“Since she has come to the arena, regardless of the reason, we should give her a chance to perform.”
The king’s words delivered the final verdict on this unexpected incident between the two princesses that had left the entire audience uncertain.
With the king’s permission, the referee finally dared to let the girl’s opponent enter the arena.
Lita’s eyes widened slightly. This dark elf’s opponent was actually someone she knew.
Seeing the burly body and shiny bald head, Lita recognized him at a glance as Qiangsen, who had fought alongside her back in Solus City.
“Match 29! Keluoyi versus Qiangsen!”
At the referee’s command, the dark elf Keluoyi reached her hands beneath her cloak, and two short blades slowly revealed their true forms from under the cloak.
Even including the hilts, the two swords were less than half a meter long, but Lita, who had seen many good weapons, instantly judged that these were excellent weapons.
Qiangsen was not empty-handed either. At some point he had put on a pair of armored gauntlets that looked quite good in quality. Their thickness seemed enough to block many attacks, but their quality was certainly no match for the dark elf’s two weapons.
“Now! Begin!”
Keluoyi’s figure stretched into an extremely thin line under the midday sun, then quickly rushed toward Qiangsen.
“What a familiar fighting style!” Eliya clapped her hands happily, enjoying the match as if the argument with Amelia just now had never happened.
Lita certainly recognized it—it was her own favorite fighting style.
Not like most agile warriors who use footwork to quickly circle and wear down the opponent’s stamina, but to win in the fastest way. Both styles have their advantages and disadvantages. With the former, one careless move can get you knocked out like in the first exam. With the latter, it might develop into a protracted battle like Lita and Momoka’s.
This time, would Keluoyi succeed?
Under everyone’s gaze, Keluoyi crossed her two blades in front of her, and a layer of darkness rippled across the edges, as if it could dim even the sunlight.
“Dark magic,” Brownie murmured.
Dark magic was just an attribute; it didn’t necessarily have to be linked to evil or good, but most people indeed wouldn’t specifically learn this type of magic.
Just then, Qiangsen let out a roar, his massive body charging straight at Keluoyi like a battering ram. His huge hands, which had broken many weapons, brought heavy punches straight down toward Keluoyi’s head.
“Too slow.”
Keluoyi’s whisper was so light it almost disappeared in the wind. No one but Qiangsen heard what she said.
But everyone saw that Keluoyi did not dodge. Her right-handed short knife slashed diagonally from bottom to top, the tip dragging a sticky black trail through the air, as if cutting an invisible curtain.
Qiangsen quickly pulled back his fist to block, and indeed, his fist was right there.
But the moment his arm touched the black blade light, a dull sound of flesh tearing was exceptionally clear.
Pfft.
The shadow-enveloped blade cut through Qiangsen’s gauntlet, muscle, and bone without any resistance. His entire forearm detached below the elbow and fell to the ground along with splattering blood.
The sound of the severed arm hitting the ground struck many hearts. Quite a few spectators who had never seen such a shocking scene instantly changed expressions.
Qiangsen staggered back, his face pale, his other hand pressing tightly against the wound of his severed arm, a suppressed roar of pain squeezed from his throat.
Keluoyi had already withdrawn her blades. The blood on the edges sizzled like boiling when it contacted the darkness attached to them.
The girl tilted her head slightly, her silver-white hair swaying in the wind, and her dark skin glowed like cold glaze in the winter sun.
After a brief silence, the audience seats exploded.
“O-one strike…”
“Dark magic! That’s the Demon Race’s technique!”
“To see such a thrilling scene! I’d die with my money’s worth!”
Discussion rose like a tidal wave, mixing shock, fear, anger, and even faint excitement. More people craned their necks, both afraid and unable to resist wanting to see more.
Eliya blinked and let out a small “Wow,” clearly enjoying the match immensely.
Amelia’s lips no longer curled up. Her gaze was icy cold, completely opposite to Eliya’s excitement.
Even Lita, for a moment, didn’t know how to react.
She glanced stealthily at Saixiliya, but found Saixiliya’s expression unchanged.
Her relationship with Qiangsen wasn’t that close, but they had fought together and faced life and death as comrades. Seeing this, Lita really couldn’t bear it.
