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The sudden change startled many nobles, as many couldn't even manage to dodge. Their eyes couldn't keep up with the flying trajectory of the broken sword, only able to follow the rise and fall of the sound, dodging in the opposite direction.
Fearing injury.
Their reactions were delayed, their fright was superfluous, and their eyes couldn't keep up with the blade.
As for injury, they couldn't endure even a bit.
Thanks to a full night's sleep, Allen's mind was very clear, so his calculations were precise.
Thus.
The stream of people was cut open by the sword tip that shot forth like a wave.
Their gazes, too, naturally followed the ripples of sound in the air, pulling all the way to the newcomers.
The nobles paused slightly. After their initial astonishment, they finally looked up.
They saw the seven figures standing quietly at the entrance of the Water God Style Main Dojo's Advanced Dojo.
—The 'Dawn' Knights' Order, clad in silver armor, shone brightly at the intersection of moonlight and candlelight. Their unique uniform made them identifiable at a glance.
After a moment of silence, the dojo erupted in whispers, even more chaotic than the previous exclamations.
Like a thousand crows cawing simultaneously.
They didn't understand the craft, couldn't see the superiority or inferiority. But their mouths still couldn't stop; they had to 'see' a distinction.
But they only saw what they wanted to see.
This was what important figures did:
"How... how can this be... the Dawn Knights' Order?" / "Did an evildoer infiltrate the banquet??" / "Ah!?!"
"How is that possible? This is the Water God Style Main Dojo!" / "Heh heh, true." / "Knight Captain Sinos is here too!"
"They've all taken off their helmets; they must be here to visit Her Majesty the Water God, right?" / "What else? Surely not to see that Boreas kid?" / "Look, the one next to Sinos is Chermon."
"He's indeed in 'Dawn'..." / "With Her Majesty the Water God helping him build momentum, when will he finally expose himself?" / "Interesting..."
"..."
The collective emotion was once again agitated. The 'foolishness' stemming from the information gap was now, by the current atmosphere, given a connection that linked everyone's common perception, completing a circle, and seamlessly transitioning.
Once again, accelerating the spread of mockery.
However, the one who initiated the agitation of the collective emotion merely stood quietly in place, wearing an expression that, to a stranger, would seem as if the child was hopelessly foolish and simple-minded, but to an acquaintance, would reveal Allen's exceedingly clumsy disguise. He looked 'surprised' towards the crowd.
—Sinos was looking up at him.
The instigator smiled, making an apologetic gesture, indicating that he truly had no intention of causing this.
The latter, however, was not fooled. He quickly glanced at Allen's expression, and with a single moment of eye contact, shifted his gaze to Reida, not far from Allen.
He then took the step Allen had given him.
He took a step forward and bowed to Reida from afar.
"Ma—"
He paused, then continued. "Her Majesty Reida, we've arrived early, so we thought we'd just watch from outside. We have no intention of intruding; we shall leave now."
Reida looked up at her former junior disciple.
She spoke, her voice not loud, but it covered all the surrounding clamor.
"What intrusion? You are inherently a part of the Water God Style Dojo. The doors of the Water God Style Dojo are always open for you."
"Come in."
"Dawn is Dawn, the dojo is the dojo. They are two different matters. Hesitating like this would make outsiders think I am cold and heartless."
These words actually surprised the well-prepared Sinos.
But the faces of the knights beside him remained unchanged.
And beside him.
The universally recognized genius of the previous generation of the Water God Style Main Dojo in noble circles also did not listen to Reida's words.
He was looking down at the neat cross-section of the broken sword at his feet.
He looked up.
Allen's gaze entered his field of vision.
Sinos stepped forward, leading the knights along the path that cut through the waves of people. The broken sword tip was also crushed under Chermon's boot.
Their seven steps were at first messy, but then, in just two steps, they became synchronized, and they walked into the center of the ring.
All bowed to Reida.
Reida's eyes, beneath her grey-white short hair, watched Sinos's face. She tilted her chin towards Allen's position, signaling.
"How is it?"
Sinos did not answer.
Both of them fell silent for a moment.
Faltz's entire body was tensed. Just a moment ago, when he saw the Knights' Order arrive, Chermon had merely glanced at him, yet he still felt a sharp, cold blade scraping his face.
Brother Chermon... when did he arrive...?
"I arrived when you lost."
Clack, a light sound of his foot hitting the ground.
He looked around in astonishment. He saw that Chermon had subtly arrived beside him. He simply respectfully performed a knight's bow to his father, then turned to look at the dojo floor in front of the two of them.
