Chapter 449 – Duel
Homan, who had come out to the arena in advance and was waiting, had a relaxed look on his face.
I accepted Homan’s duel.
I didn’t expect such a spectacular duel, but…
Upon receiving my permission, the notary public at the arena, who had probably been preparing in advance, ran over and handed out something that looked like a document.
And it took less than a week for me to stand in this Colosseum.
Even though the mercenary guild appealed to him as a knight, this situation happened.
Now that things were like this, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to advertise more flamboyantly that I wasn’t a dick.
Of course, that alone doesn’t mean I’m doing this clown thing.
This is different from the light duel I had with the small lord of Crea.
It’s a duel that risks your life.
And the winner gets everything that the loser had.
That means that if I win, I can have everything that guy Homan has.
Homan is the leader of a mercenary group.
I expected him to have quite a bit of property.
If I win this duel, Homan’s property becomes mine.
Actually, that was the biggest reason why I accepted this duel.
Homan said I would join 10 elite members of his mercenary group for a fair duel, and I readily accepted.
Homan’s subordinates are not knights.
He is a mercenary.
It didn’t matter whether the guy asked for 10 or 20 mercenaries.
There was no reason to refuse.
On the contrary, if I had rejected it there, it would have lost its appearance.
Should I rather say that Homan gave it to me?
What is most fortunate is that it was Homan, not me, who suggested the duel.
A duel does not happen just because one side wants it.
An agreement had to be reached between the two parties, and there was no case like this where the weaker side challenged a duel.
There is nothing uglier than the strong bullying the weak, but this case is very different.
It’s a good plot to punish the arrogant mercenary who attacks the knight without knowing that a one-day puppy tiger is scary.
There was no reason to refuse this duel, which was well-made.
Should I say I’m lucky…
In the arena, Homan and his group of mercenaries were seen with a bald head and a conman.
Those guys are elite…
It looked very shabby to me.
A middle-aged knight intervened between me and Homan, who were confronting each other.
His sleek armor is engraved with a black bear-like pattern.
I think it’s probably an article from Ramona’s territory.
However, the look in the middle-aged knight’s eyes at me was full of disapproval.
Do you not like me dueling with petty mercenaries?
Or is it that I am displeased with being looked down upon to the point of being challenged to a duel by a mercenary?
“Tsk… I hope I don’t tarnish the knight’s honor.”
The middle-aged knight clicked his tongue and said something that was unclear whether it was advice or sarcasm.
“I am Emerson of the Black Bear Knights, who has joined this duel.”
After giving us a brief self-introduction, Emerson looks around at the audience and shouts loudly.
-The only thing that can stop this sacred duel is the blood of the loser! Or it’s just the winner’s mercy!
The voice must have been filled with magic, so it resonates loudly throughout the arena.
-Then, the duel begins!!
Emerson, who announced the start of the duel, falls back, and the crowd cheers.
-Wow!!
At the same time, a net is spread out in the sky. And Homan’s subordinate mercenaries rushed at me with long spears.
As soon as the initiate announced the start of the duel, the Homan mercenary group’s preemptive attack began.
Did you train?
It was a well-planned linked attack.
I think I know what I’m trying to do.
They tie my movements with a net and stab me with a spear.
It’s similar to trying to catch an animal.
I can feel the magic in the net falling from the sky.
Although it may not be something great enough to be called an artifact… I think it may have been magically treated so that it cannot be easily cut.
If this had been done during a duel between knights, it would have been met with considerable criticism.
But they are not knights.
Knights and mercenaries are completely different.
Of course, the standards for cowardice are different.
The faces of the Homan mercenaries have a confident look that says ‘according to plan’.
Now it was time to break that confidence.
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The duel between Bark and the Homan mercenaries became quite a hot topic in Ramona.
Of course, Hilda came to watch the duel.
The arena is Ramona’s famous pastime.
Hilda also often watched gladiator matches in the arena.
Usually, more gladiator battles take place in the arena than duels.
There weren’t many real duels that took place.
A duel was not simply about winning or losing. It is a life-threatening battle in which both sides risk everything.
It is difficult to achieve a duel.
A duel means that the relationship between the two has reached its final point.
First, there must be some balance of power between them. And each side must have confidence that they will not lose to the other.
Only then can a smooth agreement be reached.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it were simply a sparring to determine victory or defeat?
Even among knights, there were rarely such life-threatening duels.
