Chapter 387: Half Set of Armor

"Boom!" The golden knight and the crimson dragon collided fiercely once again, the scalding hot dragon blood splattering all around, causing Muria some distress.

He wasn't concerned about Klaest, who had been slashed, or Leon, who had been smashed into the wall, but rather about the dragon blood spilled on the ground. These were high-grade alchemical materials, too precious to waste.

"Eino." Muria called out to the spirit of the mage tower.

"Lord Muria!" The refined middle-aged mage's energy form materialized beside Muria.

"Pay attention, next time they fight, collect the dragon blood that spills when they're wounded. It's too wasteful otherwise."

For some reason, Eino, who had developed a full spectrum of emotions as a sentient being, paused before nodding, "As you command."

"Enough, stop fighting." Seeing Leon struggling to break free from the wall and eager to continue, Muria quickly intervened. The red aura of battle energy enveloping him was barely visible now; humans simply couldn't outlast dragons in one-on-one combat in terms of stamina.

Hearing Muria's command, Leon, already exhausted, took the opportunity to back down, deactivating his demon-slaying armor. His armor disintegrated into streams of light that merged into his great sword, which then transformed into an unremarkable longsword.

"Leon, may I take a look at your sword?" Muria, feeling a sense of familiarity with the blade, stroked his chin as he asked.

"A demon-slaying knight's sword is never held by another before his death," Leon sheathed his longsword and, panting, approached Muria.

"Oh, that's fine then." Muria wasn't upset by the refusal. After pondering for a moment, he pulled a rusty, half-meter long shortsword from his storage ring, an item he had whimsically taken from the treasury of the Golden Dragon.

"Demon-slaying armor!" Before Muria could speak, the sword at Leon's waist reacted, expressing astonishment and elation, then regret: "It's a pity it's only half."

"I believe you're called Zaruba." Recognizing the metallic voice, Muria showed a look of surprise and twirled the shortsword, which was more like a dagger, in his hand.

"This sword is like yours; it can equip armor to become a demon-slaying knight? Why doesn't it speak like you do?"

"Yes, it is similar to me, but it is incomplete; this is only half of it. Where is the other half?"

"I only found this one piece."

"Then it's currently just a sturdy shortsword, incapable of summoning demon-slaying armor unless you find the other half."

"We'll see what happens." Muria shook his head, skeptical about finding the other piece of such a nondescript shortsword; it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Hmm!" Zaruba responded, then fell silent.

"Leon, stop looking; you already have a set of armor. You can't wear a second one." After figuring out what the shortsword he had taken from the Golden Dragon's treasury was, Muria simply put it away.

"Lord Muria, that is human armor."

"But it was lost to you, and now it's in my hands. If you want it back, you'll have to pay a price," Muria said with a smile. Demon-slaying armor was nearly as valuable as a relic, or even considered a relic in the eyes of humans.

"What kind of price?" Leon asked subconsciously.

"Really want it?"

"Yes." The red-haired youth nodded resolutely.

"Alright, I'll give you a chance. Participate in the competition I'm organizing. If you win first place, I'll reward you with this sword. How about that?" Muria smiled as he revealed his purpose for being here. He planned to have this young demon-slaying knight represent him in the competition, otherwise he'd just be endlessly clashing with dragons in the demi-plane.

"A competition?" Leon looked puzzled.

"Yes, I am now acting as…" Muria began to explain his journey to the Nokia O continent and his role in the Kingdom of Rockman to Leon, who knew nothing of the outside world, causing the five-colored dragons nearby to be visibly perplexed.

"So, you want me to fight on your behalf?"

"Yes."

"Why me?"

"I'm hosting this competition, and it's clear that it won't lack for noble scions as participants; all the great nobles will send representatives," Muria said, rubbing his head in mild frustration.

"Logically, the royal family should also send participants, but the only member left in the main line is Princess Remilia, who is not even ten years old. There's no one else, so I have to send someone."

"So you chose me?"

"

Of course, who else among my subordinates is better suited to compete?"

"What about the royal family branches? Can't they send someone?"

"King Beladion preferred to appoint me as Regent rather than seek help from those branches, which tells you a lot," Muria clapped the red-haired youth on the shoulder. "So those royal branches are utterly unreliable; we can't let them gain prestige through the competition."

"I understand. I'll compete." Leon's face was full of confidence. "I will win first place."

"Leon, don't be too arrogant," Muria cautioned. "You will be facing humans. Without your demon-slaying armor, can you truly defeat all the talents of a kingdom?"

"In the Kingdom of Rockman, who else trains by battling dragons daily as I do?" The young demon-slaying knight's eyes brimmed with confidence; he was sure he could defeat any peer.

"If you can fight Klaest as you just did without your armor, then make such claims," Muria smiled. Youthful vigor was normal; it would be abnormal if he were as impassive as an old man, unshaken by anything.

"Without the armor, that's impossible," Leon frowned. The innate gap between humans and dragons was vast; how could one compensate without external help?

"I happen to know a human who possesses the power to slay dragons with a sword alone," Muria smiled, recalling his own swordsmanship mentor.

"The first Sword Saint, Lord Ron?"

"That's right."

"Impossible. Out of hundreds of billions of humans over thousands of years, there has only been one Sword Saint Ron."

"Don't tell me about the impossible; I only know that everything is possible. How will you know if you can't become the second Sword Saint Ron if you don't try?"

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