Chapter 181

Chapter 182. The Contract Must Be Honored (1)

Norman was actually a slime-type monster, and a high-ranking dark mage had attempted to assassinate Lord Eslow.

This was clearly a ‘disaster.’

The tournament organizer knew how to proceed with the tournament when a disaster struck.

The organizer, holding a staff amplified with sound magic, announced to the citizens and participants:

“Dear citizens. Due to the appearance of a high-ranking dark mage, we declare a state of emergency. The tournament is temporarily suspended, and the city will be closed to root out any potential accomplices of the dark mage. Until the situation is resolved, your safety will be ensured by the Iron Knights and the peacekeeping forces under Lord Eslow.”

Suspending the tournament and closing the city was a textbook decision and response.

“How long do we have to stay in this city?” asked one knight anxiously.

The organizer shook his head. “There is no set time. Until the dark mage is captured.”

“What about the tournament?”

“It will resume once the dark mage is caught.”

“Resume? Surely you don’t mean starting over from the beginning?”

“That will be up to Lord Eslow to decide.”

“…!”

The crowd murmured, and the participants wore sour expressions at the thought of the tournament possibly restarting from scratch.

Especially aggrieved were Sephira’s Triad. Keter was a strong contender for victory, and now the tournament might restart?

Of course, even if the tournament restarted, it was unimaginable that Keter would lose, but still, it would mean wasting at least a month.

This frustrating situation was something Keter didn’t want either.

‘If I’m unlucky, I’ll have to endure this nonsense for at least another month. I’d rather give up on the Southern Palace.’

It wasn’t just out of annoyance.

He had already achieved his goal. He had shown Sephira’s potential and his own strength to tens of thousands of people.

Thinking about it, not being able to become the Southern Palace was just a minor disappointment.

‘Having to stay in this drained city and tournament for another month is horrifying just to imagine.’

Relaxing and resting is enjoyable when you’re busy, but resting because there’s nothing to do is just wasting time.

‘Besides, Ayrus won’t be caught easily, even by Eslow.’

The tournament can only restart after Ayrus is caught.

Knowing Ayrus, he definitely won’t be caught easily. Of course, if Eslow is really angry and determined, he’ll catch him eventually—

‘But it’ll take at least three months.’

I can’t even wait a month, let alone three. Keter decided to quickly withdraw and escape this city.

At that moment.

Whoosh—Bang!

Something descended from the sky and landed.

Leaving two clear footprints on the Orichalcon ring, it was Lord Eslow. As he walked out of the ring, he said:

“Resume the match.”

His voice carried a hint of anger. Only Keter knew the reason for that anger.

‘He lost Ayrus.’

Regardless of what Ayrus wanted and why Eslow couldn’t stop him, the situation had changed.

The moment Eslow ordered the match to resume, the ‘tournament regulations’ the organizer had been talking about vanished. The organizer didn’t argue with the lord’s words.

Numerous injured and still confused people. The ring in chaos… None of these excuses would work on Eslow.

“L-Lord Eslow has ordered the match to resume, so we will proceed. The match between Sir Rajis and Sir Norman is awarded to Sir Rajis. The next match is between Sir Maxid and Sir Aman. Please come to the ring.”

At the organizer’s call, Maxid and Aman stepped into the ring, but their condition was far from ideal.

Though their wounds were healed with Elixir, their torn armor showed how severe their injuries had been.

“All non-participants, please leave the ring. We will begin the match immediately.”

The alchemists from Zarbella, who had been erasing the traces of alchemy, also quietly left.

With the stage set, Maxid and Aman showed no desire to fight. In their hearts, the 9th Southern Sword had already been decided.

Both raised their hands and said:

“I forfeit.”

“I forfeit as well.”

The organizer looked troubled at their forfeiture.

“Forfeiting on the spot without a special reason is…”

Just as he was about to say ‘prohibited,’ Eslow glared at him.

At that moment, the organizer would later recall, it felt like the back of his head was on fire. Even though the lord only glared at him with his eyes, he thought he was going to die.

“The forfeit requests are accepted.”

The organizer was quick to catch on, and so were the other participants.

“I forfeit.”

Other participants also declared their forfeit one after another. Knights who were severely injured or dead were naturally considered forfeited.

Thus, it was Henya’s turn.

Henya’s expression was deeply conflicted. She had a reason why she absolutely had to become the Southern Sword. She had even sworn never to give up.

But…

‘It’s over.’

