Chapter 14

"What is this!?"

"A bold declaration from an Ex-class Drag Knight!" The first commentator exclaimed in an almost frenzied way.

"This particular Ex-class Drag Knight has had many military achievements worth noting."

"He's also one of the few Drag-Knights who has fought an Abyss and survived!"

"The [Howling Roar]'s opponent is a difficult one." The crowd went silent upon hearing the achievements of Rayto's opponent, expressing concern.

However, the boy they were worried about, in question, wasn't worried at all. 'An Abyss...? What's that?'

While his feats did sound impressive, Rayto simply looked towards the referee, who nodded.

"Both of you, ready your Sword Devices."

Both clenched the hilt of their Sword Devices on command.

"Don your dress gear!"

"[Connect on]!"

A shimmering light erupted from the two as they both donned their dress gear.

Normally, they would start with a clash, but by the time they would clash, Rayto's figure disappeared.

"What!?"

"Wh-wh-what just happened!?"

"Qualifier Rayto's figure disappeared."

The Ex-class military Drag Knight widened his eyes before looking back, and the moment he did so, Rayto was already there.

"Such speed."

"[Howling Roar]!"

Before the Ex-class military Drag Knight could adjust himself, a shockwave had already hit him alongside his hastily made barrier.

The shockwave sent him backwards, but he was quickly able to regain footing by stabbing his scale blade on the ground.

"Kukuku! What strong shockwave."

He then looked at Rayto who was still standing. "I see, you're indeed worthy of the name [Howling Dragon]!"

The man proclaimed loudly as he got up readying his sword.

[Agility: 30]: [Enhanced reflexes].

[Origin: 20]: [Mastery: Force Core manipulation]

"Hm? Che!" The Ex-class Drag-Knight frowned.

Again, Rayto crouched a little before dashing towards his opponent, who immediately jumped back, sending forward a [Howling Roar] towards Rayto.

However, Rayto cocked his hand backwards, unleashing a [Howling Roar] of almost the same wavelength, effectively canceling both shockwaves.

"How absurd!"

In terms of strength, while the Ex-class military Drag Knight was stronger, he was far outclassed in terms of speed.

Rayto naturally possessed an agility of thirty points, which included the boost of his reaction timing, coupled with his mastery over Force Core manipulation to enhance the speed of his Drag-Machine.

Pure brute strength wouldn't get his opponent anywhere with Rayto.

Unless the opponent was an all-rounder like Lux himself, who was flexible enough to adapt to most situations, there were few who could keep up with him—

—Divine Drag-Riders excluded, due to their superior specs and processing speed compared to Rayto.

The Ex-class Drag Knight cracked his neck with a smile, tossing aside his Scale Blade. "I guess I don't need this anymore."

Saying those words, another weapon appeared in his hand—instead of a weapon, it was an iron-like whip—Wiretail.

"He intends to bind me, huh?"

"I see... not a bad strategy."

Rayto stood still as his opponent slowly started walking in a circular motion, to which Rayto mirrored. Initially dismissive of his opponent, Rayto widened his eyes. 'What...'

There was no opening at all. It was as if his opponent had transformed into a different person.

In that slight moment of distraction, Rayto tensed up and jumped away.

Looking back at the spot he had vacated, there came the sound of the whip hitting the ground.

THWACK!

"..." Rayto, seeing this, now understood he had underestimated his opponent.

'No wonder he boldly declared he would win.' It was only to be expected of an Ex-class Drag-Knight.

Even Lux's opponent wasn't a simple one; that Drag-Knight had exploited Lux's weakness of not attacking.

It was just that Lux was a different breed of his own, in a way more special than one.

Similarly to Lux, Rayto too had his own path, albeit unknowingly; that much would be realized by them later.

Like Lux and his opponent, this was a battle between an experienced Drag-Knight and a Drag-Knight with a deeper affinity and talent for riding a Drag-Machine.

"—Eh?"

"Tsk!"

