In the carriage, I was troubled. In truth, I had hopes for this tournament.
'I was hoping that crossing swords with the Homunculus would help Michael's awakening.'
'I guess I'll just have to wait for the right time. The Demon Dragon Battle will be sooner than in my lifetime, but what if he doesn't awaken by then?'
I, who had no idea what Michael was doing behind the scenes, worried unnecessarily.
Of course, it didn't help that I was impatient. I pushed my worries aside, deciding that I would visit the Great Sage of the Household Beech Forest again when I was in a hurry.
Suddenly, I realized that it was very quiet in the carriage, as both I and Micael were lost in our own thoughts.
“Michael, what are you thinking?”
"Ah."
Michael locked eyes with me, and after a moment's hesitation, he answered a question with a question.
“What does the Princess think of Lord Halsten?”
"Uh'?"
Michael asked, but his serious face told me he was genuinely curious.
“What if you did?”
“Hmm... I guess he has more distinct personalities than other homunculus? But why are you asking that?”
“Lord Halsten is trying to keep up appearances with you, and I was wondering what you thought.”
“Ah.”
Michael pretended to be indifferent, but it was obvious that he was concerned about my reaction.
I felt very happy for some reason.
“Well, it's all the Third Princess's doing anyway.”
“He seems to have some heart.”
“Oh, really?”
But it didn't last long. Eve's next words drove away Michael's anxiety.
“It doesn't matter if Lord Halsten looks good to me, you are my direct knight. I don't want a knight who isn't Michael.”
Michael, finally regaining consciousness, spoke hastily but earnestly.
“I don't like imperials who aren't you, either.”
“Thank you.”
“I was embarrassed because you asked me something strange.”
“I see. That’s strange.”
Michael really liked Elijah's dismissive remark.
“More than that, the duel today was really cool. Michael is the strongest after all.”
“I'd say that's the least I can do to honor you as a knight.”
“Really? This is embarrassing.”
The two returned to the palace, exchanging pleasant words.
The long-awaited finals have finally arrived.
The interest in the final was unprecedented.
Elijah had a wish for a direct knightly affair, and Michael had a wish for a romantic rebellion.
In addition to being able to witness powerful martial arts, it was fascinating to witness the birth of a historical narrative.
The 100,000 spectators were as full as ever. The people cheered for Michael and Elijah according to their own preferences.
“Lord Halsten, I support you!”
“We want to see you, Lord Agnito!”
“Everything is fine! Anyone can win!”
Today's duel was preceded by a ceremony. Just like in the semi-finals, the imperial family presented the knight with a textile gift of good luck. Luckily, Brigitte wasn't late today, so nothing happened.
There was one more ritual that was exclusive to the finals: the finalists shared a drink with bay leaves.
Tall glasses were filled with a light green, translucent liquid. Michael and Elijer leaned in close for a mindless toast.
Pretending to drink, Elijah whispered to Michael so only Michael could hear.
“Are you ready to give up your seat, Sir Agneto?”
“I don't know what you think you're doing.”
At this point, he started to become genuinely curious, putting aside the provocation.
“Isn't that what I'm asking, what do you believe in, that you're so sure you're going to win as if it's the truth of the world and a given?”
“You know it when you see it, of course, I'm good.”
Michael's answer was bland, without a hint of condescension, but it sounded even more asinine, and Elijah twisted his lips.
Michael took the glass away from his lips and added.
“By the look on your face, I'm guessing that's something you approve of.”
“Well, I'm not going to bite my tongue, but skill isn't everything.”
“Is it?”
Elijah only laughed. He seemed willing to let them experience the answer for themselves in a duel. Not that they were allowed much time anyway.
The two men returned their empty glasses and the mulligans ran out.
[This concluded the ceremony of promising fair and honorable combat. Who will be the owner of this year's golden laurel wreath, and who will be the knight who will make a wish to Her Highness the 7th Princess?]
“Oohhhhh, Sir Agnito, the best of the best!”
“Sir Halsten, don't lose! An affair is a romance if you do it!”
[Hooray! Here and there is a loud cheer for the knights; now, then, let us begin the last duel of the summer festival; good luck to both knights!]
The horn blew long.
Michael and Elijah stood at a distance from each other, moving slowly in a clockwise direction while keeping each other in check.
Wheww.
It was the moment when the cool summer breeze blew past the hem of my uniform.
Without anyone knowing who would go first, the two people's legs kicked the ground.
Boom! Bang!
[Ouch! Full power from the start!]
