The heads of two knights villains were shattered.
Ian looked around.
Knight’s reception position. “Low Kick Villain” was already looking this way with youthful eyes, having already secured a spot in the semifinals.
‘I can feel the will to really break your leg.’
Looking forward to the duel with that guy, but for now, it’s starting from the quarterfinals.
Ian’s opponent in the quarterfinals was a woman with a sword, looking quite agile.
As the tournament progressed, he felt that more and more skilled individuals with four stars or above were appearing.
“Ugh!”
He managed to slip through with a [Leap], but his opponent instinctively blocked with her sword, albeit slowly.
Then she shot out sharp ice fragments.
– Pfft.
Ian immediately transformed his wooden sword into a shield shape and blocked the sharp ice fragments.
Ice fragments as sharp as piercing through wood.
“Wow. Would I die if I can’t dodge this properly?”
In response to Ian’s words, the opponent with thick coffee-colored hair was jabbed sharply.
“You’re not dead. What, do men get scared of just this much?”
“…”
Ian realized something.
In the game’s setting, Northern women are said to be pretty, but have dirty personalities.
‘Maybe Sharon Pierce wasn’t the only one.’
With such thoughts and a generous amount of mana, he swung his fist forcefully.
– Kwaaaaang!
The opponent was quite anticlimactically bounced off the sparring ring.
Perhaps that ice fragment ambush was her last move.
“Amelia Ice, daughter of Viscount Kano, outside the ring! Ian Blackangers wins!”
Cheers erupted at the referee’s declaration.
“Wow!”
“Combining magic with punching! What’s his deal?”
Stagnation.
At someone’s cheer, Ian suddenly fell into deep thought.
‘Come to think of it, can I be called a magician?’
He had felt this before, but for a magician, he seemed to engage in too many close combat fights. Even if it’s because of the efficiency of mana usage….
Maybe a couple of long-range attack spells would be necessary after all.
“Phew.”
As he rested like that, Danya came rushing over.
After praising him, she abruptly stood up.
– Whoosh, whoosh.
She gestured as if coaching boxing.
Seeing her like that, Ian chuckled, which immediately annoyed her.
Ian managed to calm her down and asked.
“Oh right. How’s Lina doing?”
“She’s already climbed up there.”
Looking where Danya pointed, he noticed a red-haired girl who had ascended to just below Herman’s viewing area.
She climbed up from the bottom, chatting with each person along the way.
“… How can there be such a socialite.”
“Socialite?”
“It’s nothing. She’s amazing, really.”
As expected, is the heroine truly a heroine? Ian marveled at the ability that seemed to easily surpass 5-Star status when it came to affinity alone.
Watching Ian like that, Danya pursed her lips.
‘Hmph!’
Although Ian acknowledged that Lina was doing well…
There was a tiny dissatisfaction towards Ian who only had eyes for Lina while she was here.
‘Well, I’m broad-minded.’
The moment when Danya was about to offer a 「Snowflake Flower」 to Ian.
“By the way, thank you. Danya.”
Ian thanked Danya at an unexpected timing.
Actually, it had become a habit for Ian to express gratitude whenever he received something…
Swish.
Danya approached Ian until she was just about to touch him.
Then, she gently presented her head.
Ian, who was reaching out his hand to receive the eye-catching flower, was somewhat bewildered.
‘…What’s this?’
Standing there in confusion, Danya took Ian’s finger and lifted it.
– Fluffy.
Then she placed it on her head.
While looking down at the ground, Danya murmured softly.
“Stroke, you idiot.”
“Ah. Okay.”
Smoothly, smoothly.
At first, Ian’s touch was stiff like a wooden stick, but gradually he began to stroke Danya’s head more leisurely.
‘It really feels like petting a cat.’
What’s with this feeling of being chosen.
Anyway, thanks to Danya, both his magic and mood were sufficiently healed.
– Next, please prepare for the semi-finals!
Is it already time for the semi-finals?
To gain the complete attention of Frost Queen Yerina, the daughter of the Northern Grand Duke, it was the final victory.
Since no proper fight would be possible regardless of who the opponent in the final would be.
The opponent who made it to the semifinals would naturally be formidable.
The heat within his body began to simmer.
◆
The announcer signaled the start of the semifinal.
– Sir Lambert, the Guardian Knight of Count Limmksh!
The announcer encouraged the audience with loud cheers.
“Wow.”
“A knight who made it to the semifinals. Count Limmksh must have chosen a promising Guardian Knight this time.”
With decent reactions, the knight in full armor stood at one end of the arena.
And then the next participant.
Half-tired (originally, he looked like that) as he ascended the arena, the announcer introduced him.
– Ian Blackangers, participating as the Princess’s representative!
“Wowww!”
Ian’s cheers were even louder.
It was incomparable.
– Take your positions!
A circular arena.
Ian stood at the end and looked at the knight on the other side.
