Chapter 172: Finals
A field where blood and corpses lay scattered everywhere.
Magic poured down, and enemy forces surged forward.
In a Battlefield filled with chaos, Ilda swung her sword like a madwoman.
She had cut down countless enemies, yet she had missed the most important thing.
“You’re paying the price for your recklessness.”
“Shut up.”
The two of them refused to let go of the pocket watch.
A farr clutching his shattered mask, and Robin glaring as if he would kill him.
“No.”
Even knowing she could not stop it, Ilda ran.
She had witnessed what would happen next hundreds of tis.
A passage exuding a chilling cold opened, and Robin was thrown into it.
By the ti she arrived, it was already too late.
“Robin.”
7 a.m.
She woke at the sa ti as always and wiped away her cold sweat.
Just when she thought things had cald down, she had another nightmare.
She tidied up her bedding and finished a simple wash.
“You’re awake.”
“Grandfather? You’re up early.”
“I’ve been full of energy these days.”
Unlike usual, Theodric brought out breakfast.
Normally, it was Ilda who prepared it, but the old man truly seed brimming with vigor.
“What’s this? Did you secretly take so kind of good dicine without telling ?”
“I ca to the capital, and it brought back old mories. That’s why. I’m glad I listened to you.”
Soft bread and cheese, poached eggs, and even smoked chicken.
The breakfast Theodric prepared was quite delicious.
Watching Ilda chew thoroughly, Theodric spoke.
“Take it easy. You don’t have to win.”
“I will win. Definitely.”
“You stubborn child.”
As she chatted warmly, Ilda looked like a lady who hardly suited the nickna Butcher.
“It seems the Black Mask you faced yesterday is still bothering you.”
“He really looked like Robin.”
“Then why didn’t you check? You could’ve just called his na.”
“Well, obviously…….”
She had no room for stray thoughts while focusing on the match.
Ilda had a reason she absolutely had to win.
“Really?”
In truth, Ilda herself knew.
If Black Mask really was Robin.
She would be happier than anything to et him again, yet at the sa ti, she was afraid.
What would he say if he saw her as she was now?
Even if she revealed what she had been doing all this ti, could they still get along like before?
She did not want him to discover that she was a murderer who brutally dismbered her targets.
Especially if it beca known that she was cooperating with The Hand of Liberation.
Even so, would Robin greet her with a smile?
“It can’t be Robin. It’s already been three years.”
“Was he the type to die so easily?”
“…I don’t know.”
She did not want to believe Robin was dead, but could he really have survived those injuries?
As ti passed, Ilda’s hope gradually faded.
“Let’s talk about that later. It won’t be too late after I win.”
“You know who your opponent is. Promise
you’ll keep your reason.”
“I promise.”
“His Majesty the Emperor will be attending the finals. Don’t kill an imperial knight.”
“Tch, just because he’s a knight doesn’t an the Arena rules don’t apply.”
“What good would it do to fall out of favor with the highest authority in this country?”
Ilda finished her al and rose from her seat.
She intended to secure a good spot to watch the third- and fourth-place match.
“I’ll be back.”
Left alone, Theodric waved as he saw her off.
Though it was a luxurious lodging reserved for distinguished guests, the empty space felt especially vast.
“It should be fine if I step out for a bit.”
What he had told Ilda was not a lie.
Perhaps so wind had blown through him, but Theodric’s body was full of vitality.
Until just a few days ago, he had remained inside due to difficulty moving, but staying indoors all the ti was stifling.
“May today end safely as well.”
Planning to cheer for Ilda, he left the room.
Leaning on his cane, the old man heading toward the Arena looked no different from any other citizen.
The match to decide third and fourth place in the Arena had just ended.
A kneeling knight, and Robin standing before him.
The opposing knight muttered in a hollow voice.
“You weren’t even trained as a knight, so how…….”
“No matter how much of a knight you are, take away Aura and you’re just an ordinary swordsman.”
The knight was shocked by Robin’s blunt remark.
Of course, even without Aura, a knight was a formidable force.
It was simply that Robin was stronger.
The knight, stiff as if nailed in place, found it hard to accept the result.
Even though he had seen other knights eliminated earlier, experiencing it firsthand was different.