Standing side by side, extremely close, yet disdainful.
"It's one thing not to hold onto the position of chief disciple of the Water God Style Main Dojo's junior dojo."
"But you weren't even defeated by your 'admired' former junior chief disciple; your opponent was merely a child almost four years younger than you."
"A lion uses its full strength even against a rabbit."
"Faltz, what were you doing then?"
Faltz couldn't speak. His breathing was like a bellows. Their father watched with indifference, seemingly completely unconcerned by the discordant relationship between the two brothers, letting it be.
Chermon looked down at the broken sword in Faltz's hand, his lips parting.
"Defeated today."
"Yet you show no shame, but rather pride."
"Disgracing the Eolus name for nothing."
"Faltz, you truly surprise me."
"Your speed in admitting defeat is even faster than your sword swings."
"Shameless."
Faltz's face was ashen. Listening to the 'truth' spewing from his formerly beloved brother's thin lips, he couldn't utter a single word.
Chermon didn't look at Faltz from beginning to end. He turned his head, his gaze falling on the spot a few knights away.
That was in the direction of Reida and Sinos.
"Sparring match?" Sinos showed a surprised expression, glancing at the nobles behind him. "This is outside our duties, Senior Sister..."
Reida smiled, a playful amusement in her eyes, but she swept her gaze over the many knights beside Sinos.
She lowered her voice.
"You and I both know why you're here today. It's good that you've come to see it for yourselves. Also, listen."
After Dawn arrived, when Reida first began speaking, she could suppress the clamor with her authority. Now, as Sinos conversed with Reida, the content of the nobles' whispers was exceptionally clear to the ears of all the Water God Style masters.
This collective emotion, deliberately provoked by Allen, now bared its fangs, pushing the current situation with incredible determination onto a path where Allen had to validate his strength.
Because...
Reida narrowed her eyes.
"Someone actually believes I would cooperate with a junior to create a spectacle, to gain the King's appeasement. Look at the Golden Sword at your waist, passed down through generations of Water God Style! I feel as if it's issuing a shameful mockery."
The surrounding royalist knights all looked at the Golden Sword at Sinos's waist, which belonged to Reida, and their faces changed at her implicitly fiery words.
Sinos's face was impassive.
However, the next moment, Reida smiled.
"But His Majesty the King has indeed considered this old woman's feelings. He actually had you wear the Golden Sword, just as he said he would, to show that the 'sparring' pretext is genuine. It also gives me ample face in front of the nobles, and it was truly thoughtful of him. Thank him for me."
"Sinos, listen. Does such a clumsy excuse truly work? In their hearts, this old woman is still just a crude martial artist who only flatters the King."
If it was implicitly confrontational before, now her half-true, sarcastic words made the surrounding knights wish they could instantly make themselves deaf.
Are these words meant for us to hear?
Sinos's face was as grim as still water.
Chermon shifted his gaze from the two, looking at Allen. He saw Allen meet his gaze, smiling charmingly.
He immediately understood that this situation was a ploy orchestrated by Allen, deliberately manipulating the scene.
He saw himself as a stepping stone.
Chermon narrowed his eyes and spoke.
His words were pointed, not loud, but clear enough for all the nobles in the dojo to hear.
"Confidence is good, but aren't you afraid of getting knocked down by a strong wind?"
Allen merely smiled, saying nothing.
He didn't need to speak.
Because the crows had already begun to caw feverishly.
Amidst the clamor, Sinos took a deep breath, then turned to look at Chermon.
The latter, in turn, looked at Reida.
He bowed.
"Since Dawn and the dojo are two different matters, and this junior disciple has reached Water King rank at only thirteen years old, then in this setting today..."
He looked up.
"Master, although I have been away from the dojo for many years, may I have the 'honor' today to join the 'excitement'?"
Reida glanced at Sinos. "As I said before, the doors of the Water God Style Dojo are always open for you. If your strength matches, why not?"
"Thank you, Master."
Chermon turned, walking past the stiff Faltz, under his father's proud gaze.
He entered the ring, reaching out to request a wooden sword from those around him, and made a gesture to remove his armor.
Then he heard someone speak.
"No need to take it off, and no need for a wooden sword."
He frowned, looking towards the source of the voice.
—Allen walked to the side of the ring and drew a long sword from Isolte's waist.
Clang!
He then turned and walked into the center of the ring.
Chermon: "Not taking off my armor is unfair."
Allen: "It's a waste of time. The result will be the same anyway."
Discussions buzzed by the side of the ring, filled with 'impudent' words. Not far away, Sinos quietly retreated to Reida's side. Hearing the increasingly noisy clamor in the dojo, he couldn't help but frown, looking at Reida.
