Thud!
The Beast Union warrior was scorched black, and his body—which was as large as a bison—collapsed on the ground. Princess Jayna smiled coldly at him from the opposite side of the arena and raised her chin.
“Princess Jayna from the Balkar Kingdom is the last one to advance to the semifinals!”
The master of ceremonies entered the stage and raised his fist.
“Woaaah!”
“Princess!”
“Princess Jayna! You are killing me!”
“Balkar really is the natural counter for the Beast Union!”
“She defeated that monster effortlessly! She is perfect in every aspect, beauty and skill alike!”
“The participants for the Expert division’s semifinals have been decided! It’s unfortunate that one of the slots turned out to be vacant, but you are probably satisfied after watching an exciting fight that was enough to make up for it!”
The master of ceremonies mentioned the dynamic match between Burren and Runaan once again, before telling the audience to look forward to the next day’s matches.
“Hmm.”
Raon slowly nodded while looking at the list of matches.
‘So it has come down to this.’
The first position for the semifinals ended up being empty, Owen's third prince Greer was in second position, Martha in the third, and Jayna in the fourth.
Zieghart’s swordsmen could’ve had two out of four positions in the semifinals, but Raon didn’t feel bad about it, because Martha was going to win anyway.
Raon smiled coldly and looked at Jayna, who was enjoying the crowd cheering for her.
“Ack!”
As soon as she noticed his gaze, her shoulders trembled violently and she hurriedly left the stage.
Hmm.
Wrath licked his lips while watching Jayna’s back.
That bitch, you were holding her on a leash, right?
‘Yes. That’s why she’s being so careful of me.’
Since she had to sign a special contract that stated that she had to grant three of his wishes, Raon was pretty much holding her leash.
Can’t you make her forfeit using that?
‘I can, but Martha would kill me if I did that.’
Even in the past, when she used to be so stubborn, she already hated petty tricks. She was going to create a huge ruckus if he forced Princess Jayna to forfeit.
‘And she can win even without that. I’m sure you know that.’
She would’ve been in a disadvantageous position compared to the third prince, who got a free pass to the finals, but Raon believed in Martha’s victory.
The King of Essence just wanted to give Beef Girl a slightly better chance.
‘For real though.’
Raon chuckled. Wrath really cherished his subordinate despite being a demon king. Raon thought once again that he really was an interesting guy.
“That was today’s last match for the Expert division. However, you shouldn’t be sad about it! The Master division matches are about to follow!”
The master of ceremonies stretched his hand towards the sky, and the magicians created lines of mana in the air to draw the list of matches.
Although the Expert division had been 128 rounds, the Master division only had sixteen participants.
No, sixteen was already a big number.
Since all of the sixteen masters participating in the tournament were youngsters who hadn’t even reached their forties, it would’ve never happened if it weren’t for the gathering of huge organizations like the Six Kings.
“Woaaah!”
“Blade of Shattering Wind! Blade of Shattering Wind!”
“Azure Razor Sword! Azure Razor Sword!”
“It looks like those two are going to fight at the finals.”
“Nonsense! Garona is right there! He even tore a dragon apart!”
“Can’t you see Matisse the Black Armor’s name? Ordinary swordsmanship techniques will be snapped like twigs in front of him!”
The spectators raised their voices while calling the names of the ones who they believed would win the tournament.
“Raon Zieghart should be pretty decent, don’t you think?”
“I know, right? After seeing how the Zieghart kids fought in the Expert division, I’ve got high expectations for the Frostfire Sword of Valor.”
“Hah! That can’t be true! Master is a whole different story from Expert!”
“He’s right. The Frostfire Sword of Valor got kidnapped by enemies and was rescued like a princess!”
“Even without the kidnapping, he is just less skilled than the rest.”
A few spectators tried saying that Raon could potentially win, but they soon fell silent because of how famous the other participants were.
Raon didn’t care about them and flicked his finger while reading the list of matches.
‘My first opponent is Matisse from Balkar, whose alias is the Black Armor.’
As the armor in his alias implied, Matisse specialized in defense and had a legendary reputation. No magician had ever died when he was on guard.
‘The next match should be against Borini Kitten.’
The favorite of the tournament, Borini Kitten from the Owen Kingdom, seemed to be the next opponent after the Black Armor.
Raon figured that he should encounter the Dragon Slaying Beast Garona in the semifinals and the Blade of Shattering Wave, Cadis Robert, in the finals the next day.
