A tournament is, in the end, a stage for knights to showcase their martial prowess.
Therefore, participating in a tournament came with numerous restrictions.
Lethal attacks that could take lives were forbidden, as were strikes to the groin or other vital areas. Excessive aggression fueled by personal grudges was also prohibited.
Naturally, chivalry was the foremost priority.
Even duels between knights had their own set of rules. A tournament, where one not only displayed skill but also gained experience through competition with other knights, was no different.
Keldric gripped the mace in his right hand tightly.
The knights of the Crimson Mahogany Order ahead of him had already prepared for battle, exuding a chillingly fierce aura. Among them stood Sir Rupert, who had competed against Sir Ortwin in the jousting match on the first day.
A seasoned knight who had won a staggering total of 16 championships in various regional tournaments, six of those victories achieved consecutively…a record-setting feat.
Rumors of such exploits would normally be dismissed as exaggerations, but achieving 16 tournament victories wasn’t entirely implausible.
“There was even someone who won 48 times, after all” Keldric thought, recalling Sir Werner, whom he had met in Yalta.
Wearing black armor and battling a rock troll, Sir Werner’s youthful vigor was evident despite his age. The mace he had passed on to Keldric was proof of it.
A solid metal weapon, engraved with marks from extensive use, the mace was built purely for the purpose of smashing enemies.
Now, that mace was in Keldric’s hand.
And so, it was time to crush the knights ahead.
“Sir Keldric, can you take the right flank? We’ll handle Sir Rupert.”
“Understood.”
Keldric clicked his tongue in regret.
The strongest-looking knight of the Crimson Mahogany Order, Sir Rupert, stood at the center of their formation. Engaging him would mean matching him blow for blow at the heart of the battle.
However, no matter how overwhelmingly Keldric had dominated his jousting matches, it was unreasonable to entrust him with the central position after only three or four matches.
The more experienced knights judged Keldric as possibly strong, but unproven in true battle tactics.
Keldric was well aware of his own inexperience as a young knight, so he silently complied with their judgment.
“Thank you. Let’s fight honorably and secure victory without regret.”
“You have my trust.”
Keldric, a towering figure, accepted the order without complaint, easing the tension among the other knights.
Ahead of them, the knights of the Crimson Mahogany Order, lined up in formation, had also completed their preparations. Within the arena filled with tension, the cheers of the audience echoed ceaselessly.
“Knights! Now is the time to prove your skill and courage! Fight for the honor of your house and your lord! May God bless the valor of these noble knights!”
At the call from the announcer of Kuno Fortress, the other knights simultaneously lowered the visors of their helmets.
Keldric had no need to do so. His cold, deep blue eyes quietly fixed on the edge of the enemy’s formation.
Following the knights in his group, Keldric began to move forward step by step.
The knights of the Crimson Mahogany Order, also advancing, raised their shields and gripped their diverse weapons as they closed in, exuding a sharp and menacing presence.
A knight was a weapon honed for slaughter. Without war or duels, knights could not exist. Conversely, without knights, war and duels were unthinkable.
Except for Keldric, every knight present had experienced territorial warfare at least once in their lives.
The difference between having experience and lacking it was significant. Even someone as physically imposing and powerful as Keldric did not warrant excessive caution from the enemy.
However, no one was careless. Even raw strength alone made a knight a formidable threat.
As the knights gripped their weapons, their muscles tensed, breaths grew heavier, and the clinking of metal armor began to slow, replaced by an eerie stillness.
The distance between the two groups of knights continued to close. Finally, it was the knights of the Blue Dragoon Order who first charged forward, breaking the tension.
“Let’s go!”
“Fight for honor!”
“May God protect me!”
“For the glory of House Hohenfelt!”
Not to be outdone, the knights of the Crimson Mahogany Order shouted their own battle cries and charged in response.
This was not a defensive engagement or a cautious approach. It was an all-out clash, with each knight rushing toward the nearest enemy and swinging their weapons immediately.
It didn’t take long for chaos to erupt across the battlefield.
Having just reached his opponent, Keldric glanced around at the other knights, already exchanging blows with their weapons.