It was not a duel between Bark and the Homan mercenaries.
Their duel is the last.
Before that, the atmosphere of the arena was heated up with gladiator games.
Gladiators are the stars of the arena.
Among the gladiators, there were many talented people that even Hilda could not ignore.
There are many talented people who are good enough to become mercenaries right now.
They risk their lives every time they play.
So the top gladiators had no choice but to have good skills.
But they don’t do mercenary work.
This is because they earn much more gold than mercenaries and enjoy popularity.
Unlike usual, quite a few nobles were seen.
Even the daughter of Lord Ramona, who rarely shows her face, was there.
‘I didn’t know the odds of winning were half-and-half…’
Of course, Hilda bet on Bark.
I was worried what would happen if I focused too much on Barque, but it turned out to be unfounded.
There may have been a lot of rumors that Homan might be an Auror user.
Of course, Bark’s un-knightly appearance probably played a role to some extent.
Thanks to this, I felt like I could make a better profit than expected.
Homan’s mercenaries appeared in the arena, announcing the start of the main event.
-Wow!!
And Bark appeared on the other side of the Homan mercenaries.
The sight of him wearing plain leather armor and a long two-handed sword draped over his shoulders, not like that of a knight, is full of leisure.
He, who was mainly shown using a spear, seemed to be thinking of using a sword this time.
-… The duel begins!!
Ramona’s knight becomes an inductee and announces the start of the duel.
A net was thrown from Homan’s mercenary group to Bark. And they charged at Bark with long spears.
It was a Homan mercenary group that showed more systematic tactics than expected.
Bark swung his sword without any sign of embarrassment and the sword tore through the net.
Was it an unexpected situation?
Seeing that, Homan’s mercenary group’s eyes shake.
Hilda knew what that net was.
It was a tough net treated with magic, used to catch powerful monsters.
It is impossible to cut a net with an ordinary sword.
It was a net that only a sword auror could cut.
However, Bark’s sword does not show the auror’s appearance, like the haze characteristic of sword aurors.
I don’t know what kind of magic he did, but the tough net was torn apart like a piece of paper by his ordinary sword.
It can be said that Homan’s mercenary group’s operation went awry from the moment the net was cut in vain.
But I can’t stop.
When the mercenaries realized this, they gritted their teeth and stabbed their spears.
However, the mercenaries’ spears did not reach Bark.
Bark leisurely dodged the mercenaries’ spears and swung his sword indifferently.
Hilda, she thought, had reached the limit of powerlessness that she could reach as an ordinary human being.
But it was a mistake.
When she looked at Bark, she realized that her thoughts were very wrong.
His movements were not that fast.
In some ways, it seems like a move that even he could emulate.
With his short and simple movements, Bark dodges spears coming from all over the place like water.
What is the difference between you and him?
His movements did not feel like the difference was simply due to the power of Auror.
Every time Bark’s sword moves, the lives of the mercenaries disappear one by one.
As the mercenaries lose their lives one by one, the cheers of the audience grow.
It was an expected result as the net operation went awry.
Homan, who was watching from behind, rushed at Bark, apparently unable to bear the sight of his men being slaughtered one-sidedly.
Then something unexpected happened.
A blue haze rises from Homan’s sword.
It was a sword auror.
As rumored, he was a real Auror user.
It could be said that he was a high-level knight if he even had a sword aura.
There were rumors that he was an Auror user, but no one thought Homan had the ability to even pull out a Sword Auror.
It is an ability that is too much for a mercenary subject.
The swords of Bark and Homan clash.
Hilda thought that the Sword Aura would bloom from Bark’s sword this time.
But there is no change in his sword.
And then something shocking happened.
Bark’s ordinary-looking sword cut off the sword causing the sword aura and even slit Homan’s neck.
Auror Blades were the only ones where such a phenomenon occurred.
However, the clear shape of the Auror, the symbol of the Auror Blade, is not visible.
Bark cut off the sword with the Sword Aura blooming with just an ordinary-looking sword.
Something happened that went beyond common sense.
All the spectators jumped up at the strange sight.
Hilda was also watching that scene without even realizing that her mouth was open.
The knight who was joining seemed to be entranced by the sight.
Homan’s decapitated body falls down later.
-Dump…
The knight who was an inductee belatedly came to his senses and shouted.
-Bah, Lord Bark’s victory!!
-Wow!!
The audience’s passionate cheers echoed throughout the arena.
