Michael knew everything Elijah said and did was a provocation, but it worked on Michael. His violet eyes darkened to the color of a swamp.
“To be fair, I guess it's inevitable that a monster of the air prison will become an imperial dog once it's imprinted. I'm glad you enjoyed the show.”
“Oh, by the way, You've listened to the message for the Seventh Princess, so please pass it on to her, and tell her I'll be there to see her soon.”
Elijah left first, looking triumphant. Left behind, Michael lingered in the hallway, exuding a sullen aura.
“Michael, it was just a provocation, don't take it too hard.”
Sylvestian said worriedly, and Michael, who had been consumed by darkness, responded.
“...I saved his life, so I'll take it back.”
“What did you just say?”
“No, nothing.”
He could not wield a sword in a martial arts competition with a heart of gold. Deciding to be patient, Michael dropped his intimidating aura.
The next day, the semifinals.
Eve's gift to Michael was a handkerchief embroidered with bay leaves. The embroidery, of course, was done by the wielder, while Eve cast a cleaning spell.
Michael, who was handed the handkerchief by a servant, took the example of a knight as if he had been painted.
“Your Highness, we will definitely win.”
I responded by waving at Michael, who waved back.
'Brigette hasn't come yet.'
It didn't feel like a good sign. My amber eyes narrowed.
And when it was Elijah's turn, as expected, that's what happened.
“Since I've chosen to use my wish power on the Seventh Princess, shouldn't I also receive a token of good luck from her?”
He pounded at me like there was no tomorrow.
'I knew it.'
Unfazed, I untied my right hair ribbon. A fairly worn blue ribbon was passed through the servant to Elijah.
“This is the ribbon Betty gave me for my twelfth birthday,” she said, ”and if it's not enough, I'll take it as a token of her appreciation.”
That's as far as the note went, and the old ribbon was thrown away.
But don't underestimate Elijah's ability to attract attention. He kissed the ribbon as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
“I will fight with my life, Your Highness.”
His eyes, brilliant, seemed to be glazed over. One would have thought it was Elijah, not Michael, who was my Knight.
'Should I just get rid of it?'
For what seemed like the umpteenth time, Michael's eyes glinted with life as he watched the events unfold.
He hated, terribly hated, sharing anything related to Eve with Elijah. Even if it was just something to throw away.
'No, what was I thinking just now?'
In this way, Elijah kept provoking Michael to feel unfamiliar emotions. If this continued, he might become obsessed with Eve. Michael realized he had to be more wary of his condition than Elijah.
[The game begins!]
The first match featured Elijah and Snorret facing off.
As if to show his respect for the semi-finals, Elijah took out his original weapons, a dagger and a mango shoe.
He pushed Snoret with tactics more akin to an assassin than a knight. The constant attacks that gave Snorret no time to change her magic stones were an absolute mismatch for Snorret.
After half an hour, a decision was finally reached.
[Elijah Halsten, victory! It was a battle like hunting prey!]
As the cheers rang out, Elijah looked down at the fallen Snorret and opened his mouth.
“Lord Wint, I thought you were lucky to make it to the semifinals.”
“You’re the type of person who’s easily criticized with words.”
The words were spoken, but Elijah reached out and grabbed Snorret's hand, pulling her to her feet.
'That's unexpected.'
When Eve's impression of Elijah changed slightly, Michael became deeply angry.
'How dare you try to impress my Princess!!'
Michael really hated Elijah.
“Hey, Michael. It's good that you're so determined to fight Lord Halsten, but if you're going to fight him, you're going to have to beat me first.”
“Ah, it’s our turn soon. I’ll concentrate. Don’t worry.”
Michael's violet eyes have regained their true color. The sight of his friend's chocolate-colored back seemed to purify him a little.
[Sir Agnito, who always gave us nothing but boring battles, and Sir Millard, who always gave us something to look at! We'll start right now!]
