"Gawain Lannier is the kind of man whose determination to win grows stronger the more you try to make him concede," Victor said. "This next fight might be over quickly. The Lord City Master should have a healing Wizard ready."

...

"Ladies and gentlemen! The battle is about to begin! This may very well be the last match of the day! Let me hear your loudest cheers!"

"Even if it’s just for the money!!!"

The arena was starkly divided. On one side, under the Black Moon, stood the Demon Hunter. On the other, beneath the blazing sun, stood the Knight.

Everyone watched with feverish eyes, staring at the two figures in the arena, hoping for either an evenly matched struggle or a battle of crushing dominance!

But contrary to the expectations of the crowd, his former superiors, and his teammates, Gawain wasn’t thinking about a quick victory. His priority was to deal with the strange, searing heat that was spreading through his body.

But there was no time. As soon as Baron grabbed his preferred weapons—two Long Sabers—the announcer declared all bets closed. As always, the countdown began, drowned out by the roar of the crowd!

"Ten!"

’How is this possible? How can this be!’

Gawain’s heart felt heavy and tight. He was shocked to realize his Spiritual Power had become sluggish and thick, so much so that he couldn’t even perform the most basic enhancement!

’I can’t move it! I can’t move any of the Spiritual Power in my entire body!’

He was like a young beast in the jungle, frozen in place at the sight of a tiger. A single possibility dawned on him, and his face went white as a sheet.

"Nine!"

’No, this is impossible. This can’t be real.’

’I’m a Dragon Knight! The one and only Dragon Knight!’

’How could I be suffering from Status Suppression from a mere Intern Demon Hunter!’

"Eight!"

A golden brilliance surged from the depths of his aqua-blue eyes as he fought back against the tremor that originated from the very depths of his soul.

Cold sweat streamed down his face, but the golden hue continued to expand within his eyes!

The aqua-blue was consumed by gold! His Golden Eye flared, retaining only a faint trace of its original color!

He felt jagged shapes pushing against his backplate, as if something were growing savagely beneath his armor.

Breathing became difficult, as if he were a thousand meters underwater. He couldn’t escape with his arms alone; he had to sprout massive wings and propel himself upward!

He felt it. He felt it!

The anxiety and restlessness of his Dragon, transmitted through their Contract.

And in that moment, Gawain instinctively seized upon that fleeting anxiety, that restlessness unique to his Dragon!

"Seven... six... five!"

With a deafening BOOM!

As if shattering unseen shackles, enormous wings tore through the back of the Sun Knight’s armor, unfurling majestically over the arena!

Baron was stunned. ’I knew the guy was tough,’ he thought, ’but I didn’t know he was *this* tough. Why is he transforming? Hey ref, you sure this isn’t a foul?’

He hadn’t witnessed Gawain’s showboating firsthand, as he’d been waiting in the Demon Hunter candidates’ area. But after seeing a parade of other contestants carried away on stretchers and getting a tip from one of them, he had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

Honestly, besides feeling a bit annoyed at being disrespected, he was also curious.

He admitted to himself that even if he could pull it off, he couldn’t do it with such effortless skill.

Baron had requested his preferred dual sabers from the arena staff with the intention of honing his skills against an expert, as well as testing out his [Blood Pattern].

’But... dude, what’s the deal with using your ultimate move right at the start?’

Baron watched Gawain transform into a "Little Dragon Person" nearby, his gaze lingering on the Golden Eye. ’Seems like there are more Law Enforcers of the Dragon Knight class than people let on,’ he mused.

"Five... four... three!"

Below the stage, under the long canopy, Stephen Tate and the others shot to their feet, shock written all over their faces.

"This is..."

Maguire saw Zod’s pupils constrict in shock, as if he were witnessing the impossible.

Zod murmured, "This... how is this possible?"

Onstage, the Sun Knight’s expression was cold and remote. His muscles bulged, and his Golden Dragon Eye burned as bright as incandescent coal.

Savage Dragon Claws had replaced his hands, and his face was now covered in metallic scales that shifted with every breath, glinting dazzlingly in the sun.

And on his back, a pair of enormous, steely-blue membranous wings!

Each flap of the wings kicked up a gale, forcing the staff at the edge of the arena to retreat. Soon, only Baron remained, his black clothes whipping wildly in the wind.

The entire arena fell silent. The countdown stopped. Sunlight pierced through the settling dust, illuminating the proudly standing Sun Knight.

"Bloodline Assimilation!"

Lewis exclaimed in shock. "He’s fulfilled the prerequisite to advance to the Silver Tier! The Azure Fire Dragon he has a Contract with has completely acknowledged him! It’s willing to fully share its bloodline!"

