As the loud horn sounded, amid the cheers of the crowd, Shade led the bay horse and entered the competition venue with a sword in hand. The knight on the other side also entered the venue in full armor like him. As the crowd shouted their names, the two waved their hands to signal to the audience.
The sunlight this afternoon is particularly glaring, but since it is not yet summer, the glaring sunlight is not that scorching.
Under this kind of sunlight, with thousands of people watching, dueling with a guy who you know is not a human but looks like a human, even Xia De felt a little uneasy in the corner of his heart.
The two led their horses to the center of the venue, bowed to each other, and then mounted their horses. His Majesty, who was sitting on the highest viewing platform in the audience, did not leave because of the relics. He picked up the small golden pistol on the small table in front of him, smiled and motioned Queen Diana to cover her ears, then pulled the trigger towards the sky.
Peng!
Shad and "Sir Hels" swung the reins at the same time and launched the first round of face-to-face charge. Both of them had great courage. At the moment of contact, the vibration and sparks generated by the two steel swords hitting each other were enough to prove the power of the two huge forces.
Although Xia De knew that the opponent could exert greater strength with the physical fitness of an ordinary person, he did not expect that the opponent's strength was so strong. He did not suffer any loss in this attack, but his mount's charge was obviously slowed down because it shared the strength that Xia De had to bear.
If the next race continues to be such a head-on collision, there will be no problem with Shad himself, but the horse may retire early due to internal bleeding.
"That won't do."
Shad thought to himself as he continued to rush forward after separating from Sir Hals, then waved the reins to make the horse turn.
At this time, the cheers and applause from the audience almost drowned out all other sounds. Dorothy, who was watching Shade from the high stands, breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was not good at cold weapon combat, she could see that Shade was definitely not at a disadvantage.
"In fact, we should give him more confidence. He has completed countless adventures that we consider to be miracles. Even Miss cannot compare to Shade's physical fitness."
Tifa whispered beside Dorothy that this stand was very close to Queen Diana and the King's position and was reserved for Miss Carina alone. Yin Luna and her team had already left at this time, so they could talk about sensitive topics.
“I know he’s great.”
Dorothy pursed her lips and turned to look at the black-haired maid. Her eyes uncontrollably fell on her chest. The corners of her mouth twitched but she could do nothing about it:
"But it is an angel-level relic after all..."
The two watched the duel on the sidelines together. Shad rode his horse and kept dodging the pursuit of Sir Hels, who chased after him.
clang!
The knight who was chasing Shad on horseback swung his sword at his back, but Shad in front seemed to be able to see what was happening behind him and turned around and swung his sword back.
The two swords collided, sparks flew, and no one could see the expressions of the two men behind their helmets. After this close exchange, Shade did not continue to "escape" forward, but instead turned the reins to change direction.
This instead made "Sir Huls" take the initiative to ride his horse to the side to make some distance. The two horses kept pacing at almost the same distance, and then moved closer again at the command of their master. Then, with the sound of another clash of swords, they were forced to bear the pressure from their master.
In a pure swordplay competition, apart from an accident like Sister Develyn, few people in the Steam Age should be able to match Shad. But Sir Hels, who was obviously replaced, also fell into the category of "accident". After the two swords collided with each other, he actually withdrew his arm faster than Shad. When Shad stabbed with his long sword again, Sir Hels raised his left hand and blocked his attack with his gauntlet, and then stabbed the long sword in his right hand under Shad's helmet.
Shad also raised his gauntlet to try to block. After two collisions, there were already marks of cuts on Sir Hels' gauntlet, but Shad's armor was still intact.
The wrestling of hands and swords lasted for a while, and the two men separated tacitly, tested each other on horseback again, and then approached again and slashed at their opponents with swords.
The people in the audience could only see the two knights' swords clashing with each other as the two horses kept moving, and neither could launch an effective attack first. But it didn't look boring at all, the sense of power and the force of the collision demonstrated by the two knights swinging their swords on horseback were something you would never see on a normal day.
The surging emotions caused by the collision of steel were pushed higher and higher, and people's cheers became louder and louder as the emotions became higher and their desire to win the bet became higher.
After all, continuous sword swinging is a burden on ordinary people, but it is not a big problem for Shade and "Sir Hels". Because they are wearing armor, no one can see their mouths moving or hear their voices.
