The courtyard had fallen into a strange silence.
Moments ago it had been filled with the confident steps of Dresden's Fourth Knight Order, yet now several of them stood scattered near the edges of the arena, their pride shaken after watching three of their comrades fall one after another.
Knox slowly rested the odachi against his shoulder, his gaze drifting toward the remaining knights who had yet to step forward.
For a few seconds he simply studied them.
Then he sighed. "…Sigh."
The sound was soft, but in the quiet courtyard it carried surprisingly far.
Knox tilted his head slightly before speaking again, his voice relaxed as though he were discussing something trivial.
"You know…" He gestured lightly toward the remaining members of the Fourth Knight Order.
"If you're going to come anyway..." His smile widened faintly. "…why not all of you at once?"
The words landed like a spark thrown into dry tinder.
The knights froze. Then several of them immediately stepped forward in anger.
"What did you say?!"
"Are you mocking us?!"
"That's an insult!"
The courtyard erupted with murmurs as the spectators realized what Knox had just suggested.
A single opponent challenging multiple royal knights at the same time. Even for a friendly spar, the proposal sounded outrageous.
Among the royal seats, the Queen's expression hardened. Her voice cut through the noise with sharp elegance.
"So this is Kizen?" Her lips curved slightly as she looked down at Knox.
"How arrogant." The remark was clearly meant to humiliate.
For a brief moment, the crowd grew quiet again.
Then another voice responded.
"Well…"
Jane crossed her arms calmly where she stood near the edge of the arena.
"…in my eyes, Your Majesty, that isn't arrogance."
Her tone was perfectly composed. "…it's confidence."
The courtyard turned toward her almost instantly.
Jane's gaze remained steady as she continued.
"The real problem is…"
Her eyes drifted briefly toward the knights of the Fourth Order.
"…I don't think these knights have the same confidence Knox does."
A ripple spread through the crowd. The Queen's eyes twitched slightly. She had expected the remark to go unchallenged.
Instead, it had been countered almost immediately.
But Jane wasn't finished. "However," Jane added calmly.
She turned her head slightly, her gaze landing on Knox standing in the arena. For a brief moment, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"What Your Majesty said wasn't entirely wrong."
The Queen narrowed her eyes slightly.
Jane continued. "Because…"
She gestured lightly toward Knox.
"This is Kizen."
The meaning behind the words hung in the air.
The Queen understood it instantly. What had originally been meant as mockery had now been turned into praise.
And worse—
There was no elegant way for her to refute it without making herself look petty.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
Nearby, the assistant professor who had accompanied the Kizen delegation glanced at Jane with surprise.
In her mind, a quiet thought surfaced.
Professor Jane is usually composed… distant… rarely talkative.
Yet now—
She had spoken far more than usual.
Why?
The answer was obvious. Because someone had just mocked her little brother figure.
And Jane had no intention of letting that pass. Her gaze returned to the arena.
"But that raises another question." Her tone grew colder.
"Knox has already proven what Kizen is."
Her eyes moved slowly toward the knights of the Fourth Knight Order. "But how about Dresden's knight order?"
The knights stiffened slightly.
Jane tilted her head just a little.
"Oh, my mistake."
Her voice remained calm.
"I meant…"
Her gaze sharpened. "…the Fourth Knight Order of Dresden."
The courtyard grew quiet again.
Jane's words cut through the atmosphere with chilling clarity.
"Is this the level of Dresden's Fourth Knight Order?"
The silence that followed was heavier than any insult shouted in anger.
And down in the arena—
Knox simply waited, resting the odachi casually on his shoulder, watching the knights with the same relaxed smile as before.
The courtyard remained silent after Jane's cold question echoed through the arena.
No one from the Fourth Knight Order answered. Several knights exchanged glances, their pride clearly wounded by the remark.
Down in the arena, Knox simply stood there, the relaxed smile still lingering on his face as if the tension in the air had nothing to do with him.
A few seconds later, several knights finally stepped forward.
Three.
Then four.
Then another.
They entered the arena together.
At the edge of the courtyard, Gregor Halstein watched the scene unfold with a faint frown. His experienced eyes moved from the knights… to Knox… then back again.
Finally, he stepped forward.
The veteran knight stopped a few paces away from Knox, folding his arms behind his back.
"…Are you sure?"
His voice carried the calm authority of someone who had overseen countless duels throughout his life.
Knox simply tilted his head and smiled as though the question itself was unnecessary.
"Of course." The answer came lightly, almost playfully.
For a moment Gregor watched him in silence before releasing a quiet sigh. The veteran knight then turned his gaze toward the royal seats.
The King of Dresden had been following the entire exchange closely. When their eyes met, the king hesitated only briefly before giving a small nod.
