Chapter 149
“Ulabis! Ulabis! Ulabis!”
“It’s the Knight of Red Flame!”
“Aaah! He’s so handsome!”
The screams of the raucous crowd could be heard all over.
The Knight of Red Flame, Ulabis. After inheriting the surname Agretta and becoming the 17th Prince of Thran, he became one of the continent’s most admired people. The three great powers had been at a standstill for a long time, like a pool of stagnant water.
Despite being one of the three great powers, the Swallow Empire’s two hundred thousand soldiers were still repelled by the fifty thousand soldiers of Thran. Ulabis also toppled the Wild King Duke Altsma and was the first knight to ascend to the throne by virtue of his knighthood, which earned him the admiration of most knights.
He was also a handsome young man with impressive abilities. As such, he became known as ‘Miracle Ulabis.’
“He’s very popular.” Akshuller pointed out.
Iceline nodded. “He’s a monarch of a nation, so it’s only natural.”
“It’s rumored that the flames he wields are even hotter than hellfire. His attribute counters yours.”
“I’m a mage, not a knight.” Iceline’s cold reply suited Akshuller’s casual remark.
Ulabis finally arrived at the front door of the building, and he came to a halt upon standing face-to-face with Akshuller. “The Second Mercenary?”
“...” Akshuller stared at Ulabis with burning eyes. However, he didn’t say anything.
Akshuller was also known as the Second Mercenary by his fellow mercenaries as a sign of respect. He was second only to the Mercenary King Barbarian when it came to both popularity and power.
‘I see…’ Akshuller’s face stiffened. ‘He’s even more of a monster than the rumors.’
A Master could easily identify a fellow Master.
A scorching flame—this was the best way to describe Ulabis.
Even amidst the silence between them, Akshuller could feel that Ulabis’ scorching flame was capable of engulfing everything in its path.
‘If I had to fight him…’ Akshuller muttered to himself. They weren’t fighting just yet, but his hands were already sweaty just by coming face-to-face with Ulabis.
If someone were to ask Akshuller if he was nervous, then he could answer them with confidence. He was absolutely not nervous—he was confident of that. As far as he was concerned, the opportunity to face Ulabis was a win-win for him.
After all, Akshuller loved fighting strong people.
In the end, Akshuller met Ulabis’ gaze and said, “Please pardon my interruption.”
“Rumors about Your Highness have been making the rounds, but to my astonishment, you’re even more impressive than the rumors say,” he added.
“...” Ulabis’ expression remained unchanging despite the clear threat in Akshuller’s voice. Amazingly, the four knights accompanying Ulabis didn’t even react as well. They were definitely from Thran based on the emblem emblazoned on their crimson armor.
The fact that their expression remained unchanging, even though Akshuller’s words just now could be considered an insult to Ulabis, spoke wonders of their superb mental training.
“You’re the same.” Ulabis finally spoke, “You’re more impressive than I thought. I really want to fight you.”
Akshuller was astonished upon hearing that, but he quickly chuckled and said, “All right.”
“Then…” Ulabis nodded before leaving Akshuller and Iceline to their own devices.
The four knights quickly followed after Ulabis as well.
“God…! It’s the Knight of Red Flame and the Second Mercenary!”
“I’ve never seen anything like this! Setting aside the number of participants for this year’s Masters’ Battle, the accumulated clout of each participant is unprecedented compared to the previous Masters’ Battles!”
“Goddamned it, what are we supposed to do? Ordinary folks like us can’t possibly even get close enough to the arena once the match starts.”
“Dammit, I’m sad that I’m not born a noble...”
“Come on, don’t be like that. We live in Reinhardt, so it’s our privilege to witness them fight!”
“...” Akshuller shook his head at the raucous crowd around him.
“Come on, let's go in.”
“All right.”
With that, Iceline and Akshuller went inside the building.
***
While Ulabis and Akshuller were talking just outside the building, a booming voice filled the building. “The lottery for the Masters’ Battle matchups will begin in thirty minutes! If your country’s representative hasn’t arrived yet, we urge you to get them ready as soon as possible!”
The building’s interior was big enough to fill thousands of people.
The host’s masculine voice reverberated throughout the building. He seemed to be the one in control of the Masters’ Battle matchups lottery.
Setting the festivities and the raucous crowd aside, there was one table in a prestigious spot, which had a clear view of the podium. Sitting before the table were ten people made up of young men and women. They were all about twenty years old, which was a bit odd when most people here were in their thirties or forties.
