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Side Story Chapter 89

Ulabis’s wicked flames blocked Camisen’s view. The fire was so hot that it instantly made Camisen’s entire body sting. Although Camisen utilized his aura to protect himself, his back was already soaked with sweat due to the extreme heat.

“…Do you have no pride, Flame Emperor?” Camisen asked.

“What do you mean?”

“In a tournament like this, giving your inexperienced, junior knights an opportunity to fight would paint a better picture.”

Ulabis tilted his head. “Is that why you, one of the best knights in the Tetra Kingdom, is your team’s first contestant?”

Camisen bit his tongue.

“Don’t underestimate Thran’s intelligence capabilities. Besides, this is more of a battle of pride, not a friendly tournament,” Ulabis continued.

“Hmph! This won’t be easy, even for you. Actually, the rules put you at a disadvantage since your stamina isn\'t infinite… Don’t tell me that you’re going to give up later when you run out of energy after you’ve volunteered yourself to fight first.”

“Do you really think you can exhaust my stamina? Speaking of which, let’s make this into a proper tournament. Whichever team gets best two out of three matches will win, and the winner will select the next country to fight.” Ulabis looked to the side of the arena with a grin dancing on his lips. “How does that proposal sound, Duke Uraxen?”

Uraxen’s fists shook. If he took the proposal, Thran and Tetra would inevitably be at the greatest disadvantage since they started fighting first. The full extent of their power would be revealed, and their stamina would be depleted. Nevertheless, they would have to continue to take on challenger after challenger. But Ulabis was going to be at just as much of a disadvantage as Uraxen, so why would he make such a proposal?

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you scared?”

Uraxen gritted his teeth. He had to accept the proposal. He’d been laughing to himself because the Thran Kingdom was absolutely weak—the only noteworthy thing about it was the Flame Emperor.

“It’s not like being victor means much in this tournament… Fine, I’ll accept your proposal,” Uraxen answered.

“That was quick.”

“I’ll change our priority. We’ll have the highest number of victories in this tournament and show everyone how great the Tetra Kingdom is,” Uraxen muttered to the other knights under his breath. He then quickly added mana to his voice and shouted, “Go, Camisen! Show the Flame Emperor our power!”

“Wooooaaaah!

“Camisen! He’s already an old man close to seventy! Don’t you lose to that old bag!”

“We’re the rising sun—don’t let the falling star intimidate you!”

“Goooo!”

Tetra’s knights stomped on the ground with their metal boots. The mood in the arena was heating up.

Camisen fixed his grip on his three-meter-long greatsword and confidently strode forward. Blue sparks of lightning flew off of his blade.

“The old man who’s gonna die of old age and a has-been from the old generation. That’s what people call you, Flame Emperor. I’ll cut you in two with a single strike and earn my reputation.”

Numerous ice blocks were created around Camisen, but they were instantly turned into clouds of white steam, which spread everywhere, blinding the audience to the duel.

Ulabis took a step forward and held up his sword while Camisen had his guard up. Due to the thick clouds, Camisen could only see Ulabis’s silhouette, but the same applied to Ulabis. It was all going according to Camisen’s plan. The steam in the arena would amplify the damage of the lightning in the sword. In addition, he was wearing lightning resistant magic armor.

‘I only have to stop him once. If I can just grab onto him, I’ll break his back with just my hands…’

Ulabis swayed from side to side beyond the wall of steam.

“…Huh?” Camisen drew up his lightning energy to its maximum output without hesitation. ‘Come on. Once you enter my attack range…’

“What are you doing?” Ulabis asked out of the blue. “Your concentration is quite remarkable.”

“What…?”

“Do you still not know what happened to your shoulders?” Ulabis raised an eyebrow.

“…Ugh!” A burning sensation on Camisen’s shoulders made him lose his grip on his sword—no, his shoulders were literally on fire. “Wh-When…?”

“I cut your tendons, so it’ll be difficult for you to pick up anything for a while, let alone a sword.”

Camisen flinched.

“Are you going to continue?” Ulabis asked, still safely behind the wall of steam.

Camisen gritted his teeth, his face burning with humiliation.

Rather than surrender, Camisen clamped his sword between his jaws and enveloped himself in a lightning spell.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

He charged with loud, heavy footsteps, but he was unexpectedly swift for a person of his size.

Nevertheless, his efforts were in vain.

One strike. Camisen went rolling across the ground from a single strike.

Fire danced around Ulabis’s sword. He was already looking at the knights of the Tetra Kingdom again.

“Next,” Ulabis said.

A stunned silence fell upon the area as everyone processed the fact that the fight was really going to end just like that. No matter how renowned the Flame Emperor was, the difference in their levels exceeded all expectations.

