Chapter 75
Farrell Achilles announced his name as he entered the dueling arena.
“Farrell Achilles.”
In response, Zeke stated his name as well.
“Zeke Draker.”
Stating one’s name before a duel was a gesture of respect and courtesy towards the opponent.
Zeke sensed something different about this Achilles family champion compared to the previous two.
‘His spirit is unwavering.’
This indicated deep mental discipline.
Zeke slowly approached Farrell while holding his shield and sword.
At that moment, Farrell charged forward first.
Whoosh!
The massive shield crashed towards Zeke’s front.
The shield attack with its heavy weight shook Zeke’s body.
Bang!
Zeke deflected Farrell’s attack by tilting his shield and reduced the impact.
Still, considerable force penetrated through.
As Zeke had sensed earlier, he felt that Farrell was no easy opponent.
Farrell didn’t miss the opening.
He moved to the side and swung his sword towards Zeke’s waist.
Swoosh!
The sword cut through the air.
Clash!
Zeke deflected Farrell’s sword with Bahamut.
Farrell frowned at how Zeke had parried his sword strike.
The incredible recoil made his wrist ache.
Farrell was impressed by Zeke’s swordsmanship.
‘His fundamentals are solid. He also has abundant combat experience.’
Zeke maintained his balance against any attack, defending firmly and counterattacking through the most suitable sword path when openings appeared.
Zeke and Farrell engaged in close-quarters combat while standing next to each other.
Clash!
Clang!
Swoosh!
An intense exchange unfolded as shields collided, dodged, and swords clashed.
The lords and family heads were shocked to see such an unexpectedly high-level knight battle.
“Good heavens! To think there was a knight who could fight evenly with Farrell Achilles!”
“The undefeated Farrell Achilles has truly met his match!”
Farrell Achilles was the undefeated champion of the Central Region Knights’ Tournament League.
As a direct descendant and champion representing the Achilles family, he had greatly elevated their honor and achievements.
Swoosh!
Just as people were expressing amazement, Farrell’s sword barely grazed past Zeke.
Zeke stepped half a step back before accelerating forward again, deflecting Farrell’s sword with his shield and spinning around once to swing his sword.
Crash!
An explosive sound erupted from Farrell’s shield.
Simultaneously, Farrell’s body shook violently.
“Huff. Huff.”
Rough breathing could be heard from inside the helmet.
Meanwhile, Zeke’s movements remained largely unchanged from the beginning.
Farrell had to acknowledge that Zeke had superior stamina.
‘What an incredible monster.’
He decided to stake everything on one final attack.
Swish!
Farrell extended his left foot forward.
All his power concentrated in his foot.
Bang!
With tremendous jumping power, Farrell’s body shot forward like an arrow.
Ultimate charging technique with shield while holding sword firmly to pierce the enemy.
Achilles-style Shield Spear Technique
Ultimate Charging Skill
Rage of the Black Spear
It was as if Farrell’s body had transformed into a massive black spear.
Against Farrell who had transformed into a spear that could pierce anything, Zeke pointed his sword and also used an ultimate technique.
Agamemnon Golden Swordsmanship
Ultimate Counter Skill
Dignity of the Golden Sword
Zeke thrust his shield forward and raised his sword above his head.
At the same time, he collided with Farrell’s ultimate technique using his shield.
Crack!
The Rage of the Black Spear completely shattered Zeke’s shield.
Zeke spun his body and brought down the sword he had raised overhead straight towards Farrell.
Farrell also raised his shield to block Zeke’s golden sword.
Crack!
Farrell’s shield was also completely destroyed by Zeke’s sword strike.
Crash!
With a tremendous boom, both men were thrown back simultaneously.
Thud!
The two stood in the center of the arena with swords pointed at each other, having switched positions.
Both shields were completely shattered.
At that moment.
“Stop!”
Rufus stood up from his seat and halted the match.
He spoke to the lords and family heads.
“This match shall be declared a draw! It seems meaningless to determine a winner and loser in such a magnificent duel!”
At Rufus’s words, those watching the match stood up.
They erupted in tremendous cheers and applause.
“Farrell! Farrell!”
“Zeke! Zeke!”
They chanted both names, praising the excellent display of skill in the match.
Zeke and Farrell removed their helmets and approached each other.
“It was an excellent match, Sir Farrell.”
Farrell took Zeke’s hand and spoke.
“…This is my defeat, Sir Zeke. Thank you for your consideration.”
Farrell instantly realized that when Zeke dodged his attack and counterattacked during their final clash, he had lessened the force of his sword to only break the shield.
And that was true.
He felt there was no need to hand defeat to an excellent knight like Farrell in what was closer to a friendly match than an official competition.
Farrell was greatly impressed seeing such young Zeke possess such generosity and composure.
Simultaneously, the heads of the three families seated in the stands rose from their seats.
“House Aegis recognizes Sir Zeke Draker’s qualification as heir.”
“House Hector also recognizes Sir Zeke Draker’s qualification.”
The head of Achilles opened his mouth last.
“House Achilles also recognizes Sir Zeke Draker’s qualification as heir.”
The three houses unanimously recognized Zeke’s qualification.
Zeke had now officially gained the qualification as heir to House Agamemnon.
“Blessings to the new heir of House Agamemnon!”
The arena filled with passionate energy and cheers.
* * *
“Phew. I’m tired.”
After the match ended, Zeke was finally able to remove his armor and rest.
Felix brought Zeke a cold drink.
He too was in an extremely excited state.
“Master, that was truly an amazing match. I didn’t know Master had learned traditional dueling. Goodness, a draw with the League Champion!”
Zeke said to Felix.
“Don’t make such a fuss.”
