Sir Johannes was not panicked for long. Having won tournaments eight times, his reputation wasn’t baseless; even while clutching his side and groaning in pain, he quickly regained his stance.
Keldric, his longsword poised, watched Sir Johannes intently.
“Damn it,” he muttered.
It wasn’t as though Keldric didn’t want to attack. Given the high stakes of this trial by combat, the rational decision was to keep pressing his advantage, swinging his sword until Sir Johannes couldn’t recover.
However, exploiting the moment when an opponent had lost their balance or failed to adopt a proper defensive stance could invite condemnation. Among knights, honor and trust were paramount, and taking such opportunistic action in a trial by combat would be seen as dishonorable.
The codes of chivalry often proved to be a hindrance.
“Thank you,” Sir Johannes said in a loud enough voice, acknowledging Keldric’s restraint. Expressing gratitude for an opponent’s consideration during a duel was a way to show respect for their honor.
Keldric was slightly taken aback. As a subordinate of Baron Gottfried and a participant in Anshelm’s sordid schemes, he had assumed Sir Johannes to be a dishonorable scoundrel. Yet, it seemed Johannes adhered to his own knightly principles.
Keldric, who had intended to cripple him entirely, reconsidered. Perhaps leaving him semi-crippled—enough to be bedridden for about a month—would suffice.
“…You’re welcome,” Keldric replied curtly.
The brief exchange concluded, the two men reset their stances.
Once again, it was Sir Johannes who moved first. This time, however, he did not charge directly at Keldric. Instead, he advanced more cautiously, circling around him with deliberate steps. There was a clear sense of wariness in his movements; the overconfidence that had marked his earlier demeanor was nowhere to be found.
After exchanging several blows, Sir Johannes had gauged Keldric’s overwhelming strength and agility.
Clicking his tongue, Keldric adjusted the angle of his sword to match Johannes’ movements.
“The sword’s not going to cut it anymore,” he thought grimly.
When Keldric’s longsword had struck Johannes’ side earlier, it had felt like hitting a solid chunk of metal rather than flesh. The chainmail Johannes wore, with its tightly interlinked rings, was armor well-suited to deflecting blades. No matter how much force was behind a thrust or slash, the chains would block the blade from piercing through.
Moreover, as chainmail was still made of metal, repeated strikes risked damaging the sword itself.
In Keldric’s case, the situation was worse. Having previously smashed the crossguard of an arming sword during an earlier fight, his weapon’s edge had already seen significant wear.
The marauders and light cavalry Keldric had faced in the past typically wore scale armor. Villagers from remote areas tended to wield clubs, so armor that resisted blunt force was preferred.
Chainmail, in contrast, was strong against blades but vulnerable to blunt weapons. In hindsight, Keldric should have started with a mace.
The reason he hadn’t was simple: wielding a mace would inevitably expose his underarms.
Chainmail, while offering greater mobility than plate armor, still restricted movement around the joints. As a result, areas like the underarms and other jointed sections were often left thinner or merely padded.
This general characteristic of chainmail applied equally to Keldric’s own armor. His underarms, covered by thin, loosely linked chains and padding, were a potential weak point.
If Sir Johannes’ arming sword found its way into Keldric’s underarm, it would be a fatal wound. A severed axillary artery would mean certain death.
But now, things are a little different.
‘I must have been hit wrong.
Sir Johannes, struck in the right flank by the longsword, had shifted his weight slightly to the left, though he pretended not to.
The pain had caused him to shift his center of gravity to the left, unwittingly.
If you’re not comfortable with your right side holding the Arming Sword, you’re not going to be able to attack easily.
With that thought in mind, Keldric boldly threw his longsword down.
The great longsword swept across the floor several times before stopping.
Meanwhile, the mace at Keldric’s waist was drawn.
Keldric had customized his gauntlets and shield, but he hadn’t brought a shield.
It was not honorable to be more heavily armed than one’s opponent, as it was against equity.
Sir Johannes shuddered at the sight of the murderous-looking iron.
Blunt force is not a welcome feeling when you’re not comfortable fighting back.
Regardless, Keldric took a slow step forward, mace in hand.
He could mitigate it by making a half-step, but even he didn’t know if that would work.
Only the bone-crushing mace would know the answer.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
The distance between Keldric and Sir Johannes has closed steadily.
Whereas before, Sir Johannes had lunged at Keldric, who was standing still, Keldric was now slowly approaching Sir Johannes.
Sir Johannes gripped his shield tighter at the sight of the fearsome Keldric.
The wooden shield with the iron plates was certainly solid.
No matter what Keldric swung, if it was a blade, it would be easily blocked.
A mace, however, was a different story. Maces and axes were weapons designed to shatter shields and armor.