However, it wasn’t really that strange since the people gathered here were assembled by the participant nations as an advertisement to potential investors. Each person was chosen carefully as well, and they were the continent’s brightest Rising Stars.
They were poised to lead the continent in the future, which explained their young age.
Because out of the 12 Rising Stars across the whole continent, 10 of them had gathered here.
It was worth noting that they were not a homogenous group, despite the similarity in their standing. It wasn’t really strange, considering the diversity of their backgrounds.
“The Masters’ Battle will be a lot of fun!” a lovely blonde lady exclaimed, “In the Reinhardt Martial Arts Competition, their skills weren’t really real, so those people cannot be compared to the people here.”
The square-faced young man next to her smiled. “Your Highness, is this your first Masters’ Battle?”
“Yes! Aren’t you new here as well, Shrek?”
“I'm the oldest in this area,” replied Shrek with a kind smile. Shrek was a twenty-four-year-old mercenary, while Sonna moon Terraforce, a princess of Terra, was already a Class 4 Mage despite her young age of seventeen.
“Who do you think will win? His Highness Ulabis? His recent achievements are remarkable.”
“There’s a prize for winning, right? I agree, it seems like His Highness Ulabis is not satisfied with being ‘just’ a Master. Though, this is just my own opinion.”
“Does it matter who wins or loses? Sir Ulabis is on a completely different level compared to the rest of the participants in this year’s Masters’ Battle. He defeated even the most fearsome Wild—”
“I can’t listen to this,” someone exclaimed, interrupting them.
“Terra will remain as it is forever if everyone there is like a frog in a well,” someone added.
“What did you just say?” Sonna directed a furious glare at the two young men with identical looks.
The two young men had the same brown hair, the same tan eyes, and the same dark skin, which meant that they were definitely identical twins. They were the Logan brothers—Tetsu and Estu—scions of the illustrious Logan Family of the Swallow Empire.
The Logan Family—the 5th Dukedom of Swallow—was the only other family on the continent who could boast about having two rising stars.
They were also the reason why the nobles of Avalon were adamant about not letting Joshua participate in the Masters’ Battle.
“It’s just a random thought, but do you really think that mongrel is the strongest?”
“It makes them feel better, I guess? People from tiny nations truly know how to indulge in their own fantasies.”
“A loser will always only live in their dreams, and that’s the reason why they are losers. It’s because they lack the ambition and skills to pursue them.”
“You…!”
Sonna's cheeks turned red at the Logan brothers’ nasty words.
“Stop it. There’s no point in fighting in a place like this.” Shrek intervened with a sigh.
He looked around, looking for someone else who could help him. However, he saw that the holy knights from Hubalt were standing still. It was obvious from their expressions that they didn’t care about what was going on at all. They didn’t even bother to turn their heads to look at the commotion.
The lone woman, who was a mage from the Magic Tower, was from a non-governmental entity, much like Shrek. The two men representing their nation respectively had their eyes on the issue, but intervening now would only make things worse.
The only option left was the young man sitting on his own at the farthest end.
Shrek stared at the young man and spoke, “Now that I think about it, despite Avalon having the most Rising Stars, you are the only one who is here.”
Silence fell as soon as Avalon was mentioned. However, Shrek ignored that and continued cautiously. “I’ve heard that the Third Prince—one of the Rising Stars of Avalon—hasn’t been seen in his homeland for quite some time now…The remaining Rising Stars should show their faces though…”
The lonesome young man raised his head. He seemed to be in his early twenties, with bright blue eyes and platinum hair. He had a masculine physique and a towering stature.
“Ah!?Joshua Sanders-nim and Babel-nim are brothers!” Sonna exclaimed.
“Who’s a brother of whom?”
Sonna froze and started trembling upon being subjected to the young man’s murderous glare.
If looks could kill, she would have died right there and then.
“This…” Shrek's expression darkened. Things had spiraled out of his control.
Babel von Agnus was the treasure as well as one of the three Rising Stars of Avalon. He was considered the continent’s greatest talent until that young man came along. Right now, Babel seemed worked up.
Shrek hurriedly stood up in an attempt to explain things, but before he could even say anything, a booming voice offered assistance to him.
“Thran’s representative, the Knight of Red Flame, His Highness Ulabis, and Mercenary Akshuller have arrived!”
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