Chapter 139: Chapter 107: Stand up, Gawain

Never mind an Ancient Dragon. Even Dragon Beasts of a much lower tier than the Azure Fire Dragon—creatures so crossbred their Dragon Race bloodline was as thin as that of a Dragon-Scale Horse—were mostly unwilling to sign contracts with humans, which they believed would cause them to lose their ’draconic pride.’

Even Gawain had to expend Herculean effort, practically facing certain death, to barely win the Azure Fire Dragon’s acknowledgment.

And that was how he became what was perhaps the only Fire Dragon Knight in all of Prole, the one closest to the legendary ’Dragon Knight’ class.

As for a true Pure-blood Dragon Knight, one contracted with an Ancient Dragon...

It was no wonder, then, that Gawain would associate this with a class like ’Puppet Master’—a profession so undeveloped it lacked even established Laws.

And in a way, his reasoning was sound.

’A cheater who would tarnish my pride and the honor of this match... Intolerable!’

Seeing the Demon Hunter’s ’amused’ yet insulting smile, Gawain silently clenched his transformed, claw-like hand.

If Baron knew what Gawain was thinking, he would have cried foul.

In reality, he was wondering why he could make Sun Knight Gawain—a man who possessed the same Golden Eye as him—kneel so utterly with a single sentence, even before the Blood Patterns had even manifested on his body.

He was also wondering why he had subconsciously uttered that word.

And then there was the fact that from his perspective, the kneeling, Dragon-Transformed Gawain really did look a bit like a hanging bat, and he couldn’t help but chuckle—alright, fine, his smile was indeed insulting.

Gawain struggled to get back on his feet.

The slate-gray wings folded on his back trembled, as if trying to break free from something, straining to pry themselves open bit by bit.

Finally, as if having made some kind of decision.

Gawain viciously bit through the tip of his tongue.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The sharp pain allowed him to momentarily regain control of his body.

He slammed his claws into the ground and shot back up! A long, hissing roar erupted uncontrollably from his throat as his membranous wings beat, and a brilliant light flowed across his scales and armor.

The white light sheathing his sharp claws sliced through the air with a hiss.

The white light was aimed at Demon Hunter L, who stood in the middle of the arena, stroking his chin as if lost in deep thought. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Down in the stands, Yalilan’s expression changed as she saw this. "Be careful."

On the other side, the hot-headed Maguire roared in fury, "That son of a bitch Sun Knight is launching a sneak attack!"

The Demon Hunter detected the attack and looked up.

And then...

"Kneel."

THUD. Gawain was on his knees again!!!

The entire arena fell silent.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared, stunned, at the scene in the arena. Not a single person was waving a banner or shouting. Not a single person dared to breathe too loudly.

An unprecedented wave of shock washed over everyone present. They couldn’t stop gasping, their breathing slowing while their hearts hammered in their chests.

’This guy... he’s absolutely brutal...’

The way the Law Enforcers in the Demon Hunter and Knight candidate sections looked at Demon Hunter L had changed. Gone was the earlier pity and curiosity, replaced by sheer horror—a scalp-numbing, heart-stopping terror.

This horror even caused some of the veteran Knights to break out in a cold sweat, an inexplicable sense of loss creeping into their hearts.

If one had to describe it, they were like Cultists witnessing the collapse of their faith.

This was Gawain Lannier! The same Gawain Lannier whom Captain Victor admitted he couldn’t take down without using the [Eight Virtues]!

The Gawain Lannier who was personally selected by Knight King Richard for the Round Table Knight Order, which was being prepared for the upcoming imperial selection ceremony!

The Sun Knight Gawain Lannier, who was destined to reach the Silver Tier and receive the baptism of the Holy Grail!

And yet this Sun Knight Gawain—of the Glorious Knight Order, a Bronze Tier contracted with an Azure Fire Dragon, undefeated in seven straight battles—had been forced to his knees before the fight had even truly begun!

The impact of this scene on the Knights was nothing short of immense.

If it had only happened once, they could have argued that Gawain had just slipped.

But a second time?

Was this not definitive proof that he was outmatched?

Especially when Gawain had just achieved a breakthrough in his Bloodline Assimilation mid-battle and even activated his Dragon Transformation.

Did this second time on his knees mean that Gawain’s absolute limit was merely the starting point for that Intern Demon Hunter, Allen?

Although there was no movement in the fighting ring now—the Demon Hunter and the Knight still holding their previous standing and kneeling postures—the sunlight draped over them like a light veil, and a cool wind stirred by the Alchemy Array gently lifted the hair from their foreheads.

Everything was so peaceful, completely devoid of the battle’s earlier intensity.

But everyone could feel that a battle with no visible bloodshed had perhaps already ended the moment the Sun Knight knelt.

If someone had told the Knights of the Glorious Knight Order—those ’isolated’ by Gawain—that they could defeat Gawain...

...the Glorious Knights would have only assumed one of three things: they were of a higher Tier than Gawain, they were a Faith Knight who could counter a Contract Knight, or they were simply boasting. There were no other options.

But if someone claimed they could not only defeat Gawain, but also make him kneel...

...then the Glorious Knights would have thought they were telling a nonsensical, inappropriate joke.

Because Gawain was an incredibly proud Knight. This was evident from his tendency to ’isolate’ himself from others in the Knight Order, as well as his courage to face the Azure Fire Dragon head-on and win its acknowledgment, becoming the one and only Fire Dragon Knight.

But now, gazing at the black-clad figure in the arena, all the Glorious Knights, all the Demon Hunters and Law Enforcers who had been stunned by Gawain’s power, were plunged into a deep state of bewilderment.

’What kind of a joke is this!!!’

But it wasn’t a joke.

The truth and the reality were laid bare on the stage, leaving everyone in the Glorious Knight Order, as well as the kneeling Gawain himself, lost in a deep state of confusion.