As the sun completely set, the full moon and the magic-infused gemstones illuminated the surroundings just as the semifinals of the tournament began.
“Vane. The knight from Gerturk…”
Edith, who had come out of the tea room to watch the match, looked at the long-haired knight engaged in a fierce battle with his opponent in the semifinals.
She wasn’t fascinated by his moves of parrying all of the opponent’s attacks while waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.
“He’s going by the pseudonym Arnold, but he’s actually Aizen, the leader of Gerturk’s assassination squad. The distinctive movements of Gerturk’s assassins give him away.”
Vane, concentrating on the match, explained clearly. Edith was not versed in martial arts, so she could not appreciate the match with a keen eye, but she was sure of one thing.
『 Seeing him participate in person, Aizen must be quite desperate.』
Before Walter found out that he was Lexion’s heir, Aizen would have received orders to kill him, but since he had repeatedly failed, the pressure on him must have been quite significant.
The probability of causing trouble in today’s match was high accordingly.
Swish—!
Just as Edith was thinking such thoughts, the loud sound of the drums echoed, and the referee raised the flag.
“Match over!”
With the announcement, Aizen raised his hands toward the sky. She knew what it meant when the person representing Gerturk waved his hands triumphantly.
“Lexion and Gerturk are really fighting in the finals.”
Walter had already been confirmed to advance to the finals through the previous match. However, since Aizen had just won, all that was left was the final where the two would face each other.
Immediately, a majestic drumbeat echoed through the arena. From the seats on the opposite side, filled with people who loved swordsmanship tournaments, passionate cheers and support could be heard.
『 Walter, please don’t get hurt…』
Thinking of Aizen’s agile and daring attacks, Edith clasped her hands together and prayed.
It was clear that Aizen, who had been resting in his spare time thanks to his luck, was in better condition than Walter, who had faced several knights unleashing his magical power. And this fact made her nervous.
“Wow!”
“Lexion! Lexion!”
However, Walter, who appeared leisurely amid the cheers, accompanied by cheers, was dashing enough to calm her worries. He must have been exhausted, but there was no visible sign of exhaustion.
Surprisingly, Edith wasn’t the only one staring at his unscathed state.
『 Why does he look so unharmed?』
Aizen, trying to conceal his confusion, followed the referee’s instructions and drew his sword.
According to Patricia’s explanation, Walter should have been struggling by now, sweating and finding it difficult to move his body. He should have been confused and surprised by why his body felt so heavy.
However, rather than turning pale, the bronze skin of the man in front of him glowed under the moonlight. He looked tired because of the consecutive matches, but that was it.
『 But seeing as he constantly uses magic power, it’s clear that he’s poisoned.』
There was no way Walter could continue to use magic like that throughout the matches unless he was determined to be exhausted. Why waste that Lexion’s precious magic for nothing?
Aizen thought that Walter was just trying to pretend he was okay, so he waited for the signal to start the match.
“Match begins!”
The moment the referee raised the flag into the sky, thunderous cheers erupted.
Thunk—
Walter swiftly blocked Aizen’s fiercely approaching sword as soon as the match began. An unpleasant magic energy seeped through as their swords clashed.
“Judging from how you wield this kind of weapon and boast about being the leader of an assassination squad, it seems like Gerturk lacks any real talent.”
At first, Aizen showed no reaction to the comment. However, as Walter kept relentlessly attacking him and making fun of him, Aizen’s resistance began to crumble.
“It would be nice if your colleagues who died by my hand could be satisfied with your second place. Oh, you participated under a pseudonym so you wouldn’t be recognized?”
“Shut up!”
At that moment, there was a whooshing sound as if the wind was cutting, and Aizen’s aura added weight to the sword.
『 He must be suffering internal injuries from the poison, so if he forces me into a quick attack, I will win!』
Just when Aizen was about to change the trajectory of his sword with his eyes flashing with intent to kill, a cruelly complete sneer appeared on Walter’s face.
Bang—!
His mockery gave no indication of its meaning, so his sword strikes became faster.
Walter parried Aizen’s fierce attacks with his magic-infused sword. Every time he unleashed his magic power to ward off his aura, he felt his heart pounding. It was just as he had wanted.
『 If I continue using magic a bit more like this…』
The more strain it put on his body, the more certain it became. His awakening was approaching.
For a split second, Walter caught Edith watching him from the spectator seats reserved for Lexion, clutching a blanket tightly.