Sure, you could only parry so many times before it shattered. In the meantime, you could stab them in the armpit.
Not now. Sir Johannes had to remain relatively calm.
“Huup!”
Keldric, closing the distance, quickly swung his mace.
The mace slung over Keldric’s shoulder, it spun in a half circle and slammed into Sir Johannes.
The wind-splitting hail of iron tore through the air, and Sir Johannes flinched, raising his shield.
Thwack!
A splinter of wood, even larger than the one from the longsword, flew out.
Sir Johannes pushed through the pain in his throbbing right arm and closed the distance, but the shield had already been dented, gouging his arm.
“Ha, all at once?
Sir Johannes marveled at the shield’s tattered condition after just one strike.
It was a shield that should have withstood at least a half-dozen blows, but this was sure to be the next one.
Whooosh!
There was no time for admiration.
Another mace flew at Sir Johannes, a couple of feet away.
In a split second, Sir Johannes made a quick assessment of the situation and brought his shield up again.
He was prepared to give up his shield and an arm, and he intended to stab him in the armpit.
Give flesh and take bone. The current situation was more like a bone for a life, but that was fine by me.
However, the shield side, where I expected to hear the shredding, was quiet.
Instead, from the side of the Arming Sword pointed at Keldric’s armpit, a glimmer of iron could be seen.
Sir Johannes’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
“Holy…..!”
Bang!
Sir Johannes quickly deflected the Arming Sword, but no one would use a mace if it was blocked by something like that.
The Arming Sword was easily deflected, and the mace didn’t stop there, striking Sir Johannes in the right side again.
“……!”
A gurgle escaped Sir Johannes’ mouth.
The side of his chain mail had been ripped completely off the chain, revealing Gambison’s face.
Gambison’s guts had also been ripped out by the iron, leaving him virtually unprotected.
Another hail of mace struck. Sir Johannes was forced to quickly close the distance.
This would give Keldric time to correct his stance again, and Sir Johannes, still with his shield, would see his chance.
Quang!
“Thwack!”
But Keldric wasn’t about to take that lying down.
Sir Johannes, who had been struck twice in the side, clutched at his wound and winced.
Blood dripped from the crushed flesh and pooled on the floor.
Judging by the gory sound of the thud, three or four ribs must have been broken.
It was the source of Sir Johannes’s unrelenting beatings.
His ribs had been cracked by a longsword blow earlier, and he hadn’t been quick enough to stab him in the armpit.
By the time the third blow flew, Sir Johannes glared at it with bloodshot eyes and realized.
If he stood still, he would die!
Combining his strong survival instincts with his knight’s sturdy halberd, Sir Johannes summoned his strength and swung his shield wide.
The mace ricocheted off the shield, shredding Sir Johannes’ shield and left arm in its wake.
If it had come this far, it had served its purpose. Sir Johannes threw down his shield and stabbed again.
The mace bounced off, leaving Keldric’s armpit defenseless.
“I win!”
Sir Johannes grinned from behind his helmet, realizing his victory.
But his joy was short-lived.
Sir Johannes’ vision darkened.
The iron gauntlets on Keldric’s hands had gotten closer and closer to Sir Johannes’ nose.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
BANG!
An unearthly sound echoed from his face.
Keldric glared at the ugly bassinet, but all the while, his fists didn’t stop.
The sound of iron striking iron rang out loudly, one after another.
The Arming Sword, aimed at Keldric’s armpit, whipped through the air.
Since he didn’t seem to have recovered yet, Keldric grabbed Sir Johannes’s right arm with the Arming Sword and punched him right back.
Wududuk-!
“Off!”
Sir Johannes’ scream echoed through the air.
Sir Johannes’s newly broken right arm jerked along with his left arm, which had been shattered the previous evening.
Still, no words of surrender were uttered.
Sir Johannes’s hand clenched tightly around his Arming Sword.
Keldric glanced toward the line of clerics. The arbitrator, Lord Nosze, seemed to be debating whether to intervene.
If he intervened, the knight might feel that his honor had been trampled upon, and if he waited, it seemed as if the battle had already been decided.
Sir Johannes was already half a cripple, with both arms burned and three or four broken ribs.
I can’t see it, but I’m sure his nose is broken, too. Keldric spoke with a shudder.
“Sir Johannes. I recommend an honorable surrender.”
“Off with it!”
“You’ve fought well enough, sir, and it’s time for you to slip away………”
Grasp!
Keldric offered to surrender, but Sir Johannes pushed him back with all his might.
Even as he did, the Arming Sword in his right hand lunged to stab at the eye sockets in Keldric’s helmet.
The blade missed by a hair’s breadth, striking Keldric in the midriff, but his gaze upon Sir Johannes grew cold.
