Chapter 143

Chapter 144. The Pride of a Knight (1)

Regan, the captain of Count Jephyrus’ Knight Order, was tracking Sephira with five 3-Star Knights, thinking to himself:

‘Sephira has 14 badges? If I take them all, I can reach 20.’

Although he’s currently tracking Sephira under the orders of the Jephyrus family head, Regan joined this tournament aiming for victory.

‘If I get 7 points in the Battle Royale and place second in the next two tournaments, I still have a chance.’

Regan’s mind was busy strategizing how to secure second place in the tournaments.

The two archers from Sephira he needed to deal with? They weren’t even on his radar. If he encountered them, he’d just cut them down. Simple as that.

Then, a voice echoed in his mind. It was the voice of a mage, informing him of Sephira’s location.

-They’ve noticed us. Evade……

Thud.

A knight running beside him was struck by an arrow and collapsed.

“Huh?”

A 3-Star Knight taken down in one hit?

“Fool.”

It wasn’t because Sephira was amazing. The knight who got hit was just an idiot. That’s what Regan thought.

Thud! Thud!

Before two more knights fell.

“Damn it, what are you doing! You can’t even block a single arrow!”

But the fallen knights were already left behind. There was no excuse to hear from them.

Regan sped up, taking the lead. Another arrow flew straight at him.

‘Why can’t they block such an obvious arrow… Huh?!’

He clearly saw the arrow.

It was moving at a speed he could track with his eyes.

But then it accelerated. Suddenly.

“Cha!”

Bang!

Arrows slow down as they fly, not speed up. That’s common sense. But Sephira’s arrows accelerated.

The other 3-Star Knights noticed this change, but the arrows were too fast for them to block or dodge, leaving them helpless.

But Regan reacted. Though he let out a startled scream.

-Another one’s coming!

The mage warned him. Regan shouted back.

“Stop bothering me and get out of my head!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Realizing the arrows accelerated, Regan deflected all the incoming arrows.

“Sephira’s arrows accelerate after being shot. Once you know that, you can deflect them.”

Regan explained this to the two 3-Star Knights. But even with the knowledge, they couldn’t block them.

Boom!

“Ugh?!”

A 3-Star Knight who tried to block what he thought was a normal arrow was sent flying into the air. It sounded like he’d been hit by a catapult.

“An arrow can have this much power?”

“We underestimated them. Let’s slow down and focus on defense.”

With a mix of fast and powerful arrows flying at them, the knights were overwhelmed. Regan could easily deflect the fast arrows, but the powerful ones made his wrists ache with each block.

Moreover, the intervals between the arrows were getting shorter. Soon—

Twang!

The sound of a bowstring being released echoed right in front of him.

Regan barely dodged the arrow and shouted.

“Impressive archery, but by revealing your position, you’ve sealed your own de…feat?”

Regan stared at Anis, who was drawing his bowstring.

Why is he alone? He should be with Taragon, the fourth member.

Twang!

Anis silently shot an arrow. A wooden arrow. Crude, but the finely embedded Aura compensated for its durability and destructive power.

The two 3-Star Knights didn’t underestimate the wooden arrow. Their comrades had already fallen to it. They widened their eyes, infused their swords with Aura, and swung.

Thud!

As the first 3-Star Knight deflected Taragon’s wooden arrow, an arrow from behind struck his shoulder.

Regan gritted his teeth as he deflected the arrows flying at him.

“How did they get behind us?!”

Taragon had somehow moved to their rear. Regan was shocked he hadn’t sensed Taragon’s movement at all.

‘At this point, sacrifices are inevitable.’

Regan used the two 3-Star Knights as shields and closed in on Anis.

“Don’t resent me too much.”

Regan swung his sword. A strike with speed and power far beyond that of a 3-Star Knight aimed at Anis’s right arm.

At that moment, Anis made a bold move. He rolled forward, dodging the attack, and closed in on Regan.

“What?!”

A knight rolling on the ground?!

Not only that, but he also slipped into Regan’s embrace, twisting his wrist to hook the bow.

“Ugh!”

As Regan twisted his arm to shake him off, Anis pushed in the same direction. As a result, Anis’s bow and Regan’s sword flew far away.

Regan immediately grabbed Anis by the collar, trying to throw him.

Thud!

But before he could, Anis’s Aura-infused fist struck Regan’s torso. Regan deployed his Aura Armor to defend, but he couldn’t stop himself from being pushed back.

Anis relentlessly pressed the attack, buying time for Taragon to deal with the two 3-Star Knights.

Regan, overwhelmed by the relentless barrage, spotted an opening in Anis’s footwork and tried to grab his waist and trip him.

But Anis only staggered slightly and didn’t fall. Instead, he tripped Regan.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Regan, rolling on the ground, was more ashamed of losing to an archer in close combat than in pain.

Anis muttered with a strangely refreshed expression.

“Your lower body is really weak.”

* * *

Eslow’s direct jurisdiction, Magic Control Room.

Here, state-employed mages and magic officials manage the magic necessary to run the city.

The magic required for the Southern Sword competition is also controlled here, and the large screens in the spectator seats are manually operated by the mages.

“They’re fighting much better than expected. I should switch the screen.”

The screen operator, who had received a hefty bribe from Count Aiwin, switched the screen away from Anis and Taragon, who were fighting too well against the 4-Star Knight Regan.

But at that moment, a cold sensation on the back of his neck froze his entire body.

“Restore the screen.”

The mage realized the cold sensation behind him was the edge of a sword.

