his blade on one who knows not the immensity of heaven and earth? A toad lusting after swan meat, blind to the chasm between us. Truly, ignorance breeds audacity."

Jace blinked as his combat stance faltered completely.

"Toad lusting after swan meat?" Jace said. He lowered his sword slightly and tilted his head in absolute confusion. "Where did that acronym even come from?"

Before Jace could try to decipher the strange insult, Claire, the official referee of the arena, landed on the ground between them and she raised her hand high into the air.

"The duel will be starting in thirty seconds!" Claire announced, her voice magically amplified to reach the crowd. "Fighters, be prepared!"

They stood perfectly still with Jace tightened his grip on his sword once more as his eyes narrowed.

’I will hold back so I won’t kill him as usual,’ Jace thought with his heroic complex demanding he show mercy to his rival.

Claire brought her hand down in a swift motion. "Begin!"

In a massive burst of physical speed, Jace kicked off the dirt, closing the distance between himself and Ren in a fraction of a second.

Ren was still standing there looking incredibly smug then, Jace noticed the dark, cruel smile forming on the young man’s face, making a sudden chill run straight down his spine.

Immediately afterwards he was hit hard on the face by a kick from Ren.

BAAM!

He immediately felt his vision darken and a strong dizziness made him lose his balance falling completely to the ground... Suddenly Jace realized how ugly his situation was, he was stretched out on the ground like a dog while Ren stared at him from above.