Super Righteous Player
Chapter 418 - 415: Young Annan and Dmitry_1

Chapter 418: Chapter 415: Young Annan and Dmitry_1

They did not spend much time on the subway.

After all, it was just a city movement—Annan had sat for just over twenty minutes before being escorted off the subway by his teacher.

Exiting from this subway station, they had already arrived at the entrance of the Grand Duke’s house.

This did indeed surprise Annan a bit...

The Grand Duke of Winter... actually allowed a subway platform to be built so openly at his own doorstep?

Didn’t he mind the noise? With so many people coming in and out of the subway station, even though there was some distance from the entrance of the Grand Duke’s residence, it was already quite noisy.

And with such a flow of people, security could hardly be guaranteed...

Annan noticed that the place where the Grand Duke of Winter lived was much smaller than Noah’s palace.

The whole Grand Duke’s residence looked like a square rectangle. From the outside, it was only about the width of a street, with about forty to fifty windows per floor.

It was only three stories tall, with only the innermost section having a fourth floor, forming a white spire.

There were many round columns arranged outside, about three to four windows apart, with each column turning the wall by about five degrees. Therefore, the overall shape was a flat arc that bulged outwards.

Annan followed his teacher towards a narrow door on the right.

The old man extended his right hand and gently tapped the heavy black iron door with his ring that radiated coldness.

With a muffled sound, the metal door, which was only wide enough for two people, automatically opened inwards.

"Enter."

The old man replied briefly, and then led Annan inside.

Annan closely followed the old man—and without any visible action from him, the door automatically closed again after they passed through.

...Unbelievable, an automatic door.

Annan murmured to himself.

After passing through a narrow hallway with relief murals on the walls and ceiling and metal soldier statues on both sides, Annan and the old man exited through a side door ahead.

This was a small garden.

Annan saw a small fountain in the center. From the fountain, a white trace extended outwards in four directions, dividing the ground into four rectangular sections.

This place was relatively spacious, about the size of a city square of average size. It was much larger than it looked from outside... And altogether, it had ten doors, not counting the side entrances.

The building at the far end must be the residence of the Grand Duke of Winter.

And where was the old grandmother Deep Sleep?

Was it behind that building?

Or underground?

Annan remembered that when the old grandmother hibernated, she did so in the form of a dragon... but the residence of the Grand Duke of Winter seemed too small. He even doubted if it could fit a dragon inside.

It was only slightly bigger than the viscount’s residence at Roth Fort—just a tiny bit, and that included the office space.

Of course, Annan also understood the Grand Duke of Winter... After all, Winter had different natural conditions than Noah.

The cities of the Principality of Winter were built relying on a constant temperature barrier. The area suitable for habitation was not large. If the Grand Duke’s family occupied too much area, there would be even fewer civilians who could be accommodated.

In order to let more people survive.

Even the residences of the nobles were very narrow.

Annan could even see the desks inside from outside the window—it was quite clear that even the Grand Duke’s residence appeared to serve as a government office building.

What really housed the Grand Duke were only these four stories tall, and as long as a street. And this was probably the only residence of the Winter family...

Now it seemed, perhaps the "Hands of Winter" also lived here.

For the family of a ruler, it was incredibly narrow. The place where the Grand Duke lived was so narrow that even a viscount’s residence was more spacious.

Visitors from other countries would involuntarily make comparisons with their own nation’s palace and feel a sense of pride, thinking that their country was greater than the Principality of Winter.

But the people of Winter were not ashamed of this—on the contrary, they took pride in it.

Because they had a leader who truly loved his people like his own children.

That was what was truly worth being proud of.

"—Stand up, Annan."

Just then, Annan suddenly heard someone calling his name.

She reflexively looked in that direction.

But she saw two people standing there.

One of them was Dmitry, whom Annan had seen in "Nightmare: The Great Hunt,"... and the other was a young Annan.

He looked very similar to Maria, only with short hair that reached his shoulders, while Maria’s hair fell to her waist... Apart from that, they were almost indistinguishable.

