The Knights Duel

Training began with the Imperial Knights, divided into two, charging at each other.

However, even while watching the intense mock battle, Carl could not identify a knight who could be of help to him.

To Carl, this mock battle seemed to just be about people in armor swarming in, pushing and beating each other.

Of course. Carl, who has no knowledge of martial arts and only has mana and cannot handle it, cannot sharply assess the knight's skills in this situation.

Instead, when the knights first lined up, Carl memorized the faces of those behind them with a disciplined look, and looked closely at their expressions.

"How is it?"

Seeing Carl busily rolling his narrowed eyes here and there, Gilbert asks in a voice filled with laughter.

Carl glanced up at Gilbert and spoke in a low voice, still with a childlike smile.

"It is indeed the Imperial Knights. That's really cool."

With those words, Gilbert clearly saw that Carl was unable to understand the knights' skills.

There were only a very small number of knights who actively participated in the mock battle, and the rest were just swinging their swords and roughly bumping their bodies.

In this situation, even drivers who want to work hard have no choice but to act passively.

He can see how much they ignore Carl.

Car, However, doesn't care about those knights who ignores him.

After all, At the end of the day they are extras.

But to some extent, this was too severe.

At least they shouldn't have behaved like this in front of Gilbert.

"stop!"

"Ugh!"

Carl covers his ears and cowers at Gilbert's stern command.

Gilbert silently glared at the stopped knights with wide eyes.

No matter how noble the family lineage is, one cannot dare open one's eyes and raise one's head in front of Gilbert Eville, the head of the Imperial Knights who has held the position for decades.

"It seems that you have shown the best of yourself as a member of the great Imperial Knights."

"… … ."

Everyone keeps their mouths shut as Gilbert sarcastically speaks with the tongue of a snake.

"Now I want you to show your skills as an individual knight."

It means to spar.

The knights' faces crumpled.

It's annoying just to be suddenly called in and do group combat training...And now they have to spar.

Even though the Imperial Knights had become a political arena, Gilbert did not criticize them any further.

The Imperial Knights were created from the beginning to be used by the emperor as a tool of power. This is its original appearance.

In other words, the reason Azgoth gave Carl's the imperial knights was to create a political backbone if possible.

Although Carl was acting completely the opposition.

Soon the knights came out and, following the format of a duel, raised their swords in front of their chests, swung them, and took their stance. Carl looked at it with an anxious expression.

It seemed like he was a noble knight, so Carl lost interest even before it started.

visor——!!

Chaaat——!!

And even if you spar, you don't really know what you're doing.

In a split second before Carl could even figure out what happened, the swords became entangled and the game was on.

The knights from the nobility quickly settled the battle with their swords and then retreated.

It's disciplined, cool, and gorgeous. He's not sure, but it looks like he's fighting well.

However, if the sword touches the body, that is the end. It retreats cleanly. Don't trust your armor and push through it to try to wrestle.

This is because they are too noble to throw themselves on the dirty floor.

'It's finally come out.'

The moment Carl had been waiting for finally came. Instead of being a nobleman with stylishly trimmed hair and beard, a man with a strong appearance with his head and beard shaved tightly steps forward.

The person opposing him is also a woman with a scarred face and her hair cut very short.

They bowed their heads towards Gilbert and Carl, then put on their helmets and lowered their visors.

Chuck——!!

Whoosh——!!

They hold the sword in front of their chest, swing it vigorously, and immediately change their posture to aim at their opponent.

The male knight is steadily pulling his chin in with his sword placed in the middle part. The female knight raises her sword high above and measures the distance with light steps.

'Something is different.'

Carl was thrilled by that sight.

Unlike high-ranking nobles who used up a lot of mana and showed flashy movements, they sink heavily and look for gaps like wild beasts trying to kill each other.

It is a true murder technique created simply to kill humans.

Even Carl could feel it.

Kagak—!!

Clank—!,Clank—!,Clank—!

