Dragonslayer’s Class Regression Chapter 80

Chapter 80

It was an enormous gathering of riders.

Seeing them, Edward and the other participants’ faces turned pale.

“Th-that?”

There were banners of the prominent Central families including the Agamemnon family with their golden mask emblem, as well as the Achilles, Hector, Aegis, and even the Graham family – the de facto rulers of Panstas.

Whoosh!

Not just one, but over ten influential families stood behind Zeke’s group.

Edward, who stood in front of Zeke, was too flustered to speak.

‘This… this can’t be.’

While the Draker Tournament was considered a microcosm of continental power dynamics, having so many riders gathered at once was unprecedented.

The riders from each family bowed respectfully before Zeke.

“The Achilles family responds to the summons of Sir Zeke Draker, heir of Agamemnon!”

“The Hector family responds to the summons of Sir Zeke Draker, heir of Agamemnon!”

“The Aegis family responds to the summons of Sir Zeke Draker, heir of Agamemnon!”

Other families followed with their own reports to Zeke.

Finally, the Graham family’s rider, adorned in golden armor, stood before Zeke.

“By order of Duke Graham, we are to guard Sir Zeke Draker, benefactor and eternal friend of the Graham family, during the tournament.”

He presented something to Zeke.

“Lady Angelina Graham requested this handkerchief be delivered to Sir Zeke, carrying her wishes for victory.”

The mention of Angelina Graham’s name caused a stir.

Having recently appeared in social circles, Angelina Graham was already considered one of the continent’s greatest beauties.

Receiving a handkerchief from the reclusive Angelina Graham made Zeke the target of envy and jealousy from other young knights.

Zeke tucked the handkerchief into his chest and bowed in gratitude.

“Please convey my thanks to the Duke. And tell Lady Angelina I will certainly bring her victory.”

The riders behind Zeke alone were enough to overwhelm an entire knights’ order.

Edward retreated to where his riders were, sweating nervously.

He gritted his teeth looking at Zeke.

‘Zeke Draker.  No matter what, you’re just a stepping stone for my debut.’

Just then.

Several figures appeared before the gathering place, waving the Draker banner.

Someone on horseback emerged from among those wearing Draker uniforms.

His appearance silenced everyone.

A middle-aged man whose face was covered in scars large and small.

Zeke looked at the man on horseback.

‘The Scarred Knight. Gareth Draker.’

Gareth was one of Draker’s guardian knights and a Red Knight who led the Black Wolf Order, one of Draker’s three major knight orders.

Zeke remembered his face from the Third Continental War in his past life.

However, after Draker was fully incorporated into the Empire, Gareth broke his own sword and went into seclusion to maintain his pride as a knight.

That’s how strong his integrity and pride as a knight were.

Gareth addressed the gathered crowd.

“The Draker Tournament preliminaries will now begin. Participants, step forward with your chosen weapon.”

At Gareth’s words, the tournament participants stepped forward holding their prepared spears.

Felix, standing behind Zeke, examined the spears the other participants brought.

Though most were covered in cloth, the long shafts clearly indicated they were throwing spears.

Felix nodded and whispered to Zeke.

“Master, as you predicted, they’ve modified them for throwing.”

That’s when Zeke handed something heavy to Felix.

Felix tilted his head.

“What’s this, Master?”

“The weapon you’ll use to participate.”

“What? Why am I participating?”

Zeke gestured toward the inner area where the preliminaries would be held.

Felix shook his head.

“Come on, I didn’t even register for the tournament…”

As he spoke, Zeke smoothly produced a registration form with Felix’s name.

“Huh?”

Felix, who had come along thinking it was just an excursion, only now realized he was a participant.

Zeke and Liam grabbed Felix as he tried to escape and dragged him inside.

The riders waited outside the stage, while the participants lined up to prepare for the preliminary round.

Then there was a loud noise from behind the stage.

Boom!

A huge target that looked like a siege weapon was installed in the middle of the stage.

The participants tilted their heads looking at the target made of multiple layers of thick steel plates.

‘Did they install that over the mountain?’

Then Gareth spoke.

“The preliminary event is thrust power. The more steel plates you penetrate, the higher score you’ll receive.”

Most participants were shocked and dazed at those words.

They had been told it would be javelin throwing, but suddenly the preliminary event had changed.

“This- this is absurd!”

“Thrust power?! We can’t even apply proper force with these spears!”

The participants had brought spears modified to be light and long to throw farther.

Seeing this, Edward and other participants associated with House Jiemens smirked.

They were able to prepare appropriate spears since they knew the preliminary event beforehand.

‘You’re all just here to make me look good anyway.’

Edward whistled as he took out his prepared spear.

It was a modified spear with a heavy metal shaft and sturdy blade designed to maximize thrust power.

Edward anticipated his easy victory.

That’s when it happened.

“Th-that?”

Other participants gasped in shock looking at Zeke’s group.

They had brought spears with heavy shafts and sturdy blades just like Edward’s.

What he had asked Catherine to prepare wasn’t a throwing spear but a thrusting spear.

Felix held the heavy spear and asked Zeke.

“M-master. Did you know about the preliminary event?”

Zeke shook his head at his question.

“I just thought the Jiemens wouldn’t reveal the preliminary event so easily.”

Additionally, Zeke had encountered Edward Jiemens in his previous life.

Edward, with his sadistic personality, preferred killing enemies by wielding the spear directly rather than throwing it.

He thought someone like Edward wouldn’t choose javelin throwing as the preliminary event.

He naturally ignored Edward’s glaring gaze.

Gareth raised his hand.

“Come forward with your weapon when called!”