Rayto clicked his tongue as he saw the Wiretail approaching him mid-air, and for the third time, Rayto used "[Howling Dragon]" to push back the whip.

Despite being called a whip, it was made of flexible iron with blades that could pulverize a Drag-Machine once caught in its grasp.

Taking advantage of the momentary crumble in his opponent's attack, Rayto changed trajectory mid-air, dashing towards him.

He tossed aside his Scale Blade weapon, summoning the Breath Gun instead.

TSUM!

TSUM!

TSUM!

Rayto shot consecutive pressurized bullets towards his opponent; some hit the ground to blind, while others struck his Drag-Machine.

"KUACK!"

His opponent's voice resounded from the smokescreen Rayto had created. Rayto, closing in to finish his opponent, suddenly stopped in his tracks and jumped up again.

'Just now...'

He sensed an impending attack.

Right where he had been, the smoke screen swirled around, forming a small tornado with him at the center.

"Something like this is possible?" Rayto muttered in surprise.

It all came from his opponent swirling his Wiretail in a circular motion. A strength type like him, with an Ex-class Drag-Machine capable of such feats.

The swirling and potential danger of the Wiretail prevented Rayto from approaching. Just as Rayto was weighing his options.

A chill went down his spine, as he looked below—

—THWACK!

A loud, resounding gust of wind accompanied by the crackling sound of the whip passed by Rayto, who had managed to dodge the shockwave just in time.

"Are you kidding me!?"

It was a stronger shockwave than both his and Lux's combined fifty percent [Howling Roar].

"Prepare yourself, kid. This is an attack strong enough to injure an Abyss," the man's voice came from the swirling sound of the twirling whip.

'Seems like I really have no choice—'

Rayto thought, inhaling and exhaling.

Simultaneously, a blue energy covered his Wyvern, followed by another loud, resounding thwack accompanied by a gust of wind.

However, this time, instead of narrowly avoiding it, Rayto was nowhere to be found once again.

"Hm! Where did—"

TSUM!

TSUM!

TSUM!

"—Nani?" Before he could finish his words, several pressure bullets shot towards him from all angles.

Stopping the swirling, he tightly gripped his whip, smashing it on the ground with a resounding thud, managing to offset the pressure bullets.

But—

"You've lost."

The Ex-class Drag Knight felt a figure casting a shadow above him. Slowly looking up, he saw Rayto pointing his Breath Gun at his head.

"Hahaha, I lost."

After a hearty laugh, the man surrendered, raising his hands and dismissing his dress gear. He then looked at Rayto, scrutinizing him.

"By the way, what was that move you used to disappear and attack from all sides?" the man asked.

Rayto thought about his answer for a moment.

"I increased the energy output from the [Force Core] to my Wyvern to enhance my speed."

"... Really?"

"Really!"

The man widened his eyes, then sighed and rubbed his forehead, waving at Rayto before exiting the ring.

'You know, most people using a generalized Drag-Machine can't pull off that stunt you did.'

It was already on par with what a speed-specialized Ex-class Drag-Machine could achieve.

The man thought about it again but gave up, shaking his head.

"Winner! Qualifier Rayto!"

The crowd erupted in loud cheers at Rayto's victory.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, what a wonderful match!"

"Especially towards the ending where he suddenly disappeared, how did he even manage to pull that off?"

The comments from the two commentators only added to the frenzy and loud cheers.

Moreso at the VVIP seat.

While the nobles weren't entirely surprised by Lux's win, Rayto's performance astonished them beyond words.

"That abnormal speed at the end reminded me of my daughter's Divine Gate," the head of the Ralgris muttered, stroking his chin before continuing.

"To think a Wyvern would perform almost the same feat, I'm surprised beyond words."

At the head of Ralgris's words, the leaders of the other noble houses swallowed hard, their eyes fixed intently on Rayto.

'We must recruit him!'

They all thought in unison.

And of course, just like them, the Queen of the New Kingdom also fixed her gaze even more intently on Rayto.

'...'