CH 89

“This is what everyone has been waiting for! The finals! The final round will finally begin!” The officiate shouted enthusiastically.

Woaaaah!

The audience roared louder than ever to greet the grand finale of the exciting competition. After half a day of nonstop action, the closing act of the swordsmanship competition was about to begin. In addition, the expectations and excitement of the crowd grew to unprecedented levels because one of the finalists was the champion of the jousting competition.

“Do you think Sir Eugene will win once again?”

“Who knows? Holy knights possess excellent swordsmanship and they can even use divine power, right?”

“Divine power? I thought that only worked against monsters.”

“Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions! You can’t dismiss the power of prayer and faith! There are so many knights who won their battles with deep faith.”

“That’s right. There’s even a story that a knight who was dying was miraculously revived and killed all the monsters surrounding him as soon as he recited a prayer, right?”

Most of their chatters were ridiculous, childish stories, but they were mixed with some truths as well.

“Anyways, if Sir Eugene wins the swordsmanship competition, it’ll be a twin crown!”

Twin crown – it was a term to refer to the knight who had won both the jousting and the swordsmanship competition. There had only been a few knights in history who ever achieved a twin crown in the numerous competitions, including Count Winslon. In the first place, one needed to be extremely lucky and skilled to win the jousting championship without suffering any injuries before participating in the swordsmanship competition.

“A twin crown. If Sir Eugene wins, it will be the first in a long time. How long has it been exactly?”

“16 years. There has been no one since Sir Krafomos.”

“Didn’t he go on to become a lord of the empire? Rumor has it that he was made a count of the empire.”

“I heard that he became a king. Apparently, he got a really lucky marriage.”

The crowd started to converse about the last appearance of a twin crown. It became apparent that anyone capable of achieving a twin crown would go on to be very successful. The audience’s expectations for the upcoming match grew even more.

“Will you be okay, sir? If you are cut or stabbed by the holy knight’s weapon, your identity as a member of the Night’s Tribe will be revealed,” Mirian voiced her worries to Eugene who was waiting for his opponent in the middle of the stadium.

“I’ll be fine. You should get inside and hide. We don’t know who else might be able to see you,” Eugene responded.

“Got it!” Mirian shouted before hurriedly jumping into her leather pocket. It was a necessary precaution since it was possible that there were others similar to Lanslo.

“The champion of the jousting competition! The black-haired prince! The black knight, Sir Jan Eugene! And his opponent! The apostle of God and the guardian of faith! The Constellation of Blood! Sir Vitoz Iod!” The officiate introduced the two competitors in a rowdy fashion.

Eugene stared at his opponent as the holy knight stood up from his seat.

‘Hmm?’

Eugene narrowed his eyes. He saw the holy knight placing something in his mouth as he lowered his helmet.

‘What is that? Ah, could it be?’

Eugene’s eyes glinted coldly as a thought suddenly came to mind. In the meantime, Iod made his way to the middle of the stadium.

‘I should assume that his skills are on par with Dircht for him to have made it to the finals without suffering any injuries and that all holy knights use the same sword technique.’

Eugene recalled his battles with Dircht during his previous life. At that time, he hadn’t awakened as an Origin. But he hadn’t been helpless either since he consumed quite a bit of human blood at that time. If he had to give an approximation of his power from the previous life, it would have been similar to the time just before he entered the Tywin family’s dungeon.

‘I didn’t know anything about swordsmanship. I only relied on my instincts and vampiric powers to fight.’

He had been no match for Jung Dircht. He had literally been toyed with. If Dircht wished, he could have finished off Eugene at any time. But Dircht had deliberately taken his time and pretended to struggle to elicit a dramatic response from Eugene.

“Heretic,” the holy knight quietly uttered after stopping a few meters in front of Eugene.

Shing!

He unsheathed his longsword. The holy knight’s blade was the same as the weapon that Dircht carried in Eugene’s previous life. The silver armor, which was painted red in various spots, was the same as well.

“I have already figured out your wicked methods. Today, I will reveal your identity to the entire world,” Iod said bitterly.

‘As I thought.’