‘The powerful people are mostly on the first half of the list.’
Because most of the powerful participants were concentrated in the first half, Cadis Robert was going to fight a relatively easy opponent.
‘Is this also your doing?’
It could be a coincidence, but Raon thought that it could’ve been Robert's doing because Martio had become a referee.
“Haah?”
Martha frowned while looking at the list of matches.
“Isn’t this too disadvantageous for you?”
She frowned while reading the names of the powerful people he had to fight.
“The other side is so mild. It almost looks like they cheated for this!”
“I’m actually glad this happened.”
Raon smiled softly while reading the list of matches once again.
“What?”
“They are giving me the opportunity to fight powerful people. I almost want to pay them for the effort.”
Since his original purpose for participating in the social meeting was to fight powerful people from the other factions, he was glad for the opportunity that was presented to him.
‘And I have the perfect opponent for today’s final match.’
Since Borini Kitten was a powerful warrior even by his standards, he was the perfect opponent to bait out the Fallen’s attack.
“Seriously, you…”
Martha simply sighed, since it wasn’t her first time seeing him act like that. She watched the spectators for a moment before she twisted her lips and turned her head.
“But isn’t this strange?”
“What is?”
“There’s so few people who are expecting you to win. I know the squad’s reputation was at rock bottom, but why are they also underestimating you?”
“It’s because I got kidnapped by Merlin.
Raon shrugged his shoulders.
“The kidnapping? What the fuck?! What kind of bullshit is that? It was Merlin and the tenth apostle who decided to kidnap you. Who else could stay safe in that situation?! I don’t see anyone on that list at least!”
She pointed at the list of matches and got angry in his stead.
“That doesn’t matter to them. All they see is the result, which shows that I was kidnapped and got rescued by the house.”
Martha was right. No one else in the tournament would’ve been able to resist the kidnapping, but he was the one who got kidnapped in the end. It was meaningless to tell them about it.
“But people are still expecting more from me thanks to all of you.”
Raon calmly looked at the arena.
“It’s my turn now.”
“Ugh…”
Raon held Heavenly Drive’s hilt and smiled coldly. Martha unconsciously swallowed from nervousness.
“I’ll bring Zieghart’s name to the peak.”
* * *
“It’s boring! The conference is so boring!”
Chamber was sitting on the table, pouting while swinging her legs.
“Seriously, that mouth of yours just won’t stop running.”
Ogram ground his teeth while glaring at Chamber.
“We are having a conference to prepare countermeasures. Did you think it would be fun?”
“I forgot because it’s been such a long time since the last time we had one. I should’ve just sent the king instead.”
Chamber smiled while mentioning Balkar’s king as if he were some errand boy.
“Since I’m getting bored, let’s check the results.”
She briefly blinked her eyes and connected the line of mana into the air.
The Expert division’s semifinal list of matches and the Master division’s list of matches appeared on the table. They were the same ones that were floating in the arena.
“Oh, the mister’s granddaughter and our princess managed to advance. And your third son is winning by default!? He’s going straight into the finals! He got so lucky!”
The others were ignoring her, pretending they weren’t interested in it. However, their eyes turned clear as they looked at the list of matches once it appeared.
“Goddamn it!”
“Hmm…”
Ogram and Derus frowned, noticing that their names weren’t included in the Expert division’s semifinals.
“Huh? It looked like the Ziegharts fought each other in the quarterfinals and both got eliminated.”
Chamber brought the previous list of matches and started giggling.
“They are such idiots! Why did they even fight each other to both get eliminated? They could’ve just yielded!”
“No.”
Glenn shook his head. He was looking at Burren and Runaan’s names with a satisfied smile on his face.
“This is enough.”
“Hmph, I don’t understand swordsmen who have nothing but swords in their heads.”
Chamber gave him a sidelong glance before bringing the Master division’s list of matches up.
“Huh? It’s the same here! Mister’s grandson is fighting our boy once again!”
She grinned while pointing at Matisse’s name.
“You are in big trouble! Matisse’s nickname is the Black Armor!”
“Black Armor?”
“He’s armor, not a sword. It means that he’s as sturdy as armor made of black steel which is an extremely hard metal.”
Chamber licked her lips while looking at Raon’s name next to him.
“Matisse even managed to withstand an advanced Master’s sword. I wonder if Raon will be able to break through his defense.”