‘The length of the weapon matters’
The knights initially gaining the upper hand were those wielding long weapons, such as poleaxes.
Each group had at least two or three knights armed with such weapons, who effectively leveraged their reach to press their opponents aggressively.
“Gahhh…!”
“Is this all you’ve got? Maybe you should go drink some more milk!”
“What was that, you—?!”
Naturally, in contests of raw strength, provocations and insults were unavoidable, particularly among the more unruly knights.
Keldric refocused his attention, gripping his shield tightly as he locked eyes with the knight standing before him. This knight was slightly larger than the others.
Keldric moved forward steadily, shield raised, closing the distance. His opponent mirrored his advance and then called out in a loud voice as they drew near.
“I am Richard of House Garenvault! I’d like to know your name before we fight!”
“By God’s grace, I am Keldric of House Bellaf. May this fight conclude honorably,”
Sir Richard silently hefted his axe and shield. The axe had a small, spike-like spike protruding from its rear, designed to puncture armor before the axe blade came down to finish the job. A brutal combination.
Keldric decided to approach this carefully, opting for patience over brute force.
Though he could potentially deliver a devastating blow to Richard’s head, it might result in an instant fatality. Not only would this violate tournament rules, but it would also stain his name with dishonor.
Furthermore, rushing in recklessly could leave him exposed to interference from the knight standing near Richard. In a brawl like this, it was critical to stay aware of one’s surroundings at all times.
“What’s wrong? Is your mace rusted? Stop dawdling and come at me!”
He struck his shield with his axe, the loud clang echoing across the battlefield.
“If you’re a knight, show some courage! Stop hiding behind your shield like a coward!”
“Fair enough.”
And so, he gave Richard exactly what he wanted.
Using his massive frame and long strides, Keldric closed the gap in an instant. Without hesitation, he swung his mace with all his strength, aiming directly at Richard’s flank.
It was the same attack that had once crushed Sir Johannes’ body like a siege weight.
The sound of a killing blow cutting through the air assaulted his ears. Startled, Sir Richard quickly threw his shield aside.
What he didn’t realize was the enormous amount of impact the shield was receiving.
Kwang!
“Crunch!”
“Uh-oh!”
“What!”
Barely able to block the attack, Sir Richard was knocked back three or four paces with his shield and collided with another knight.
That knight was knocked back and crashed into another knight, and that knight was knocked sideways and crashed into……………
“Ouch…… where’s he going with this!”
“Get the fuck away from me! You fucking asshole!”
“You bastard, I’ll make you beg on your knees!”
The knights, who had been fighting passively, outwardly maintaining their ranks, were now tangled together.
Knights from the Red Paulownia group, whose ranks were disrupted by four or five men being pushed back, and knights from the Blue Courageous group, who took advantage of the disruption to charge en masse.
Keldric had no intention of standing by and watching the chaos.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground and launched himself straight after Ser Rickard, who reversed his axe and aimed his spike at Keldric’s shoulder.
“Hmph!”
With a short gasp from Keldric, Sir Richard’s axe sank deep into the edge of Keldric’s shield.
Keldric hadn’t blocked it with his shield, but rather thrust it in.
Thankfully, Sir Richard’s axe didn’t easily slip out of the shield, and by the time he could fumblingly draw his sidearm, Keldric’s mace was already flying.
Bang!
“Cgh!”
The mace was blocked again, this time by a shield. By this point, Keldric was starting to get annoyed.
“Damn it. Am I being too forceful?’
He didn’t want to kill or make a fool of himself, but if he overdid it, the knight with the strongest armor would easily parry and hold his attack.
Sir Richard, who was struggling to parry the attack, could almost smell the incense if he slipped up, but there was no way Keldric, who was not present, could tell.
Keldric decided to loosen his grip a bit.
Sure enough, two swings of the mace did not shatter Sir Richard’s shield.
It was a shield that would have shattered in a couple of swings if he had swung it with his usual full force.
Even the addition of iron could not prevent Keldric’s strength from being added to a battle axe or mace that was designed to tear and shatter shields in the first place.
His right hand clenched the mace, the crackling sound clear. Keldric stalked toward Sir Richard, who quickly recovered his stance and took hold.
