Lady Cecilia really did give herself a huge problem this time.
Rita muttered to herself as she glanced at the broken sword in her hand and casually tossed it to the ground.
Even though Rita’s action was tantamount to admitting defeat, there was no sound of ridicule from the Audience.
Don’t laugh, you wouldn’t get past Momoka either.
But Rita had already proven through her actions that even without all the previous accidents, she was qualified to stand here.
Even if Rita lost the match now, it wasn’t because of her skills, but because of the Weapon in her hand.
The assessment didn’t restrict the choice of Weapon; a good Weapon and a good wielder complemented each other.
Rita just happened to face Momoka, whose Weapon performance completely outclassed hers—it was simply bad luck on her part.
Seeing Rita discard her Weapon, Momoka couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Having won all matches in the first round, Momoka was naturally pleased, but she genuinely felt sorry for Rita in this last fight.
The referee interpreted Rita’s act of dropping her Weapon as surrender and immediately announced loudly.
“Rita, you forfeit—”
“Wait!”
Rita loudly interrupted the referee’s declaration.
Momoka’s heart sank instantly. “Rita, what do you mean by that? You don’t even have a Weapon. How do you expect to fight me, let alone win?”
“Why not? Didn’t other contestants also fight empty-handed?” Rita said, glancing toward Johnson, who was battered and bruised in the Contestant’s Section.
Johnson grinned broadly and gave Rita an encouraging smile.
“She’s one thing, and you’re another! If you fight me empty-handed, you’ll really die!” Momoka’s expression changed.
Rita was clearly not going to admit defeat.
From their recent clash, Momoka had already concluded that Rita was not an opponent she could defeat while holding back.
But her all-out attacks had shattered Rita’s sword—let alone directly striking her body.
“How do you know if you don’t try?”
“This is just a test! You don’t have to go this far.”
“As you said, it’s just a test. So why don’t you forfeit?” Rita blinked.
Forfeit? Moral coercion?
Momoka was worried about hurting Rita but couldn’t accept losing because of it.
To admit defeat now would be a disgrace to herself, to this assessment, and to the sacred role of a Knight.
The two exchanged words rapidly, and the referee hesitated, glancing toward the Judges’ Stand for guidance.
Seeing Angus’s signal, the referee announced again.
“The match continues!”
“Ah, I was joking. I never intended to let you win without defeating you myself. It wouldn’t be meaningful,” Rita stretched her back and lowered her stance like a cat spotting a sparrow, imitating Momoka’s earlier tone: “Now, I’m coming.”
“Rita, don’t—”
Before Momoka could finish, Rita was already on her like a shadow.
“That’s it! That’s the move! That’s what defeated me back then!”
Watching Rita’s movements, Grom’s eyes lit up.
He slapped his thigh and stood up, then collapsed in a groan from the pain all over his body.
But Momoka wasn’t Grom.
When danger approached, her body’s instinct reacted faster than her mind.
Without hesitation, she thrust her Spear out at a sharp angle.
Yet Rita twisted nimbly like a little fish and slipped past the Spear’s tip.
Momoka took several steps back to create distance.
She switched from holding the Spear with one hand to two, following Rita’s back closely with the spearhead, only for Rita to evade again and close the distance between them.
There were no longer sparks flying as before, but in a strange silence, a battle as intense as before unfolded.
Only now, offense and defense had reversed.
Momoka was the one suffering the most—worried about hurting Rita yet knowing she couldn’t win while holding back.
The Spear was a long-handled Weapon, and Rita clung tightly to her.
Even if Momoka wanted to counterattack, it was difficult.
This is bad—I’m backed up against the Boundary Line!
Out of the corner of her eye, Momoka saw the Boundary Line less than half a meter behind her.
If Rita pressed her attack just a bit harder, she would be forced out of bounds!
Bang.
Rita grabbed Momoka’s collar.
The situation was dire.
But Rita reached out and pulled Momoka back into the arena.
“Deciding victory by forcing someone out is so boring,” Rita said, twisting her neck. “Again!”
Saying this now! Who was it that had been kicking people out of bounds all day one after another?
But today, Rita didn’t take advantage of the opportunity at all.
Fine!
Momoka gritted her teeth and threw her Spear toward Rita.
The Spear brushed past Rita’s shoulder and embedded itself firmly in the solid Land beyond the Boundary Line.
Rather than winning that way, Momoka preferred a fair and square battle of equals.
Momoka raised both fists.
“Again!”
After exchanging several punches, Momoka realized her dream of an even match was pure wishful thinking.
Rita’s refusal to admit defeat after dropping her sword wasn’t out of stubbornness or desperation, and Momoka being pushed back wasn’t simply because she was restrained.
Rita without her sword was much stronger than before.
“The moment Momoka let go of her Spear, she lost,” Albert sighed, then nudged Johnson, who sat beside him as the defeated contestant from the previous round. “What do you think compared to you?”
“If I could get close to her, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Johnson thought for a moment before answering.
“Oh? You’re that confident?” Albert was surprised.
“My premise is: I can get close to her,” Johnson said. “If I really faced her, unless I could outlast her stamina, I’d probably be the one who loses.”
Momoka felt the same now.
It didn’t feel like she was fighting a normal human but rather a cat darting up and down.
Ordinary experience was useless.
Momoka should have noticed Rita’s unusual behavior when she dodged continuous attacks, but at the time, Momoka was so focused on not hurting Rita that she ignored the most obvious change.
Momoka couldn’t help but be thankful Rita didn’t have real claws, or she would have been shredded by now.
Even so, Rita’s strikes were heavy and hard for Momoka to fend off.
But this kind of raw, punch-to-punch fight was truly exhilarating!
“Rita wins!”
No one was surprised by the referee’s final announcement.
For the first time ever, the Audience didn’t respond with complaints when Rita was declared the winner.
If not for the incidents in the previous days, many would have even applauded.
This wasn’t a fight between weaklings or a massacre by a strong contender—this evenly matched battle was genuinely thrilling.
Rita chuckled, pulling Momoka up from the dust and helping her sit.
Then, as usual, Rita clasped her chest toward the Judges’ Stand and happily made a heart gesture toward the Contestant’s Section before picking up the blazing red Spear stuck in the ground and skipping off.
This Rita really was quite a strange one.
Momoka couldn’t help but smile bitterly but felt inexplicably relieved.
Wait, what did she just pick up from me?