“And their next opponent seems to be our knight, Borini Kitten.”
King Lecross smiled while looking at Borini Kitten’s name. Since his opponent was way weaker than him, Lecross considered it a given that Borini would advance to the quarterfinals.
“It will be a fun match regardless of who his opponent might be.”
“All of that is pointless.”
Ogram slammed the table with his fist and showed his sharp teeth.
“Garona will tear them apart tomorrow no matter who manages to win among the three.”
The deep smile in his eyes was brimming with confidence.
“Hmm, my son is getting easy matches. He got rather lucky.”
Derus licked his lips while looking at Cadis’s name at the last position of the sixteen matches.
“Hey, geezer. I’ll give you a chance to take back what you said.”
Ogram raised his chin with a cold smile on his face.
“Do you really expect him to win after defeating the Black Armor, the Azure Razor Sword, and even the Dragon Slaying Beast? I admit he’s a genius, but this is just impossible.”
He shook his hand, saying that it couldn’t possibly happen.
“You should take it back now. You will be put to shame and even lose your sword otherwise.”
“Ogram, you became such a blabbermouth in the time we haven’t seen each other.”
Glenn pushed Heavenly Tremor on the table even further towards the center with a composed smile on his face.
“Is that how much confidence you have for your son?”
He nonchalantly shook his head.
“I believe in Zieghart’s children.”
Along with Glenn’s casual voice, warmth spread into the conference room instead of the powerful pressure.
“Wow, mister! You got even cooler in the meantime!”
Chamber came up next to Glenn with a cheerful smile on her face.
“I can feel your tender nature behind that cold appearance. I also prefer the current Lord Glenn.”
King Lecross nodded while smiling.
“It’s indeed nice to see.”
Derus smiled brightly as he looked at Heavenly Tremor on the table. However, his eyes weren’t showing any sign of smiling, unlike his lips.
* * *
* * *
“The first match of sixteen is starting now. The Frostfire Sword of Valor, Raon Zieghart, versus the Black Armor, Matisse Kiselm!”
Raon went to the arena as the master of ceremonies called his name. A knight of average height but extremely sturdy build—much like a dwarf—entered the stage from the opposite side.
‘His pressure is solid.’
He looked older than the Twelve Stars of the Continent participating in the tournament, but his skills didn’t lose to them. He was an intermediate Master. His aura blade showed that he trained himself properly.
“Are you both ready?”
The master of ceremonies looked at them one after the other with sparkling eyes.
“Yes.”
“I’m ready.”
Raon and Matisse nodded at each other without even looking at the master of ceremonies.
“Well then, the second match is starting now!”
The master of ceremonies left the stage and raised his hand.
Whir!
Although he signaled the start of the match, neither Raon nor Matisse made any moves. They silently increased their pressure while staring at each other.
‘He’s strong.’
Raon couldn’t see any openings at all. Matisse almost looked like a shield or armor crafted by a master blacksmith.
‘That doesn’t mean that he’s impenetrable though.’
Raon was confident that an all-out attack from the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s special technique or a technique he’d made would be able to pierce through his defense.
‘However… That would defeat the purpose of coming all the way here.’
The reason he came to the Conference of the Six Kings was in order to witness other people’s swordsmanship and develop the Fangs of Insanity and the Blizzard Sword Art even further, since they were still incomplete.
He definitely didn’t want to miss that perfect opportunity.
‘It will be fun to pierce through his defense.’
The Fangs of Insanity was an Intuition Sword that specialized in creating an opening from an opponent, and the Blizzard Sword Art was a Severing Sword capable of cutting off an enemy’s flow and breath.
Matisse was the perfect opponent to improve those two techniques.
‘By the way, it’s annoying how hard he’s staring at me.’
He could feel Martio’s blatant gaze from behind him. He wasn’t trying to disturb the fight, but his gaze alone was irritating him.
‘I really need to get rid of him.’
He would be able to get rid of his annoying gaze during the next match against Borini Kitten if everything went according to plan.
“Since you seem to be ready…”
Raon focused on Matisse once again and kicked the ground.
“Let’s get started!”
He pierced into Matisse’s left side and slammed into him with the Beastly Strike of the Fangs of Insanity. The strike fell like lightning and looked like a savage beast piercing its prey with its fangs.
“Hmph!”
