The battle between Promi and Brownie, those two sisters, came to an end, and the result sparked plenty of discussion.
But probably no one would dare question whether the outcome was fair anymore.
If it hadn’t been for the three Crest Knights blocking Brownie’s attack together, the spectators in the stands would surely have been caught in the crossfire. By that point, they’d have lost any chance to question fairness.
Even those who clung to conspiracy theories, claiming it was all a performance, were silenced by the retort: “If you think it’s fake, go block it yourself.”
All in all, despite the apparent uproar, nothing serious came of it.
The matches continued, but the expressions on many faces had changed.
Whether Brownie’s last move was intentional remained unknown, but it certainly made many candidates who were eager to test the power of a Crest Knight think twice.
In fact, even Lita was startled.
She had fought alongside Brownie in the Northlands, and back then, she never realized Brownie was this strong.
But thinking about it, the fact that Brownie alone had managed to break through the Wild Hunt’s ranks with Shirley and Rosalia in tow proved she couldn’t be weak.
Lita had defeated the Wild Hunt purely by exploiting Mental Magic’s special advantage and the Crest’s healing. Brownie had no such Mental Magic at her disposal.
Lita should have noticed something was off back when the Death Knight Keshar chose not to ambush Brownie, but at the time, she really hadn’t paid it any mind.
Her own future was still a long and arduous road, fraught with difficulty.
After Promi left the stage, her opponent was given a bye and tossed into the random pool.
Well, that sounded a bit weird, but that was essentially what happened.
After all, many matchups had been rigged through bribery to secure advancement. Messing up the order wouldn’t be appropriate.
After several rounds, a familiar figure finally stepped onto the stage.
“Lita! Come on! Let’s fight!”
Standing in the middle of the arena, Momoka shouted loudly at Lita on the platform. Lita felt like she could tear Momoka limb from limb.
Why now of all times? Why challenge me now!
But since the King had already spoken, she had no reason to refuse.
With a look of utter defeat, Lita walked down the steps and stood in the center of the arena.
Whispers about her immediately started up behind her back.
“So that’s Lita? I’ve heard of her. They say she was already famous in Solus City.”
“I heard she only became a Crest Knight through connections.”
“No, no, if she was a nepotism hire, how could she have the strength to stand against the Church?”
Wait, since when did I become an enemy of the Holy Church?
Looks like I need to pick a day to have a proper chat with that pretty turkey.
But before that, Lita figured she ought to talk to Momoka first.
“Momoka! We have no grudge against each other! Why challenge me!”
“You can’t use your Crest, and among all the Crest Knights, you’re one of the weaker ones. Besides, I know exactly how strong you are. If I want to pass the trials, who else am I supposed to fight?”
Momoka replied with complete seriousness.
“Go fight your own opponent!”
“So you’re using me as a stepping stone!”
“What are you talking about? With our relationship, how could I do something like that? I’ll buy you a drink, alright? Besides, haven’t we been meaning to settle the score from before?”
“Then don’t do it now! What if I lose? That’d be so embarrassing!”
“Then just beat me, right? You’re not afraid of spider monsters. Surely the great Lady Lita isn’t afraid of this?”
“I told you, that rumor’s fake!”
The King cleared his throat from the high platform, as if urging them to finish up quickly.
Yeah, let’s just get this over with.
“Begin!”
At the referee’s command, Lita instantly moved.
From all her previous fights, she’d realized that her best fighting style was to win in one blow.
Whether using the Dream Demon’s power or her own swordsmanship.
Defeat the opponent directly, and they’d never get to use their trump card. If she dragged it out, her unstable foundation would put her at a disadvantage. That was the key to turning the tables against stronger foes.
“What’s going on? Did I just blink? When did they start fighting?”
“This… so fast. Are all Crest Knights this terrifying?”
She might not be a one-trick pony, but she wasn’t far off.
So when her sword was blocked by Momoka’s spear, Lita’s expression immediately tensed.
“Hah… that was fast. You almost got me.”
Momoka gritted her teeth, her boots dragging several meters across the ground, carving a shallow trench several centimeters deep.
The friction generated a horrible scorched smell from the soles of her boots.
But the spear in her trembling hands kept Lita’s blade from touching her body.
“However, I already knew your attack pattern. So I can still block it!”
With a loud shout, the spear in Momoka’s hands burst into crimson flames, forcing Lita back several steps.
“Stop it! The tournament is no fun at all! No one here wants to see this kind of fight!”
“I can feel it! Your strength has grown a lot! So I’m going to go all out too!”
Crimson flames began to burn around Momoka’s body.
