A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression

Chapter 83

Sieg and his companions returned to Draker's mansion after completing the first round of the tournament.

Upon hearing from Reina that the second round of the tournament was a tightrope match, Sieg mentioned it to Pharel, who wore a serious expression.

"A tightrope match..."

Noting this reaction, Sieg asked Pharel, "Sir Pharel, is there a problem with the tightrope match?"

Pharel shook his head in response.

"No, Sir Sieg. There is no problem with the tightrope match itself. However, it's concerning that this event was chosen by Zimmens."

The tightrope match was a relatively straightforward competition. Two people would fight on a single rope, and the one who held their ground won. It was a competition where a warrior could fully showcase their skills.

That's when Katherine entered the drawing room.

"It's nice to see everyone gathered here."

She took a seat, her face flushed with excitement, and spoke to Sieg.

"I've learned about the second round event."

Felix, who was sitting next to her, interjected, "Lady Katherine, we've already heard about the second round event from Reina Draker. It's a tightrope match, right?"

Upon hearing Felix's words, Katherine knowingly nodded. "That's right, it's a tightrope match. But it's not just any tightrope match."

Surprised, Sieg asked, "What do you mean it's not just a simple tightrope match?"

"They're conducting it as a team tightrope match."

"A team tightrope match?"

Even Pharel, who had observed many Draker martial tournaments, had never heard of such an event. Katherine pulled out a piece of paper.

The paper depicted ropes strung across walls, with people wielding swords in combat atop them.

Seeing the drawing, Pharel's expression hardened.

"This is... clearly advantageous for the side with more members."

Sieg nodded in agreement. While a traditional tightrope match involved two individuals battling on a rope, in a team format, a smaller group would potentially face multiple opponents.

If someone were to recklessly cut the ropes, moving to another would become difficult.

If Zimmens' allies surged at Sieg and cut the surrounding ropes, it would also become challenging for him to hold his ground.

As he understood the situation, Pharel clenched his teeth.

"It's obvious they hastily changed the event. There's no way they can handle Sir Sieg in a one-on-one duel."

If Zimmens had prepared, there would be more rules unfavorable to Sieg and his companions.

However, at that moment, Katherine unfurled her fan with a smile. "Don't worry too much, Sir Sieg."

Sieg looked at Katherine with a puzzled expression. "Lady Katherine, do you have another plan?"

Katherine waved her fan and said, "Isn't this a time when we should rely on our sponsoring family, hoho."

With a relaxed smile, Katherine whispered something to Sieg and his companions, startling them with her words.

Seeing their expressions, Katherine let out a brilliant laugh. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match."

* * *

Starting from the second round of the tournament, outside spectators were allowed to watch.

This meant that the involvement of sponsoring families was more active than before.

The arena where the team tightrope match was to be held was already packed.

On one side of the stands, the blood alliance families affiliated with Zimmens cheered loudly under the Zimmens family's emblem.

Ba-ba-ba-boom!

Bands played trumpets, while drums and basses sang of Zimmens' victory.

Opposite them were the houses of Agamemnon and the central nobility. They didn't make much noise, but they waved dozens of flags, exerting pressure with their sheer numbers.

Their numbers were double those of the blood alliances on Zimmens' side participants, showcasing the dominance of the Agamemnon family in the Central Continent.

Just before the match began, players emerged from both ends of the arena.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

With the loud sounds of drums, the players stood before the team tightrope set precariously between pillars.

The distance between the ropes was considerable, making it difficult to swing to another if a rope broke.

Gareth stepped forward to explain the match rules briefly.

The rules were simpler than expected. Falling below the rope meant elimination, and those who endured until the designated time would advance to the third round of the tournament.

Felix, with his mouth agape, observed the extensive tightrope setup.

He whispered to Sieg, "M-Master. Maybe I should just forfeit here and..."

"Liam, Felix. Anyone who gets eliminated here will undergo seclusion training for a year."

Felix whimpered at Sieg's threat and walked towards the rope setup.

The judge signaled the start of the match.

Thud!

The players ascended the ropes.

The ropes weren't tightly strung, making it quite challenging to maintain balance and move on them.

However, Edward Zimmens stood atop the rope with arms crossed, adopting a relaxed posture. He wore a sly grin as he looked at Sieg and his companions.

'This is a special training tool unique to Zimmens. I've been playing here since I was five.'

In reality, this setup was one of the many training tools developed by Zimmens for aura control.

Edward felt a twinge of regret for revealing the family's secret training equipment, but if he could eliminate both Sieg and Reina here, it would be worth it.

Sieg, Felix, Liam, and Reina moved to ropes closer to one another. However, most of the participants, apart from them, were from Zimmens' allied families.

Edward, while standing on the rope, yelled, "Go and knock them down!"

Sieg and his companions readied their swords, wary of the approaching crowd.

As expected, they charged in from all directions, seemingly intending to use a strategy of pulling them down together.

Boos erupted from the Agamemnon side of the stands, noticing this.

"Not knightly at all!"

"Zimmens, you filthy scoundrels!"

The central nobles discarded any decorum, hurling raw insults. Yet neither Edward nor the Zimmens faction batted an eye.

If mere jeers were enough to faze them, Zimmens wouldn't exist today.

Zimmens' allied participants ignored the jeers, drew their weapons, and charged at Sieg's side.

Then, something completely unexpected happened.

