Chapter 138: Chapter 107: Stand Up, Gawain

In the arena.

The Black Moon and white sun hung high in the sky. The proudly standing Demon Hunter and the kneeling Knight faced each other, their respective expressions reflected on the surfaces of the two blades planted in the ground.

One was so cold it was inhuman.

The other was so terrified he was on the verge of collapse.

"How... How is this possible..."

Gawain stared at his knees, pressed firmly against the ground. His heart swelled with a twisted mix of rage and shame. After a moment of stunned disbelief, he tilted his head up to look at the Demon Hunter.

The Demon Hunter’s previously icy expression had also shifted to one of surprise, as if to say, ’I haven’t even made a move. Why are you on your knees?’

What... What was going on?

The crowd, having just recovered from the oppressive Dragon Mighty, witnessed this unimaginable scene in the arena, and their breath caught in their throats once more.

Was that... kneeling?

The Sun Knight, Gawain, was kneeling before Allen, the Intern Demon Hunter?

Were they seeing things?

No, they were not!

Everyone in the stands instinctively widened their eyes and let their jaws hang open. Their mouths moved, as if they wanted to say something, but the words seemed to be caught in their throats.

Gazing at the scene unfolding, even the announcer, a master of hyping up the crowd, was momentarily dumbstruck. He held the microphone, unable to speak for a long moment.

In the Demon Hunter candidate area.

Maguire dazedly nudged Zod, whose chest was soaked with liquor. "What’s going on?"

Zod, who had choked on his drink, was still gaping in astonishment. After a long moment, he replied numbly, "I have no idea."

In the Knight candidate area.

Galahad and the other Knights stared toward the arena, their expressions completely devoid of emotion. They appeared to be maintaining the customary composure of Law Enforcers of the Knight Profession.

But anyone with a keen eye would realize it wasn’t that the Knights were remaining calm; rather, faced with a scene that defied all comprehension, the only expression they could manage was no expression at all.

The Knights’ pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and cold sweat streamed down their temples.

The corner of one senior Knight’s eye—one of the six who had been scheduled to compete—twitched violently. He murmured, "Galahad... am I going blind...?"

Galahad’s gaze passed through the iron gate, fixed intently on the arena. After a moment of silence, he shook his head. "Perhaps I’m blind as well."

Below the stage, at the edge of the arena, under the long canopy.

The five distinguished Law Enforcers had all risen from their seats, their expressions varied.

Stephen frowned. Tate scratched his head. Yalilan’s red lips were slightly parted, her heroic and coldly beautiful face showing astonishment for the very first time.

Victor and Lewis, Gawain’s former teammates and instructors, were also staring in utter disbelief.

Victor was particularly stunned. As Gawain’s friend for many years, he knew his strength and character. He couldn’t imagine that a man as proud as the sun would ever kneel to another person.

"But what in the world is going on?" he muttered to himself. "What in the world is going on?"

Lewis’s gaze landed on Baron as he said quietly, "The answer probably lies with our Allen."

...

In the arena.

Feeling the weight of everyone’s stares, Gawain, still on his knees, was overcome with humiliation. A fire raged in his chest, threatening to burn through everything.

He wanted to stand, but he could not.

He wanted to roar, but his throat felt as if it were caught in a vice, and he couldn’t make a single sound.

The burning, piercing stares of the crowd made Gawain increasingly agitated.

He knew that, no matter what, he couldn’t remain kneeling like this.

His Golden Eye reflected the figure behind the twin blades. He understood that this all stemmed from the other man’s command—that single word, "Kneel," delivered like an Emperor’s edict.

And though his own will fought against it, his body had knelt uncontrollably, like a court official hearing a command from the Emperor and immediately prostrating himself in submission.

’This is a type of attack I’ve never seen before.’

"You... what the hell did you do to me..."

Gawain clenched his jaw, his will desperately fighting against this "instinct."

Even in his Dragon Transformation state, facing the Demon Hunter, he had lost even the ability to control his own body.

He had once heard of a land across the sea from Prole called Feinan. There, aside from the "Dragon Master" profession—which had already been guided by Destiny to gradually form a Professional Law—existed another profession that had not yet formed a Law: the "Puppet Master."

A Puppet Master possessed an Authority that allowed them to use puppets to temporarily control the bodies of others.

’This Allen is from Feinan... He’s an Intern Demon Hunter, yet he’s never revealed his school or style... He also has black hair, which most Feinan People have... And when he entered the arena, he seemed to be observing something, as if trying to capture some detail...’

As these thoughts raced through Gawain’s mind, he suddenly landed on a guess. The previously flawed chain of logic instantly snapped into place, becoming perfectly self-consistent.

’This Demon Hunter broke the rules! He used an Authority other than physical enhancement! It’s because the Puppet Master profession is so rare that I and everyone else in the audience failed to notice!’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

’Otherwise, how could a proud Fire Dragon Knight like me, one who has completed Bloodline Assimilation, possibly obey a command from a mere Intern Demon Hunter!’

’That’s it... That must be it!’

The shame and indignation in Gawain’s heart were drowned out by a new, overriding wave of contempt.

In truth, you couldn’t blame him for thinking this way. Among the Dragon Race, the Azure Fire Dragon ranked only a single Tier below the Pure-blood Ancient Dragons. A level even higher were the Dragon Kings, who had long since perished in the War of Law.

According to the established hierarchy of Prole’s Magical Beasts, aside from a few creatures on the same Tier as the Azure Fire Dragon, not many could claim a higher status.

The only known examples were the likes of Pure-blood Ancient Dragons and the Golden Lion.

But to achieve absolute suppression over an Azure Fire Dragon, even an Ancient Dragon would have to be among the most supreme of the Pure-blood Ancient Dragons.

As for getting an Ancient Dragon to sign a Knight Contract to share its bloodline with a human—that was about as likely as finding a Demon Hunter who doesn’t frequent brothels. In other words, impossible.