Among the three knight villains, he faced the ‘Low Kick Villain’.
Ian hadn’t forgotten the boast that one low kick could break his own leg.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment. Somehow, you managed to crawl up here.”
The Low Kick Knight suddenly struck a pose.
Ian narrowed his eyes and looked at him.
Facing each other like this, he was indeed big and bulky.
He must not have said ‘one low kick could break his leg’ for no reason.
In other words, he was bragging about his strength.
Suddenly, he became curious.
“Do you also have ‘Reeshich’ in your name, sir?”
“That’s right. How did you know?”
“…Oh, just wondering.”
Ian smoothed his forearms.
‘That gives me the chills.’
Indeed, there seemed to be something sinister about the name ‘Reeshich’. If someone has ‘Reeshich’ in their name, they are undoubtedly a villain without exception. From now on, all Reeshichs should be approached with caution.
“It seems you were lucky enough to acquire some mysterious magic technique. Let me show you what I’ve got.”
“What’s your rank, sir?”
“I recently broke through mid-level 4-Star.”
“Hmm, quite high.”
“Then prepare yourself to take what you deserve. I won’t forget to repay the debt owed by you all.”
Ian felt unfairly treated.
They started the argument, and when he tried to defend himself, they asked why he hit back. It was naturally ridiculous.
Swoosh.
As the referee signaled the start with a hand gesture.
— Bang!
Ian immediately leaped towards his opponent.
“Here it comes!”
— Clang!
The wooden swords clashed as if they were metal. The Low Kick Villain, Lambert, cleanly defended against Ian’s attack.
“Interesting. Not just swordsmanship, but using strange abilities too.”
Ian examined his metal-reinforced sword. Lambert’s sword had left a chunky mark where it collided.
“You seem to be skilled in swordsmanship.”
“It’s nothing special. Take this!”
— Swish!
With a battle cry, the knight charged forward.
The sword glittered as it pierced in all directions.
Observing the sword, Ian roughly understood what the man intended.
‘It seems like he wants to win as flamboyantly as possible to appeal to the audience.’
These people don’t know how to retreat.
Countless promising young warriors watched the sparring match. The Lord and eldest son of the Northern Grand Duke watched from their box seats. And countless other spectators. They all wanted to flaunt their swordsmanship in front of them.
And Ian’s deduction was accurate.
‘Let’s just corner him like this.’
Lambert observed Ian’s sparring attentively.
It was easy to notice that Ian wasn’t familiar with swordsmanship.
His swordplay was based on various unconventional techniques.
It was flashy yet had a considerably wide attack range, making it difficult to evade carelessly.
It was impossible to counterattack. Ian planned to corner him as promised and properly execute a low kick on the villain’s leg.
“Prepare yourself!”
As Lambert moved forward to press harder.
— Wobble
The onslaught of Lambert’s sword suddenly stopped.
His posture became unbalanced due to losing his center of gravity.
‘What?’
He glanced downward.
A mound of earth had risen where he stepped.
The basic of magic was to confirm the ground you’re standing on.
‘… It was flat just now, wasn’t it?’
As he raised his head with a question.
— Kaaaah!
He barely blocked a downward strike that poured down vertically above him with his sword.
“Ugh!”
Realizing his wrist was tingling, Lambert looked at Ian as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Surely you’re not a knight…!”
Before he could say anything, another thrust came.
It couldn’t have been more sloppy.
But could it be because of that mysterious movement technique?
The sword is unbelievably fast and strong for a non-knight.
— Clang!
Lambert managed to deflect Ian’s attack aside.
“Damn!”
It was just thrusts and downward strikes.
It was an attack even a newborn could do as long as they held a stick.
Unable to break free from the situation, he tried to readjust his stance with anger and determination.
— Wobble!
Once again, the ground bulged out.
‘What’s this again!’
Losing his center of gravity once again.
As he tried to correct his posture by turning his waist straight.
— Thud!
Ian’s sword struck his waist heavily.
Pain that felt like his waist was breaking apart.
But he could endure this level of pain. After all, he was a knight, wasn’t he?
‘If I could just correct my posture properly!’
Lambert immediately tried to regain his balance. No, he tried to.
“Will you make it?”
“No… Ugh!”
This time, the ground exploded as if it were erupting.
A leg sprung into the air with that recoil force.
‘I can’t dodge this from the ground!’
Lambert rotated his body once in the air, trying to land.
The moment his face came into view with Ian’s face while turning once.
“!”
It seemed like a demon stood there.
His mouth twisted into an exceptionally sinister grin.
For some reason, Lambert looked down at Ian’s posture with curiosity.
At the same time.
— Snap!
A sound of something breaking filled the arena.
Lambert’s sturdy body fell out of the stage.
His leg was bent in reverse.
“…”
Deep silence enveloped the surroundings.
Ian looked up at the stands.
Herman Pierce was looking down at him with an incredibly heavy expression.
