I Became the Villain of a Romance Fantasy

173 – Rival (2)

“What is this….”

Arthur turned his head away from the Emperor’s gaze, which was looking at him with his mouth wide open and his chin unable to be lifted. Even Arthur knew when to brag and when not to brag. No, this was a problem before bragging. Right now, Arthur felt the same way as the Emperor who was looking at him.

Not only Aslan and Arthur, but also the other heads of households who were watching from the side were not much different from them.

“Hoo….”

“This…this is crazy…I thought it was going to happen….”

Ludwig looked at his half-drawn sword and laughed heartily. Joachim was exhausted, having stopped his magic trick to prevent the aftermath of the sword strike from spreading to the audience, and Franz, a fellow magician, was also sitting on his chair, slumped for the same reason.

Their appearance, which shows how urgent the situation was just now, shows how they have risen to the top in their respective fields. If they had made a mistake, they could have seen the blood of the people at the Seongsinje, a festival to honor God, so how could they not have sweated coldly?

Of course, they were in their current position to prevent such a thing from happening, but even so, what happened just now was shocking enough to send a chill down the spines of those who had been preparing to prevent an accident.

The sight of the golden divine power dispersing and filling the hall was truly a beautiful sight. However, they had no time to appreciate such a sight. The crashing golden waves were what gave them relief and at the same time, what made them astonished.

Franz shouted at Arthur, catching his breath.

“Hey you crazy b*stard!! What kind of monster have you created!!!”

At this, everyone’s eyes are focused on one place.

If it were normal, Arthur would have shamelessly responded with, “What, what are you looking at?” but this time he couldn’t do that. All he could do was meet their gazes with a bashful face.

***

The atmosphere wasn’t like this when Noel and Damian first clashed.

Although Damian had shown himself to be overwhelmingly superior to the others, so had Noel, and the two had shown themselves to be on equal footing in their duel, so much so that both Arthur and Aslan were busy praising each other for the victory of their own children.

“You’ve grown to a level where you’re on a whole different level compared to when I saw you before, but you still seem to be inferior to Damian in both strength and skill… It’s a shame, but it seems like the princess has reached this point.”

“Sigh. To be so hasty. Noel is not a simple inspector. You have to try to find out the long and short of it. You haven’t even used your divine power yet. Aren’t you being too hasty in your judgment?”

“If you look at it that way, isn’t Damian only using a ‘sword’?”

“Noel too…”

Even in their bickering manners, there was a smile on their lips. The duel between Noel and Damian was quite a splendid one, even for those who had reached the top, so they could talk about it proudly. Of course, winning or losing is important, but now that they were showing off their skills, it was a pleasure for them to brag about their children even a little more.

While others watched their arguments as if they were sick of it, they too were just as proud as Arthur and Aslan when their children became president.

Still, there was some sincerity in that gaze. Compared to the other children’s duels that ended quickly, Noel and Damian’s duel was the longest battle of all except for Orcus and Elena, so it was true that the bragging about their children went on for that long.

Since Orcus had already lost to Elena, Aslan’s defense of Noel was at an incredible level, and Arthur was not a man who would accept it. As a result, the argument went on for a long time, and Franz, who was listening from the side, shouted at the two with a face that said he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“That’s ridiculous! That’s ridiculous!”

“What do you think? It’s true that both of them are outstanding. Even we couldn’t show that level of prowess at that age, so it’s something to brag about.”

“…..Are you taking my side right now because I’m your son-in-law?”

Joachim remained silent in response to Franz’s words. A strange smile appeared on his lips as an answer.

Franz looked at him with discontented eyes, but did not complain further.

Either way, their boasting had clear grounds, and Franz also acknowledged it. As Joachim said, their skills were indeed in the realm of genius that could not be expected for someone their age. He had no intention of denying this. He just didn’t like the endless argument between Aslan and Arthur over who would win.

As Damien, who had maintained his balance until now, changed his movements and pushed Noel away, they had no doubt that the victory or defeat would be decided soon. Noel began to wrap his body with the divine power he had never used before, and Damien’s prayer, which was different from before, showed that they would now come forward with sincerity. Aslan and Arthur, who had been talking noisily with their mouths moving until now, also focused their minds solely on the meeting at this moment.