“Why the long face? Don’t despair—just train harder.”
“…….”
“Honestly.”
Leaving behind the knight who had placed fourth, Robin returned to the waiting room.
The third-place prize was a Floating Stone.
In itself, it was as good as gold coins, but to an Adventurer, a Floating Stone was a symbol of a veteran.
The Floating Archipelago that had to be crossed before entering the Extre Region.
To pass through there, a Floating Stone was essential.
‘Good thing I at least got third.’
He had entered the Arena to remove the mask that had suddenly attached itself to him, but in the end, it had worked out in his favor.
Tap, tap.
When he touched the mask covering his face, he could feel that it had grown thinner than before.
It was a good sign.
As ti passed, the mask’s durability was weakening.
If he left it alone, it might naturally fall off.
“The finals will begin shortly!”
The smooth progression without interruption felt refreshing.
Having no more business in the waiting room, Robin moved to the spectator stands.
The arena floor where he had just stood was now neatly arranged.
Vice-Captain Nelson of the Third Knight Order and the Butcher faced each other, waiting to begin.
“Before we start. We will welco the honorable figure who has graced this occasion.”
In the best viewing position, unlike the general seats, a separate space had been prepared.
A place guarded by knights so that commoners could not even approach.
An elderly man appeared there.
“We greet His Majesty the Emperor!”
As the host knelt and bowed his head, everyone in the arena followed suit.
The highest authority in the Empire.
No one lifted their head until he permitted it.
“Raise your heads.”
Watching people rise in perfect unison as if asured by an angle, the difference in status felt striking once again.
How many people could move a crowd with a single word?
“It is a fine day. Do your best.”
Leaving a brief word of encouragent, the Emperor took his seat.
Despite his age, his robust appearance seed to embody what dignity truly was.
‘So that’s the Emperor.’
Robin found the Emperor, whom he was seeing for the first ti, strangely familiar.
There was no way of knowing what this contradictory sensation ant.
“His Majesty the Emperor’s encouragent struck at the essence.”
Should she say it was nice that the address was short?
“Then, we will now begin the long-awaited finals of the Arena!”
The finals began without delay.
The Butcher launched a fierce assault from the very start, without hesitation.
From a distance, it appeared that Nelson was defending well.
However, Robin noticed that Nelson had been flustered.
It would not be easy.
Having faced the Butcher himself, Robin was certain.
“The Butcher presses relentlessly from start to finish, and Sir Nelson is being pushed back! Will the match be decided like this!”
Nelson ground his teeth.
The host’s voice grated on his nerves like a whining mosquito.
He had intended to easily crush so gloomy skull-masked nobody he had never even heard of.
Yet unexpectedly, her skills were exceptional.
Clang!
Their swords locked as they struggled for dominance.
Seeing the eyes flashing beyond the mask, Nelson asked,
“This is an exhibition match. Isn’t your killing intent too thick?”
“Aren’t you being too complacent?”
“What?”
“Fight prepared to die. Otherwise…….”
Smack.
Struck on the shoulder by a high kick, Nelson staggered backward.
“If you take this lightly, you’ll die here.”
“A lowborn bitch with quite the bluster.”
It was not a fatal blow, but his shoulder throbbed.
A kick one could not attempt without confidence in one’s own attack.
The Butcher had analyzed Nelson while watching his previous matches.
A vice-captain who wielded textbook knightly swordsmanship.
Exclude Aura, and he could be evaluated as nothing more than that.
Not that a knight’s swordsmanship was lacking.
“You’re weaker than .”
“Shut that mouth.”
Nelson rushed in after a deep breath, and the Butcher received his attacks.
Just as Nelson had done before, the Butcher deflected every strike.
The difference was that she was far more composed.
It was a perfect defense, as if to demonstrate the gap in their levels.
“As befits the finals, the fierce clash continues! An exchange where it’s impossible to predict who will win!”
The host and many others likely saw it that way.
But Nelson grew more anxious with each passing mont.
There was only one reason Nelson, Vice-Captain of the Imperial Knight Order, had entered the Arena.
To appeal that he was fit to beco the next Knight Commander.