Eugene smiled coldly.

Indeed, holy knights lived up to their name. It was clear that the two holy knights had detected the Fear Eugene released during the jousting match against Daymos even though it had lasted for only a fraction of a second. This must be why they had chosen a sword used to battle against monsters and the undead. But that wasn’t all…

The object that Iod had consumed a moment ago – there was only one thing for a knight to consume when he was faced against his mortal enemy.

‘Consuming an anti-mana stone? He’s insane.’

It was clear that Iod had refrained from using the drug until now to avoid any suspicion.

‘It should take about ten minutes for an anti-mana stone to be completely absorbed, right?’

Eugene recalled a piece of information he heard from Romari while slowly lifting Wolfslaughter.

“Here I come,” the holy knight uttered in a grave voice before taking a stance. The strange energy surrounding the knight’s body condensed into the longsword. A wizard like Romari would have been able to sense the energy, even if she couldn’t see it. But right now, Eugene was the only one who could see the holy knight’s energy.

“Huaaap!” The holy knight shouted and charged. He spun his longsword above his head as he ran – it was a sword technique unique to the holy knights to distract and confuse their opponents.

Shuack!

The holy knight’s longsword drew a sharp line through the air along with a loud shockwave. It was a fierce, exquisite attack that Eugene couldn’t have avoided in his previous life. This time, Eugene simply shifted his steps to dodge the attack and drew his own blade horizontally. The attack was aimed at the holy knight’s armpit, which was one of the gaps that existed in the plate armors of holy knights.

Clang!

The opponent reacted unbelievably fast and slapped Eugene’s blade away.

Shiik!

The two knights quickly widened the distance after exchanging blows in the blink of an eye.

Wuaaaaaaah!

The audience erupted into a clamor. Even though it had only been a single exchange, the battle between the two masters was breathtaking and electrifying. As if intoxicated by the cheers, the holy knight started to once again rotate his weapon above his head while spinning around.

Shiiing! Shing!

Eugene’s gaze kept pace with the direction of the holy knight’s movement. However, his gaze wasn’t fixated on the knight himself, but rather the hazy, translucent power that was trailing behind his longsword.

‘When I was stabbed by Dircht’s sword in my previous life, I felt as if I had been burned by something. Back then, I assumed it to be his divine power.’

But that didn’t seem to be the case. Eugene was certain that the object his opponent consumed earlier, presumed to be an anti-mana stone, had imbued him with some sort of power. It had been the same with Dircht in Eugene’s past life and with the templars of the monastery in the labyrinth. The incredibly fast, powerful movements of Iod in blocking Eugene’s blow a moment ago were the most definite proof of this.

‘Then…’

Eugene made up his mind.

Shh…!

Eugene’s red eyes explosively radiated with Vampire Fear. It was invisible to the human eye, and in an instant, it condensed and swirled around the holy knight’s figure. Iod flinched and shrank back for an instant. Even the forbidden power of an anti-mana stone wasn’t capable of completely resisting the Fear from a highest-ranking vampire.

Shuuack!

Eugene’s body shot forward like a spring. The holy knight belatedly came to his senses and swung his sword. Although Eugene could have dodged the attack, he continued forward. From his experiences battling Dircht, he knew that avoiding the straightforward attack would result in the holy knight chaining his attacks into a relentless assault.

Instead, Eugene drew closer to the ground and raised his left hand to change the longsword’s trajectory with his gauntlet.

‘It worked!’

Consuming an anti-mana stone granted the user twofold or threefold their normal strength. As such, Iod fully expected his sword to chop off the arms of the heretic.

Clang!

But as soon as he felt his blade deflect off the ominous black gauntlet, Iod instinctively knew that something was wrong. But as always, it was already too late.

Crack!

Eugene ignored the pain of the blade shattering his left arm and stabbed Wolfslaughter forward at an angle. It was aimed at the tiniest break in the holy knight’s armor, a gap big enough to barely fit a single, thin blade between his armor and helmet.

Thuck!

