Chapter 45 - The Unstoppable Power

Felix von Arteim, the Commander of the Roswell Knights, had no doubts about their victory.

Neatly dressed in armor, a confident expression, a head held high. It was an attitude that seemed to show that defeat was not even a dream.

He shouted at the top of his lungs in front of his men lined up in battle stance.

"The enemy is weak. They are fools who have rotted and twisted themselves, resting on the glory of the distant past! We have already won against them several times. This time, we just have to trample them down again!"

—That's right!

—Waaaahhh!!!

Just before the match began.

The Roswell Knights responded with a loud voice to the commander's short speech to boost morale. Could this be called the unity of a traditional powerhouse?

Felix nodded his head with a satisfied expression as he looked at his men.

Although it was a preliminary match and the match was held without spectators, it was fortunate that they were able to start off with a smooth victory.

The reason he was ignoring the Black Lion Knights so much was not that far away.

"Hmm… Now that I think about it, you said the captain changed. Then if we just keep him, there won't be any problems."

In the match held last year, the Black Lion Knights showed an ugly appearance that was exactly like a ragtag group.

The weight class itself was not bad, but in every other aspect, it was a pitiful mess that was so pitiful.

A captain weaker than the vice captain, poor discipline, and almost nonexistent morale. It didn't take much effort to subdue them, who were completely incapable of fighting as a group.

—Growling…

When the Roswell Knights, who had become complacent without realizing it, was lost in thought.

"Here they come!"

"I see. Still, you should be polite. Unit, huh?!"

The air in the vast plain changed.

—Kung, kuung…

From afar, a group of people wearing pitch-black plate armor reminiscent of the forces of hell began to approach the plain, shaking the earth's axis.

Felix frowned and muttered in a suspicious voice upon seeing them. It was such an unbelievable sight.

"What is all that? Is it black iron? You supplied all those things to everyone? How on earth?"

As soon as the opponent approached, the turbulent atmosphere spread from the commander to the knights in an instant.

"Huh, the Black Lion Knight Commander is truly a formidable force."

"This is clearly a mistake in the matchup. Look at their momentum! Weren't they like that last year?"

"That blue-haired knight, did he encounter some kind of enemy? How could he have such a vicious gaze…"

The Black Lion Knights, who arrived late, quickly lined up, and the battle was finally about to break out.

The moment they faced the Black Lion Knights head-on to pay their respects to each other, Felix's intuition as a knight who had reached a certain level continuously sent Felix warning signals.

'Crazy.'

Even if he gave it his all, would he be able to hold on to even a few moves?

A friendly match for the purpose of an event, not a real match.

And in a preliminary match where it was an unspoken rule to fight with both sides consciously, was it right to feel the fear of death?

He desperately tried not to tremble in front of his subordinates and paid his respects to his opponent.

"Are you the new Black Lion Knight Commander? You're really impressive. My main is Felix of the Arteim House."

"Wolfgang of the Schwarz House. Is this the level of the Roswell Knights?"

A deep, low voice, as if a beast was growling, echoed eerily.

It was such an intimidating sight that the shameful word "surrender" lingered in my mind.

My pride trembled at the sight of him calmly muttering as if he was looking down from above. Felix was also a leader and a knight.

"Huh...!"

"Then please take care of it. When the judge counts to three, will it start? I hope this will be a match without regrets."

The leaders who met in the center of the battlefield returned to their respective camps.

The judge, who confirmed that both sides were ready for battle, announced the beginning of the match.

—Three! Two...

Just before they faced each other, Felix took a deep breath and pulled himself together, trying to calm his weakened mind.

If it was a one-on-one duel, he wouldn't be able to deal with that monster, but it was different in a group fight.

Not all of them would be as monsters as that leader. So he would have a good chance of winning.

—One!

"All at once, charge!"

"Waaaaaaah!!!"

With a loud roar, the two knights faced each other.

—Kuung!

That day, an emergency was declared at the temples near the Bergson Viscounty.

...............….

Time passed, and two weeks had already passed since the first match of the competition.

Finally, as of today, the preliminary round schedule was over.

"The Roswell Knights that we first met were the strongest, weren't they?"

"Come to think of it, I guess so. At least they didn't fall in one go."

I smiled bitterly as I watched the vice-captain sitting next to me, sipping tea with a cold expression.

After the first night of the preliminary round.

She seemed to be possessed by something, and whenever she had time, she would focus on training, and the frequency of showing off her sloppy or cute side in front of me had noticeably decreased.

She must have been really angry.

Vice-captain Agnes was also a woman before being a subordinate. Perhaps I had done something too harsh. If you look at it negatively, it was no different from me playing with her affection without permission.