"Mr. Hamilton, you really surprise me. I thought that young people today would no longer like long swords as much as before. They prefer firearms. After all, the era of knights has ended."
Sir Hels still played his role, swinging his sword and speaking to Shad.
The long sword reflected the spring afternoon sun, forming the so-called "sword light" that made the exhibition match even more exciting. Xia De pretended to be out of breath:
"You are not bad either. You are obviously at an age where your physical strength has declined, but you are still able to compete with a young man like me."
The knight smiled, suddenly blocked Shad's sword, stepped forward with his feet in the stirrups, shook his right hand, raised his weapon, and slashed diagonally downward.
Xia De had no time to gather strength, so he could only hold the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other, and was forced to block the attack. His wrist ached and he heard cheers, so he took the initiative to move to the side, ending another short round of confrontation.
"I still have a lot to do, and I can't get old yet."
Sir Hels did not catch up, and he was also talking breathlessly, as if he was taking a short rest. Shade knew that the next question would touch upon the characteristics of the relic, but he was originally asking for this:
"Sir, what else do you want to do?"
As the voice came, the whispering element entangled Shad's soul:
"My brother is missing."
"Look, they're in contact again!"
At the highest point of the arena, on a high platform guarded by guards in red uniforms, Queen Diana was looking at the arena with interest through a telescope. At this time, His Majesty the King had temporarily left, and there were only the Queen and several princes and princesses in the stands. The oldest among them was the seventeen-year-old Ajelina:
"Mr. Hamilton is really good at fighting. Last year, he saved me at the opera house."
Ajelina said softly, also looking at the situation in the field through a telescope, her face flushed with excitement:
"I bet Mr. Hamilton will win."
"Ray Jed's Hamilton is still a little young after all."
Beside Ajelina, her fifteen-year-old brother, Hoyins Cavendish, who also had the iconic red hair of the Cavendish family, said. Ajelina ignored him because she trusted Shad very much.
Queen Diana had already put down the telescope. She subconsciously touched her belly, then smiled and asked her daughter:
"Ajelina, I noticed that you have been very concerned about Hamilton's affairs recently."
"Sister Leicia has often mentioned him to me recently."
The little princess said immediately, but the queen did not care about the relationship between Leicia and Shade:
“Do you like Hamilton?”
She asked her daughter her question, and Ajelina's expression remained unchanged. Although they often seemed immature in front of their sister, the children of the Cavendish family were definitely not flowers in a greenhouse:
"Mr. Hamilton likes mature ladies like Great-Aunt Carina."
She did not mention herself, but mentioned her elders. After that, she looked down at her figure. Although they were all Cavendish, the difference in figure between her, Carina and Lecia was really huge.
With just the right amount of lament on her face, Queen Diana took her daughter's hand:
"Although your father has other arrangements for your marriage, you are free until you are actually engaged, Ajelina."
She smiled and winked at her daughter. Ajelina pursed her lips and nodded. She knew that this was her mother hinting that as long as nothing went wrong, she could try to contact Shade.
Picking up the telescope, Ajelina looked at the fight in the arena again. She saw that Shade and Sir Hels, who were very close to each other, kicked each other from their horses at the same time, and then both of them fell off their horses at the same time.
Amidst the continuous "Oh~" sounds from the audience, the two horses ran to the edge of the arena, while Shad and Sir Hels each rolled on the ground and stood up, preparing for a close combat with swordsmanship.
“Excellent indeed.”
Ajelina heard her mother's voice and nodded slightly, the burning desire in her heart stronger than ever.
"The missing brother?"
Shade suddenly stepped forward, his feet standing very steadily on the ground, feeling the power of the ground while slashing the sword at Sir Hels. After reaching the ground, he felt that he could completely suppress the knight in front of him. The knight swung his sword to fight back, but he was only hit once and had to retreat quickly, moving his painful wrist and continuing to speak:
"Yes, my brother disappeared more than ten years ago. I plan to ask His Majesty to help search for him across the country. I think this should work."
Sir Hels said this in a normal tone, and under Shad's helmet, his expression became more serious. He held the sword with both hands and lowered his center of gravity, then thrust forward with the sword held horizontally. Sir Hels dodged to the side, ready to counterattack, but Shad's sword seemed to hit him at the moment of thrust, and continued to thrust towards his heart.