He had intended to seize victory with overwhelming skill, yet he had encountered an unexpected obstacle.
“Ugh.”
“Have you grown weaker? Or have I grown stronger?”
“You bitch who rolled in from nowhere like a stray bone!”
“Perhaps both.”
The Butcher feinted low, then suddenly leapt.
Spinning once in midair, she slashed across his shoulder.
Slash.
Blood stread down Nelson’s shoulder.
He had thought he still had a chance to recover, but he was wrong.
Once he had allowed a wound, even winning would only break even.
His Majesty the Emperor was watching.
He could not afford to be humiliated in public.
“You runaway who abandoned her family! Did you think the world would forget just because you hid!”
The Butcher halted her attack and glared at Nelson.
Though she restrained herself as much as possible, killing intent faintly seeped out.
“You fool who doesn’t even know where your roots lie, yet you’ve sharpened your sword well enough.”
“Watch your tongue.”
“Aren’t you curious? Why the old man you cherish so much taught you.”
“What are you talking about.”
“You don’t actually believe it was out of human affection, do you?”
“…How much do you know.”
As they stood still mid-match, speaking so quietly it could not be heard, the audience booed.
It ant they should stop moving their lips and fight.
But the Butcher did not hear the jeers.
She focused solely on the words of the enemy before her.
“Listen. Theodric Grimbard is the disgrace of his family who rejected the position of Knight Commander. Do you know what he said when he left the family?”
Seeing the Butcher remain silent, Nelson curled one corner of his mouth upward.
“He spouted nonsense about how this country was wrong and that he wanted to know the truth.”
“…….”
“And yet, seeing that he raised a rebel, perhaps he’s gone senile?”
The Butcher turned her head toward the spectator stands.
Among the countless audience mbers, she found Theodric.
As if an invisible thread connected them, their eyes t.
For a fleeting instant, Theodric’s eyes widened.
Tap. Drip.
Drops of blood fell to the ground.
The Butcher imdiately withdrew, but her shoulder blade was deeply slashed.
Nelson’s surprise attack had succeeded.
“You dared to look away from . Your confidence is excessive.”
“So what.”
“So what? You were never going to leave here alive in the first place.”
“That’s not true.”
The Butcher let her left arm hang and adjusted her stance.
Though blood dripped steadily, she focused solely on Nelson.
“If what you said were true, I wouldn’t have even been able to step onto this stage.”
Clang!
Despite her injury, she hurled herself forward.
Even though she had released her left hand, the force behind her sword did not seem diminished in the slightest.
“Bringing
down must have been what you wanted. But would he have said it to soone else? No. He couldn’t let go of his own greed, so he knew and left it be.”
Sparks flew as their swords collided between them.
Their fighting spirit toward each other was as vivid as before.
“Sorry, Grandfather, but I’ll have to break my promise.”
“You insolent bitch……!”
“You need to die here.”
The Butcher’s movents changed.
Until now, her swordsmanship had been orthodox, like Nelson’s.
Now, her blade was filled solely with the intent to kill.
Wounds gradually increased across Nelson’s body.
Just as she was about to finish it.
Shing!
A blue light flickered from Nelson’s sword, drawing the attention of all present.
Drawing Aura in the Arena, where its use was forbidden, was no different from a disqualification.
The host was about to declare the match halted, but a knight who approached from the side stopped him.
“It is His Majesty’s command to let it continue.”
The Butcher had no intention of stopping here either.
Rather, as if pleased, she drew up her Fighting Spirit.
“Referee! It’s the Butcher’s victory! Can’t you see the knight drew Aura?”
Robin protested, but there was no way it would be accepted.
Unlike those who felt it unfair, the crowd instead erupted in cheers.
It was not often that one had the chance to witness a knight’s Aura firsthand.
“This isn’t good.”
Raymond, who had been mixed in among the crowd, clicked his tongue.
In executing the prepared plan, variables were not welco.
“Bernard, inform the assassination unit. We’re changing the plan.”
“Are we retreating?”
“No.”
Heading toward the exit, Raymond put on a white mask.
“No matter who wins. Once the match is decided, we begin.”
“Understood.”
The corridor leading to the VIP seats.
Like Raymond, masked figures began to gather.
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