"Whoa whoa whoa!"

One person from Zimmens' side stumbled, inadvertently dragging and dropping others with him.

Thud!

In an instant, four people were eliminated together.

Edward, who observed this from behind, scowled.

'Idiots.'

And it didn't stop there.

Thud! Thud!

Participants were falling from the ropes before even reaching Sieg's group.

Before they knew it, nearly half of Zimmens' participants had been eliminated.

Watching this, Sieg grinned and glanced at Katherine seated in the stands.

'The power of money is indeed formidable.'

The Graham Dukedom held sway over the central continent's financial sector.

This meant that among the participating families, some had borrowed money from the Graham family.

Katherine compiled a list of those families and made them an irresistible offer.

If they willingly got eliminated, the Graham family would extend their loan terms and offer them new low-interest loans. The bait was immediately bitten.

The families that accepted the Graham family's proposal feigned accidental eliminations.

Additionally, if they took others with them while falling, they'd receive perks like interest-free loans or waived fees, resulting in many intentionally dragging their peers down with them.

Edward, suddenly seeing his forces halved, shouted in frustration, "What are you all doing?! Grab them and pull them down!"

His tactic had effectively been stolen by Katherine.

Though close to Zimmens, the pressing reality was loan deadlines and high-interest rates.

Families in financial difficulties eagerly accepted the Graham family's proposal.

It was a counterstrike worthy of the Draker martial tournament.

Sieg, seeing the Zimmens knights fall in droves, smirked.

"This might actually be doable."

At his words, Reina and Liam nodded and charged forward.

Thud!

Reina skillfully utilized the bouncing elasticity of the rope to leap high into the air.

Then, she executed a powerful downward slash.

Turin-style Dragonslaying Art

Charge Technique

Bull Skull Breaker

Bam!

The loud, spirited slash, true to the Turin family's style, overwhelmed the other participants.

Liam approached differently. Hanging upside down from a rope, he wielded his long arms to swing his sword from below.

Swoosh!

"Ugh!"

The sudden emergence of a sword from below startled those on the rope, causing their balance to falter.

Like a gibbon, Liam swung around the ropes, launching surprise attacks, leaving the participants bewildered.

Unexpectedly, Felix displayed talent. Initially unable to get accustomed to the ropes, he gradually steadied his breath and balance.

Once stable, he stood commanding and motionless atop the rope, an imposing presence that kept other knights at bay.

Watching Felix, Sieg chuckled.

"His potential is truly immense."

Having assessed the situation, Sieg finally engaged.

With Bahamut in hand, he dashed across the ropes as if they were flat ground.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

To Sieg, who had mastered the Swift Wind Technique, the ropes were no different from solid ground.

What initially concerned him was the possibility of all ropes being cut, leading to a destructive scenario, but thanks to Katherine, they had secured an opportunity for a counterattack.

Sieg charged at the knights standing on the ropes.

Boom!

The knight struck by Sieg's blow lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Argh!"

It was tough to maintain balance on the ropes, and with being hit by solid attacks, it became impossible to withstand.

Soon, multiple knights charged at Sieg simultaneously.

They attempted to grab Sieg's ankle and cut the rope with their swords.

It was a no-holds-barred brawl where knightly honor was nowhere in sight.

However, given even the slightest opening, Sieg quickly escaped.

Whirr!

Before his ankle could be grasped, Sieg leaped to another rope.

Edward shouted from behind them.

"You idiots! Move aside! I'll cut the rope myself!"

Edward began cutting ropes from the rear with his spear.

But it was already too late.

With many eliminated, there was now ample space for Sieg to maneuver. Sieg effortlessly navigated between the ropes, attacking and eliminating Zimmens' participants one by one.

"Aaaah!"

Thud!

Realizing they couldn't withstand Sieg's attacks, the knights started adopting a defensive stance.

They left just the ropes they stood on intact, cutting themselves off by severing all other ropes.

Sieg addressed Edward, who stood behind his knights.

"Edward Zimmens. How about a duel like a true knight?"

At Sieg's provocation, Edward gritted his teeth, glaring at him.

"What do you take me for?"

A spoiled descendent he may be, Edward was a direct line scion of Zimmens. He didn't fall for such simple provocations.

"If you don't come, I'll come to you myself."

Sieg, still on a rope, lunged towards Edward's position.

However, Edward, having trained in tightrope techniques since childhood, adeptly evaded Sieg by traversing the few ropes that remained.

Simultaneously, other knights from Zimmens positioned themselves before Edward to block Sieg's path.

'These Zimmens lackeys are bothersome.'

At that point, an unexpected projectile hurtled towards Sieg, suspended in mid-air.

Clang!

A heavy sword strike collided with Bahamut.

Boom!

Sieg absorbed the backlash, skillfully landing atop the highest rope.

Standing opposite him was another person.

A female knight wielding a sword—with short-cropped hair.

Helen Draker.

Sieg pointed his sword at Helen Draker.

"Elin Sabrina. I didn't think you were aligned with Zimmens."

He knew otherwise but decided to probe nonetheless.

Helen, unfazed by Sieg's words, readied her sword.

Vroom!

A resonant hum emanated from her blade.

Without hesitation, she charged straight at Sieg.

"Haaah!"

Helen unleashed a powerful strike aimed squarely at Sieg.

Bahamut and Helen's sword clashed, generating a mighty wave.