Michael and Sylvestian both enjoyed the duel, which was more of a push and pull as they exchanged blows to test each other's abilities than an immediate victory.
The two men had fought countless times in the imperial palace, so the duel was more like a coordinated sword dance than a simple battle. The crowd went wild.
“Those two are awesome!”
“Sir Agneto is finally fighting a real fight!”
They even took up the entire arena, with a few large-scale battles here and there. It was a great spectator service, even if it wasn't intended.
After a while, it had been quite a while, and mana and stamina were quite depleted.
Michael and Sylvestian huffed and puffed, holding each other at bay, and then adjusted their stances.
There were no signals, but everyone in the arena sensed that the battle was about to end.
Kwakwakwakwang!
Their swords clashed in a huge arc. A cloud of dust rose in an instant, engulfing the two knights from head to toe and spreading out to fill the stadium.
The barrier of the audience seats shook dangerously like a glass window. The stadium's
The crystallization of the audience shook precariously like a pane of glass. The mages in the stadium immediately began to strengthen the crystals and ventilate the dust.
Michael stood motionless in the center of the arena, where visibility was not yet completely clear, but a bustling stadium with 100,000 spectators was not a good environment for using intuition to determine the location of an opponent.
Sylvestian did not miss this opportunity.
Shhhh!
Sylvestian, weakened by the power of the magic stone, struck Michael vertically in the back of the head.
It was the moment. Michael quickly sheathed his Nightray.
And with only a tiny fraction of the blade back in place, he accurately blocked Silvestian's sword.
Then, a defense that was more than just a blade parry firmly blocked Sylvestian's attack.
[This, this is... Aegis! Aegis!]
Before the host finished explaining, Michael jumped into action.
He slowly drew his sword while facing Sylvestian. Revealed
He slowly sliced through Sylvestian's confrontation. The silver-gray sword grew in volume as the exposed blade grew larger.
Before the host finished explaining, Michael jumped into action.
He slowly drew his sword while facing Sylvestian. Revealed
He slowly sliced through Sylvestian's confrontation. The silver-gray sword grew in volume as the exposed blade grew larger.
The sword spread out from the slightly open blade to the entirety of the Nightray and soon enveloped Aegis's crystalline body. The shield instantly became a weapon.
“What, you're covering the crystalline realm with sword energy?”
Sylvestian's crystal-clear eyes widened in horror. Michael answered nonchalantly.
“They are both manifestations of mana.”
The idea of turning defense into offense was actually inspired by Arachne of Silversword.
“Let's get this over with.”
Pow!
Silvestia's body was pushed to the corner of the stadium with a huge explosion.
When he barely managed to raise his head, he almost lost consciousness, Nightray's obsidian blade was aimed at his neck.
The stadium was incredibly quiet. Everyone seemed to have lost their minds.
The first to emerge from the aftermath of the battle was the professional emcee.
“Waaaah!”
Michael, who had retrieved the Nightray, bent down towards Sylvestian.
“I don't think you'll need a stretcher, and... want me to help you up?”
“I can get up... ugh.”
“I know you need support.”
Michael stood up, putting Sylvestian's arm around his shoulder.
The crowd was touched by his consideration for his rival. Maybe today would be the day that the story of the friendship between the homunculus would be told in a play.
Michael and Sylvestian were shocked when their faces got close to each other while they were supporting each other.
“Don’t forget the promise I made to give you mana.”
“Of course. I lost a lot today fighting with you, so tomorrow or the day after would be better.”
When they exited the arena, looking cordial to the end, there was a man waiting for them in the dark hallway, arms folded.
“It’s taking a long time.”
It was Elijah. His words were almost like muttering, but he had an emergency healing potion in his hand.
Elijah handed it over to Michael.
“The healing wizard will be here soon. For now, have him drink this.”
“Don't look at me like that. I don't like you, but you and Lord Millard are bedfellows, so you have to get along.”
Of course, Sylvestian didn't like it very much, but he didn't care.
As usual, he said his piece and left the room first.
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