When the two swords clashed, a flash of light that turned the hall white exploded. While everyone else was unable to endure it and grimaced, the five here looked through the flash with clear eyes. Then, they each let out a strange exclamation of regret and admiration at what they saw.

“I definitely thought this would be the end of it….”

“The game will be longer than I thought.”

Franz and Joachim exclaimed in admiration, but the other three looked down at the chairman without saying anything. They knew that now that the iron swords had disappeared from their hands, it was the moment for them to show their full power.

“Coming.”

Aslan spoke in a very excited voice, unlike before.

In Noel’s hand, who had thrown away his broken sword, was a holy sword emitting sunlight. Aslan’s confidence was there. Unlike Orcus, who had summoned the holy relic unconsciously, Noel had summoned the holy sword with his own will. There was a big difference between the two.

“Hoo.”

Only this time, Arthur was purely amazed.

Noel, holding the holy sword, was so perfect and divine that she reminded people of a legendary goddess, so even to the unmanned person standing on the summit, she was clearly a shining light.

“This is…amazing?”

“yes?”

Aslan smiled, pleased with Arthur’s reaction. But soon, he smiled back at the fact that Arthur’s face showed no signs of tension. Arthur showed no emotion other than admiration even after seeing Noel draw the holy sword. He still had no doubt that Damian would win.

As if to prove this, there was no significant gap between Noel and Damian, who pulled out the Holy Sword.

The chairman was so blinded by the continuous flashes of light emitted by the clash of their swords that he could not see ahead of him, but the fact that this light did not go out showed that he was not being pushed back by Noel.

“This is absolutely ridiculous…”

The others nodded unconsciously at Franz’s muttering voice as if he had lost his mind.

Those who had been piercing through the light at the birth of the extraordinary energy were now beyond amazement and began to be astonished. This was because Damien and Noel’s accomplishments had surpassed their imagination. Arthur, who had been waiting for this moment to come and stare at Franz’s surprised face, also froze when he saw the sight.

“Hey, why are you doing that?”

The amount of divine power gathered in the Holy Sword is unusual.

Arthur, who was not usually threatened by anything, saw the power gathered in the holy sword as quite dangerous. Even when Emperor Aslan held the holy sword, he had never seen anything like that, so how could that child do something like that? These questions came to mind, but they did not last long. Arthur held the sword and took a stance.

The situation was urgent. The power contained in the Holy Sword was shot out as a sword strike by Noel’s sword, and if there was any delay in taking action, it would inevitably cause damage outside the venue. The heads of the households also seemed to know this, and each prepared to block it in their own way.

‘Damian!!’

Arthur also tried to stand in front of Damian with the intention of blocking Noel’s sword strike. No matter how high Damian’s achievements were, he thought that it would still be difficult for him, a transcendent being, to block something that was a threat. However, before Arthur’s actions, Damian’s move came first.

The light from his sword pierced through Noel’s sword energy.

The tense situation that had everyone on edge ended in an instant. As Damian’s sword pierced Noel’s sword energy, the power that had felt threatening crumbled in an instant.

No one understood how such a thing was possible. One thing was clear: a boy who had not yet reached adulthood had blocked a blow that had made even the Transcendents nervous.

And then things return to the present.

Arthur was surrounded by the lords and asked to explain himself. Of course, he had no answer. Damien’s accomplishments were beyond his imagination. Arthur, who had come to his senses, could only say this to them.

“I think my son is a true genius.”

“What the fuck!!”

Arthur laughed at Franz’s insults. It was a little shocking, but the important thing to him was that Damian had won.

He sat down with a confident look on his face and smiled at the other heads of household.

“Is it really necessary to continue the match? There’s already a winner.”

“Wow, shit… I’m so unlucky.”

“Oh, by the way, next up is Franz, your son and Ludwig’s son. The kid who wins there will fight Damian… Franz. I’m rooting for your son.”

“Hey, don’t stop me. I’m going to finish that guy off today.”

“Hold on… if you stick with it, you lose.”

Arthur’s boasting grew, but no one could refute it. Since the result was like that… the only one who could say something was Franz, who was furious at Arthur’s boasting.

“Hey! Arthur! Watch carefully! Richard will come up and flatten your son and your nose!”

Afterwards, Richard loses the match against Reinhard.