Sir Richard was not immune to being hit.
The axe that had been impaled on Keldric’s shield was now rolling on the ground, and Sir Richard’s hand held a small one-handed sword as a sidearm.
In an instant, Sir Richard lunged at Keldric with his one-handed sword.
Sensing the difference in power, Sir Richard lunged, but not for nothing. Keldric quickly raised his shield, recognizing a nameless knight charging from his left at the same time.
“Not honorable, are you not ashamed of yourself?”
“Ew……! Shut up!”
After blocking the attack from the left with his shield, Keldric immediately slammed his shield down hard.
This knocked the knight who was about to charge Keldric off his feet.
“Well done! Sir Keldric!”
“You coward!”
“Now, wait! Off!”
Seeing that his fellow knights were giving the fallen knight a group lynching, Keldric stomped the ground with his shield in front of him.
The thudding, menacing sound of his footsteps echoed in all directions.
The impact shook the dirt into dust, and several knights besides Sir Richard turned to face Keldric.
“If you think of stopping me, be prepared to have your bones broken!”
“Uh, uh, uh……!”
Boom!!!
Keldric slammed down with all his might, shield up.
In the aftermath, Sir Ricard and another knight who had tried to counterattack were momentarily knocked out of the air.
Keldric didn’t stop there.
In his shock, he threw his bent shield at the other knight’s head, picked it up and threw it away, then drew another mace from his belt and charged into the chaos.
Bang! Bang! Boom!
The maces in both hands were thrown in all directions, and the sound of thunder rang out over and over again.
“Waaaah!”
“Mighty Knight! Knight of Might!”
“Sir Keldric!”
The crowd’s cheers intensified.
Keldric swung his mace around, sweat dripping down his helmet.
“Black!”
“Ouch! Now, wait, shoulder!”
The knight struck in the side dropped to the floor instantly, while the one hit in the shoulder dropped his weapon and was immediately struck by another.
“Sir Keldric! If you go too deep in…… Uh, eh?”
“I, what’s that……”
Keldric and the other knights of the Blue Dragoons stared at the scene in disbelief.
Armor crunched and chains shattered everywhere, and Keldric was in the center of it all.
“Stop!”
Eventually, even the lesser Sir Rupert stepped forward to confront Keldric.
But Kendrick had only just caught fire.
Even as his breathing became ragged, Keldric continued to swing his mace with all his might.
The head, pickled with excitement, sent a thick stream of pleasure down his spine. A tingling sensation raced down his spine.
BANG!
“Big?!”
Sir Rupert dropped to one knee, trying to deflect the full force of the mace attack with his shield.
Taking advantage of the opening, the mace in his left hand slashed at Sir Rupert’s slightly raised shield from the bottom up.
In an instant, Sir Rupert’s shield, hollowed out, flew across the arena and crashed to the ground.
Sir Rupert was clearly the knight to beat in the tournament.
Despite the loss of his shield and his disadvantage, he quickly recovered his stance and swung his sword at Keldric.
Keldric didn’t dodge. He had no shield, nor could he afford to dodge in the first place.
‘I can’t dodge!’
And so, trusting only the protection of his armor, Kendrick charged at Sir Rupert.
Pow!
A heavy, dull blade slammed into Keldric’s side.
Keldric clenched his teeth at the first real pain he’d ever felt.
His armor hadn’t been torn, but the dull ache that shot through him told him it was a deep bruise.
But give me flesh, take away bone, and I’m done.
“Now, wait.”
Quang!
Before Sir Rupert had time to react, Keldric’s mace, with a slight adjustment in force, slammed into Sir Rupert’s chest arm.
Sir Rupert’s body rolled three or four times across the floor before coming to rest. The plate armor on his breastplate was horribly dented.
“Woah-!!!”
As the cheers from the bleachers intensified, only Keldric stood tall in the center of the fallen knights, exuding a murderous aura.
The other knights, who had long since ended the fight, stared at him in disbelief. One of the knights muttered to himself.
“The… the Unyielding Knight…”
A knight who never loses, no matter what hardships come his way.
A new title was born for Keldric.