The audience stared blankly at the martial arts stage, at the lone figure who stood like a sword piercing the surrounding clamor.

It wasn’t just that people were holding their breath; at this moment, even the wind itself seemed to fall silent.

The faces of the ladies and gentlemen, the gamblers and attendants, were all painted with thick shock. Their mouths hung open, wanting to say something, yet for a long while no words came out.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, who would have believed it? An Intern Demon Hunter had actually defeated the Barbarian Bear Knight?

But the wails of the Barbarian Bear Knight on the stage, and that proud, solitary figure standing over him...

Everyone gasped.

’Isn’t he an Intern Demon Hunter? How did he defeat the Barbarian Bear Knight... Gray, the man who ended Andre’s five-win streak, so easily and effortlessly?’

The long silence in the arena was finally broken by an eruption of wails and roars, like a tidal wave crashing against a mountain.

Lewis, who hadn’t been paying attention to the stage, was also stunned. He had been passionately pitching the Mechanical School’s latest technology to Stephen, hoping to secure an investment from the First Hunter Association.

As if the realization was just dawning on him, he asked Victor, "What happened?" just as he would have back when he was commander of the Glorious Knight Order.

Victor’s expression was complicated, but adhering to the Virtue of [Honesty], he replied, "Allen broke through the Lost Claw offensive. He made Gray fail before he could even swing his axe."

One by one, the members of the Knight Order cast astonished gazes toward the figure on the stage, now shrouded in the steam of victory. The sight made their scalps tingle.

As Gray’s teammates, they knew his strength well. Even without his [Promise], he would still rank in the top five of the Knight Order.

After all, Gray wasn’t just a Black Iron Tier Knight; his contracted partner was a strength-type Demon Beast, a "Mountain-Pushing Bear." The contract’s enhancement took his already formidable physique to an even greater level.

He could have killed Tyson—the famous boxer who’d left the Beast Faction Demon Hunters of Fude City—with a single punch. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

This was why, even though no one in the Knight Order liked Gray, they had no choice but to acknowledge his power.

And yet now, this frail-looking Intern Demon Hunter had taken Gray down in just a few moves?

’Even if Commander Victor or *that guy* abandoned the [Eight Virtues] and fought at the same tier, could they have done much better?’

This left the Knights feeling bewildered.

As they looked at the figure on the stage, their initial astonishment was now mixed with a healthy dose of fear.

Yalilan’s red lips parted slightly, the elegant calm on her beautiful, full-featured face replaced by disbelief.

’It’s only been a few days since we parted in Mundra. How have L’s Combat Skills improved so much since his fight with Savi?’

This shook Yalilan. She had observed L’s previous fights closely, and her conclusion had been that he possessed raw combat instinct but lacked proper technique.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been hit by attacks from low-level grunts that should have been easily avoidable. But just now... right before the slash and kick that L used to defeat Gray...

During the stalemate earlier, while Gray was marveling at Allen’s great strength and Lewis was smugly describing his old Lost Claw offensive...

...Yalilan, who was proficient in nearly all the Combat Skills of the Silver Demon Hunters, clearly recognized the technique Demon Hunter L was using. It was the "Shaking Blade Technique," a skill that had long since disappeared, one that only a handful of old Hunters from the Silver Faction knew!

The Shaking Blade Technique required perfect control over one’s own strength and muscles. Then, by using Spiritual Power to manipulate blood flow, the user could make the blade vibrate instantaneously to deflect force.

But it was easier said than done.

With this method of using Spiritual Power to control blood flow, the slightest mistake would cause one’s blood vessels to rupture, resulting in a fatal explosion.

Because of this risk, many years ago, most Silver Faction families designated the "Shaking Blade Technique" as a Secret Technique that only veteran Hunters of Bronze Tier or higher were permitted to learn.

Eventually, it was reclassified as a Forbidden Technique altogether.

If Yalilan hadn’t systematically studied it with the backing of her merchant association, it was likely that even she would not have recognized it.

And she had only barely recognized it at that. To claim she could use it herself would be utterly laughable.

L...

She watched the man on the stage, her beautiful eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions as doubts bloomed in her mind.

’According to Zod, L was originally a playwright from Feinan. He had to flee his homeland because he wrote an opera that satirized the Feinan Royal Family...’

’Setting aside the question of why the brutish King of Feinan merely exiled him instead of killing him, judging by his age, L couldn’t have been a Demon Hunter for more than five years.’

’To master the Shaking Blade Technique in just five years? A technique that some veteran Hunters fail to grasp in half a lifetime?’

If any Demon Hunter had made such a claim to her before today, Yalilan would have thought they were insane.

But this man on the stage hadn’t just done it; he had achieved a level of mastery that was nothing short of divine.

’Why would a man from the national capital of Feinan, a place dominated by Dragon Masters, choose to come to Prole to become a Demon Hunter? And even if he did, how did he also manage to learn the Shaking Blade Technique in such a short amount of time?’

She couldn’t figure it out. As much as she wanted to jump onto the stage and question L right then and there, she knew no one would dare speak openly about a Forbidden Technique.

So, in the end, she just bit her full lip, resolving to do some research in the Quford City Demon Hunter Association’s library after the event was over.

"Wait a minute. If this Allen wins, doesn’t that mean... all the money I bet on Gray... is gone?"

As the thunderous cheers from the crowd continued, a gambler had a sudden, dawning realization.

His words served as a wake-up call, and the surrounding ladies and gentlemen who had also bet on Gray suddenly realized something was terribly wrong.

This fight—which from the very beginning most had seen as a complete mismatch with a foregone conclusion and lopsided odds—had defied everyone’s expectations.