Matisse raised his blade diagonally without showing any sign of panic. His unshakable aura followed it naturally.
Clang!
The clash between the swords filled the air with crimson sparks.
Creak!
Both Raon and Matisse withstood the shockwave and pushed their swords against each other.
‘Is he completely unaffected?’
Although it was the Fangs of Insanity’s maximum output, Martio’s balance remained firm. It almost felt like he’d slammed a boulder with his sword.
‘He’s even sturdier than he looks.’
Raon twisted Heavenly Drive to lower it before striking upwards with the Blood Fang Slash of the Fangs of Insanity. The technique was originally supposed to be used downwards, but he became capable of using it in all directions after getting used to it.
Whap!
The ferocious blade, enchanted with the power of raging fire, ignited Matisse’s aura. However, he unleashed an even more powerful astral energy in that split second to block the Blood Fang Slash.
Whaam!
The severed astral energy fell to a corner of the arena. If the arena hadn’t been protected by magic, it would’ve created a hole in the floor.
“You are only nineteen years old, yet your strike is even sharper than Owen’s and even stronger than the Beast Union’s…”
Matisse’s trembling lips parted.
“This is absurd.”
“I’m not that amazing.”
Raon smiled faintly and shook his head.
“A mere kidnapping incident shouldn’t have put a dent in your reputation.”
Matisse swirled his sword and got into his stance.
“But it’s not enough yet. I won’t yield this victory to you.”
“We won’t know until we try.”
Raon lowered his posture. He unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and used the Supreme Harmony Steps. The trail left behind as he charged at Matisse from the front looked like a fire demon’s footprints.
Whaam!
The barrage of the Fangs of Insanity’s consecutive strikes turned into a firestorm to assault Matisse.
Clang! Clang!
Even though the Fangs of Insanity’s attacks became gradually fiercer, Matisse didn’t step back nor was he pushed back.
He managed to defend against all of his strikes, without moving an inch from the spot. His prowess was truly befitting his name as armor.
‘It’s time to change.’
Raon controlled Glacier to unleash the Blizzard Sword Art. The icy wind fell down like a waterfall.
Clang!
Even though the swordsmanship’s flow became the complete opposite, Matisse’s defense still remained solid.
“Are you trying ice now because fire didn’t work? How simple.”
“You should say that again after the match ends.”
Raon’s smile was as cold as the frost dwelling on his blade as he kicked the ground.
* * *
Matisse narrowed his eyes while blocking Raon’s endless barrage.
‘How crude.’
Raon seemed to have changed his technique because he couldn’t pierce through his defense, but he was a lot less experienced with it compared to the fire technique he’d used before.
‘He’s just a child, after all.’
Raon must’ve gotten impatient because he couldn’t penetrate his defense and ended up using an even weaker technique. Even though he had amazing skills, the lack of experience was inevitable.
‘No, this is the natural outcome.’
Matisse had been wielding his sword for even longer than Raon’s entire lifetime. The difference in skills was inevitable, and the gap was obviously even bigger in terms of experience. In fact, he was amazed that a nineteen-year-old boy managed to get that far against him.
‘It’s about time I finished this match.’
Even though Raon’s swordsmanship was still inexperienced, its power couldn’t be underestimated. It could influence the next match if he took any damage, so he decided to quickly finish the fight.
‘Now then… Hmm?’
He was trying to neutralize Raon’s swordsmanship with a perfect defense before going for a counterattack, but he couldn’t see any openings for some reason.
‘What is happening…?’
He had to correct himself. Being unable to see his opening was the least of his problems, as Raon’s technique started to shake his defense.
Clang!
His wrist was pushed back from the powerful impact.
‘...Did I get pushed back just now?’
However, he couldn’t even afford to be surprised. Raon’s sword was still assaulting him.
Clang! Clang!
The impact from the consecutive sword clashes reverberated throughout his arms and his legs started to falter.
‘Did he get better during the fight?’
He wasn’t simply using more strength. It was like his swordsmanship’s proficiency was increasing at a ridiculous pace.
“You… What did you…”
“Not yet. I still have a long way to go.”
Raon wasn’t sneering at him or taking him lightly. His eyes were serious. He was completely focused on that instant, swinging his sword.
Thud!
Matisse forcefully turned his sword to the side to create the Blood Metal Shield of the Heavy Straight Sword, but Raon’s frigid blade cut through the aura’s flow to deal powerful damage to his insides.
