“Mr. Knight!!”
The joy Fluff felt when she saw Arlet rejoin the team was beyond words. However, that cute, smiling face did not last long. Soon, the expression froze on her face.
When she saw Arlet’s figure from a distance, she had expected him to return safely as usual, perhaps saying “I’m back” in his typical flat tone. Yet, that was not the case.
His once-proud armor had lost its shimmering silver luster. It was now blackened and hideous. It was covered in scorch marks and scratches from hard objects, and a massive hole was torn into the right arm guard. It did not look like it had been destroyed by a sharp weapon; rather, it looked as if it had been left in a sandstorm for years, eroded by nature itself.
There were even traces of dried blood remaining on the armor. Those dull red stains made Fluff’s eyes and heart ache.
“Mr. Knight, you…”
“The wounds have been treated with healing magic; it won’t affect the rest of the match. The injuries were due to my own carelessness. Ignore me and keep advancing.”
Arlet did not stop for Fluff, not even for a single step. That battered body of steel brushed past Fluff as she turned to face him, heading toward Meru behind her. Arlet’s voice was very low, so low it was almost lost in the faint sound of the surrounding wind. It carried a hint of hoarseness and exhaustion, as if he were not a living man, but a ghost that had died long ago.
“No… you can’t.”
Fluff stood rooted to the spot, unable to move for a long time. Her pupils trembled wildly, and a white mist suddenly clouded her eyes.
“Mr. Knight, you can’t… I felt like something was wrong with you before. Why does it have to be like this every time…?”
Two crystalline teardrops welled up from the corners of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks bit by bit. Then, under the high temperature of the environment, they quickly dried, leaving two faint tear tracks.
“Why…?”
She rushed forward and grabbed Arlet’s iron-clad arm, trying to slow his pace.
“Mr. Knight, it’s going to be dangerous. It really will. Can’t the Guild Master heal you? I’ll go beg her, okay? If she heals you, the rest of the process will go much more smoothly, right?”
At this moment, Fluff was like a pitiful small animal. She understood her standing in the eyes of Arlet and Meru. She also knew she could never convince him to stop the match. So, at the very least, she would settle for the next best thing. If his condition were just a little better, she could feel more at ease.
“Fluff, trust me. I already told you, I’m fine. The wounds have been treated. It just looks scary. I’ll have Dela patch up the armor in a bit. Don’t worry about me. Follow the Young Lady’s arrangements and focus on finishing the match.”
After dropping those few sentences, he walked straight toward Meru. He knew exactly what Meru’s only method of healing was. They were currently inside the Dungeon, and the event was being broadcast live. Common sense told him that using her healing was out of the question.
Besides, he had already made up his mind. Even if he died in the Dungeon, he would help the Young Lady finish this match. His life had been saved by her, so he did not mind giving it back in this way.
He originally thought Fluff would follow him quickly, or perhaps she would continue to stubbornly try to persuade him. However, none of that happened.
“…”
“The day the green leaves and blossoms fall, the time the ancient rocks and dust hum—”
“Though bone and flesh rot here, the withered wood and dead grass still sprout new branches—”
A melodious sound rose from behind Arlet. It was the strumming of a mandolin, blending with Fluff’s beautiful voice in the “Song of the Cycle of Life.” It was the song she had once played for Arlet.
Fluff had always been a good singer; perhaps it was innate talent, or perhaps she worked very hard. Only, within that intoxicating voice… there seemed to be a hint of a sob.
“Mr. Knight, I know I’m not as important to you as the Guild Master. But I… I’m really, really worried about you.”
This was the only way she could help Arlet. If she could not stop him from hurting himself, then at least she could make it hurt a little less.
Upon realizing Arlet had returned, Meru said nothing, merely casting a casual glance his way.
“Back? Did you clean up?”
“Yes, Young Lady. I did as you ordered.” Arlet nodded slightly, reporting to Meru.
“Move faster next time. We’re about to reach the next area.”
“Understood.”
After speaking, Meru’s gaze unintentionally drifted to the scars on Arlet’s body. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly suppressed the urge, shifting her focus back to their progress.
“Hey, is that elf girl healing the knight?”
“I don’t think so. There’s a Bard in my adventuring party; that’s the ‘Song of the Cycle of Life.’ It clears debuffs, reduces pain, and enhances self-healing.”
“What’s the point of just boosting self-healing when the knight looks like that?”
After talking amongst themselves, the audience continued to stare at the light screen, hoping to see the vampire Guild Master heal the knight. After all, Arlet had already won over the audience with his previous stellar performance, gaining countless fans. Naturally, everyone hoped this rare Heavy Knight would make it to the end.
But in the following footage, the Crystal Thorn adventuring party continued to advance without pause. Along the way, Arlet only spoke with the dragon-girl mage, Dela, asking her to use metal magic to repair his armor.
However, this repair only treated the symptoms, not the cause. It could only restore physical resistance; it could not fix the internal magical circuits.
“They’re almost at the Golden Sea, and they still haven’t healed him?”
“I don’t know. Is their leader not a healer?”
The audience discussed fervently, and even the commentator began to express confusion.
“The match is nearly halfway through! The biggest dark horse of this competition, the Crystal Thorn adventuring party, is about to arrive at the most treacherous zone of the entire route—the ‘Golden Sea’!”
“Once they cross this, the Fire Dragon’s Nest will be within reach!”
“However, despite the Heavy Knight taking significant damage from fighting multiple opponents alone, their Guild Master doesn’t seem to have any intention of stopping to rest or heal him. Could it be that this knight possesses even more formidable abilities and doesn’t need healing at all?”
As the Crystal Thorn adventuring party advanced relentlessly, they soon left the Cracked Canyon area. And then, a giant lake made entirely of lava, stretching as far as the eye could see, appeared before them—the Golden Sea.