"His earlier condition wasn’t poisoning or exhaustion—the man was actively trying to earn the recognition of his contracted Azure Fire Dragon in the middle of a fight!"

"He conquered that Dragon in his spirit!"

"As he is now, even without a Contract with a Pure-blood Ancient Dragon, he’s incredibly close to becoming a Dragon Knight, the most legendary and powerful Knight class!"

Disbelief was written all over Victor’s stout face. "A breakthrough in the heat of battle... At this rate, Gawain will reach the Silver Tier within two years."

He frowned. "It seems I’ll have to become a Silver Knight as quickly as possible if I want to keep one step ahead of him."

"A Dragon Knight... For a Law Enforcer without an exceptionally strong will, a class like that is almost impossible to defeat."

Stephen suddenly let out a long sigh. "It seems this match is already over."

The moment he achieved Dragon Blood Purification, the battle was decided before it had even truly begun.

"Contractual Assimilation on the verge of the Silver Tier... A Dragon Knight..."

Arielan frowned. L was in trouble now.

"Two!"

Gawain raised two Dragon Claws toward Baron, taking over the count from the silent crowd.

The fatigue and oppression in his mind and body vanished. As the Dragon Mighty surged within him, that same all-conquering confidence once again filled his chest.

The utterly transformed Gawain Lannier lorded over the entire arena with a mountain-like majesty!

At the same instant, every lower-Tier Contract Knight, every Beast Hunter of insufficient purity, and even the Law Enforcers and audience members who stared directly into the Golden Eye felt their breath catch. Their minds went blank, as if a thousand giant bells were ringing inside their heads, carrying an unstoppable Dragon Mighty!

And at the very center of this Dragon Mighty was Baron.

He stood at the epicenter of the Dragon Mighty, in the eye of the coming storm. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Yet, as if nothing were the matter, he raised his hand toward the dumbfounded announcer at the side of the arena.

"I’d like to file a complaint! This was supposed to be a contest of skill! He turned into a Little Dragon Person—how the hell am I supposed to fight that?!"

Gawain was astonished that his opponent could move so freely within his overwhelming Dragon Mighty.

’It’s important to understand that in my current state of Half-Dragon Transformation, I’ve reached the absolute peak of Assimilation for a Bronze Knight, just shy of the Silver Tier. With the increased ratio of Dragon Blood, my Dragon Mighty can even exert a degree of Status Suppression on Knights of the same Tier.’

’So why can "Allen"—an Intern Demon Hunter who’s Black Iron Tier at best and hasn’t even activated his [Alchemy Circuits] or [Hunter’s Eye]—resist this Dragon Mighty?’

’Unless... his own status is higher than mine, a Knight with an Azure Fire Dragon Contract.’

’A Contractor with a status higher than a pure-blood subspecies? Is he with the Pure-blood Dragon Race? Or a Golden Lion? Or a Silver Lion?’

But Gawain quickly shook his head, dismissing the absurd notion.

’The Pure-blood Dragon Race is far too proud; they would never sign a Knight Contract with a human.’

’And the Golden Lion... that’s Emperor Prole’s Undead Army. There are no other Golden Lion Knights wandering the Continent.’

With that thought, his transformed draconic body raised a single finger.

"One!"

Gawain finished the final countdown for the audience.

Before the spectators could recover from the shock of his Bloodline Assimilation and the overwhelming Dragon Mighty, his membranous wings beat, lifting him on the currents of wind. He shot into the sky like erupting magma, his clawed wings slicing through the air like scimitars, leaving sharp, cold trails of light. Then he descended, an unstoppable force from above!

At the focal point of his attack, he saw Demon Hunter L look up.

His dark eyes were as placid as an old well—utterly ordinary. They caught a glint of sunlight, making them look, for a moment, like gold.

Baron watched the Sun Knight plummet from the sky, his silhouette eclipsing the sun, and a terrifyingly sharp intuition suddenly surfaced within him.

Following this intuition, he didn’t raise his weapons. Instead, he planted his dual sabers into the ground. Ignoring the screams of the audience and the warning shouts of the other Demon Hunters, he followed the idea that surfaced in his mind, extended a finger, and uttered a single word.

He said: "Kneel."

Gawain sneered, assuming his opponent had been frightened witless by his Dragon Mighty and was now spouting nonsense as he gave up all resistance.

He didn’t slow his attack, but angled it slightly toward an empty section of the arena, thinking that even if the man had given up, he still deserved a lesson.

And then he plummeted from the sky and, with a heavy THUD, slammed to his knees on the ground.

Clean and simple.