In his line of sight, Reida was quietly watching the two in the ring.
Allen chuckled. "Begin? I'll attack?"
Chermon: "Do as you please. The result will be the same anyway."
As his words fell, the conversations of the nobles, who were enjoying the show in the junior dojo, threatened to lift the roof!
Beside the 'impudent one' with sharp eyes and hair slicked back, a flash of light from a blade appeared, lightly caressed by his index and middle fingers, tracing an arc that cut through the air.
Sword stance: mid-stance.
His fingertip left the blade. Allen looked up, scanning his surroundings.
The incredibly noisy nobles, the mockingly smiling Pilemon, the composed Leos.
Finally, his gaze pierced through the crowd, finding an inconspicuous corner.
The Boreas mansion's North Saint butler was casting a subtle, yet irrepressible, gleeful gaze—James hadn't come, but he had sent his 'eyes.'
His gaze swept past, then landed on Chermon's face again.
The latter quietly looked at Allen.
Then he heard Allen speak.
"Watch closely, this strike..."
Chermon tightened his grip on his sword, stepping back. His perfect interception stance was poised for action. At this moment, Allen's sharp voice seemed to slow down in Chermon's ears.
This was Sense Flow's...
...domain!!
His pupils suddenly constricted! Chermon's entire body's muscles suddenly tensed! His blade was abruptly pushed out an inch!
Within his sight, Allen's smiling face, every pore so clear.
Right before his eyes.
With just one contraction of his pupils, he 'squeezed' his entire vision into five meters.
At the same time, his mouth, along with his blade, actualized speed.
"...will be very fast."
A cold gleam traced the blade's trajectory, already gracefully positioned by Chermon's unarmored neck.
His words fell, silent.
Why?
The blade sliced through the air, its high-speed vibration causing a whistling sound. Before it even landed on a person, Chermon lost his hearing.
His expression was somewhat dazed. He instinctively looked down at his waist.
His blade had only just been drawn two inches.
His body's tension—what interception stance was that?
It was merely the instinct of a life-or-death crisis.
Following one's desires, and having one's actions align with one's knowledge.
The plan was complete; 'desire' naturally burned inextinguishably.
And the progress in swordsmanship had never stopped.
This was.
One who had already stepped into the threshold of Emperor rank.
The Sword of Light.
At the side of the ring, the moment Allen moved, Sinos, who had been looking at Reida, his expression abruptly changed. He violently turned to look at the center of the ring.
A cold glint pierced his eyes.
After one breath.
By his ear, the now utterly silent dojo, continuous... from a distant place...
...humming! It was the tremor of sound waves piercing his eardrums!!
Hum!!!!!!!!!!!
Sense Flow vanished! In an instant!!
Bang!!
A silent sonic boom exploded in the ring, forming a visible shockwave!!
The blade struck first! The wind followed closely!
Crash!!
Centered on Allen, the surrounding dining tables clattered to the ground. Nobles were knocked off their feet by the wind pressure!
The 'polite and proper' crows shrieked miserably, like wails.
—When one's ears are ringing, one cannot control the volume of one's voice. This scene, to the Water Emperors who had already broken free from their negative states, was naturally as noisy as a marketplace.
Sinos's face could not conceal his unexpected horror and his greater-than-expected ecstasy.
He turned to look at Reida.
But what met his eyes was merely a slightly surprised look, her face like a withered tree. The old woman looked at Allen, then suddenly smiled, and poked her finger into her ear.
"What a ruckus..."
"You brat, the Sword God Style has actually progressed so quickly..."
The ringing in his ears came quickly and left not too slowly.
Many of Asura's top nobles suffered from physical depletion due to excessive indulgence in wine and women, and many carried retainers who were low-level mages specializing in healing magic.
Their reactions were much faster than those of the nobles who were 'long on hair but short on wisdom.' Flashes of green light flickered, one after another, and the nobles' hearing suddenly returned.
And at this moment, a leisurely voice drifted into their ears, leaving all the nobles momentarily stunned.
They all looked at the center of the ring.
The 'impudent one' was retracting the blade in his hand and walking into the center of the ring.
And before him, Chermon, who had been 'beheaded' by an unexpected strike of the Sword of Light, instantly understood the situation after his initial shock.
He lowered his head.
His expression was somewhat obscured by the candlelight, but it was unclear what he was thinking.
And that sentence just now.
Still echoed in everyone's ears.
"A lion uses its full strength even against a rabbit."
"You, should be honored."
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