In their hands, one held a bladed sword—that’s right, not a wooden sword or training sword, but a metal sword already sharpened for combat. The only difference was Annan held a sword in both hands, while Dmitry held a sword in his right hand, with his left hand tucked in his pocket.

And the young Annan coughed lightly a couple of times, staring intently at Dmitry, and quickly got up from the ground.

"Again!"

"Youth Annan" didn’t look back at her, merely issuing a crisp, cold voice.

That voice made Annan momentarily daze... And in a blurry moment, he even thought it was Maria from "Nightmare: White Tower."

After all, hearing one’s own voice is different from hearing someone else speak.

The next moment, to Annan’s great surprise—

He saw Dmitry’s sword tip shimmer with a crystal-colored frost light.

As the blade moved, a frost trail visible to the naked eye was left in the air. The crystal traces dragged through the air, carving out elegant patterns.

—That was the Frost Sword Technique!

Annan recognized it instantly.

It was completely different from the Frost Sword Technique Annan himself used—

Dmitry’s steps, rhythmical like those in fencing, moved back and forth in tempo.

Youth Annan’s blade soon took on the pale traces of the Frost Sword Technique... but it was only at LV1, barely visible to the naked eye with shallow frost trails.

Youth Annan, like wielding a greatsword, spun the long sword over his head like a helicopter while pressing his body forward with a steady advance.

This was the Guardsman Swordsmanship Annan was skilled in!

But Dmitry’s steps flickered like phantoms before Annan’s eyes.

As he stepped back, he extended his sword to touch the blade of youth Annan’s sword.

The frost trails stuck the two swords together, and as he retreated, Dmitry easily disrupted the balance of Annan’s footing, causing the youth Annan to involuntarily pitch forward—his sword, initially protecting his head, got stuck and was thrown to his waistline.

Then, Dmitry stepped forward with his backhand in one swift motion, pointing his sword blade, flickering with frost light, at youth Annan’s neck!

—There was absolutely no way to dodge it!

Youth Annan, in a state of imbalance, seemed to even move forward as if inviting the blow... How could he possibly avoid the strike?

At this instant, Annan subconsciously stepped forward.

Not with the intent of "saving himself."

He did so purely out of an instinctive reluctance to see a child die in training...

But his shoulder was held down by the old man’s hand.

"...?"

Before Annan could inquire.

He saw youth Annan, like a cunning young wolf, take advantage of the imbalance to suddenly crouch down and stand firm with both feet. At the same time, one hand was freed up to strike upward from below at the inner wrist of Dmitry’s right hand.

The profound technique of pressing down with the body’s weight made Dmitry’s grip on his sword loosen a bit.

At the same moment, youth Annan spun around on the spot with a fierce whirl— it was more a fling than a chop.

With a spiral force full of momentum, the strike collided with Dmitry’s blade, instantly sending the sword flying out of his hand!

—This was Disarm!

Annan immediately realized.

It was one of the initial skills that Annan had mastered.

But for Annan, "Disarm" was merely a technique to force the opponent to loosen their grip on their weapon by using finesse when they exposed a weakness... nothing so fancy was needed.

...Incredible!

Does my youthful self actually have such rich combat experience?

But just when Annan thought "he" was going to win.

He saw Dmitry suddenly step forward with a side body move.

Frost trails spread silently from under Dmitry’s feet to the ground. His long legs hooked into the crook of Annan’s right knee, causing Annan to stumble forward and step right onto the icy surface.

A seemingly effortless, deft side kick sent the sword-wielding youth Annan "flying" up—Annan was stuck to Dmitry’s knee pit, lifted half a meter off the ground.

Subsequently, the young Annan fell to the ground in an undignified heap.

The frost trails then receded back to Dmitry’s feet.

He deftly kicked up his sword blade and grasped it in his hand once again.

"Stand up, Annan," he said once more.

Youth Annan gasped for breath twice, then forced himself up again with effort.

Real Annan, watching from the side, was stunned.

No wonder Annan kept falling over during the sword fighting...

—Is the Winter family really so formidable in combat?