But if you looked closely, what was burning on her wasn’t real fire—it was surging red Battle Qi.
In a way, Battle Qi was more dangerous than actual flames.
“Here I come!”
I said, don’t come!
Momoka couldn’t hear Lita’s inner scream. She just wanted to poke a few clean holes—no, scorched holes—in Lita.
After months apart, Momoka’s martial skills had improved yet again.
Both speed and power had made substantial progress.
And unlike their first fight, back then Momoka had underestimated Lita, allowing Lita to push her back with surprise tactics.
Not anymore!
Now, Momoka was the challenger!
Even if Lita didn’t think she’d lose, winning wouldn’t be easy.
Because Momoka was on guard against everything. The moment Lita made a move, Momoka would either dodge or block with her weapon.
Whether Lita feinted or not, Momoka treated every action with equal seriousness.
Lita had tried baiting her more than once, but Momoka never took the hook.
The flaming spear coiled around Momoka’s body like a roaring fire dragon.
No choice.
Her bag of tricks was just this. If Momoka wouldn’t bite, the only way out was her ultimate ace.
Momoka noticed a change in Lita’s eyes.
From the start, she’d been watching Lita’s every move.
But she had no idea what Lita was planning.
And Lita did nothing—she just launched another attack as usual.
Was it just an illusion?
No, illusion or not, she had to stay cautious.
Soon, Momoka realized Lita’s offense had changed.
If Lita had been like a nimble kitten, waiting for a chance to land a fatal blow, now she was like a starving wolf, launching a ferocious, reckless assault.
But Lita wasn’t really a wolf, and she couldn’t truly be reckless.
If Momoka weathered this storm, the momentum would swing in her favor.
“Hmph, she’s actually struggling against this opponent.”
Lilia muttered gloomily.
“There’s nothing she can do. Not being able to use her Crest is too big a restriction on Lita.”
Brownie said flatly, making an excuse for Lita.
Brownie had seen Lita’s strength on the Northlands battlefield, and understood it even better during the special training she’d given her afterward, as thanks for her help.
To be honest, Lita wasn’t that strong—especially in a direct confrontation among Crest Knights.
Of course, that was under the premise of a face-to-face fight.
On the battlefield, Lita never fought head-on, at least not against opponents of equal strength.
But Momoka was an extremely powerful direct combatant. With her on high alert, it wouldn’t be easy for Lita to win.
Brownie could guess Lita had some secret technique up her sleeve, but she didn’t intend to pry.
After all, everyone had a few aces in the hole, and no one would reveal them in a situation like this.
Between an unimportant victory and exposing her trump card, everyone knew which to choose.
But then, how would Lita win?
While many were pondering this, something unexpected happened.
Momoka’s flaming spear pierced straight through Lita’s abdomen, protruding from her back.
Blood hissed against the burning spear tip, and a foul, burnt smell spread through the air.
This attack—Lita could definitely have dodged it.
Momoka was certain of that.
But her strike had landed, completely irrationally.
Unless Lita never intended to dodge.
However, that decided the match.
Lita’s cold sword blade pressed against Momoka’s neck, while Lita herself grimaced in pain and urged:
“Hurry up, hurry up. It hurts like hell. Surrender now, or I’ll really slit your throat.”
Momoka tried to pull her spear back, but Lita had a firm grip on the shaft.
Even though the flames were scorching Lita’s hand, that hand still clamped down on her weapon.
Trade a wound for a kill.
If this were a real battlefield, she’d already have her throat cut.
“I surrender!”
Momoka hadn’t been very confident in this match against Lita from the start.
Now it had come to this. Lita was willing to risk injury to take her out. Momoka wasn’t someone who couldn’t accept defeat.
So she immediately let go of the spear, and the flames on it died out.
Not only was Momoka stunned, but the audience was too.
“This… that’s brutal.”
“Now I believe Lita can tear apart spider monsters. Who’d dare fight someone that crazy?”
“Sure, the victory method is a bit hard to understand, but the Crimson Lance isn’t weak. She did win.”
The referee stood frozen for a long moment before belatedly announcing Lita’s victory.
“It’s over now, right?”
Lita asked again.
The referee didn’t understand why she needed to confirm, but nodded anyway.
“Alright.”
Lita nodded, then gripping the spear with effort, she pulled it out of her body.
A golden light flowed from her, forming wings and a heart-shaped golden crest. The wound on her abdomen and the burns on her hand vanished without a trace.
With the spear in one hand and her silver longsword in the other, Lita bowed slightly to the King, then swaggered back up to the platform, leaving the whole arena dumbfounded.