“Yo-Your Grace…”

Uraxen narrowed his eyes. “…Don’t get scared. He’s all Thran has. If he can’t do that much, that country would have already fallen.”

“But…”

“I will deal with him myself,” Uraxen said, the silence allowing his quiet voice to carry to the entire arena.

The spectators\' eyes widened.

“The most skilled knights from their countries are going to fight?”

“It’s still the Flame Emperor, so will Duke Uraxen really be his match?”

“From what I heard, Duke Uraxen made the most contributions in the Terra Kigndom’s downfall…”

“Then do you think he has a chance against the Flame Emperor?”

“Who knows? But we have nothing to lose, do we? Thanks to their fight, we’ll be able to see how powerful those famous knights are.”

Uraxen walked toward Ulabis, ignoring the conversations flying around him, until they stood face to face.

“Your next opponent is me,” he confidently declared.

“So we’re getting to the leader right away?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted, Flame Emperor?”

“I didn’t particularly wish for anything…” Urabis trailed off.

Uraxen had an ace in the hole, his authority. It was the ability that enabled Tetra’s knights to achieve the impossible—to become magic swordsmen. The king of Tetra and Uraxen were the only ones who possessed this ability.

“Let’s begin.” Uraxen’s eyes turned sharp.

“We, the knights of the Thran Kingdom, will surrender.”

Uraxen couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you say…?”

“I said, ‘we will surrender’.”

Uraxen wasn’t the only one who was surprised. The audience’s murmuring gradually swelled into a dull roar.

Ulabis shrugged. “The tournament has been organized thanks to the Emperor of Avalon’s hard work and is meant to promote peace.”

“But st-still. It’s so sudden.”

“This old man wasn’t feeling comfortable with defeating a new, young knight. I know we set our rules, but we’re only human.” Ulabis let out a dramatic sigh. “Someone is bound to hold a grudge if the same thing repeats.”

Uraxen clenched his teeth. Out of all the ways to mess with people, Ulabis chose the nastiest.

“We, the knights of the Tetra Kingdom, aren’t so narrow-minded, so you don’t have to worry about that, Flame Emperor!” Uraxen shouted.

“No, I admit my wrongdoing. I didn’t act my age and let my excitement get the better of me.”

“Eeeeek….!” Uraxen’s face reddened.

But even if he got angry here, nothing good would come of it. Just like Ulabis had said, this tournament was for the sake of promoting peace, so what would happen if he insisted on trying to fight someone who’d already surrendered?

“Besides, don’t you have someone else who you want to spar with?” Ulabis asked.

“What are you talking about…?”

“Your Highness Kireua.” Ulabis turned to look at Kireua.

“M-Me?” Kireua jumped, startled by the sudden mention.

“Didn’t you say you’ve been wanting to learn about the advanced swordsmanship of the Tetra Kingdom for a long time?”

Kireua understood what Ulabis was doing right away; Ulabis was giving him a chance to get payback. It would look good to other people since everyone there knew that Kireua was Ulabis’s student.

“…First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for your consideration in giving me this opportunity, Flame Emperor,” Kireua said.

“You\'re welcome…” Ulabis moved backward, a smile creeping onto his face.

‘Th-Those sons of bitches…!’ Uraxen’s face was as red as a perfectly ripe tomato.

Regardless, Kireua politely bowed as if he had genuinely wanted to spar with Uraxen “May we, Avalon, be your next opponent, Duke Uraxen?”

Kireua’s obnoxious provocation made Uraxen tear out his hair.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cain saw everything from the Palace’s rooftop.

“Things are taking an interesting turn.”

“You’re right.”

“I do want to see how much better Kireua has gotten… Do we really not have to keep the Poison King in check?”

Joshua nodded. “Yeah, he must be busy monitoring Hubalt’s guys.”

“Monitoring Hubalt’s guys?”

“I can’t find the most important one from anywhere in the Palace.”

“Who in the world are you talking about?” Cain asked, obviously confused.

“Zactor’s student.”

Cain\'s eyes widened. “By Zactor… Are you talking about Zactor, the Martial Emperor?”

“Yeah, his student is in Avalon too.”

“But you can’t find him anywhere in the Palace?”

Again, Joshua nodded. “He’s definitely up to something.”

“Th-Then wouldn’t it be better for me to look for him? It’s convenient to use the Poison King, of course, but whether he’s trustworthy or not is…”

“It’s okay. I made him swear on his mana just in case. Unless he wants to spend the rest of his life as an ordinary swordsman, he’ll have to obey me regardless of his will.”

Cain ended up shaking his, as usual. “You are a demon, master.”