"…Continue." Gregor acknowledged the decision and stepped back toward the edge of the arena.
The remaining members of the Fourth Knight Order slowly entered the courtyard, spreading out until Knox stood surrounded from several directions. Their movements were cautious this time. None of them intended to underestimate him after witnessing what had happened to their comrades.
Gregor raised his hand.
The courtyard grew silent.
Then his hand dropped.
"Begin."
The knights attacked at once.
Steel flashed as several of them rushed toward Knox simultaneously, their blades cutting through the air from different angles in an attempt to overwhelm him.
Knox did not move immediately. Instead, the odachi he had used earlier dissolved quietly into motes of light. A different weapon appeared in his hand.
The new blade was slender and straight, elegant in its proportions. Its form resembled the refined jian, a sword built for speed and precision rather than overwhelming force.
Knox rotated the sword once between his fingers as if testing its balance.
Then he raised it slightly.
"Taixuan Sword Art."
The unfamiliar name echoed across the courtyard. The nearest knight arrived first, bringing his sword down in a powerful strike.
Knox stepped forward to meet him.
His movement was so light that it looked almost effortless. The slender blade in his hand moved with a subtle turn of his wrist, redirecting the incoming strike and guiding the knight's weapon harmlessly past him.
Knox continued forward without breaking his stride.
The sword in his hand flashed again.
One strike.
Then another.
The attacks flowed together in a rapid sequence, each movement following naturally from the last. His blade cut graceful arcs through the air as he slipped between the surrounding knights, his footwork quick and fluid.
To the watching crowd it resembled a carefully choreographed dance.
Every time his sword moved, a faint ripple of energy followed the motion. At first the knights were too focused on defending themselves to notice.
But the audience did.
Thin streaks of light had begun to appear around the battlefield.
Each slash of Knox's blade left behind a trace of energy that lingered in the air. Those traces slowly condensed into slender blades of light, forming silently above the courtyard as Knox continued moving through the attackers.
One sword appeared.
Then another.
Soon dozens of them hovered in the air like fragments of a shattered constellation.
The knights finally noticed. "What…?"
Their confusion lasted only a moment.
Knox finished another flowing combination of strikes and stepped back slightly, lowering his blade.
The floating swords trembled.
Then Knox flicked his wrist.
The blades descended.
The sky above the courtyard erupted as the swords fell like a sudden storm.
The first wave struck the arena floor with explosive bursts of energy that shattered the knights' formation. Several of them were thrown backward as the shockwaves rippled across the courtyard.
The second wave followed immediately.
This time the falling blades targeted the knights themselves, forcing them to raise their weapons desperately as they struggled to withstand the barrage.
Some managed to block. Others were not so fortunate. One knight was driven to the ground as three blades of light struck in rapid succession. Another was thrown across the arena and slammed into the stone wall.
Throughout the chaos, Knox moved calmly between them.
His sword guided the remaining blades with small, precise gestures. Each flick of the blade redirected the falling swords toward a new target, as though he were conducting a silent orchestra of steel.
Within moments the battlefield grew quiet again.
The floating swords gradually faded into particles of light.
Knox stood in the center of the courtyard, the slender jian resting loosely in his hand.
Around him, several members of the Fourth Knight Order lay scattered across the arena floor.
He glanced around briefly before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Sigh…still not enough~."
The courtyard remained silent after the final blades of light faded into the air.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Members of the Fourth Knight Order lay scattered across the arena floor, some struggling to rise while others remained on one knee, their swords knocked far from their reach. The once orderly formation had completely collapsed, leaving the stone courtyard marked by shallow cracks and faint traces of lingering mana.
At the center of it all stood Knox.
The slender jian rested lightly in his hand as he slowly looked around the arena, as if confirming that no one else intended to continue the fight. His expression remained relaxed, the faint smile on his lips unchanged despite the outcome of the battle.
Gregor Halstein stepped forward at last.
The veteran knight's boots echoed softly against the stone as he entered the arena once more. His sharp eyes moved across the fallen knights of the Fourth Order before finally settling on Knox.
For a moment he said nothing. Then he let out a quiet breath.
"That's enough."
His voice carried clearly across the courtyard. "The match is over."
Relief spread through some of the watching knights, while others looked away in embarrassment. The Fourth Knight Order had entered the arena with numbers on their side, yet the result had only made the gap between them and their opponent painfully clear.
Knox lightly spun the jian once before lowering it.
"If you say so," he replied casually.
The weapon dissolved into faint motes of light a moment later, leaving his hands empty once again.
Gregor studied him silently for another moment before speaking again, this time in a voice quiet enough that only those closest to the arena could hear.
"…Now I understand." He folded his arms slowly. "Why Kizen calls you their number one."
The words caused a ripple through the watching crowd.
