In this tournament, the earlier they finish, the higher their progress in the group, thus, Kevin was conscious of Chris.
Chris wasn’t an easy person. No matter what people thought of him, he was the type who concentrated on his own goal.
‘I am the sword which represents my Lord. People will never dare to touch my Lord until the opponent is defeated.’
The Northeast Nobles’ Alliance didn’t know the reality. Had they known what Roman Dmitry showed on the battlefield, they wouldn’t have made the mistake of standing on the other side of Dmitry.
So he wanted to show them. He wanted them to feel Roman’s strength through him.
In Round 2, his opponent was a bold person. As if to prove that he was different from the person in Round 1, he ran to Chris with aura.
Rumble!
Chris pointed his sword forward. He didn’t back down. He looked straight at the opponent, and when the opponent’s sword attacked him, he moved ahead and countered.
Kang!
Kang!
The fight ended in an instant. Chris slashed the opponent’s sword and hit his vital point to defeat him.
Five seconds.
The opponent stumbled and fell back. People clenched their hands at the quick end of the fight that they were anticipating.
This was overwhelming. They could understand the first round, but the second one ended in just five seconds.
‘I am still lacking.’
He was starving. Coming down the stage, his eyes were blazing with enthusiasm. He didn’t just finish quickly. He intended to show the power of Roman Dmitry.
Round 3.
This time, Chris took the lead. He pushed in from the start, and the opponent got pushed back.
Eight seconds.
It lasted two seconds longer than the previous fight. He had that much skill, but it wasn’t enough to cross the ten-second limit.
“.,.. Wow.”
“Is Chris this strong?”
“Chris wasn’t that strong in the fight at Barco. What happened on the Southern Front?”
People admired him. As Chris intended, people were now in awe, but as time went on, his body turned hot.
‘More, I need more.’
It was like being thirsty in a desert. No matter how much he was given, he never felt satisfied. He thought he had to prove Roman’s power through a more overwhelming victory.
Round 4.
He was careful and didn’t rush in.
Priiikk.
“…!”
It only took ten seconds this time for the opponent to collapse.
Four fights.
Four wins.
Even the fourth one fell. People were taken aback as they looked at Chris, their perceptions of him shifting.
‘Final.’
He didn’t even look at the fallen opponent. As if the previous fights were nothing, Chris only looked ahead.
Before the first round started, some people arrived at the venue.
Seeing his subordinates lined in harmony, Knights’ Captain Johnathan said with a dignified voice,
“As you know, this tournament is being held by Young Master Roman Dmitry. And it is also a tournament in which Chris, the Vice-Captain, has to participate. I hope you will be able to observe what type of performance he will show so that you can advance as a knight.”
“Yes!”
“Good!”
The men answered loudly.
Roman left, and Dmitry had expanded its forces as a whole.
In particular, with the vacancy of Chris in the unit, new knights were brought in, and they followed Johnathan today.
They were still kids who didn’t know about this world. He wanted to show them what kind of Vice-Captain was on his side.
‘Chris.’
Round 1.
He saw his disciple get up.
A new feeling.
It seemed like it was just yesterday that he accepted this unknown little boy, but now he was showing this handsome figure. Rumor had it that he had made a good contribution in the South.
Although the time was short, his growth under Roman was witnessed, and Jonathan wished to see how much more he could grow.
Finally, the first round began.
When everyone’s eyes were focused at that exact moment, the opponent dropped to the ground, covered in blood in the blink of an eye.
Puak!
A one-sided victory.
At the sight of Chris knocking down the opponent as if it were nothing, the rookie knights were shocked.
“Shit.”
“… wasn’t that too overwhelming?”
The one who was more shocked was Johnathan.
Chris’s opponent, Max, was a good swordsman. He was well known in the northeast, so he didn’t expect such a win.
‘He made a more rapid progress than in the past?’
His heart raced at the development of his disciple. This was amazing. If that were true, then he would be purely delighted with Chris’s success.
Round 2, five seconds.
Round 3, eight seconds.
Round 4, ten seconds.
Chris’s presence was clearly seen in each fight. Like the shocked rookie knights, even Jonathan himself couldn’t hide his surprise.
‘What is this?’
Jonathan was different from the others. He had been watching Chris ever since his childhood, and he was the one who guided him to Dmitry, making him the genius of Dmitry. So he knew the potential he held.
Even in the fight with Barco, he thought Chris’s talent was already good enough, but this made no sense. This truly made no sense. This was beyond what could be understood. Chris’s growth curve increased sharply.
