Chapter 213
Chapter 213
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: Helian Tournament (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The Iron Wall Knight lost?”
“That shield was completely shattered? That’s the shield that withstood even a blow from an ancient golem!”
The spectators could only gasp in shock.
The Iron Wall Knight, Hose Brendan, was a fairly famous knight within the empire.
There might be knights stronger than Hose Brendan, but there were none who could pierce his shield.
True to that reputation, Hose Brendan’s shield had never been destroyed even once.
Even among the knights who had defeated him, none had broken through his shield. They had all exploited openings or used clever techniques to claim victory.
Demian Haksen had shattered that shield of Hose Brendan’s in a single blow.
“Maybe a new legend is about to be born…”
Most of the spectators sent gazes filled with awe toward Demian.
But not everyone was like that.
“Even so, he can’t beat Archibald or Bradley.”
Some spectators were busy disparaging Demian.
“He’s impressive and all, but he’s just a knight from the kingdom! There’s no way he can beat our empire’s knights!”
“Exactly. And how incredible are Archibald and Bradley as knights!”
But their arguments were quickly buried.
“Those two probably couldn’t do what Demian Haksen did either.”
“Yeah. Demian Haksen shattered the Iron Wall shield in one hit and even sliced through the longsword.”
“It was over in the blink of an eye.”
It was because the battle Demian had shown was that extraordinary.
He had smashed Hose Brendan head-on without any fancy techniques or strategies.
“…Ugh.”
In the end, the spectators who had tried to belittle Demian had no choice but to shut their mouths.
“Looks like the winner of the Master Class division has been decided, doesn’t it?”
Everyone agreed with someone’s remark.
* * *
“Truly astonishing.”
The emperor of the empire, Howard Adelaite, was genuinely impressed.
As emperor, he had met many knights, but he had never seen one like Demian Haksen.
“That young man just entered the Master Class, you say?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s certain, coming from the Sword Saint himself.”
The imperial guard standing beside him answered.
“Did the Empire’s Greatest Swordsman or the Sword Saint ever show a performance like that in the tournament?”
As one who guarded the emperor’s side, the imperial guard was also Master Class. Contrary to appearances, he was quite old.
Unlike the emperor, he had personally witnessed the Empire’s Greatest Swordsman and the Sword Saint participate in the tournament.
“If I may boldly evaluate the two… They showed remarkable performances in the tournament as well, but they didn’t seize victory in a single breath like Demian Haksen did.”
The emperor couldn’t help but marvel once more at the imperial guard’s words.
The prestige those two knights held was immense. The number of legends they had built was as countless as grains of sand on a beach.
“Watch him closely. The world might revolve around that man in the future.”
The emperor spoke to his sons and daughters seated on either side of him.
The princes and princesses stared piercingly at Demian Haksen. The emotions in their eyes varied from one to another.
“Demian Haksen… Demian Haksen…”
As if trying to commit the name to memory, the emperor repeated Demian Haksen’s name several times.
Then, suddenly, the emperor’s brow furrowed slightly.
“…Demian Haksen?”
* * *
Demian entered the waiting room, leaving the spectators’ cheers behind.
“Brother! That was incredible! You won the fastest out of all the matches today!”
“What was that just now? How did you break the shield?”
As soon as he returned to the waiting room, Michael and Veronica rushed over.
Michael went without saying, but even Veronica, who was only interested in killing people, was bombarding him with questions.
“Demian Haksen!”
At that moment, another voice rang out. The Sword Marquess, Rachel, was running toward Demian.
“What, I thought you were watching from the stands.”
Rachel wasn’t competing today, so she had entered as a spectator.
As the heir to the Lichtauer Duke family, she had been assigned the best VIP seats, he’d heard.
“How could I just sit still after seeing that!”
Rachel pushed through Michael and Veronica and stood in front of Demian.
“But what was that just now? How did you do it? Why didn’t you show me that in our spar?”
“…If I did that to a High Class, they’d die.”
“I wouldn’t mind? Dying to a blow like that would be an honor!”
