The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 320

“The gate to the inner courtyard is opening!”

Gyo trembled with excitement. Even though he had proposed the duel, he had been skeptical about whether Lilith would take it or not. She might be called the Silver-Eyed Ghost Sword, but it was impossible for her to take on five Masters on her own. Although her choice actually didn’t matter. Gyo and his people were already in the palace; if Lilith had refused, she would have become a laughingstock.

A handsome man who looked barely over thirty walked out from the gate.

“You’ll fight me first,” Cain said.

Because of his overly normal appearance, Cain had requested a Reipon from Iceline which would make him appear as handsome as his master. He wanted to try living the life of a handsome man.

“Huh? I don’t recognize him.”

“Was there a paladin like him?”

Jugir, one of the five Masters on Gyo’s side, frowned. “Hah, he reminds me of that pretty boy I ran into back then. I want to kill him.”

He had a complex about his ogre-like appearance; pretty boys always set him off.

“I would like your permission to go first, sir.”

Gyo nodded at Jugir. A handsome appearance didn’t necessarily mean that the person was skilled, and such a young man wouldn’t be a Master. Jugir would blow him away with one swing of his greatsword.

“It’s important to crush our enemies psychologically before the competition begins. It looks like they sent him to check our level, so defeat him with one attack.”

“Yes, sir.” Jugir strode forward. Although he hadn’t noticed before because his opponent was half covered by a cloak, Jugir realized as he got closer that his opponent also used a greatsword—one a lot bigger than his own, even.

“Hey, boy. Can you even swing that sword?” Jugir scoffed. “What? Cat got your tongue? Wait a minute—you must have wet your pants because you’re so awed by me.” Jugir chuckled. “Don’t be too scared. I’ll finish you in—”

The last thing Jugir ever saw was a ray of light flickering across his vision.

“...Huh?”

His head flew into the air, still looking confused.

“Next.” Cain gestured at his enemies.

The fight made everyone’s jaw hit the ground. Lilith’s first champion was obviously vastly more skilled than he looked. The paladins on the ramparts were cheering, and the city’s citizens, who were watching the fight from a safe distance, began to murmur among themselves.

“He’s q-quick!”

“That idiot! When his opponent’s specialty is speed, he should have attacked as he approached his opponent, not taunted him!”

The sound of the rebel knights panicking brought Gyo to his senses.

“Aaren, it’s your turn now!”

“Yes, sir!” Aaren went running toward Cain. Unlike Jugir, his guard was raised to the utmost.

However, his preparations didn’t change the result of the right. Before they had exchanged a hundred attacks, Aaren’s head was rolling across the cold, hard ground.

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“Next.”

Gyo couldn’t believe what was going on. He would have been appalled if he realized that Cain was actually going easy on Gyo’s knights. In truth, Cain could have taken his opponent’s head within ten attacks.

“S-Something is wrong, sir. I didn’t hear anything about a paladin this skilled still in the palace.”

“Shit...!”

Unfortunately, the rebels could not back out of this competition. If Gyo ordered his people to attack, they would ruin any legitimacy they had. That would make it extremely difficult to rule the empire even if they defeated Lilith’s forces that way.

“Whew...”

Gyo’s ears caught the opponent’s labored breathing. His eyes narrowed. “He’s tired.”

“Say again?”

“Look at him. His energy is much less controlled than before, and he’s covered in sweat.”

“Y-You’re right...”

‘Yes, that young paladin is pretending to be strong, but he must be exhausted by now. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll have his head no matter what it takes.’

“Harigen!” Gyo shouted.

“I’ll bring you his head, sir!”

Harigen was his best knight, so Gyo was certain of victory.

Harigen gave them a proper, thrilling fight. One hundred, five hundred... Harigen exchanged around one thousand blows, but, in contrast to what Gyo expected, it didn’t look like the fight was going to end any time soon.

When a streak of blood finally spurted out of Cain’s shoulder, Gyo clenched his fists without even realizing it.

“Yes, that’s it!”

That was literally it.

“I... can’t believe it...!”

Once again, Harigen was the one who lost his head. After losing three times in a row, Gyo’s people couldn’t be more uneasy.

Cain sank to the ground, mock-panting.

‘It’s certainly a lot harder to put on a show than to just kill them.’

“Aaaaaaaah!” Oblivious to what Cain was thinking, Gyo charged forward. “I’ll kill him myself!”

Lilith jumped in front of him and blocked Gyo’s sword.

“...Your opponent is me.”

“Lilith Aphrodite!” Gyo gritted his teeth.

As expected from the woman who was called the Ghost Sword and Hubalt’s best genius, every one of Lilith’s attacks was sharp and lethal.

“I’ll kill you!”

