NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82
“…”
Jaina watched the arena intently, holding her breath.
While she was originally interested in watching the matches, today she had a particular reason to pay close attention.
‘Go, Izren, fight!’
It was because her guardian knight, Izren, was participating in the martial arts tournament.
“Sky-blue hair and violet eyes?”
“What, he’s a different race?”
Izren’s non-human lineage was undeniably apparent to anyone’s eyes.
While some cheered without reservation, most reacted negatively towards Izren as a non-human.
Jaina deliberately raised her voice.
“Go, Izren! Win!”
Startled by Jaina’s unexpected outburst, Elia remarked:
“Ah, that’s right, your guardian knight is participating, isn’t he?”
“Yes. I believe he’ll be the champion.”
Jaina tightly clenched her fists.
“I know he’s an exceptional swordsman.”
In the novel
‘Today marked the beginning of ‘Mercenary King Izren’.’
“Hey, if you want to back out safely, do it now.”
“That’s my line.”
“What? Hahah, how insolent!”
“Knights only speak with their swords.”
The opponent who had let his guard down against Izren’s slender physique and pretty face was soon reduced to a pulp.
Watching this unfold, the audience held their breath.
“He certainly has skill…”
The abilities that hadn’t been fully showcased in the preliminaries, where they fought in groups, were now on full display in the main tournament.
After defeating an opponent whose stature seemed twice his own, Izren drew everyone’s attention.
“Wow, go non-human!”
“Utterly trounce him!”
Jaina spoke as she witnessed the gamblers shedding tears of blood over the sudden emergence of this dark horse.
“The gamblers will suffer heavy losses this time. Princess Elia dislikes gambling at such sacred events, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, it’s fortunate they’ll definitely be decimated this time.”
In a cheerful mood, Jaina asked:
“Then does Princess Elia also think Izren has a chance of winning?”
“Well…”
After a brief hesitation, Elia said he would likely reach the finals.
“And the other finalist will probably be a newcomer participating in the martial arts tournament for the first time.”
Jaina could discern who Elia was naming as the other potential finalist.
Claaanng!
The cerulean mana infused in the sword rippled through the air.
The only ones remaining were a man clutching a severed sword, trembling, and the masked swordsman who had cut it.
‘For some reason, my eyes keep being drawn to him… Is it because he’s using the unconventional knife and rapier?’
He was the man whose voice Jaina had found appealing during the preliminaries.
His swordsmanship was so exhilarating and explosive that he seemed to have already gained fans, despite being a newcomer.
“Go, masked knight!”
“Even if we lose our money, you’ll still win!”
Jaina could understand the meaning behind Elia’s words.
‘Elia must have been watching from the preliminaries and thought this man would reach the finals.’
Befitting her reputation as the continent’s hero, Elia’s eye for talent was indeed remarkable.
Her earlier words about the finals being contested by ‘newcomers’ had indeed come true.
The masked man and Izren had both advanced to the final match.
Waaaaaah!
The roar that filled the arena was tremendous.
‘No wonder it’s the finals. Incredible.’
The eyes of the audience were fixed on the two newcomers at this year’s martial arts tournament.
Yet neither of them wavered under that heavy scrutiny.
‘Is there something different about those who have reached such heights?’
“Then, we shall begin the final match of the Saint Agato Cup Martial Arts Tournament!”
And at last, the two contestants began their duel.
“Hooh.”
The moment the starting signal sounded, Izren charged towards his opponent.
He had assessed, even before crossing swords, that his opponent was no easy adversary.
‘I’ll aim for an opening.’
The opponent, who had seemed unprepared, calmly deflected Izren’s attack as if expecting it.
“So there’s no need for probing or anything.”
Izren sensed that while his opponent was highly aggressive, the eyes behind the mask were chillingly cold.
Chaang!
Clang!
In the blink of an eye, their fierce clashes unfolded.
The audience could only catch fleeting glimpses of their swords colliding, unable to fully follow their movements.
“Wow, incredible! Truly befitting the finals!”
“Their skills are on a completely different level from before?”
After exchanging a few rapid blows, they engaged in a conversation undetectable by the arena’s voice amplification spheres.
More precisely, it was Izren who had subtly maneuvered them away from the amplification spheres and unilaterally spoke first.
“Are you Prince Rosian?”
Claaanng!
No sooner had Izren’s words left his mouth than Rosian’s sword form faltered slightly.
‘An opening!’
Without missing the chance, Izren lunged inwards.
Fwiiiing!
With remarkable speed, yet flawlessly executed, a half-circle was traced.
“Ugh!”
But Rosian managed to narrowly recover from his mistake.
Chaang!
As Rosian blocked Izren’s attack with his knife, Izren clicked his tongue in regret.
Meanwhile, Rosian seemed more flustered by his identity being exposed than Izren’s sharp assault.
“How did you know who I am?”
“I could smell you.”
To be precise, it was a scent only Izren, with his feline bloodline, could detect.
Upon hearing Izren’s answer, Rosian furrowed his brow.