'Please fall down for the captain.'

'Wait! This isn't too much... Kyaak!'

Well... Judging from the way she played the remaining matches with all her heart, it seems that her loyalty to her superior remained the same, regardless of her anger at me.

Meanwhile, as expected, our journey was not hindered in the preliminary round.

A smooth victory starting from the first match.

'If the balance is broken, then it's over.'

Originally, group battles between knights were centered around the one-on-one battles between the captains, and the members below them engaged in fierce melee combat.

Of course, in normal cases, it would be normal to use tactics as a weapon to create various variables during the melee.

That's when the weight classes were equal.

In the preliminaries, the Black Lion Knights were predators themselves.

Once I subdued the opposing knight captain, the morale of his subordinates was broken, and I could easily win.

The fact that the vice-captain, who specialized in large-scale battles, had grown by leaps and bounds also played a big role.

After I went on a rampage, the vice-captain stepped up and solidified the wedge. There was no need to go all out.

I don't know if this tactic, which is a bit too much to call it, will work in the main event, but so far, I can say that it's successful.

"What do the others think? Everyone, feel free to share your thoughts."

Right now, the core command of the Black Lion Knights was gathered in one place, reviewing the lessons learned from the preliminary round.

You could call it a kind of postmortem review.

"Haha! The captain is always reliable, but this time, the vice-captain was also incredibly active. He was like the embodiment of coldness."

The first hundred captain, Royce, spoke first, cheerfully.

He originally had a rather noble personality, but after the last mission, his behavior became noticeably freer as if he had been liberated from something.

"Hmm. Until a few months ago, he was just a bit of a chilly breeze, but now, isn't that not the case? If the vice-captain was the enemy... it would be terrible."

The second hundred captain, Pascal, who had a nervous expression but a calm personality in comparison, accepted his words.

After suffering a loss to his subordinate, Captain Raoul, in a public duel in the past.

I was a little worried because he had suffered particularly hardships among the commanders, but fortunately, he seemed to be doing well.

"Sir Agnes, how old is she? She's only in her early twenties? I can really feel the wall of talent. When will I ever manifest my imagination..."

The oldest among the commanders, Captain 300, Karl, added a word.

He seemed to be secretly feeling a sense of crisis about the fact that his direct subordinate, Captain Raoul, had recently manifested his Aura.

"Well, isn't it all thanks to you, Commander, that we won so easily? You're so strong that I honestly sometimes wonder if we're even the same person."

"Huh! Th, that... You must be praising me, right?"

A word blurted out by the honest Captain 400, Warren, without thinking.

The youngest of the 500th Captains, Kenneth, who was younger than the Vice-Captain, secretly looked at me with a startled look.

"Sir Warren. What do you think I am to you?"

"Uh… Well, I don't know. Some kind of superhuman? It's like he was born to be the leader. I can't even imagine the Black Lion Knights without him anymore."

Everyone finally gathered, but for some reason, the flow of the conversation was more like flattery, praising the Captain and Vice-Captain's inaction rather than a strong critique.

"Huh…"

I shook my head and sighed.

Well, there was almost no room to evaluate anything in the preliminaries. Strictly speaking, the Vice-Captain and I almost destroyed everything, and the rest of the members cleaned up.

Now that it's come to this, it would be better to properly prepare for the main event while we're all here.

Because they had a murderous schedule of playing matches almost every three days, even if they had won consecutive games, there was bound to be a loss of combat power.

"Is the maintenance of the weapons going well?"

"Yes. All the damaged armor and weapons have been brought to Elder Eitri's forge, and the repairs will be completed before the main event begins."

"What about the condition of the injured?"

"A total of 12 people, currently in the temple near the garrison, receiving treatment normally."

Fortunately, there seemed to be no major problems.

During the break until the main event, I should pay the most attention to the health and morale of my subordinates.

After that, I discussed a few small matters with the commanders and returned to my office.

There were still quite a few big things to deal with.

[Sharing the results of tracking the Eclipse remnants]

[Transaction statement: Eitri Forge]

A very important-looking official document from the Celestial Church.

And, a gruesome receipt that came flying in as a result of using some of the compensation I was supposed to receive for the Fersen County incident to make black iron armor for my subordinates.

Just as I was wondering what to look at first.

—Owl!

[Master! Congratulations on advancing to the main event!]

A snow-white eagle owl flew in through the gap in my office window.

I couldn't help but frown at the appearance of such a welcome yet troublesome guest.

Alicia. Now you're coming to me so openly even though I'm working.

I'll have to give you a proper scolding sometime.

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