Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain

Chapter 175: A New King, Once And For All

The crowd spilled out of the colosseum in waves, chatter echoing through the streets.Noah moved with them at first, hands in his pockets.

The fights had ended with the usual cheers, bloodied fighters carried out like trophies, and money exchanging hands faster than water through a sieve.

But he’d found nothing. No suspicious glances, no strange rituals, no shadowy figures slipping away.

Just the usual brutality of men who lived for spectacle.

Noah peeled off from the throng, turning down quieter streets.

The further he walked, the more the shine of the capital faded.

Cracked cobblestones. Lamps flickering with failing enchantments.o raise a hand.

The occupants, merchants, drunks, and down-on-their-luck laborers, kept their eyes down.

A man who looked up too long earned a cuff to the back of the head. Another had his plate stolen clean off his table.

"Pathetic," Bruno sneered, his voice carrying. "You drink Jack’s piss-water ale, hide in his rat den, and call him your king? Some king. A man too weak to even defend his own walls."

The room stayed silent.

None of them noticed Noah, who remained in the far corner, his glass raised casually to his lips.

The thug’s arrogance was so consuming that Noah was practically invisible.

Then, heavy footsteps sounded from the back hall.

The room seemed to shift as Jack appeared.

He was a tall man, broad across the shoulders, his beard streaked with gray.

His eyes burned with barely contained fury, every step radiating authority.

This was his house, his bar, his name carved into the bones of these streets, and Bruno had dared to spit on it.

"Bruno," Jack’s voice was low but rough with the promise of violence. "You dare storm my establishment, break my peace, and insult me in front of my men?"

Bruno only grinned wider, striding forward with the swagger of a man who owned the ground beneath his feet.

"Finally," he drawled. "The rat shows his whiskers. Took you long enough, Jack. I was beginning to think you’d grown soft, hiding behind these broken bottles and cowards who cling to your name."

Gasps hissed through the bar. Jack’s jaw tightened, his fists flexing.

"You’ve overstepped," Jack said. "This is my domain. And you’ll pay for your disrespect."

Bruno laughed. "Pay? No, no, Jack. Tonight, we don’t play at debts. Tonight, we settle this."

He spread his arms, his voice booming. "A death match. One of us walks out. The other doesn’t. That’s how kings are crowned."

The words hung in the smoky air, everyone staring, their hearts beating fast

Jack narrowed his eyes. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the bar on him. Bruno had passed the bar to him, and there was only one clear choice here.

He didn’t know where Bruno’s confidence came from. What gave this thug the gall to demand blood, but backing down was impossible.

If he refused, his reputation would crumble. And in the slums, a man without reputation was already a dead man.

So, with his fury burning through his veins, Jack straightened his back.

"Fine," he said. "One of us dies."

And so the bar erupted in shouts, the patrons scrambling back to clear space for the fight.