Even if she didn’t forfeit here and fought Rajis, even if she miraculously won against Keter in the finals—due to the point difference, she couldn’t become the Southern Sword.

With hope gone, there was no reason to cling to false hope.

“I forfeit.”

Henya also declared her forfeit. But her eyes were not those of someone who had given up.

‘Not becoming the Southern Sword doesn’t mean my life is over.’

She would find another way. As Wid said, staying alive is what matters. As long as she’s alive, there will always be opportunities.

With everyone’s quick forfeiture, the final match was set in just five minutes.

Rajis and Keter.

Rajis, the only one who hadn’t forfeited, stepped onto the ring with a calm expression.

Gulp.

The sound of swallowing was so loud in the silent stadium filled with tens of thousands of people.

Despite the slime monster Norman, the appearance of a high-ranking dark mage—

Despite the many injured and dead—

Everyone was looking forward to the match between Keter and Rajis.

Even those groaning in pain forced themselves to endure, not leaving the stadium. The fact that Rajis hadn’t forfeited gave them hope that he might put up a fight.

But Rajis betrayed their expectations.

“I forfeit.”

Just like the others, he forfeited without a fight.

The crowd let out disappointed sighs. Some even blurted out their true feelings.

“Giving up without even fighting… Isn’t that disqualification as a knight?”

They didn’t say anything to the other knights, but they jeered at Rajis’s forfeit.

Rajis didn’t get angry. Instead, he said what the other knights couldn’t.

“I’m not giving up. I’m acknowledging.”

Rajis slowly turned his head, looking around at everyone. From the audience and knights to finally Lord Eslow. He made eye contact with everyone as if seeking ‘permission.’

“In this Southern Sword Tournament, Sir Keter has proven his courage, leadership, and martial prowess. I believe no one here would deny that Sir Keter is the greatest knight in the South.”

“……”

Everyone fell silent.

Who could deny Keter’s courage and martial prowess, shown since the Battle Royale?

“Of course, Sir Keter is not a perfect knight. He certainly has his shortcomings.”

Rajis didn’t specifically mention ‘character’ or ‘his terrible personality,’ but everyone knew.

“However, despite that, Sir Keter is undoubtedly the most fitting for the Southern Sword, no, the Southern Palace. That’s why I forfeit.”

Rajis boldly said what the other forfeiting knights couldn’t, then stepped down from the ring.

The audience also had no objections to Keter’s victory. They were just disappointed they didn’t get to see Keter and Rajis fight.

“……”

The organizer glanced at Eslow, who gave a slight nod. The organizer then stepped onto the ring and stood beside Keter.

“…Thus, the winner of the individual tournament is Sir Keter. Sir Rajis came in second, tying with Sir Keter in points, but according to tournament rules, in case of a tie, the one with the higher rank in the individual tournament wins. Therefore, the final winner of the 9th Southern Sword Tournament is… Sir Keter of Sephira!”

The organizer confirmed Keter’s victory.

Just as the audience and participants were about to cheer and congratulate him—

Eslow spoke.

“Tomorrow, we will hold the Southern Palace appointment ceremony.”

“…!”

Eslow left after saying just that. But the impact of his words was immense.

Eslow had acknowledged Keter’s victory on the spot. And he announced the appointment ceremony. This made it inevitable for the Southern nobles to attend.

Of course, all the nobles would attend. That’s politics. Not showing up at such a historic moment would be unthinkable.

But there was someone uncomfortable with this situation.

‘Damn it!’

Galahind was fuming inside. The allied nobles sitting beside him also wore expressions like they’d bitten into something rotten.

Their goal was the downfall of Sephira. They had spent a long time trying to take everything Sephira had.

An utter failure, a complete disaster.

How much money and manpower had they poured into this operation?

But they gained nothing. They lost millions of gold, and dozens of knights were either dead or crippled.

Moreover, Sephira, who was supposed to be a cripple, had revived. There couldn’t be worse news.

“What do we do now?”

At Count Bristan’s whisper, Galahind narrowed his eyes.

“What do we do? You think we can give up after coming this far? We have to kill him.”

“Keter?”

“He’s just human after all. If we target the carriage returning to Sephira, we can definitely kill him.”

Galahind and the allied nobles had fled the farthest, so they hadn’t properly seen Keter’s performance.

If they had seen Keter survive four ultimate techniques with his bare body, they wouldn’t dare think such a thing.

But Galahind, ignorant yet stubborn, couldn’t give up.