Eugene’s blade dug under Iod’s chin and fully penetrated his head, coming to a stop when it reached the hard, metallic helmet from the inside. The holy knight stood motionless like a statue for a moment with his hands hanging limp. Soon, blood began to flow like a stream from inside his helmet.

“...!”

The victor of the match was indisputable, but all the spectators simply remained unmoving with their mouths agape. They had expected a fierce, raging battle between the two knights. No one had expected it to end so quickly. Moreover, the holy knight had advanced to the finals without suffering a single injury but unexpectedly died at the hands of his opponent.

“T-the winner is Sir Eugene!” The officiate hurriedly shouted after waking from his daze, and a delayed, but powerful roar swept the entire stadium.

Woaaaaaah~!

But not everyone was impressed and thrilled with Eugene’s victory.

“I cannot accept this! This is black magic! That wicked heretic employed evil magic!” Jung Dircht shouted while running forward with his longsword.

“Sir!”

“What are you doing!?”

Several knights and soldiers shouted urgently and rushed to block his way. Even the nobles in the distinguished seats were startled at his response.

“You! Don’t think for a second that I wouldn’t know that you used evil magic to kill my colleague! Reveal your true identity right now! You heretic!” Dircht shouted.

“I don’t know what nonsense you are spouting,” Eugene felt a little flustered, but he responded calmly before continuing.

“And if we are talking about using evil magic, I think you should be pointing your finger to your colleague.”

“W-what…?” Dircht stuttered.

Eugene became convinced of his theory after seeing Dircht’s response.

“Trying to mislead people with irresponsible nonsense, just what I would expect from an evil heretic! I will reveal your identity with my own hands and…” Dircht started to shout.

“Then, I should be allowed to test it out,” Eugene interrupted.

“...!?”

Eugene raised his voice after turning his head to Lanslo, who had approached the battleground. “What happens if a holy knight uses forbidden magic, Sir Drak?” Eugene addressed his words to Lanslo, but he was actually speaking for the nobles and Count Winslon to hear.

“They will be excommunicated, regardless of their denomination. But what do you mean by that? A holy knight using forbidden magic?” Lanslo responded.

“Sir! That heretic is…” Dircht started to shout.

“Shut your mouth! This is not your church, sir! This is His Excellency Winslon’s land! And all judgments and decisions will be made by him in his own land!” Lanslo interrupted with a loud shout.

Dircht closed his mouth with a stunned expression.

Eugene was greatly surprised as well. He had not expected such a fiery response from Lanslo since he had always been soft and calm.

“It’s just as Sir Drak said. Sir Jung Dircht. I cannot allow anyone to cause a disturbance on my land.” Count Winslon stepped up. He descended from his seat under the escort of his knights and nobles. He spoke after arriving in front of Eugene, “And Sir Eugene. You know that you must take responsibility for your words, right?”

“Naturally,” Eugene responded.

“You heard him, Sir Dircht. You will also take responsibility for your words, correct?” Count Winslon said after turning towards Dircht.

“I swear it on my honor! That man borrowed evil power to murder two of my colleagues!” Dircht roared with a sharp expression.

“Then prove it. Who will go first?” Count Winslon asked.

“I…” Dircht tried to take the opportunity, but Eugene took the initiative.

“What?”

“W-what is he doing now?”

Everyone stared at Eugene with shock. He was taking the armor off of Iod’s cold corpse.

“You! How dare you insult the honor of the holy knights! Stop what you’re doing immediately!” Dircht shouted with immense anger. But Eugene ignored him and finished taking off Iod’s armor. Without delay, he started to cut open Iod’s stomach.

“You dareee!” Jung Dircht started to charge towards Eugene with fury, but Eugene picked up an object from Iod’s innards and lifted it into the air.

“This is proof!” He shouted. The eyes of the nobles, knights, and spectators became fixated on Eugene’s fingertips. A jewel the size of a fingernail reflected a strange light in Eugene’s hand, and it didn’t take very long for the people to recognize the identity of the jewel.

“A m-mana stone…?”

“N-no! The color is different! That’s an anti-mana stone!”

“An anti-mana stone!?”

An item strictly forbidden by the church had been retrieved from the stomach of a dead holy knight.