The miss was fortunate that Keldric had turned his head, but if he hadn’t, he would have gouged out his eyes.
There was something honorable about a knight who refused to surrender and fought to the end.
However, it was another thing entirely to refuse to accept the outcome of a fight when it was already clear that you had lost.
Keldric recognized that Sir Johannes was not fighting honorably and persistently.
He was fighting with futility and futility alone.
That he could win with one stab, just one stab, to the heart.
And the arrogance of thinking that he could do it with his arm in a crippled state.
I won eight tournaments, maybe because of that. He’s the kind of player who can stab his opponent in the back of the head in a split-second and win quickly.
If so, there was only one thing Keldric could do.
“Aaaah!”
Sir Johannes shouted, thrusting his Arming Sword, but Keldric’s gauntlets deflected it away.
Keldric’s vicious fingers dug into the nape of Sir Johannes’ neck and into his hipbone, respectively.
At the height of his power, Keldric lifted Sir Johannes’ body off the ground.
“Uh, uh, uh……!”
“Me, me!”
“That’s it! Lord Keldric, finish him off now! Just-!”
A furious reaction erupted from the onlookers and clergy, especially Sir Hermann.
To simply lift the body of a knight clad in metal armor was impossible, unless you were a master of the art.
“Hmph!”
After another round of cheers, Keldric slammed Sir Johannes straight down to the ground as he struggled to hold on.
Quang!
Literally, the ground rumbled. A cloud of dust rose to obscure the view.
And when the dust cleared, it revealed Sir Johannes lying motionless on the ground.
“Uh…….”
“Uh, um…….?”
People stared at the figure, dumbfounded.
Even Sir Hermann, who had been cheering with his fist in the air, scratched his chin nervously as he saw Sir Johannes lying motionless on the ground like a frog.
“Isn’t he dead?”
“Damn, it’s bloody. Do all knights fight like this?”
When the room fell silent, Keldric strode briskly to the front of the Nosze.
Nosze, who had never seen a dueling trial like this before, looked at him in surprise.
“I think I win.”
“Yes, you have.”
“Declare it.”
Nodding nervously, Nosze walked to the front of the arena. After a few moments of stunned silence, the crowd fell silent.
“It is the true victory chosen by the Lord, and we shall truly accept and respect the victory of Sir Keldric and the innocence of Lady Cassel!”
According to the will of God, it was proven that Lady Cassel had not committed adultery.
Though Sir Keldric saw it as complete nonsense, those who believed without doubt that it was the victory chosen by God nodded in agreement.
“It has been revealed that Chairman Anshelm engaged in heretical acts and conspired with betrayal! The church shall cleanse this sin, so the citizens of Belram need not worry!”
And what that meant was that Anshelm’s guilt was now firmly established.
In despair, Anshelm collapsed from his chair, powerless.
However, no one attempted to help him up.
“Thus, I declare the trial by combat to be concluded! May the Lord bless Sir Keldric’s victory and embrace the defeated with mercy!”
“Wow!!”
“May the Lord’s blessing be with the honorable Sir Keldric and Sir Hermann!”
Petals, seemingly prepared in advance, fluttered through the air.
Sir Keldric responded moderately to the cheers of the crowd and helped Sir Johannes, who was lying motionless in the arena, to his feet.
Still unconscious, Sir Johannes’ limp body was dragged along by Sir Keldric’s hand.
“I would like to express my gratitude to Sir Hermann, who arranged this glorious duel! And I would also like to commend the honorable actions of Sir Johannes, who humbly accepted his defeat!”
It was clear that if the loser was simply abandoned, it would bring shame.
Sir Keldric chose to raise his own honor and value while maintaining everyone’s dignity.
Though Sir Johannes’ limp arm hung loosely in Sir Keldric’s hand, the crowd was indifferent to such details.
“God has chosen! Lady Cassel is innocent!”
“Praise be to Sir Keldric’s victory, blessed by the Lord! Blessings upon the honorable Sir Hermann and the faithful Lady Cassel!”
Amidst the cheering, Sir Hermann, his eyes sparkling with excitement, rushed forward and embraced Sir Keldric.
“Sir! I believed in you!”
“Thank you.”
“Record Sir Keldric’s victory! Do not let this glorious moment slip by!”
“No, there’s no need to go that far…”
“Sir! What are you saying? This must be recorded as knightly literature!”
“……………Do as you please.”
In the midst of the frenzy, Sir Keldric, intoxicated by the heated atmosphere, raised the corners of his mouth.
The fluttering petals, cheers of victory, and the burning heat, along with the sons of bitches of Belram who would soon burn, it was truly a scene from knightly literature.