-My guardian knight, Izren, is…
It was a name he had heard countless times in the letters Jaina had sent.
Recalling this, an inexplicable emotion welled up within him.
‘I’m getting annoyed, so I better end this quickly.’
Rosian abandoned his initial plan to prolong the match to a certain extent for the sake of standing out.
He immediately took a step back and unleashed a sword strike, aiming to overwhelm his opponent. It was a clean display of mana control.
Claaaanng!
“Woooaaaaah!”
The explosive mana released from his sword elicited rapturous cheers from the audience.
“That masked knight won in an instant!”
‘No, I haven’t won yet.’
With his calm eyes, Rosian could see that his opponent had evaded that attack.
‘He read my intent in that short span of time.’
Rosian’s sword strike had been intended to restrict his opponent’s movements.
By dodging the strike, there was only one direction he could move, allowing Rosian to swiftly follow up, preventing evasion.
But Izren was no pushover. He was remarkably adept at finding a way to evade Rosian’s successive attacks.
Evidence of his keen observational skills and the agility to disengage from the battlefield.
Piercing through the faint mist from the sword strike, Izren firmly planted his feet.
As Izren charged towards him, Rosian smiled slyly.
“Impressive.”
“I’m impressed as well.”
Infusing his sword with dense mana, Izren’s eyes gleamed.
“Now, it’s my turn.”
Woooong!
The surrounding mana resonated loudly with the mana imbued in Izren’s sword.
Unlike Rosian’s dazzling attacks meant to deceive, Izren lacked that level of blinding speed.
However, the rippling violet mana enveloping his sword couldn’t be simply blocked.
‘Blast!’
Even after evading, Izren charged forth with another attack.
Judging that he couldn’t keep dodging forever, Rosian intended to meet Izren’s blade head-on while deflecting the attack at an angle.
Fwissshh-
Despite coating his sword with mana like Izren, Rosian could feel his blade being pushed back.
‘This is fun?’
Rosian had planned to decide the match using only 70 percent of his full power.
He felt it would be foolish to reveal his true abilities before so many people.
But…
’70 percent won’t be enough to defeat this opponent.’
Rosian glanced towards a certain area of the arena.
There stood Elia, who had always advised him to conceal at least 30 percent of his strength, and… Jaina.
‘If only she weren’t the Lady of May.’
Izren was Jaina’s guardian knight.
If he were to emerge victorious in this martial arts tournament, he would likely present the flower crown to Jaina.
‘How could I let that happen!’
Channeling more mana into his knife and rapier, Rosian pushed back against Izren’s sword.
“…!”
Izren was taken aback as his own sword was forced back.
With a sly smile, Rosian said:
“It seems you can retire as a guardian knight now.”
In truth, Rosian’s fighting style leaned more towards the direct ‘forward force’ approach, relying on sheer power over speed.
“It’s more convenient for me to settle things with brute strength, you see?”
Rosian advanced towards Izren without disengaging their crossed blades.
“Heh!”
Caught off guard by Rosian’s unexpected attack, Izren barely managed to parry with his sword. And just as he had done in the mock battles, he tried to deflect the attack and evade.
But Rosian’s sheer might was on a different level from any opponent he had faced.
‘Impossible!’
This was beyond mere heaviness. For a moment, Izren felt as if he were contending against a mountain.
While Izren narrowly avoided dropping his sword, that was the extent of his achievement.
In an instant, he was overwhelmed and forced back to the far edge of the arena.
“Ughk!”
Pwabang!
The airborne Izren collided with the barrier encircling the arena and lost consciousness.
And when Izren regained his senses-
“It seems I’ve won.”
Rosian’s sword was at his throat.
Even after the match had concluded, the audience couldn’t immediately react with cheers.
They had been utterly overwhelmed by the decisive victory that far surpassed any previous swordsmanship they had witnessed.
However, after a brief pause.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Waaaaaah!”
An explosive roar erupted from the stands.
It was at the very moment Elia rose to present the awards that Rosian turned towards the audience seats.
“Ooooooh!”
Deftly avoiding the enraptured crowd, Rosian made his way in a specific direction.
There was Jaina, her eyes uncharacteristically wide, unable to conceal her stunned expression.
“Will you become my lady?”
Rosian knelt before her with a sly smile.
Beside her, Elia muttered, ‘He’s gone and done it already,’ as she watched Rosian.
“Mother, give that to me.”
“Understood.”
It was the flower crown Elia had intended to award.
Preserved by magic, remaining pristine, the crown was passed from Elia to Rosian, who then presented it to Jaina.
“Jaina, your answer.”
“Ah.”
Jaina stared at him in a daze before finally regaining her senses.
Beyond Rosian were numerous people – those who gazed at her with envy, those with admiring eyes, and those with warmth.
‘Ah.’
The eyes of every audience member were focused on Jaina and Rosian.
Among all those people, Rosian had chosen to offer the flowers to her.
Why?
Before the question in her mind could be answered, Jaina’s body had already moved of its own accord, her lips parting to speak.
“Yes, I will become your lady.”