Lord of Rot

Noble knight tournaments were filled with blood and violence, but the nobles were incredibly enthusiastic, even fanatical, about them.

For noble lords, displaying their strength in a knightly tournament could attract more knights to voluntarily pledge allegiance. It was an excellent opportunity to showcase their power.

Lesser knights could also put themselves on display, earning the chance to be noticed by a great noble and get a foot in the door to serve them.

Knightly tournaments included various events.

The simplest divisions were mounted combat and unmounted combat.

Basically, with a horse or without one. Easy enough to understand.

In mounted knightly combat, fully armored noble knights charged their opponents. Victory was determined by killing an opponent, unhorsing them, or forcing a surrender.

It’s worth noting that the competition was not ”fair.” All participating knights wore their own armor; only the weapons had to be made of wood.

Unmounted combat included team battles, one-on-one duels, and melees. There were no restrictions on weapons, and this was where the most deaths occurred.

The event Roaring Castle was holding was clearly mounted combat; otherwise, there’d be no way to determine a true number one.

Leech joined the knightly tournament without hesitation. 500 gold Jinri! Getting his hands on that would be pure profit.

Besides, it was a good chance to show off his strength and attract some minor nobles to his side. How could nurturing talent from scratch possibly be faster than scouting it directly?

Leech wondered as his squire, Rob, helped him don his Dragon Bone Plate Armor. ’Did the Lucky Potion not work? Or has it already worked by helping me avoid a worse outcome?’

He couldn’t make heads or tails of it: had the potion worked, or had it not?

He arrived at the waiting area of the arena and sat down.

The noble arena inside Roaring Castle was quite spacious, able to seat several hundred people.

Aside from the young knights competing, the other nobles were all seated in the stands. The Duke of Radiant Sun had also been escorted to the main seat.

Seated beside him were ’Golden Stallion’ Pine, ’Red Rose’ Evangelina, and the Duchess.

Next to them sat their respective friends and other prominent high-ranking nobles.

The ladies and young misses who had come for the tea party were also fortunate enough to witness this knightly tournament.

The first to compete was Philip Cavendish. That flashy fellow didn’t even use his Extraordinary power. Wielding a wooden, blunt-tipped lance, he charged, his lance striking his opponent’s helmet at a tricky angle. The blow sent his opponent reeling back, and after a few more jolts from his horse, he fell right off.

The crowd immediately burst into laughter.

The noble who had been unhorsed flushed red. More than the pain, this humiliating defeat made him feel ashamed.

Philip stopped, removed his helmet, and shook out his long, golden hair, immediately drawing the gazes of a flock of ladies and young misses.

’He’s still the same old high-beam headlight. Practically blinding,’ Leech couldn’t help but snark internally.

Everyone was still being relatively restrained; no one was actually trying to kill anyone in the lists.

Although there were no deaths, broken legs and coughing up blood were still common sights.

”Is that... Wild Horse Chaotic Stone?” Leech recognized the next knight to enter the field.

He was the first Transcendent Knight Leech had met in this world, and he possessed extreme speed.

He was one of Sidor Sea Water’s men.

”If you also win your upcoming match, you might face him,” came Sidor Sea Water’s voice from the side.

Leech turned his head to look at him.

Illegitimate sons were not nobles and weren’t qualified to have their own seats in the spectator stands.

”Then you’d better tell him to be careful,” Leech said.

Sidor smiled. ”I certainly have faith in your strength, but I’ve already placed my bet on Wild Horse to win.”

”Betting?” Leech raised an eyebrow. He suddenly realized he’d forgotten that you could place wagers on the matches.

”Where can I place a bet?” Leech said. ”I want to bet on myself to win.”

Sidor Sea Water reminded him, ”Your opponent is Sir Lacy. He’s a powerful individual with Extraordinary power, just like Wild Horse and Philip.”

But from his attitude, it was clear that Sidor Sea Water didn’t think Lacy Sith was on the same level as Wild Horse and Philip.

”Lacy Sith?”

Leech hadn’t bothered to investigate his opponent. In his eyes, the only one who could truly be his rival was Philip Cavendish.