The sounds of sword swings and feet stamping were drowned out by the sound of swords scraping against each other.

There were no complicated movements, it was literally the blink of an eye. From Carl's perspective, it seemed as if the two people who were far apart had folded the space together.

The sword that the female knight was aiming at the middle part was swung so sharply that it looked like it was bent sharply, and went into a very sharp and sharp trajectory.

As she is tall and her arms are long, she uses a longer sword. She obviously has an overwhelming advantage in reach.

Pulling in the chin, holding the center of gravity tightly, and stretching out the arms to attack at maximum reach, the gap is no different from swinging a spear.

However, the female knight followed the lightly teasing steps, twisted her body and lunged forward, and while scraping the side of her helmet, she pushed in her crossguard to block the male knight's sword.

Squeak… .

In the midst of the storm of sound of the steel warrior moving, it seemed like such a small sound was heard.

The female knight's swordplay scratched the male knight's chest.

The sturdy armor of the Imperial Knights is sharpened with a single blow.

But it is shallow. Although they both struck each other, it cannot be said that they inflicted fatal injuries.

Unlike their previous sparring, the two did not stop like that.

It looks like they really intend to kill each other.

Carl felt a tingling sensation as if his skin would be torn by the bursting fighting spirit and survival.

What happened next was something Carl could clearly see.

"Sigh!"

Thud—!

Their swords are intertwined in the crossguard.

The female knight pressed down with force, twisted his wrist, and ran forward with strong steps.

The female knight's sword seemed to bend and go down, but then her flexible wrist was pulled to the point where it seemed almost broken, and she retrieved the sword and retreated.

Kak!

Although the long sword, which was more than a span long and heavy, was excellently parried, the female knight's all-out sword skills were unable to attack the male knight at all.

There is a huge difference in the reach. The female knight's sharply pierced sword stopped a span of distance from the male knight's head.

As the distance increases, a male knight with a long reach has the advantage.

However, if he dig in, he will be pushed down by the force.

"Aah!"

Carl, who unconsciously screamed and clenched his fists, was completely absorbed in the duel between the two knights who seemed to be fighting for their lives.

With his incredible concentration, Carl's eyes clearly capture the movements of the female knight in danger.

The female knight seemed to retreat slightly, but when the male knight followed suit, he rushed towards her.

The moment Carl thought it was a reckless act, the female knight drew the sword she was swinging closer.

Crack—!

The male knight's longsword strikes the female knight's completely defenseless exposed shoulder harshly.

The sword loaded with mana cuts through the armor, and blood splatters from the female knight's shoulder.

But it was blocked.

Handling armor is also a knight's skill!

Puck—!

Thrust—!

Next, the female knight thrust out the sword she had been holding with all her might and drove it into the male knight's chest.

The sword loaded with mana burrows like a snake between feamle knights arms and penetrates the armor.

As he was being pushed around by the sword, the direction of the force was distorted, causing the body of the sword to snap in the middle.

The male warrior whose armor was pierced by tremendous force comes to a sudden halt.

Meanwhile, the female knight rolls around on the floor, widens the distance, and then jumps up.

Then, while aiming the knife cut in half at its middle, he takes out a thick dagger from behind his back and holds it in his left hand.

In the eerie air, female knight neatly sheathes her sword.

"I lost."

If the female knight had decided to plunge the sword in, her chest would have been pierced and she would have died. The male knight here would have lost his left arm, but he would not have lost his life.

The male knight pulls out the broken blade embedded in his chest with his gauntlet and throws it to the female knight. After receiving it, the woman puts it into her sheath.

They took off their helmets and showed their faces drenched in sweat in just a moment.

After bowing to Gilbert and Carl, they casually walked back to their seats, even though they were aiming their swords at each other as if they were serious about killing each other just a moment ago.

Carl saw many duels after that, but in the end, he was never able to feel as strong a feeling as he did in before match.