A wave of Gyo’s blue aura rippled over his sword; it was a perfect Aura Blade, which only Masters could use.

In response, Lilith drew up every mote of mana in her mana hall to create an Aura Blade of her own. Instead of dodging Gyo’s charge, Lilith resolutely closed the distance. It seemed she was planning to take his attack head-on

‘Idiot!’ Gyo couldn’t suppress a smile. Lilith’s choice must have been made conscious of the citizens watching her. She was trying to protect her pride, but she specialized in technique and speed. She couldn’t have made a more idiotic choice—there was no way Gyo would lose to a woman in a contest of physical strength.

Gyo confidently swung his Aura Blade, only for it to dissipate on impact. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Huh...? What in the world? How—?”

Gyo couldn’t finish speaking because Lilith cut him and his sword in half.

“...While you people relied on authorities, I focused on cultivating myself.”

Thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she had recently reached a level where she learned that it was possible to dissipate aura like this.

“Not anyone can experience being one with the strongest man in the continent.” Lilith shrugged.

The days she had spent with Joshua were invaluable. By watching all of his fights, she had learned how to utilize her aura and interpret martial arts in a different way.

The moment Gyo’s halved corpse collapsed onto the ground, the paladins broke into raucous cheers.

“Yeahhhhh!”

“Lady Lilith won!”

“It’s our victory!”

In contrast, the rebels cried out in disbelief.

“Im-impossible...!”

Without a leader, an army was just a group of rabble, but Jake, the sole surviving Master on Gyo’s side, screamed.

“Gah... We’ll fight until the end!”

Cain took action at the speed of lightning.

“What?!” Jake, shocked, hastily tried to counterattack. However, it was futile. Cain shed his feigned fatigue and cut Jake’s head off in the blink of an eye, showing the rebels that he had been playing with them the whole time.

“Wh-Who in the world... are you?”

The rebel knights stumbled backward, their will completely broken. Cain didn’t spare them a glance; he was walking back to Lilith like it was already over.

He flicked the blood off of his sword.

“...I’ll get going now.”

“H-Hold on!” Lilith stammered. “You’re going to leave now?”

“For Hubalt’s sake, it’s best I remain anonymous so that you can use me to keep those buffoons in check.”

Hubalt would undoubtedly suffer more losses than benefits if the rebels discovered who Cain was; once again, it would look like Hubalt was so weak that it had to rely on foreign help.

Lilith let out a sigh.

“Then can I ask where your next destination is, Sir Cain?”

“I’m a wanderer, so I’ll go where the road takes me.”

Lilith contemplated that for a moment.

“What do you think about actually becoming Hubalt’s secret weapon?”

Cain tilted his head in confusion. “What are you talking about, Ghost Sword?”

“I want to recruit you.”

“Recruit me...?” Cain blankly murmured. He scratched the back of his head. “It’s embarrassing to say this myself, but I’m quite expensive.”

Cain was experiencing his first taste of freedom at the very twilight of his life,, so he wasn’t about to give it up even for a million gold.

“In return, I’ll help you get married before you die.”

“Get married...?” Cain looked tempted.

“Since you’re free anyway, you should try out everything that other people do. And to be honest, most senior homes wouldn’t take you in because you’re too old.”

Cain’s eyebrow furrowed. He looked no older than forty, so Lilith would probably be wrong. Besides, he was still young at heart too.

However, Cain had one very real issue: women of his age were all old enough to have grandchildren, and Cain would feel extremely guilty trying to hit on someone young enough to be his granddaughter.

“Although I’ll call you Hubalt’s secret weapon, you don’t have to do anything,” Lilith quickly decided. “You prefer it that way, don’t you?”

“I haven’t dec—”

“I respect that you’ll only have one master, so you’re going to be at Hubalt as a free knight,” Lilith interrupted. “If you wish, you can remain a man of Avalon.”

Her terms were not bad at all. Even though he was going to receive a title, he wouldn’t have to bear any obligations. Since it wasn’t a job that he had to put any work into, he could still travel the world if he wished.

“...But how did you know I was looking for a date?” Cain asked.

Lilith gave Cain a knowing look and grinned. “You said it yourself, didn’t you? Misery loves company.”

“Huh?” Cain’s eyes slowly widened. “...I didn’t expect the Ghost Sword to be eager to have a date.”

Lilith pouted. “Of course I am; I just never had time to date anyone.”

“It’s a real sin to not date with your looks.”

“Oh, my.” Lilith gave him a mischievous look. “I wasn’t telling you to seduce me.”

“I was just speaking the truth,” he casually replied.

They never would have imagined it right now, but Cain ended up staying at Hubalt a lot longer than both of them expected. And they didn’t have to search far to get a date.