“Kuh!”
Matisse tried to endure it, but the groan fell from his lips because of the pain of his tearing muscles.
‘What the hell is wrong with this guy?’
His swordsmanship was definitely crude. He was confident it wouldn’t work against him, yet his technique and aura started to create a perfect sort of harmony at some point and it became difficult to defend against.
‘I’m going to lose at this rate. I need to try something!’
He felt goosebumps rise on his skin upon realizing he was going to lose before he tried anything if he kept defending himself.
“Kuaah!”
Matisse stomped the ground with a war cry. He raised his blade, which was pointing at the ground, and burst out every last bit of his aura.
Whaam!
Defense was the best offense. An extremely powerful flow was unleashed from his sword as he stood in a defensive posture. It was the Heavy Straight Sword’s special technique, the Heavy Flow Cannon. The astral energy advanced in a spiral towards Raon’s abdomen.
Thud!
Raon’s steps didn’t falter. He pierced into his space even faster and slammed his sword down with both hands. A blue lightning burst from the blade to clash against the Heavy Flow Cannon.
Creak!
The coldness surrounding his blade spread out like an aurora to refract the Heavy Flow Cannon in a different direction.
‘What the hell?! He just twisted the flow!’
Matisse finally understood why it was so difficult to defend against his attacks. Why Raon’s strikes were getting harder and harder to block.
Raon’s swordsmanship was powerful, but that wasn’t the only characteristic it had. It was actually capable of messing with his opponent’s flow. It was the severing sword’s ability, which was extremely rare nowadays.
“Damn it!”
Matisse stepped back and unleashed the Heavy Straight Sword’s defensive technique, but Raon was faster than him.
He closed the distance in an instant to shatter his incomplete defense and punched his abdomen with his left fist.
Smack!
The black steel armor was crushed, and a huge amount of impact was transferred to his abdomen.
“Kuaah…”
He couldn’t even breathe, but that was the least of his concerns since he couldn’t even think.
‘What is this strength…?’
His head was going blank from the pain even though he’d focused his aura around his abdomen to defend against his strike. It was even more powerful than a Beast Union Master, who was supposed to pack the strongest punches in the world.
Wham!
Raon didn’t miss that opportunity, smacking the back of his neck with the side of his sword. Matisse couldn’t even scream before he collapsed in the arena.
“Thank you for the fight.”
Raon casually nodded at him to show his respect. His uniform was slightly dusty, and that was the price he paid to defeat the Balkar Master called the Black Armor.
* * *
The spectators, referee, and the master of ceremonies alike fell completely speechless as they kept staring at Raon standing on the arena.
“Wh-what did I just witness just now?”
“How could the Black Armor Matisse be defeated so easily?”
“No, but Matisse had the upper hand throughout the fight. How did it even end up this way?”
“H-his swordsmanship looked crude though…”
“He improved his swordsmanship during the battle. I don’t even know anymore.”
The spectators gasped, their faces blank from disbelief.
“Unbelievable…”
“I’ve never seen anyone break through Matisse’s defense like that.”
“Did he really improve during the battle? Wasn’t he simply hiding his abilities?”
The participants who were waiting for their turn were also narrowing their eyes in disbelief.
“Th-the swordsman Raon Zieghart emerges victorious from the first match! He didn’t even get a single injury, so I can’t even tell if I should call this an easy win or a difficult fight!”
The master of ceremonies announced Raon’s victory with a trembling voice.
Raon gave him a small nod before leaving the stage.
“The next match is between the Azure Razor Sword, Sir Borini Kitten, versus the Metal Core Spear, Sir Graton Borren!”
Although the warriors for the second match had already entered the stage, the spectators were still talking about Raon’s fight.
Raon licked his lips while watching the arena, where the fervor still remained.
‘The Fallen should target me during the next match.’
His opponent for the quarterfinals was going to be Borini Kitten, who had just entered the stage, and the match wasn’t going to be as easy as the first one.
‘Which makes this the perfect opportunity for him.’
The participants weren’t the only ones that would be focused during a frontal clash between two powerful people. Since everyone else would be extremely focused on the fight, it was the perfect opportunity for an ambush. There was no way the Fallen would miss the chance to blow up everyone in the area.
‘Of course, I won’t let that happen.’
Raon watched the start of the second match with a cold smile on his face.
‘I’ll take advantage of your ambush perfectly.’