“W-who are you! Guards?!”

“Jeffrey Edmund, 22nd Division Captain of the Immortal Knights.”

The Immortal Knights are Eslow’s direct knight order. The guards didn’t stop him. They let him through. Who would dare stop the Lord’s knight?

“W-why are you doing this to me?”

“I’ve been ordered to focus the screen on Sephira.”

“Who would give such an order…!”

The mage felt foolish even as he spoke. Who else could give Jeffrey such an order?

“L-Lord Eslow? W-why Sephira?”

Drip.

Blood dripped from the mage’s neck. Jeffrey had activated his Sword Aura.

“Don’t dare try to guess the Lord’s intentions.”

“A-alright. I’ll do as you say, just remove the sword.”

The mage had no sense of loyalty or responsibility. It was the Lord’s order, after all. He immediately switched the screen back to Sephira.

The spectators, who had been annoyed by the sudden screen change, cheered as Sephira’s screen returned, unaware of the behind-the-scenes drama.

Thanks to Jeffrey’s timely intervention, the audience didn’t miss the highlight. Anis and Regan’s close combat. Anis flipping Regan and muttering those words that echoed clearly in the ears of hundreds of thousands of spectators.

-Your lower body is really weak.

Anis’s one-liner caused an explosive reaction from the crowd.

“An archer beat a swordsman in close combat!”

“Yeah, that’s right. A man’s lower body is important!”

“I didn’t know Sephira’s family was this fiery!”

“Anis! Anis!”

The crowd cheered Anis’s name repeatedly. But the cheers didn’t last long.

Regan had only fallen once; he wasn’t out of the fight. He got up immediately, and the second round began.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Regan and Anis.

The two exchanged blows at incredible speed, dodging and blocking.

Slash!

Regan’s elbow grazed Anis’s cheek. A thin line of blood appeared as if cut by a blade.

Regan, now fully fired up, began to overwhelm Anis. The spectators, seeing the tide turn, quickly changed their tune.

“Well, of course. How could an archer beat a swordsman in close combat?”

“He just got lucky with that one flip.”

“It doesn’t make sense for an archer to be strong in close combat anyway.”

Sephira’s worsening situation was clearly shown on the screen.

Knights healed by Elixirs rejoined the fight, and Taragon, who had been providing long-range support, ran out of arrows and started firing Aura Arrows from mid-range.

Normally, the screen wouldn’t focus on one person for so long. People would want to see other participants’ actions.

But for some reason, the broadcast had been focused on Anis and Taragon’s fight for over 10 minutes.

Yet no one complained. No one protested. They just watched quietly, intently focused on the bloody battle between the Sephira brothers and the knights.

While the spectators watched in silence, someone clenched their fists so tightly that blood dripped from their palms.

“Anis, behind you!”

Mail, seeing a knight approaching Anis from behind, shouted in shock, knowing his voice wouldn’t reach Anis.

Fortunately, Anis seemed to sense it, creating an Aura Arrow to throw, but Regan’s interference caused it to miss.

The Aura Arrow struck the ground. A clear crisis.

Thud!

“Ugh?!”

The knight aiming for Anis’s back collapsed. He had been hit by an unexpected attack.

The Aura Arrow that struck the ground had hit a rock, sending it flying into the knight’s jaw.

“Nice!”

Mail thought it was just luck, but Keter knew it was a deliberate move.

‘He’s using what I did to him.’

Using a rock to launch a sneak attack, as if by accident, was the same method Anis had used against Keter.

Of course, a rock is no threat to a knight using Aura. If they see it coming and block it with Aura, that is.

But even a knight would be dazed if hit by a rock flying at high speed, especially if it strikes the jaw.

Anis had cleverly avoided the crisis, but the situation was getting worse.

“Over there!”

“Join in!”

More knights kept joining the fight. They were blatantly targeting Anis and Taragon.

Though they were only 2-Star Knights, their increasing numbers were a huge pressure on Anis and Taragon.

Keter clicked his tongue.

“They should’ve known not to drag this out. They got too excited and forgot.”

Emotions cloud judgment. Even if you’re aware of it, emotions always override reason.

Anis and Taragon should’ve retreated after landing a hit on Regan. Even if the fight was unavoidable, they should’ve fought in a more advantageous environment.

But the thrill of landing a hit on a 4-Star Knight like Regan had clouded their judgment.

“If you make a mistake, you pay the price.”

Mistakes are inevitable. As long as you’re alive, you’ll make mistakes.

What’s important is how you recover from them. If you don’t acknowledge your mistakes or try to recover without paying the price…

“What should’ve cost 1 gold turns into 10,000 gold.”

In ordinary life, you can make mistakes repeatedly. They won’t significantly impact your life.

But for a martial artist—

For someone who studies martial arts, not academics—

One mistake can cost your life.

At that moment, Keter, who had noticed something on the screen, smiled meaningfully.

“This is getting more interesting.”

Sword Dragon Rajis.

He moved.

Toward Anis and Taragon.

Already dealing with a 4-Star Knight and multiple 3-Star Knights, now a 5-Star Master joins?

It’s over. Escape won’t be easy.

But Rajis did something unexpected.

Boom!

He unleashed a massive Sword Aura, separating the knights led by Regan from Anis.

Then he landed in front of Anis—

Pointing his sword at Regan.

“Aren’t you ashamed to call yourself a knight?”

Sword Dragon Rajis of the Garcia swordsmanship family is protecting Sephira!

His sudden action shocked not only the citizens but also the nobles, who covered their mouths in surprise.