First Opponent!

"Oh, she? She wants the throne!" Kaen muttered nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal.

"Throne? But how will the Duke help with that?" Demios stopped in between as he realized what the princess wanted.

"Indeed, she wants the Duke to support her in the fight for the throne. After she wins, she will request for the duke to join her faction. Even those people from different organizations have the same motive. They all want the Duke's support."

"If the Fire Wizard wins, he will ask the duke's support for the tower. And when the tower decides to support a prince or princess, they will have a duke on their side. This will make them more attractive, and they can make more profits from the fight for the throne."

"Similarly, Silent Killer and The Boulder also want the duke's support for their organizations," Kaen explained.

"What about Etheria then? Why is she participating?" Demios questioned.

"She has her circumstances. You will know later!" Kaen muttered.

"Winter Nightfallen, please come on the stage."

Kaen's name was called out. Kaen left the conversation for later before going up on the stage.

There were two colored balls in the box - blue and red. Most of the red balls were picked, leaving more number of Blue balls. Kaen picked a blue ball before opening it up.

It contained the Number 7, which he showed to the staff, who wrote his number on the board. Afterward, he left the stage.

After an hour or so, the process finally came to an end. A familiar face once again got up on the stage. It was the Duke who started with his announcement.

"The opponents for you have been chosen. There will be 8 rounds in this tournament, but since only 255 warriors participated, one person will be advanced to the second round by default. You must be aware of who that person is."

Everyone's gazes fell on the princess, who ignored them, continuing with her business.

"You can see the tournament chart on the board. I hope the tournament tomorrow will be talked about for decades. I will conclude this banquet by expressing my gratitude to you all," The Duke ended his speech, leaving the stage.

Everyone's gaze fixed on the board mentioned by the Duke. Kaen also searched for his name. After a bit of scanning, he found it in the 11th round column.

"Macho Husband? Who the fxck is Macho Husband?" Kaen muttered with a ridiculous expression upon reading his opponent's name.

"There, you see that couple sitting over there? The man of the couple is Macho Husband," a voice came from behind Kaen.

Kaen turned around, spotting Silent Killer standing behind him.

"Huh? Why would you tell me that?" Kaen asked, finding Silent Killer suspicious.

"It's just that you could see me and follow my movements among all the people present, so I got interested in you. This mask also made me somewhat intrigued," Silent Killer answered.

"Oh well, I'm not interested in any conversation with you, so I'll take my leave!" Kaen said before leaving through the front door.

Next day ——

*Screams**Cheers**Applause*

All sorts of sounds resounded across the arena as the first match started in the tournament. The arena was a round stadium with plenty of seats for the audience. Today, it was not filled to the brim as only unknown fighters, including Kaen, had matches.

Most of the famous participants like Silent Killer or The Boulder had their matches scheduled for tomorrow, so the audience didn't expect much from these fighters today. Although there were some fairly famous fighters, that was not enough to fill the arena to the brim.

The Duke occupied the main seat where he and his wife could watch the whole tournament unfold.

Most of the participants were of a similar level, so the matches would go on for a long time before a winner could emerge victorious among them.

*Ring*

The first match started with the signal of a ringing sound in the hands of the duke.

The match went on for some time before one of them took the lead and defeated his adversary.

Similarly, all matches went on as expected until the 11th round.

This was a match between a newbie named Winter Nightfallen and the renowned fighter Macho Husband.

Macho Husband was quite famous for being devoted to his wife.

He loved his wife immensely, and she was also a beautiful woman in her early thirties.

He was a fighter known for his strength and light elemental magic.

The light element could be used for healing, and he was a 4th rank light magic user.

Even if he was badly wounded, he could quickly heal himself, leaving his opponent helpless.

But his strength was no joke either.

He was renowned in Argenzon for once defeating a 4-star knight in just one punch.

He had a special technique to amplify the force that his fist would hit with by covering his fists with mana.

Although aura provided a greater amplification to a knight using it, But with him utilizing his healing capabilities to recover from the damage his opponent would give, He would gain a upper hand.

"The fighters participating in the 11th round, please come up to the stage," the host announced, calling out the participants of this match.

A man of height, almost 5'9, appeared on the stage wearing a black tuxedo with matching pants.

His attire suggested as if he was going to a party, but that mask gave off another feeling. It gave the impression that he was mocking this tournament and his opponent.

He carried a sharp-pointed rapier in his hand, standing there patiently waiting for his opponent to make his entrance.

After a few moments, everybody spotted a muscular man walking towards the stage from the entrance gate. He was huge compared to his short opponent.

He had his yellow-colored hair pulled back to reveal his charming face, which matched with a horse.

Yes, a horse!

He matched well with his name other than his face.

But no one had the guts to mock him for his face, as anyone who did in the past never had another chance to mock him again.

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)