Participants who had prepared throwing spears had no choice but to take their prepared spears and stand in front of the target reluctantly.

Since the qualification was purple knight or above, everyone could imbue their weapons with aura.

However, simply surrounding the weapon with aura wasn’t enough to penetrate the steel plates.

Snap!

When too much aura was applied to add force, the shaft broke and couldn’t transfer power to the target.

Participants who had only practiced throwing couldn’t even scratch the pure iron target.

“Huup!”

Clang!

Even participants with decent aura control could only penetrate one steel plate at best.

Soon after, it was Reina Draker’s turn.

Reina had brought a regular spear.

The Tourn family didn’t distinguish between throwing spears and thrusting spears in the first place.

Reina stood in front of the target holding her spear.

Then she drew up her aura.

Woong!

A clear vibration sound rang from the spear.

She thrust the spear forward while strongly stepping with her front foot.

Crack!

The aura-imbued spear penetrated four thick steel plates.

“Hmm…”

Though it was the best result so far, Reina’s expression suggested something wasn’t quite satisfactory.

Next was Felix’s turn.

“Phew.”

Felix stood before the target and gripped his spear with a serious stance.

Having mainly learned traditional swordsmanship, Felix had also mastered spear techniques from his grandfather.

Felix thrust deeply into the target, putting weight into the entire spear.

Crack!

The aura-imbued spear penetrated three and a half steel plates.

“Phew.”

Felix returned to his relaxed posture and slumped down next to Zeke, looking drained.

Soon it was Liam’s turn, and he immediately stood before the target with his spear.

He penetrated three plates, slightly less than Felix.

Seeing that he lost to not just Reina but Felix too, Liam resolved to train harder.

The next participant stood up.

‘Finally my turn.’

Edward Jiemens, who had been looking at others with an arrogant stance, stood before the target with his spear.

“Hmph. These steel plates are nothing.”

He gripped his spear and drew up his aura.

Woong!

The aura gathering on his spear was dense enough to be visible.

It was proof that he was close to promotion to blue knight.

“Haaat!”

With an tremendous shout, Edward thrust his spear at the steel plates.

Crack!

With a thunderous sound, Edward’s spear penetrated six plates.

He withdrew his spear and made an arrogant expression again.

“Not in good condition today. Usually I could’ve penetrated all ten plates.”

Edward glanced at Zeke’s direction with a smirk before returning to his original position.

Zeke didn’t pay much attention to Edward.

Rather, he was focused on another participant.

‘Elin Sabrina.’

After scanning the participants at the arena, Zeke noticed one participant that particularly caught his eye.

She was a young female knight who covered her face with a hood and cloak.

‘Just from her breathing, gait, and the aura she gives off, she’s clearly no ordinary knight.’

For a knight with such skills, he should have heard her name before, but it was his first time seeing it.

‘Could she be participating in this tournament under a pseudonym?’

“Zeke Draker.”

Finally, it was Zeke’s turn.

Zeke took his eyes off the female knight called Elin and stood up from his seat.

Then he took out the spear shaft he had prepared.

But something was strange.

“There’s no spear head.”

As stated, there was only the shaft.

Zeke inserted his sword Bahamut into the prepared spear shaft.

Click!

There was no issue with the attachment since it was specially ordered to be compatible with Bahamut.

Edward sneered at the spear Zeke was holding.

“Hehehe. Can you even properly hold that spear?”

From the start, Bahamut was a claymore, so it was bigger and heavier than regular swords.

Connecting the spear shaft to Bahamut had turned it into a long spear that was difficult to even hold properly.

When Zeke stood in front of the line, the examiner asked.

“Are you really going to use that spear?”

Zeke nodded and took his stance facing the iron plates.

Then he gathered his strength and took the basic stance of the Dragon Slaying technique.

Woong!

Dragon Slaying Technique True Dragon Sword Form

Chapter 8 Section 3

Dragon Scale Pierce

Bang bang bang bang!

With tremendous noise, Zeke’s spear penetrated the iron plate.

It was amazing that such a powerful thrust could be performed with such a heavy and long spear.

Moreover, Zeke hadn’t even used his Aura Blade.

The examiner counted the number of iron plates penetrated by Zeke’s spear.

“T-ten plates, all penetrated!”

Despite the unfavorable conditions, he had pierced through all of them.

Edward wore an expression of disbelief, and Reina glared at Zeke with sharp eyes.

Zeke shrugged his shoulders and returned to his seat holding Bahamut.

The game management staff removed all the penetrated iron plates and replaced them with new ones.

That’s when Elin Sabrina, whom Zeke had been paying attention to, stepped forward. It was her turn.

However, there was no spear in her hand.

The examiner asked Elin.

“Where is your spear?”

Then Elin smoothly drew out the sword that was under her cloak.

The examiner said to Elin.

“Are you going to thrust with a sword?”

While not impossible, it was certainly disadvantageous compared to using a spear.

Generally, swords were weapons meant for slashing, not thrusting.

But suddenly, Elin started walking towards the back of the target instead of the front.

The examiner called out to Elin in confusion.

“Elin Sabrina! Are you forfeiting the match?”

At that moment, Elin turned around and threw the sword she was holding towards the target.

Thud!

The sword pierced through the iron plates and became deeply embedded.

The examiner exclaimed in surprise after checking the iron plates.

“E-eight plates penetrated!”

If it had been a spear instead of a sword, she might have been able to penetrate all ten plates like Zeke.

Elin turned her head to look at Zeke and removed her hood.

Zeke was shocked when he saw her face.

It was a face he knew.

‘Helen Draker.’

She was the fourth direct descendant of the Draker family.