‘How much money and time have I poured into this plan!’

It wasn’t just persistence; it was the desire to avoid losses by incurring even greater losses.

Galahind looked around at the allied nobles. Delmore, Aiwyn, Bristan. He laid down the law to the three of them.

“This is the last chance. We can’t let Sephira’s bloodline return to their family. We must kill them all and collapse their house. Especially Keter, that guy must…”

They were already on the same boat, riding on the back of a flying wyvern. The other nobles couldn’t give up here either.

Nod.

The three nobles nodded solemnly.

And—

Keter was glaring at the four of them.

* * *

Sephira’s brothers returned to the hotel. But Keter didn’t join them, instead meeting with Ultima.

Ultima handed Keter a glass filled with premium whiskey.

“Congratulations, Keter. You’ve truly become the Southern Sword, no, the Southern Palace.”

Keter downed the drink in one gulp and threw the empty glass back at Ultima.

“I kept my promise. Now it’s your turn.”

“Ah, the Aleron Trading Company, right?”

Ultima had bet ten million gold with the head of the Aleron Trading Company. If Keter became the Southern Sword, he would take over the entire company.

And in return for helping Ultima win this bet, Keter had promised to give Ultima 20% of the company’s shares.

“I’ll give you 20% of the company’s shares as promised.”

“Haha, of course. But the promise I’m talking about is something else.”

“…So, that time is now?”

When Keter and Ultima first met, Keter had proposed a partnership.

But at the time, Ultima didn’t trust Keter. He wasn’t sure if Keter could really protect him. So he didn’t fully commit to Keter.

Keter acknowledged it cleanly. So he told Ultima that when the time came, he should betray Galahind and fully side with him.

And now.

Keter was once again telling Ultima to make a choice.

“There’s no better time than now, right?”

“Hmm…!”

“Well, the choice is yours.”

Tap tap.

Keter didn’t like long speeches. He patted Ultima’s shoulder once and left.

“……”

Suddenly left alone, Ultima downed a bottle of strong whiskey.

“Ugh.”

Wiping his lips, Ultima pointed to the side. A masked figure emerged from the shadows.

“You heard everything?”

“Yes.”

“You know what it means?”

“Yes.”

“Prepare.”

“Yes.”

The masked figure disappeared back into the shadows. Ultima suddenly chuckled and muttered.

“Better to live as the tail of a dragon than the head of a lion.”

* * *

On the day of the 9th Southern Palace appointment ceremony.

The ceremony was held in none other than Eslow’s palace.

Only nobles were gathered here. Not just Southern nobles, but nobles from other regions as well, so nearly 100 nobles were present.

The ceremony took place in the palace’s training ground, with just a simple podium set up. Soon, Eslow’s representative, the second butler, appeared and said:

“Sephira El Keter is officially appointed as the 9th Southern Sword. However, considering his use of a bow as his main weapon, the title will exceptionally be ‘Southern Bow’ instead of ‘Southern Sword.'”

It was a disappointingly quick and simple ceremony.

Clap clap clap!

Most of the nobles clapped enthusiastically, congratulating Keter, but some only pretended to clap. Namely, Galahind and his allied nobles.

They had attended the ceremony because of Eslow, but they were obviously displeased with Keter becoming the Southern Bow.

However, they had enough intelligence to know that protesting was pointless, so they stayed quiet.

“The ceremony is over.”

As the second butler stepped down from the podium, Galahind stood up.

“Let’s go. I don’t want to stay here a second longer.”

His allied nobles also stood up, but they couldn’t leave.

“Please sit back down.”

An Immortal Knight pressed down on Galahind’s shoulder and spoke sternly.

Galahind was confused. The other nobles were also bewildered. Suddenly, Immortal Knights appeared from all sides, surrounding the nobles.

Thud thud.

Jeffrey stepped onto the podium. He looked down and said:

“Greetings. I am Jeffrey Edmund, captain of the 22nd division of the Immortal Knights. I’m not good with words, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

Jeffrey’s emotionless yet sharp eyes scanned the gathered nobles, then stopped in front of one person.

“Gasp?!”

Galahind, who met Jeffrey’s gaze, was startled. Why was he being singled out? He couldn’t understand.

“We will now begin the summary trial for the heinous criminal Marquis Galahind, who disgraced the sacred Southern Sword Tournament with all sorts of dirty tricks.”

“What, what are you talking about?!”

At Jeffrey’s thunderous declaration, Galahind’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.