From the royal seats, Princess Molly stared at the arena with shining eyes, clearly impressed by what she had just witnessed.
"That was incredible…" she whispered.
Beside her, the King of Dresden chuckled quietly.
"Well," he said, leaning back slightly in his seat, "it seems today our knights have learned a valuable lesson."
However, the same could not be said for everyone present.
The Queen of Dresden sat rigidly beside the king, her expression calm on the surface but noticeably darker than before. Her fingers tightened slightly against the armrest of her chair as she watched Knox standing casually in the arena.
What had begun as an attempt to embarrass Kizen had instead become a demonstration of its strength. And everyone in the courtyard had seen it.
Near the edge of the arena, Jane watched the scene unfold with a faint smile.
Her eyes briefly met Knox's across the courtyard.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Yet the meaning passed between them all the same.
Jane sighed softly. She already understood.
That look from Knox could only mean one thing.
He still wasn't satisfied.
Of course he wasn't.
Jane closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing her temple lightly as if accepting an inevitable headache.
Well… what could she do?
That boy was practically her little brother. And once in a while, indulging her beloved little brother couldn't possibly hurt anyone.
Right?
Jane sighed softly before speaking again. "Hm… it seems my student still hasn't had enough."
Her voice remained calm, almost indifferent, yet the words carried clearly across the courtyard.
Several people turned their heads.
Most noticeably, the Queen of Dresden. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, and the faint crease between her brows deepened.
Before anyone else could respond, Jane spoke again as if the thought had only just occurred to her.
"Now that I think about it… all of Knox's opponents so far have been from the Fourth Order, correct?"
Her gaze swept across the courtyard.
"But strangely enough," she continued, her tone still composed, "I haven't seen the captain or the vice-captain of the Fourth Knight Order."
A quiet ripple spread through the spectators.
Gregor Halstein answered before anyone else could.
"Vice President Jane," he said calmly, "both the captain and the vice-captain have been here from the beginning."
As he spoke, Gregor lifted one hand and pointed toward the side of the courtyard.
Unlike the nobles watching from the stands, the knights who intended to participate in the duel had been waiting in a separate area near the arena itself. The space resembled the reserved bench of a stadium, where fighters remained seated until it was their turn to step onto the field.
Following Gregor's gesture, the attention of the entire courtyard shifted.
Nobles. Knights. Even Knox.
All eyes turned toward the two figures standing there.
A man and a woman. The captain and the vice-captain.
The attention of the entire courtyard shifted toward the two figures Gregor had pointed out.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Being suddenly placed under the gaze of nobles, knights, and the royal court was hardly unusual for people of their rank, yet the atmosphere surrounding the arena now carried a different weight entirely.
Finally, the man cleared his throat softly and rose from his seat. Beside him, the woman stood as well.
The two stepped forward from the reserved area near the arena, their armor catching the afternoon light as they approached.
Murmurs immediately spread among the spectators.
"That's Captain Voss…"
"The Iron Fang of the Fourth Order."
"And the woman beside him… Vice Captain Ingrid Weiss."
Several knights watching from the sidelines straightened instinctively. Even some of the nobles in the upper gallery began whispering to one another.
Unlike the earlier challengers, these two were not simply promising young knights. They were the leaders of the Fourth Knight Order.
The man stopped a few steps away from the arena and spoke first.
"My name is Alaric Voss," he said calmly. "Captain of the Fourth Knight Order."
His voice carried the quiet authority of someone accustomed to command.
Beside him, the woman rested one hand lightly near the hilt of the slender rapier at her side.
"Ingrid Weiss," she introduced herself. "Vice Captain of the Fourth Knight Order."
Her tone was composed and professional, yet her sharp blue eyes never left the arena where Knox stood.
For a brief moment, the courtyard buzzed with renewed excitement.
If the earlier exchanges had been impressive, the appearance of the captain and vice captain suggested that the duel might finally reach a different level.
Gregor Halstein folded his arms as he looked toward Jane.
"Vice President Jane," he said calmly, "was there a reason you were looking for them specifically?"
Jane did not answer immediately.
Instead, she remained silent, her gaze drifting toward the center of the arena. Toward Knox. The meaning was obvious.
Knox met her eyes. For a moment the two simply looked at each other. Then Knox smiled.
Inside his mind, a single thought surfaced.
Praise big sister Jane.
He straightened slightly before turning his attention toward the two knights standing at the edge of the arena.
"Hm…"
His tone sounded almost thoughtful.
"Seeing both of you here…"
The faint curve of a grin appeared on his face.
"I feel like it would be quite an honor to spar with you two."
He tilted his head slightly, his voice carrying just enough playful sarcasm to be noticeable.
"So…"
Knox spread one hand casually toward the arena.
"…care for a spar~?"