In a hurry, the knight raised his sword to block, but then he felt like he was kicked by an elephant and fell backwards. Amid the exclamations of the people, he landed on his back to absorb the force and rolled over, and before Shade stabbed down with his sword, he rolled to avoid it and quickly stood up.
Of course Xia De would not miss such an opportunity. He quickly caught up and continued to chase, with the sound of clanging continuously as he swung his sword.
"But I haven't heard that you have a younger brother."
Shade spoke in a steady voice, as if he was not the one swinging the sword. Sir Hels, who was exhausted from blocking, fought and retreated, and the balance of victory was tilting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Hamilton of Rejade, you are not from Coldwater Port, so you probably don't know the past of my family. In fact, I was born as a twin, but when I was about one year old, my younger brother was stolen away. Even in Coldwater Port, few people know about this family scandal."
Shad smiled and dodged to the left nimbly, avoiding the steel sword that tried to counterattack during the defense. Then he twisted his right ankle and pushed his right shoulder forward with an almost impossible movement, causing Sir Hels to almost lose his balance and fall down again.
"Is there a possibility that..."
He wanted to continue to draw his sword, but suddenly frowned, as the Jazz's strength actually increased.
He is doubting your questioning of his identity, and the relic is showing some of its power.
"She" reminded him softly, so Shade's attack was temporarily suspended. He took a step back to see what was going on, but Sir Hels had already taken the initiative to catch up. At this moment, the long sword in his hand really turned into a dancing afterimage. With the potential energy brought by the twisting of Sir's body, the sword dance-like offensive made Shade, who was not prepared, overwhelmed.
"The Demon Hunter's sword dance is specially designed to deal with groups of non-human humanoid creatures. The sword master uses this sword technique to walk in the rain, and even the raindrops can't wet his clothes."
Shade recognized this sword technique immediately. It was definitely not something Sir Hels could master.
Fortunately, there is a record of this sword technique in the Night Watch's heritage. Although Shad cannot use it as skillfully as the person in front of him, at least he knows from what angle to block.
The exclamations and cheers of the crowd were no longer distinguishable. Ordinary people could not realize the burden that the "sword dance" put on the body and wrists, and just thought it was some fancy swordsmanship. However, the ring warlocks who were ready to rescue at any time knew the danger of the situation.
But fortunately, although Shade was unable to block every sword swing, the steel sword could not cause any damage when it hit his armor.
"Ms. Carina is really willing to spend money."
Many people think so.
"Is there a possibility that it is you who is missing, and you are actually your brother?"
Xia De asked a complete sentence, and the sword dance that was coming towards him like a torrential rain suddenly paused.
"What's the meaning?"
Because he felt more and more that something was going to happen recently, Shad got up early this morning and went to Midhill Castle to find Grace and Helen, and asked them about the Faceless Man, who was also an angel-level humanoid relic.
The two sisters also knew about this relic. Although they didn't know much about it, because it was related to the "twins", the Red Butterfly girls gave Xia De a very definite conclusion:
"Although you can't make him realize that you doubt his identity, you can make him doubt his own identity, so that he falls into temporary confusion. Since the Faceless Man steals other people's faces, it is easier for him to confuse himself. This is the method summed up by the people of the Fifth Epoch to deal with him. As for his own story, this is another sad past."
At this time, Miss Carina and Resia appeared together in the central stand area. The Duke and the princess came from the city together and just got the news on the way.
The bright spring sunshine shone on the two people's very similar long red hair. After greeting Queen Diana, the witch frowned slightly and whispered in Leicia's ear:
"I can't hear what they're saying at all, but don't worry too much. Even though it's an angel-level relic, Shade has faced more dangerous things before."
"If the Faceless Man goes crazy, can you defeat him?"
Leicia asked. Miss Carina thought about it and shook her head cautiously:
"It's impossible to defeat it completely, but it's still possible to take you away. After all, there are so many people here."
Leicia knew what she meant:
"It's not convenient for me to come forward. After this is over, you have to get appropriate compensation for Xia De. There are so many people here, why should he let an ordinary person face such a dangerous thing? Even if the other party's characteristics have not yet been revealed and there is no difference between him and a normal person, it is a relic after all."
"The church will make appropriate compensation... It looks like it's almost over."
"It's me who's lost. I'm actually my brother?"
Sir Hels repeated what Shad said in a low voice, and suddenly slashed at Shad's shoulder with his sword. Shad fought back with almost the same move. The two swords collided. The helmets of the two men almost stuck to the swords:
"What evidence do you have?"