“She’s insane.”
Demian looked at Rachel with a dumbfounded expression.
Unlike her refined appearance that screamed noble upbringing, her speech and actions were no different from Veronica’s.
He kept getting the feeling she was the same type as Veronica.
“Oh, by the way, Demian. Do you want to build more connections in the empire by any chance?”
“Why ask that all of a sudden?”
Before Rachel could answer, the outside suddenly grew noisy.
-Demian Haksen is definitely here, right?
-Move aside! That man’s already been marked by our family!
-A letter! I just need to deliver one letter!
The footsteps sounded serious. At least several dozen people were approaching this place.
“This is the perfect chance to build connections. What do you say?”
“Too annoying, pass.”
Demian answered immediately.
One connection like Rachel was enough. Besides, politicking or making more ties didn’t suit his personality and was just a hassle.
“Then I’ll have to help. You heard that, right, David?”
“Yes, miss.”
A bespectacled man promptly replied. He was the attendant Rachel always kept with her.
“Please all follow me.”
David took the lead and spoke. The group followed Demian deeper into the colosseum.
David guided them through a secret passage inside the colosseum.
The secret passage connected to a civilian house outside the colosseum.
Thanks to that, Demian could return to the mansion without running into the other nobles.
But the nobles’ persistence was tenacious. A short time later, they all swarmed to the mansion.
“We heard Sir Demian Haksen is here!”
“Spare us just a moment! It’ll be a conversation beneficial to both sides!”
“A letter! Just one letter! One letter!”
But the nobles were blocked by the soldiers of the Lichtauer Duke family and couldn’t enter.
Thanks to that, Demian could rest comfortably at the villa.
* * *
The next day, the group entered the colosseum interior through the secret passage just like yesterday.
Nobles searching for Demian were swarming around the colosseum.
Today, neither Demian, Michael, nor Veronica had matches. So they headed to the spectator stands instead of the waiting room.
“You can use this place.”
Rachel guided the three to her assigned VIP seats.
As expected of seats reserved for high-ranking nobles, the VIP area was divided into individual booths.
“Demian, I have my match today, so watch closely. If you spot any flaws, make sure to tell me!”
“Got it.”
Out of the three, only Rachel had a match today.
“It’s important! Really important!”
Only after emphasizing it repeatedly did Rachel head down to the waiting room.
Demian watched the tournament from the VIP seats. The Middle Class matches ended, and the High Class matches began.
“Brother, it’s Miss Rachel.”
Rachel’s match started.
Michael watched Rachel’s every move without missing a single detail. It seemed his talk of getting revenge on her in the tournament was sincere.
As expected, the match ended in Rachel’s victory.
She leisurely dodged her opponent’s attacks before thrusting her rapier through his shoulder to claim victory.
“Rachel! Rachel!”
“Lichtauer!”
Cheers poured from the spectators. Rachel placed a hand on her chest and bowed to the crowd in response.
Then her eyes met Demian’s. She sent him a triumphant look.
“Jeez.”
Demian let out a chuckle.
“Brother, aren’t you hungry by any chance?”
“I’ll go grab something to drink.”
Taking advantage of the break after the match, Michael and Veronica left to buy food.
At that moment, someone sat in their seats. Demian reflexively turned to look.
A man he’d never seen before was seated there.
Around his late thirties, perhaps. He had a thick mustache trimmed like a water buffalo’s horn.
“Indeed, as expected of the Lichtauer Duke family’s heir. Impressive talent.”
The man said, crossing his legs.
“Demian Haksen, forgive my rudeness. I wanted to speak with you directly, so I threw my weight around.”
“Who are you?”
“Archibald Gella.”
It was a name he’d heard before.
The man Rachel had said was one of the top favorites to win.
A Master Class who wielded the saber as his main weapon and was a master of swift swordsmanship, he’d heard.
“Do you have business with me?”
“Nothing in particular. I just came to see my most dangerous rival.”
Archibald Gella’s eyes darkened.