He recalled a conversation that must remain absolutely hidden from her.
⋙“If we’re talking about the fastest way to deplete magical energy… perhaps being on the receiving end of attacks would be the most effective? Magic inherently has a protective nature toward its wielder, so it tends to be consumed at an alarming rate when the wielder is in danger.”⋘
⋙“Are you suggesting that if I want to reach my awakening, I should get beaten up?”⋘
As Walter smirked while saying that, a plausible possibility crossed his mind.
If it were Aizen, he would probably do something like poison the food he would eat on the day of the tournament or put poison on the armor he would wear.
Although the tournament rules forbade direct harm to opponents, the use of real weapons often led to accidents resulting in death or serious injury.
Desperate to reach his awakening quickly, Walter decided to take advantage of that point.
⋙“So, if I suppress the spread of poison throughout my body with magic and then deliberately endure attacks, will my magical energy be consumed twice as fast?”⋘
⋙“W-Well, yes, but it’s too risky.”⋘
⋙“Just tell me how to do it.”⋘
Walter mastered the technique of using magic to defend against internal injuries, ensuring that he didn’t succumb entirely to the poison.
Walter had to use a lot of magical energy anyway to get closer to awakening, so from the moment he entered the arena, he drank the water while maintaining his defensive magic, and suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his body.
『 So he poisoned the water?』
Regardless of the type or origin of the poison, thanks to this, his magical energy began to be consumed twice as much.
It was exactly what he wanted.
Swish—
His sword, clashing against the other, made a chilling sound as it slipped.
Walter decided to reward Aizen for helping him reach his awakening by moving as he wanted. It was a reward that would shatter the trust and loyalty he had dedicated to those unworthy bastards.
“Aizen. Have you ever thought that what you put in my water is not poison but an elixir that activates magic?”
“What do you mean…!”
At that moment, Aizen’s heart tightened.
At first, Aizen thought his body had stiffened because he was surprised that Walter knew he had put something in the water, but that wasn’t the case.
It was because he suddenly sensed the overwhelming magic power of Lexion, which became unbearable for his entire being.
With a crackling sound, something seemed to split, and soon, the magic energy that Walter had imbued into his sword became as sharp as thousands of needles. Just the touch of it felt like it could pierce through one’s skin.
It was the awakening.
“It seems like the person who ordered you to poison me actually hoped that I would accidentally kill you.”
“…!”
Originally, Aizen was a rational and logical man. However, now that Walter had reached his awakening after consuming the poison the Imperial Consort gave him, his reason and sanity were essentially suspended.
『 But why would the Count and the Imperial Consort do this to me—?』
If it hadn’t been to their liking, the Count would have dismissed him from the position of the leader of the assassination squad long ago, without resorting to such complicated schemes that tarnished the honor of Gertrude.
Walter saw Aizen’s agitated eyes and answered for him.
“Well, you’ve proven your incompetence with repeated failures, haven’t you? Even your fellow assassins will soon lose trust in their leader.”
“…”
“If you were to accidentally die, Gerturk’s side could use it to manipulate public opinion, saying that they lost a knight because of Lexion, so they probably thought it would be a waste to just kill you.”
“…!”
Walter, who saw the light disappear from Aizen’s eyes, smirked and, with a flick, sent Aizen’s sword flying into the air.
It was laughable to see someone who had tried to harm Edith, just because she was slightly involved with him, being so shaken by the lie that he was rejected by his master and comrades.
Since the man in front of him had attempted to kill Edith and their unborn child, Walter had no intention of missing the opportunity to bury him.
“Wow!”
The moment Aizen’s sword, sent flying by Walter’s sword, hit the ground with a thud, the entire arena erupted in cheers. The winner of the match between Lexion and Gerturk has been decided.
But the moment the referee raised the victory flag for Walter, something unexpected happened.
“…”
With a heavy cough, blood erupted from Walter’s mouth.
“What-what is that?”
“Blood? Why is he suddenly coughing up blood?”
Walter wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, but many people saw him coughing and vomiting blood.
The doctors in charge of the participants hurriedly rushed to him. Walter muttered quietly so that the leaving defeated opponent wouldn’t hear.
“It seems like someone might have poisoned my water.”
It was a plan devised by him to put pressure on Gerturk under the pretext of an investigation and at the same time to calm down Edith, who had seen him coughing blood.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
