Chapter 134: Chapter 105: The Dragon Knight’s Encounter

In the sparring grounds.

Kapi’s gaze landed on Gawain’s hands. "Where’s your weapon?"

Gawain clenched a fist, his face calm. "This is it."

’Bare-handed?’

A vein throbbed on Kapi’s forehead as a sense of humiliation from being underestimated surged through him.

He said coldly, "Let’s hope your arrogance won’t be your downfall."

Gawain didn’t answer. He simply looked toward the announcer, as if waiting for him to declare the start of the match.

Once the announcer got word that the betting was locked, he nodded, raised his microphone, and began the countdown.

The spectators in the stands joined in, counting down in unison.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

Kapi said coldly, "I really can’t understand why they’re betting on you, a guy who hasn’t fought a single match, over me."

"Seven, six..."

"So what if you’re a Bronze?" he said. "I’ll be a Bronze myself in a few years anyway. Ultimately, this is a battle of skill. How many Demons has a Knight like you ever even killed?"

Kapi tightened his grip on the hilt of his Double-Headed Saber. With a sharp twist, he split the handle, turning the weapon into a pair of broad-bladed sabers.

"Nothing but a hyped-up ’stuffed shirt’ in the end."

"Stuffed shirt" was a common jeer the Prole People had for Knights.

"Five, four..."

Kapi bellowed, "What’s wrong, Gawain! Afraid to answer? Have you already resigned yourself to defeat?!"

He addressed him by his given name, forgoing the surname—an extremely insolent gesture in Prole culture.

"Three, two..."

Gawain glanced at him, and a golden light began to gather in his azure eyes.

Kapi’s heart skipped a beat, but a closer look revealed it was just the reflection of the sun.

He tightened his grip on his twin blades, inwardly warning himself not to get nervous. ’He has no weapon and isn’t using his Promise. Even as a Bronze Knight, he can’t possibly beat me. I’ve been killing Beasts and Demons for over a decade. My heart is as cold as my steel.’

"I’ll win!" he said. "I’ll win!"

At that very moment, the unified voices of the crowd and the announcer reached the final number—"One!"

The instant the word was spoken, Kapi brandished his twin blades and lunged, stomping hard against the ground! Every muscle in his body tensed as a faint current of Spiritual Power surged through his veins, amplifying his explosive force!

Like twin splashes of ink on paper, the blades danced under the sun, scything toward Gawain at the center of their crossing arcs!

’I’ve won!’

Kapi thought in the split second before his blades were about to shear into the Contract Knight’s shoulders.

’Looks like this so-called Bronze Knight is all bark and no bite. Taking me on bare-handed? Trying to use me to make a name for yourself? Dream on!’

A vicious glint filled his eyes. The humiliation that had nearly overwhelmed him moments ago surged back, fueling the acceleration of his blades.

The news said that Gray, who’d been so impressive yesterday, was killed by an Intern Demon Hunter. As his twin sabers met Gawain’s hands, Kapi thought that was only because he hadn’t been there; he could have done it, too.

Then, he went flying.

Excruciating pain erupted from his chest. The force of the impact was so immense he thought his internal organs were about to be pulverized by the shockwave.

He flew like a kite with its string cut, tracing a long parabola through the air, sailing over the arena railing, and hurtling toward the stands.

Through the whistling wind, he groggily opened his eyes and saw the Bronze Knight standing where he had been, his arm still extended from a punch.

In the sunlight, his wine-red curls resembled a blood-soaked lion’s mane.

The spectators in the stands stared wide-eyed, their jaws hanging open wide enough to fit a duck’s egg.

They weren’t Law Enforcers; they didn’t possess the enhanced physical prowess granted by the Law.

In their eyes, this was the strangest match in the entire history of the Hunting Competition.

The countdown ended. The Demon Hunter made his move, the Knight threw a punch, and the Demon Hunter went flying.

It was clean and decisive, completely unlike the drawn-out fights from before.

Unimaginably fast.

By the time it fully registered, only the Knight, Gawain, remained on the stage.

The Demon Hunter, Kapi, now lay with his Double-Headed Saber at the base of a wall by the stands, which now sported a large, webbed crater from the impact.

From the twisted way Kapi’s body was lying, it was clear he had broken more than a few bones.

Onstage, Gawain lowered his fist, his expression as nonchalant as if he had just swatted a fly.

He spoke a single sentence that not only made Kapi pass out cold, but also caused the Demon Hunters below, including Zod and Maguire by the stands, to frown deeply.

He said, "Next."

Steam billowed across the arena. Gold. Golden sunlight bathed the Knight, making the Fire Dragon on his Armor seem to come to life, baring its fangs and claws and breathing fire.

Combined with his peerlessly handsome features.

Against the backdrop of sunlight, steam, and the scorching gazes of young women who looked like they wanted to devour him whole, Gawain was like the sun itself—his mere presence was blinding.

「The stands.」

A moment of silence, like the flash of lightning before a downpour, was followed by a thunderous roar of applause.

"Gawain! Gawain! Gawain!"

Led by the gamblers who had bet on him, the entire crowd roared Gawain’s name in unison!

"Sun Knight! Sun Knight! Sun Knight!"

A group of women shouted the nickname they had given him, their voices mingling with the chants of his name from the other side.

The cheering was a tsunami of sound. Young ladies and maidens, humble street vendors and wealthy merchants—everyone was shouting.

「Amidst the cheers, under the long awning.」 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Yalilan’s expression was grave. From his performance so far, it was clear this Gawain was on a completely different level than yesterday’s Gray.

’Can L really defeat him?’

Stephen said, "If I’m not mistaken, the Sun Knight’s Contractual Assimilation... it appears to be Dragon Claw."