“Sir Farrell Achilles is a famous great warrior even I know about! He has so many fans even in Atlas.”
“Sir Farrell went easy on me out of consideration for face. Besides, House Achilles is originally famous for spears, not swords.”
“Spears? But Sir Farrell only used swords in every match?”
“That’s why he’s such an extraordinary knight. Watch and learn a lot, Felix. Instead of always thinking about running away when the elders are trying hard to train you.”
“R-running away, what do you mean!”
“Stop the useless chatter and go brew some tea.”
Felix grumbled while bringing the tea.
But he got scolded by Zeke again because the tea water temperature wasn’t right.
‘I thought he was quite sharp at first but he’s increasingly just trying to get by. At least I can tell that fellow Felix isn’t a spy.’
While Zeke was drinking the bad tea Felix had brewed, one of the servants approached him.
“Young master. Sir Farrell of House Achilles has requested to see you.”
It was Farrell Achilles who had just competed in the match who had come.
“Sir Farrell? Show him to the reception room immediately.”
Zeke properly dressed himself again and headed to the reception room.
Having removed his armor and dressed in Central noble formal wear, Farrell was sitting with proper posture.
He was a handsome man with thick jawline and impressive dark sideburns.
He politely greeted Zeke.
“Sir Zeke. I’ve boldly requested to visit you directly like this.”
Zeke said while looking at Farrell.
“It’s an honor to have such an excellent knight as Sir Farrell visit. Please have a seat.”
Soon a maid brought tea.
Then Farrell spoke to Zeke first.
“Sir Zeke. I truly learned much through today’s knight duel.”
“As did I.”
Farrell spoke in a grave voice.
“I have one request.”
“Please tell me what it is. I’ll grant whatever I can do.”
“Though I am lacking, please allow me to help you.”
Zeke was surprised at those words.
“What do you mean by that, Sir Farrell.”
Farrell spoke with gleaming eyes.
“I heard you’ll be participating in the upcoming Draker Tournament.”
Indeed, news traveled very fast in Midland.
Zeke nodded.
“That’s right. I thought it was simply a place to test skills, but from what I heard that’s not the case.”
Farrell nodded.
“It is as you say, Sir Zeke. The Draker Tournament is truly no different from a battlefield.”
“Duke, my master, expressed it the same way. He said it would be difficult without supporting houses, but I haven’t heard the details. May I ask why that is?”
Then Farrell answered Zeke’s question.
“The Draker Tournament is quite a unique competition. The events and rules change with each match.”
“The events and rules change?”
“Yes. Those are determined by the tournament preparatory committee, and those who comprise this committee are the preparatory members. These members also change each time, but they are mostly elders from powerful houses in the Central Continent.”
Zeke’s expression changed at those words.
“So those elders will become committee members and determine the events and rules?”
“That’s correct. The preliminary and main event details will be announced soon. For the round of 16 onwards, the events and rules will be announced the day before each match.”
“Then if those committee members support a specific candidate, they could set events and rules that favor that candidate.”
“Correct. Between competitors of similar skill, having favorable events increases the chances of victory. In extreme cases, if they set a rule like ‘no aura allowed in this tournament’, that’s how it must proceed.”
‘What kind of ridiculous tournament is this?’
In his previous life, after being expelled from the Drake family, he wasn’t even qualified to participate in the tournament, so he didn’t know such absurd competitions existed.
Zeke finally understood why Duke said it was difficult to win the tournament without a sponsoring family.
‘If they collude and set events and rules to check the favored candidates, they could even be eliminated in preliminaries.’
Farrell spoke to Zeke with an earnest voice.
“Sir Zeke! If you permit, I would like to help prepare you for the tournament at your side!”
Zeke was surprised at those words.
“Are you saying you’ll act as my assistant, Sir Farrell?”
Farrell nodded with a grave expression.
‘Why is this man suddenly acting like this?.’
Having suffered so much and been betrayed by others in his previous life, Zeke was naturally suspicious when others showed kindness.
Zeke looked into Farrell’s steadfast eyes.
‘It’s a bit burdensome, but having a famous knight like Farrell help would be much more advantageous.’
Zeke nodded to Farrell.
“It would be an infinite honor to have such an honorable knight as yourself help me.”
Farrell’s face brightened at Zeke’s words.
As soon as he got permission, Farrell began pulling out what he had prepared.
An enormous amount of documents piled up on the table.
“What is this, Sir Farrell?”
“This is the basic manual for preparing for the Drake Tournament. I’ll have servants bring the advanced strategy guide from my main house soon.”
He had never heard of there being not just manuals but strategy guides for the tournament.
‘Maybe I should have declined.’
Zeke thought it might have been better to refuse even if it meant getting on Arthur Draker’s bad side, if he had known it would be like this.
That’s when Farrell spoke to Zeke again in a grave tone.
“Sir Zeke. Actually, with only a month left until the tournament, we’re quite late. Usually preparations begin 2 years, or at earliest 3 years in advance.”
“I-Is that so?”
Farrell nodded.
“In this situation, what we need most is a broker.”
“A broker? You mean the kind of broker I’m thinking of?”
“Yes. More elegantly, they’re also called lobbyists.”
Whether broker or lobbyist, they were the same thing.
Farrell pulled out and opened one file from among the piled manuals.
That page contained one person’s profile.
“They say nothing moves in the central region’s debutante scene without going through this person. She has a firm grip on the central social circles.”
Zeke checked the photo in the profile and read the name.
‘Catherine Graham. The Duchess of House Graham.’
Farrell said to Zeke.
“To prepare for the tournament, we must absolutely bring Duchess Catherine to our side.”
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MC is right. What a ridiculous tournament.