Even though the surroundings were in an uproar, Keluoyi only held her twin blades, standing over Qiangsen, glancing down indifferently at the giant man who kept wailing.
Qiangsen’s forehead pressed against the cold ground. His face was already covered with filth from the gushing sweat, and the blood seeping through the fingers of his hand clutching the wound had dyed a small area of ground beneath him dark red. Clearly, he had no strength left to fight.
“Winner! Keluoyi! Next round contestants, prepare to enter!”
With the referee’s loud announcement, people immediately came forward to help Qiangsen away. Keluoyi sheathed her blades and slowly walked off the field.
However, this was not the most intense scene of the day.
“I wish to experience the prowess of a Crest Knight. Lady Lita, please allow me this opportunity.” A contestant faced the stands and said loudly.
‘Why me again? Are you crazy?’
But before that, Lita’s tragedy had already arrived. Feeling displeased, she also vaguely sensed that things might develop this way, so she descended from the high platform and quickly walked to the center of the field.
“My name is Pagena! Lady Lita, be careful!” Pagena shouted, then drew his sword and charged.
The moment they engaged, Lita formed a preliminary judgment of her opponent.
Speed: a bit worse than Momoka.
Strength: also lacking.
Same as always, a quick battle.
Clang—
A clear metallic ringing sounded. Pagena’s sword was cut in half. Lita lightly tapped Pagena’s neck with the flat of her blade, then sheathed her sword.
Pagena was stunned for a moment, then bowed very politely to Lita.
He had thought that Lita struggled so much against an ordinary contestant, so he might have a chance. But in reality, Lita’s pressure was far greater than he imagined. Once fighting actually started, he realized it was not as simple as it seemed.
He could only say he was completely convinced of his defeat.
Lita was about to return when someone called out loudly.
“Lady Lita! Please wait!”
Lita turned back: “You are?”
“I am Pagena’s opponent for this round. I too wish to seek guidance from Lady Lita!”
Lita looked at the referee. The referee looked at Pierre. Pierre looked at the king. Finally, the king nodded, and the matter was settled.
Not long after.
Thud.
The contestant fell to the ground. Lita stepped on his chest and pointed the tip of her sword at his nose.
Then, the contestant also promptly admitted defeat.
“I lose! Thank you for your guidance, Lady Lita!”
After two fights, everyone’s opinion of Lita had changed considerably.
It wasn’t that Lita was too weak, but that Momoka was too strong. It’s just that in front of Lita, who was also very strong, the strength of both didn’t seem as apparent.
This was an exam, not a flashy exhibition match. Many details of the battles were unseen by the audience, so it was normal to misjudge the strength of the two.
No one continued to talk about Lita’s opportunistic victory now.
Lita no longer cared much about what others thought of her. She just wanted to go back and rest for a while.
Although these two were not strong, Lita didn’t want to hurt them. This was much harder than simply taking off their heads.
Even though Lita planned well, this was only the beginning.
“Lady Lita! Please instruct me!”
‘Which number is this? The sixth? Or the seventh?’
‘This group of lunatics, why are they all targeting me!’
No choice, she had to keep fighting.
Blood spilled. The burly man opposite held his wrist, which Lita had cut open, with one hand. His spiked war hammer fell to the ground with a crash.
The loudest discussions were no longer from the audience, but from the contestant seats.
“Did you see that?”
“Pretty much. It’s the same tactic as before. As long as you fight her, you can’t be distracted for even a moment. Otherwise, once you get dragged into her rhythm and your body gets used to that rhythm, she’ll definitely find a chance to finish you in one move.”
“How terrifying. Only after watching the later fights do we realize just how many times the Crimson Lance had to counter such attacks. If anyone says this Crest Knight is overrated, I’ll be the first to object.”
“But it’s not that scary now. Her speed has already slowed down. After fighting so many matches in a row, her body must be tired.”
“So, you want to give it a try too?”
“Of course. If I win, there’s a high chance of directly becoming a Crest Knight. Naturally, I have to try!”
Lita glanced at the contestant seats with a look of utter despair. Sure enough, the contestant who had just been whispering with others walked down, bowed to her with a bright smile, and said words she had heard many times before, like “Lady Lita, please instruct me.”
‘Wait, am I being worn down by these contestants’ round-robin tactics?’