“I thought there’d be no one to watch out for besides Bradley Hess… I didn’t expect a monster like you to show up out of nowhere.”
As the runner-up of the previous tournament, the pressure emanating from Archibald Gella was tremendous.
“I’m thirty-nine this year. This is my last Helian Tournament.”
Other divisions of the Helian Tournament allowed participation up to age twenty-five.
But Master Class allowed up to forty. It was such a difficult realm to reach.
There were fewer matches too, compared to other divisions. While others had six matches scheduled per day, Master Class had only two.
“You, as a knight of the kingdom, might not know. How important the Helian Tournament is to the empire’s knights.”
It was an event commemorating the empire’s founding emperor, and the winner could meet the emperor in person and receive a title directly.
For the empire’s knights, the Helian Tournament held tremendous prestige.
“I intend to win this tournament no matter what. By any means necessary.”
A faint killing intent could be felt in Archibald’s voice. It revealed how obsessed he was with the Helian Tournament.
“Are you here to threaten me?”
“I’m here to give advice. This tournament is extremely dangerous, so if possible, withdraw early.”
Archibald shifted his gaze to Demian.
“You never know. You might unknowingly ingest poison… Something like that could happen.”
Demian burst into laughter at the lame threat.
-We will now begin the next match! Sir Archibald Gella and Sir Marenka Hibiscus, please come up to the arena!
At that moment, the referee’s shout rang out. Archibald rose from his chair.
“My turn. I ask that you don’t ignore my warning.”
Archibald lightly kicked off the ground. He leaped over the spectator stands and landed in the arena.
“Woooaaah!”
The spectators erupted in admiration.
“Archibald Gella!”
“Win it this time!”
Archibald Gella spread his arms wide, basking in the cheers.
In the meantime, another knight climbed into the arena. The man called Marenka Hibiscus by the referee.
“You could’ve entered more quietly.”
Marenka Hibiscus said with a grimace.
“Your attention-seeking doesn’t seem to get any better.”
“Better than a drab guy like you by a hundredfold, I’d say.”
“Shut up and get ready.”
Marenka Hibiscus gripped his spear and assumed his stance.
“This time, I’ll crush you for sure.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
Archibald Gella said slowly as he drew his saber.
“Don’t get careless like last time. Didn’t your wrist nearly fly off?”
“You’re the one who almost lost an eye to my spear, aren’t you?”
It was while the two were growling at each other.
Tap tap.
A strange sound came from afar.
Tap tap.
It sounded like someone striking the ground with a staff. The two looked toward the source of the noise.
A young woman was approaching the arena.
It was strange, as entry was strictly controlled for anyone except the competitors.
On her back, she carried something like a large cross. It was covered in black cloth, so its identity was unknown.
But what caught the two’s attention wasn’t the object she carried.
The woman had bandages wrapped around her eyes. And she was tapping the ground with a plain wooden staff as she walked.
“…Blind?”
Archibald said in a bewildered tone.
At his voice, the woman stopped walking. She bowed politely and spoke.
“Ah, hello! I-I’m Everis! T-Tongue twister!”
The woman, Everis, covered her mouth with both hands and writhed in distress.
Archibald made a dumbfounded face.
“What are the guards doing, letting an outsider into the arena?”
“D-Don’t get mad at them. Th-they couldn’t stop me anyway.”
“What are you…”
“I-I’m from Pandemonium.”
At Everis’s words, Archibald froze. He looked at the woman with an incredulous expression.
“M-My master told me to join the Helian Tournament and kill everyone…”
Everis set down what she had been carrying on her back. It made a heavy thud, indicating its substantial weight.
When she unwrapped the black cloth, a two-handed sword was revealed.
The blade was relatively thin. But its length was a whopping two meters. Twice Everis’s height.
“A-Anyone’s fine. K-Kill me right here, and it’s a win for the empire.”
Everis gripped the two-handed sword with both hands. But the blade was so long and heavy she couldn’t lift it.
“B-But if I kill you, d-don’t hold it against me.”