"Think carefully, why do you want to become someone else?"
Shade said softly, and suddenly kicked Sir Hels away, then launched a counterattack while the other party was stunned:
"Because you don't know what your lost brother looks like, so when you think you are your brother, you look like a faceless man. Although you are twins, there are still differences in your appearance."
"Is that so?"
The Jazz's tone was full of doubt, but it did not prevent him from parrying Shade's attack. Shade swung the sword in his hand more and more powerfully, and even he felt that he was smashing the sword forward.
One of them moved forward while the other moved backward. Sir Hels fell into deeper confusion:
"So I'm not the older brother, but the younger brother? But if that's the case, why can't I remember what I was like as the younger brother?"
"Isn't this easy to understand? You've been lost in your false identity for so long that you've completely forgotten who you really are. Do you know what the furthest distance in the world is?"
"The distance between life and death, I've always been worried about my brother... It's possible that my brother is already dead."
"No, no, the furthest distance in the world is that your brother is you, but you can't see him. Sir, I think you should understand."
What followed was a continuous silence, only Shade's attacks became more fierce and powerful.
But Shade did not win so easily. Suddenly, the knight raised the long sword in his hand to block Shade's sword, and rushed forward suddenly. The two armors separated from each other with a heavy collision sound.
The Jazz said in a deep voice:
"That's interesting, but I still can't quite believe you."
"I will defeat you, and then make you believe me. We have fought for so long, it is time to end it. How about a single move to decide the outcome?"
The final step of the method provided by Helen and Grace is to defeat the faceless man in disguise in a reasonable way, and then the confused relics will leave on their own. It sounds simple, but this is the knowledge that the witches of the Fifth Age have gained with their lives.
The Jazz accepted Shad's challenge, and the two men retreated under the gaze of thousands of eyes in the audience. Then they raised their weapons in front of them, bowed to each other, and launched the final charge at the same time.
It was like the last echo of the era of cold weapon knights, echoing in this crazy and progressive era. The knights in armor, amid cheers and applause, launched their final attack in the century-old ancient arena on this sunny spring afternoon, witnessed by thousands of people.
The swords collided with each other, and at that moment time seemed to stand still.
As the two charging men slowed down their pace and walked in different directions, their leg armor made a rhythmic metallic sound as they walked. The long sword in Shad's hand hung low to the ground, and the half sword in Sir Hels's hand was still buzzing.
The blade of the broken sword flew into the air, reflecting a dazzling light, and stabbed into the ground in front of the east side audience seats amid people's exclamations, laughter and curses.
Woohoo~
The loud trumpet sounded to celebrate the birth of the new year's champion. Everyone stood up to cheer and applaud. The sound from the loudspeaker spread throughout the Edward III Arena:
"In the name of King Larousse III, the 1854 Tobesk Spring City Tournament has ended. The champion who bears the honor of knighthood is Hamilton of Rejade!"
The ribbons were blown away by the wind, and the clouds in the blue sky slowly drifted further away. Shade took off his helmet with great effort, wiped the sweat from his forehead, stabbed his sword into the ground, and then turned around holding the helmet to look at "Sir Hels".
The latter also took off his helmet, revealing a face that Shade had never seen before. He nodded at Shade with a puzzled expression, then turned and walked towards the rest area that was already full of church ring warlocks.
Shade shook his head, grabbed his sword, then raised his helmet and sword high, looking up to accept the enthusiastic cheers and applause from the audience.
In the intense adventurous life and exhausting running around, enjoying life in this way seemed like a good choice to a foreigner. He smiled and looked at everyone above him, watching the gentlemen applauding with smiles, watching the ladies waving handkerchiefs at him, watching the middle-class citizens excitedly talking to each other about this year's events, and also seeing the people crying while holding their betting tickets:
"Damn it, how can you win?"
The paper ball tried to hit him, but was blown back by the gentle wind and hit him in the face, causing people to laugh.
“What a nice young man.”
Queen Diana said to Miss Carina, who raised her lipstick-coated red lips as she and her niece looked at the young knight in the arena.
"Ray Jed's Hamilton! Ray Jed's Hamilton!"
The shouting sounds gradually became continuous. Xia De looked up at the azure sky and felt that the deep sky was so close to him at this moment.
"Look at that cloud. Does it look like Little Mia?"
All I got was "her" gentle laughter.