But he did know Lacy.

He was one of the Transcendents who had followed Philip to Pebble Castle on the rescue mission, and who had then been captured.

”What are the odds?”

”1.5.”

”Stingy,” Leech complained, then tossed his coin purse to Rob. ”There are 10 gold Jinri in here. Bet it all on me to win.”

”Just give it to me,” said Sidor Sea Water. ”I’m handling it for Pine.”

The odds were fixed at 1.5, so it was just for a bit of fun.

Otherwise, Leech would have been tempted to first display an invincible aura to raise the odds—say, to 10 or 20. Then he could bet everything on his opponent to win. By throwing the match, he might have earned even more than the 500 gold Jinri prize.

But this was a tournament of honor, so he decided against playing any tricks.

While they spoke, Wild Horse had already used his agile figure to dodge his opponent’s charging thrust, simultaneously twisting his upper body with great speed.

It was clear that Wild Horse Chaotic Stone didn’t really understand the art of the knight’s charge.

But he executed a backward sweep with his lance. The six-foot-long wooden lance swept from the side and struck his opponent’s head, sending the man flying off his horse to crash heavily onto the ground.

It was a long moment before he managed to get up, and even then, he was swaying unsteadily, clearly forcing himself to stand.

”The winner is Wild Horse Chaotic Stone!”

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Several more pairs of knights charged each other.

One pair managed to unhorse each other simultaneously. Both were defeated and left the field in disappointment.

Leech saw Johann Hanen; the Red Chicken Knight’s face was flushed, but he too was eliminated in the first round.

Next, it was Leech’s turn. He was wearing his Dragon Bone Plate Armor, and his very appearance was intimidating. Unlike the nobles who loved to adorn their armor with exquisite gems and gold, his bone-studded armor was full of aggression.

He mounted his horse and put on his helmet.

His squire handed him his lance from the side.

A shield was strapped to his left arm, and he held the lance in his right hand. His opponent was armed in the same way; this was the only area where they could maintain ”equality.”

Across the field, Lacy Sith was also ready. They nodded to each other in greeting.

Charge!

Leech gently kicked his horse’s belly. His superb horsemanship allowed him to easily achieve a state of unity with his mount; the warhorse beneath him seemed to read his very thoughts.

The distance between them closed in an instant.

A light erupted from Lacy’s body. He knew Leech was also a Transcendent, so he had to fight with all his might.

Lances shot forward. Leech’s lance and Lacy’s lance crossed, each aimed at the other’s head.

Neither gave an inch.

Just as Lacy’s lance was about to strike Leech’s head, Leech suddenly leaned back, lying flat against his horse’s back. His own lance moved downward with him, striking Lacy Sith on the chest plate.

Lacy’s thrust hit nothing but air. He couldn’t understand how Leech could perform such an agile maneuver; it was as if he weren’t riding a horse but leaping about on the ground.

CRASH! Lacy Sith was knocked off his horse by the lance.

Leech sat up straight and gently pulled on the reins. His warhorse slowly decelerated to a stop.

He turned to look back at Lacy.

The body of a Transcendent was not so fragile. After rolling a few times, Lacy came to a stop, not too seriously injured.

Lacy got up, nodded to him, and left the arena.

”Sir Leech Clarence wins!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

More than half of those cheers came from the noble ladies and young misses.

Leech nodded toward the stands.

As Leech left the field, the Duke of Shining Sun’s gaze fell upon him and lingered for a long time, only retracting when the next match began.

”A truly magnificent technique,” said Sidor Sea Water, walking over with a bag of money and placing it in Leech’s hand. ”To defeat a Transcendent Knight in a single move... Did you use your Extraordinary power just now? My apologies, I couldn’t tell.”

”No, that was technique,” Leech said, shaking his head. ”I didn’t use any Extraordinary power.”

With his current strength, if he had truly unleashed his full power, it wouldn’t have been just Lacy who went flying, but Lacy and the warhorse beneath him.

Sidor clearly didn’t believe him, thinking Leech was just joking. He asked, ”Will you be betting on yourself to win the next match as well?”

He nodded. ”Of course. I’ll win again.”