Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 64: Entrance Ceremony Duel – Crow VS Nameless Knight

Chapter 64: Entrance Ceremony Duel – Crow VS Nameless Knight

Chapter 64 - Entrance Ceremony Duel – Crow VS Nameless Knight

"POWER OF TIDAL WAVE!"

Ah, it has been a while. Hello again, caps speaker.

The nameless man lunged with his spear thrust forward. Behind him, a tidal wave surged into existence like some JoJo Stand, propelling him forward as if he were surfing straight at me.

This was a bad matchup. My fire musou was not ideal colliding with water musou. Still, I wasn’t worried.

This water-element attack was something common elite mobs used in the game. I had faced it countless times already.

An orange circle flared around his spear, shrinking at a pace so slow that a sloth could lap him on the Nürburgring. That was my cue.

I sidestepped and brought my blade down in a sharp swat.

CLANK!

The spear flew from his grip, spinning uselessly through the air. The tidal wave dissolved into mist, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

The momentum reversed. The man stumbled backward and landed flat on his backside.

Counter successful. Big flashy move, big flashy fail.

The duel was far from over. Disarming him didn’t mean victory.

I poured musou energy into my broadsword. Flame traveled from my hand to the tip of my sword. The red blade stretched longer, and its fire extended outward as if it wanted blood.

The white-haired man’s eyes bulged.

"W-Wait!"

I swung down. The blade curved, slamming into the ground mere centimeters from his groin. He froze, staring at my sword... then at his babymaker. A yellow stain spread across his pants.

I warned him, "Be grateful. On a real battlefield, I would have taken your head."

Why didn’t I finish him? Simple. Dead opponents don’t attract new challengers. And without challengers, how was I supposed to aura-farm and scam brats for quick cash?

I turned to Paul, waiting for the verdict.

Paul stood smirking with arms crossed.

"Hey," I called.

"What?"

"Isn’t this over?"

Paul chuckled. "Your opponent hasn’t resigned. He’s still got two arms and two legs. He can fight."

I caught the hint. This wasn’t just a duel.

It was bloodsport.

"Alright. If you want blood, I’ll give you blood."

Blood for the Blood God!

I raised my sword again.

"STOP!"

The level-four knight from the white-haired man’s entourage leapt onto the stage, hurling a javelin. It transformed midair into an ice lance, freezing the platform floor as it streaked toward me.

In my vision, the blue lance turned red. According to soul-game logic, this attack could not be blocked or parried.

I kicked off the ground, rolled aside, and sprang back up. The javelin exploded where I used to be. Shards of ice sprayed across the stage. A few grazed me, leaving shallow cuts.

Paul vanished, then reappeared in front of the knight as if he had teleported. With one hand, he slammed the knight’s head into the floor.

He declared casually, "Interference from the side is prohibited. Your master is disqualified. The match is over."

I exhaled in relief. For once, Paul played fair.

He grabbed both the wet-pants bozo and the knight by their collars, hurling them off the stage. Then he bellowed,

"The challenger has been defeated! No change to the royal knight class seat. The challenger is demoted to the squire class as per the rules! The winner may claim the wagers after the ceremony!"

The coliseum buzzed again. Not everyone was impressed.

"That idiot. How do you lose like that?"

"Dropping your weapon? What is he, five?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"If it were me, I would have skewered that red clown in seconds."

I loved these crowds. I expected more cash coming my way.

While the white-haired man’s group shamefully left the stage, the parent glared at me. Losing a musou coin and a 4,000 gold coin promissory note could have taken a toll on their savings. Good luck explaining this to your wife, bozo.

Lesson of the day: Never gamble unless you can cheat and won’t get caught.

In seconds, a new challenger rose up from the spectator stand.

"My name is Rock Norg, the son of Marquis Tavor Norg! You don’t deserve to be in the royal knight class! I challenge you, weakling!"

I laughed at him. "And your wager?"

Rock Norg scoffed. "Five musou coins and one copper coin. That copper coin is for your life!"

What a bloodthirsty fellow. I loved how fancy his insult was.

Paul, however, had another idea. He announced,

"Before we continue with the challenge, let me remind you of one thing. The wager accumulates! After the first duel, the wager box of this knight candidate contains five thousand worth of gold coins. Combined with the seat’s assets, it added up to 10,000 gold coins! Thus, if you aim to acquire all his possessions, you are required to wager something of equal or higher value."

What a freaking scam!

I almost cussed Paul for raising the stake. At this rate, nobody would challenge me.

In the game, 10,000 gold coins were enough to buy a small city or hire a hundred low-level knights for a year. Here, jacking the wager to this amount seemed excessive.

Rock laughed. "Only 10,000 gold coins? You underestimate us!"

Oh, dear. My fears came true. A pay-to-win player stepped up.

Paul laughed. "Get on the stage! Don’t waste our time!"

Rock leapt from the spectator stand and landed on the platform. Different from the others, he came to school with a breastplate, metal leggings, and metal boots. Only his arms and shoulders were unprotected. His confident expression and demeanor were suspicious.

He seemed prepared, as if he knew about this challenge system. I glanced at Paul, who crossed his arms and sneered at me.

"What? Just another level 3 water user. Are you scared?"

Another water knight? Indeed, this smelled.

Once a coincidence. Twice a pattern. If there would be a third, this would explain everything.

I fetched a small glass bottle from my pocket and popped the lid. I chugged its content and burped.

Unfortunately for Rock and Paul, they weren’t the only ones who prepared. I still had three more 10-ounce bottles, a dragon seal, and two dumplings in my secret pockets. I doubted the dumplings were still fluffy, though.

Paul frowned at me. "What did you just drink? A wine?"

I smirked at him and showed him an empty bottle. This was one of the items I had obtained from training dummies. "Want some? Oh, it’s gone. Too bad, I only have one."

"You addicted. Whatever. Get ready."

I got into my position and watched my opponent.

Rock calmly unsheathed his two broadswords. One of them glowed blue while the other exuded black mist. Both were obviously magic weapons, similar to mine.

"Oh, dear."

Realization hit me. This was 100% a setup to humiliate me. I wondered how many opponents he had prepared.

"BEGIN!" Paul yelled.