Instead of using weapons with shorter spacing, Elijah slashed at Michael again and again with nimble movements as if he had been trained as an assassin rather than a knight.
The two fought not only with their swords but also with their clothes.
“Yeah, I'm a pretty good backstabber!”
Suddenly, Elijah's attack had gained strength. He pretended not to, but the unchivalrous remark seemed to spur him on.
Michael lightly parried Elijah's attacks, taunting him with one after another.
“I see your confidence isn't in your skills. Now tell me the secret to your confidence.”
Michael lightly parried Elijah's attacks, taunting him with one after another.
“Well. You said you were a good fighter, but you didn't even hit me in the back of the head.”
“Ha.”
“I see your confidence isn't in your skills. Now tell me the secret to your confidence.”
Chocolate eyebrows wiggled. Elijah smiled, his face nearly contorting.
“Sure.”
The magic stones of his dagger began to glow.
[Oh! Lord Halsten is activating magic stones that he has never used before in this tournament! He has a trump card! Lord Agnito's response becomes cautious!]
Elijah's attack came rushing in with a golden sword energy. Michael dodged the dagger and knocked away the dagger.
Kwakwakwang! Kwakwakwang!
Every time a deflected blade struck the stadium, or a blade clashed with another, a powerful explosion sounded.
The back-and-forth continued for a while. Still, Michael couldn't discern the effect of Elijah's magic stone, so he said.
“It doesn’t seem like much.”
“Is that really so?”
“Judging by your lack of progress after all this time, it's not worth finding out.”
Michael became more aggressive from then on. He deliberately slashed at Elijah's waist in a large, horizontal slash to make it stand out.
Chae-Ang!
The clashing swords resonated with a crystal clear sound. Elijah had crossed his dagger and blocked Michael's sword.
Michael's eyes narrowed at the unexpected head-on confrontation, and soon he realized something was amiss.
“This is!”
A look of surprise appeared in her purple eyes. Elijah was pleased with the reaction.
“Oh, you noticed now?”
The longer the swords were in contact, the weaker Michael's sword energy became.
[Sir Agnito seems to have sensed something fishy, he's hastily retrieving his sword and dropping it, what is going on?]
Michael lowered his sword, letting it dangle, and opened his mouth.
“You’ve been slowly draining my mana. Is this a magic stone that drains mana?”
“It interferes with the conversion of mana into magic or swordsmanship and disrupts it. The principle is different from Mana Drain, but to the victim, it's the same thing, because it's taking mana away from them.”
It was obvious why Elijah was explaining things so kindly, despite his personality. He seemed to have sensed victory already.
“How about this: the more you clash swords with me, the more your mana will be drained. Even Homunculus doesn't have an unlimited amount of mana. Let's see your bottom today.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Elijah rushed forward with determination. An attack with a sword energy.
Once again, explosions erupted all over the stadium.
'Clearly, I was overconfident.'
“It interferes with the conversion of mana into magic or swordsmanship and disrupts it. The principle is different from Mana Drain, but to the victim, it's the same thing, because it's taking mana away from them.”
It was obvious why Elijah was explaining things so kindly, despite his personality. He seemed to have sensed victory already.
“How about this: the more you clash swords with me, the more your mana will be drained. Even Homunculus doesn't have an unlimited amount of mana. Let's see your bottom today.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Elijah rushed forward with determination. An attack with a sword energy.
Once again, explosions erupted all over the stadium.
“Ha.'
Michael was responding expressionlessly, but inwardly he felt embarrassed. He had planned to empty most of his mana in the final so that it would be easier to suck up Sylvestian's mana today, so he hadn't made any effort to replenish the mana he had used up yesterday.
'Clearly, I was overconfident.'
Even while he was taking time for self-reflection, his mana was draining away like water.
“I'm looking forward to it. Micaelis Agnito, out of mana.. How do I play with it?”
His lemon-colored eyes twinkled with murderous interest. It was the kind of water that Elijah would have taken personally, ignoring chivalry and taunting his opponent.
But Michael quickly regained his composure and clashed his sword with no regard for mana leakage.
“This is a different kind of fun.”
“Don't pretend to be relaxed.”
“There's nothing to be nervous about. As long as I kill you before I run out of mana, that's all that matters.”
“Oh, yeah, well, let's see what you got.”
Chae-Ang!
Nightray, who was about to cut his shoulder, was blocked again. Elijah smiled in satisfaction.
“I don’t think this kind of attack will work on me..."
But then it happened.
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