Page 1
The Black Knight advances toward the Killer with steady steps.
The Killer watches him, wearing a confident smile.
"You think you're strong? Then… block this."
He raises his hand. The firestorm erupts like a wall of flame, filling the entire arena.
The Announcer: "A storm of fire and wind! The same strike that ended the Water Knight! Will the same fate be repeated?!"
Page 2
The audience holds its breath.
The flames swallow the place. Thick smoke fills the arena until nothing can be seen.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three.
The Announcer swallows hard: "Where… where is he?"
Page 3
The sound of footsteps.
Slow. Confident. Emerging from the heart of the smoke.
The smoke slowly clears.
The Black Knight walks toward the Killer at the same pace, his armor scorched at the edges. But he walks as if nothing happened.
The Announcer with a trembling voice: "He walks through the heart of the storm… as if it were a breeze!"
Mabo stands up from his seat without realizing it.
Page 4
The Killer is shocked: "Impossible! How?!"
He tries again. He raises his hand. But the fire is extinguished. He tries the wind. Another storm, but the Knight doesn't budge an inch.
The Announcer: "He exhausted all his power in a single strike!"
The Killer looks at his hands in terror. Then he raises his eyes.
The Black Knight is two steps closer than he was.
Page 5
"I… I surrender."
The Killer's voice is trembling.
The Black Knight does not stop.
"I surrender! Get me out of here!"
The Killer says: "You are a good person, Sir Knight! I'm sorry!"
The Announcer: "He's begging now! The one who was laughing at everyone a moment ago is begging now!"
The audience laughs. But the laughter dies quickly when they see that the Black Knight hasn't slowed down a single step.
Page 6
In the blink of an eye.
The armored man grabs the Killer by his armor and lifts him with one hand. The Killer dangles in the air like a doll but pulls out a knife and stabs the Knight's neck—yet the knife doesn't pierce the Knight's skin. Suddenly, the Knight plunges his sword into the Killer's stomach and drives him into the ground with thunderous force.
The body hits the dirt. Silence falls over the arena like a stone.
The Announcer in an unusually low voice: "…It's over."
Page 7
Then the Announcer remembers his job.
"And the moment everyone has been waiting for! The Black Knight versus the Handsome Knight! Physical body against spears—who will prevail?!"
The audience explodes.
Mabo sits down slowly. His eyes are on the Black Knight. On his hands. On his scorched body that still stands.
He whispers to himself: "All that storm didn't even affect him."
Page 8
The Black Knight leaves his sword embedded in the ground.
He turns toward the Handsome Knight with empty hands.
The Handsome Knight smiles: "Come to me, scorched one."
But his fingers move quickly. He creates a spear from the air. Then another. He stores them.
He waits.
Page 9
The Announcer: "The Handsome Knight is not advancing! He is crafting his weapons and preparing! He wants distance!"
Mabo looks at the Grandfather: "He's afraid of being close."
The Grandfather nods his head just once.
The Black Knight begins to advance slowly.
Page 10
The Handsome Knight throws the first spear.
The Black Knight dodges with a side step. The spear pierces the ground behind him.
The second. He catches it with his hand and breaks it.
The Handsome Knight builds faster. A spear. Two. Three in the air at the same time.
The Announcer: "A barrage of spears! Three at once!"
Page 11
The Black Knight stops for the first time.
Three spears in the air head toward him from different angles.
He dodges the first. He blocks the second with his forearm. The third scratches his shoulder.
The audience screams. The Handsome Knight smiles: "Finally… I hit him."
Page 12
The Handsome Knight focuses. He builds something larger this time.
A massive crossbow forms from the air. An iron bolt the length of an arm.
He sets it. He pulls. He releases.
The Announcer: "An arrow, not a spear! Larger, faster, and heavier! Is this the end?!"
Page 13
The bolt arrives.
The Black Knight strikes it with a horizontal punch from above.
The bolt is deflected into the ground, hitting with violence.
Silence.
Then the whole audience at once: "How?!"
The Announcer with a broken voice: "He saw the arrow… and changed its direction with a single punch. I don't believe what I'm seeing with my own eyes."