A rookie said,
“Captain Jonathan. I can see why the Captain asked us to work hard and train. Such a great swordsman had served as the Vice-Captain of the Dmitry Knights, and I think we should do our best not to bring shame to his position. With this chance, I will continue to work hard for the future.”
Their eyes changed.
They knew Jonathan was Chris’s teacher, and they thought such skills came from him. It was positive reinforcement. Whatever the reason, they were going to train hard.
But Jonathan didn’t smile. As Chris approached a person and bowed his head, Jonathan looked at that person.
‘Roman Dmitry.’
He was sure. That was the person responsible for these results. Jonathan couldn’t take his eyes off Roman for a while as he felt goosebumps rise on his body.
Along with Chris, there were many other strong people in Group 1. Contrary to what was considered as the group of death, the progress was too one-sided and fast.
“I will abstain.”
“If I am going to be humiliated for fighting against Chris, I think it is better to end here.”
Most of the swordsmen against Chris stood back. After confirming the results with their eyes, they decided their odds of winning were slim.
Now was the last attempt.
Ahead of the final match, people showed interest.
“Can Farrell beat Chris?”
“Absolutely impossible. He is a 2-star aura swordsman, but Chris surely showed his overwhelming power.”
“Still, he can hold on for more than ten seconds. If we look at the matches, the time kept increasing little by little. Can a swordsman as good as Farrell be defeated in just ten seconds? I bet he will be able to last until thirty seconds.”
Defeat was something they were sure of. But the key was how quickly the opponent would be knocked down.
Although known for his skills, Farrell was also known for his exceptional defense. Even the most aggressive Chris was expected to struggle a little by now.
“Both players, on stage.”
It was their turn now. The two moved up, with Farrell looking nervous. He wanted to give up, but he couldn’t because of his reputation.
‘To be honest, I do not have the confidence to go against Chris. But lasting in the fight is another thing. All the others got defeated in ten seconds, so if I could hold on for one minute, then my name would shine. Farrell, let’s just hold on for one minute. We never know. We can try and see if there is an opening to defeat Chris.’
And he made up his mind as he gripped his sword. He would admit that Chris was strong, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t deal with.
And it was then…
Flutter.
The fight began with Farrell raising his aura. No matter how the opponent decided to attack, he would block all of them, and that was all.
Puak!
It was the last thing he remembered.
Silence fell in the entire area. Everyone knew that Chris was strong, but not like this. This time they thought it would take a while, but as soon as the fight began, the opponent fell to the ground.
“H-How did he fall?”
“I didn’t even see the sword being used.”
People were confused. Even the referee was stunned at this. After a moment of being frozen, he quickly came to his senses and shouted,
“T-This makes Chris the winner of Group 1! Let’s all give him a big round of applause!”
The declaration of the winner was quite quick. At the overwhelming result, all the people looked at Chris.
‘My sword technique worked.’
The skill that defeated Farrell.
It was his technique.
Lightning Sword.
A technique based on martial arts that he made on his own.
‘Teacher Jonathan taught this to me. It was a technique that made the sword move faster by amplifying the aura. A technique similar to what I have been doing, but I decided to bring harmony to it, and it finally paid off.’
Chris didn’t just stop learning about Roman’s teachings. He researched ways to transform things into his own in his area of knowledge.
Farrell fell to the ground, and this was the result of it.
Chris pulled out his sword, leaving behind the cheers of the people as he walked down. It was as if nothing much had happened. He didn’t show any joy in his victory.
The winner of Group 1 was confirmed. During the total of five fights, it only took Chris twenty-seven seconds to emerge as the winner.
The result was enough to shock the northeast nobles.
“… what the hell just happened here?”
A noble mumbled.
From the start until the end, everything was going against their plan. Chris overwhelmed his opponent, and even those who were considered weak were knocking down their opponents.
Their blood went cold.
Group 1.
It was already over.
Group 2.
Seeing Kevin’s power, it seemed like he would win the group.
And Groups 3 and 4.
Volcan and Pooky were not as overwhelming, but they were surely good enough to make their opponents collapse.
Their victory seemed virtually certain. The large, wriggling muscles seemed to take no damage from the attacks of the opponents.
Group 5.
It was odd. Henderson, who should have lost right at the start of Round 1, was still knocking his opponents out.
And so their only hope was Group 6.
McBurney, the one-armed man, was their only hope to win.
Tak!
“McBurney confirmed for Round 3!”
Henderson’s victory made all of the nobles’ heads turn.
“… Viscount Conrad.”
“Now it is only the Viscount’s men left.”
McBurney’s opponent in Round 3 was a knight of Viscount Conrad.