The Handsome Knight's knees are shaking.
Page 14
The Black Knight begins to jog.
Then he accelerates.
The Handsome Knight builds a spear in desperation. He throws it. The armored man dodges it without slowing down.
The distance between them vanishes in a second.
The Handsome Knight throws himself aside.
A punch misses him and hits the wall.
Page 15
An explosion.
The wall shatters. Dust fills everything.
When it clears… the Handsome Knight is on the ground. Trembling. Unable to rise.
The armored man slowly pulls his hand from the ruins. He stands.
Black smoke rises from him. As if he isn't human anymore.
The Announcer in a low voice: "…He didn't hit him. But the shockwave of the strike alone knocked him down."
Page 16
The Handsome Knight crawls backward: "No! I don't want to die!"
The armored man walks toward him with merciless slowness.
The audience is completely silent.
The armored man leans down. He grabs the Knight's hair and begins smashing his head against the ground with force. The Knight's screams vanish. Blood is everywhere.
Page 17
The Announcer opens his mouth. Nothing comes out for a full second.
Then: "It's over."
A second of silence.
Then the whole audience at once.
The stands shake as if the earth is breathing.
The Announcer screams at the top of his lungs: "The winner of the Bloody Wedding Festival is the Black Knight!"
Page 18
The armored man walks toward the Minister and his daughter. He drops to one knee. In the midst of the knights' corpses, he removes the helmet from his head—revealing a handsome dark-skinned young man with steady features.
"Hello, Princess. Did you enjoy the show?"
The Princess looks at him steadily: "No, I did not. It was far too bloody. You killed everyone in front of you."
She turns her thumb down: "I will not accept someone who knows no mercy."
The Knight's eyes ignite. For the first time, we see something real on his face.
Page 19
A sudden thud.
"Ouch… oh, my head… pffft!"
The armored man turns.
Mabo is splayed on the ground in pain; he fell from the stands due to the vibrations.
He looks up. He sees the armored man staring at him.
He smiles an unconvincing smile: "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to ruin your moment."
The Announcer: "A child falls from the stands at the most awkward moment! What timing!"
Page 20
The armored man doesn't speak.
He walks toward Mabo.
He grabs Mabo by his shirt and lifts him with one hand. He looks at him with empty eyes.
Mabo smiles nervously: "You're very angry. I completely understand that. I—"
A powerful kick sends Mabo flying backward.
He smashes through the wall of the stands and disappears into the other side.
The Announcer: "The child is flying! This is too cruel!"
Page 21
The armored man walks toward the hole in the wall.
Mabo stands up with difficulty. Blood trickles from his eyebrow. He wipes his mouth.
He raises his eyes. He sees the armored man in front of him.
Mabo's face changes.
Page 22
"You scoundrel."
Mabo takes a fighting stance. His hands are up. His teeth are clenched.
The armored man looks at him in silence.
Mabo waits for him. He breathes. He focuses.
His hands begin to shake slightly. But he doesn't retreat.
Page 23
The armored man arrives.
He raises his fist.
Mabo raises his hand to block.
And suddenly he sees it.
On his hand. The blackness. It wraps around his fingers slowly as if it's waking up.
Page 24
Mabo freezes.
In his head: the sound of the bandit falling in the forest. His hand on the body. The blood.
The power grows on his hand.
The armored man doesn't stop.
Mabo closes his eyes for a fraction of a second.
He opens them.
He pulls his hand back.
The Knight's punch launches.
Then… pressure.
The very air freezes around the Knight's hand.
He stops in his tracks. Time slows down. His face changes. He looks at his hand suspended in the air in bewilderment.
"What is this… Zoo?"
He turns.
The Grandfather is standing there. His hand is raised. His face is completely calm.
"I am sorry for my grandson's foolishness."
The Grandfather releases the Knight's hand.
The Knight says: "How dare you block my punch?" and the tension between them rises. The air distorts around them.
Mabo looks at the Grandfather. For the first time in his life, he doesn't know who is standing before him.
To be continued in Chapter 10