บท 135: The Third Storm (1)
"…"
Lucas Gibson.
An Expert and a swordsman known to have skills worthy of Queen level.
Of course that didn't mean that he would have a guaranteed win.
To be honest, Lucas Gibson too accepted the fact that he could have a hard time and that was told by the reporters too.
'The one called Irene Pareira… I didn't compete with him before this.'
He was sure that Irene's skills were lower than his.
But he knew that Irene wasn't far below him when it came to his abilities.
And if he was the kind to defeat an opponent in one hit, then there was no way that such a trainee of Krono had stayed hidden for this long.
'Let's go at him right away.'
So, Lucas Gibson's initial strategy was focused on defense.
Keep your eyes wide open, observe the movements of the opponent and then take a stance to receive all the attacks.
It wasn't some great profound plan.
All the swordsmen who dealt with Irene had the same plan.
Because everyone knew what he had said in the interview.
Still, the difference between their experience and Irene's was different.
'I am an Expert… I-I mean, there is no way that young one can get to me.'
Just before the match, Lucas Gibson was determined.
He wasn't sure if the match could be won.
But regardless of the result, he didn't want Irene to get a comfortable victory!
It was when he was facing the match with that attitude.
'Uh?'
Gap.
There it was. The clear gap.
And that wasn't because of a lack of skills.
Peace of mind.
To put it, it was carelessness.
The moment he saw Irene Pareira being calm, Lucas Gibson felt an urge rush through him.
"Start!"
Phat!
The voice which signaled the start of the match.
Shortly after, Lucas rushed towards Irene.
His obsession with victory, which was temporarily put aside, rushed through him.
Hesitating for a moment and blowing away the chance to win would never make him a qualified swordsman.
Thinking that, he held his sword with one hand.
And then stretched out his right arm ready to pierce the opponent in the chest.
Although lacking in power, it was a perfect attack to take down an opponent.
That one moment.
Looking into the eyes of Irene Pareira, he knew that his judgement was wrong.
"…!"
His expression had changed from the laid back one he had a couple moments back.
A light gleamed in the gloomy eyes of Irene.
As a result, the stance of Irene, which was filled with gaps, soon took a firm stance.
Lucas Gibson felt a chill run down his spine.
But it was too late to retrieve the sword.
Before that, Irene Pareira's great sword began to move.
Whoop!
… crack!
One sword strike.
Irene had blown away the sword of Lucas Gibson in a single move and then bowed to the opponent.
Until then, all the spectators, the referee were all shocked.
And that didn't continue for long.
The referee, who recognized the situation a second later, announced the outcome with a loud voice and the audience chanted Irene's name.
"Woah! What was that?!"
"Again one strike! In one strike!"
"In the end, he kept his word, right?"
"His opponent is an Expert, just how…"
"Irene Pareira! Irene Pareira!"
"Irene Pareira!"
The screams resonated through the arena.
Lucas Gibson, who was standing there unable to understand what happened, shook his head.
He lost his sword in one hit?
It wasn't a strange thing.
He was unable to control his hand which was ready to attack and the opponent took advantage of it.
In addition, Lucas was holding the sword with just one hand instead of both, so it was natural that his sword flew away.
'… what is important is that the man had guided this situation from the start.'
One could figure it out with some thought.
The gap he thought Irene showed wasn't a gap, but it was his bait to bring the opponent close to him.
Strangely enough, Lucas had fallen for the trick of a swordsman in his 20s, despite Lucas being more experienced.
But it wasn't a bad thing.
Fighting, tricking, figuring it out, and using other tricks was all part of swordsmanship.
In that respect, he was defeated.
Lucas Gibson smiled bitterly at Irene Pareira.
"Congratulations on promotion. It was a good fight."
"Thank you. It really was a good fight."
With that, the loser left the stage and the victor stayed there.
During the brief time, Irene Pareira too replayed the match in his head.
Perfect.
A neat victory which flowed according to his wishes.
However, Irene didn't have a bright expression.
It was because he knew that his current skills were far short of Ilya Lindsay.
''What if my opponent was Ilya Lindsay?
She wouldn't have fallen for the trick.
Even though she wasn't 20, she was still a Sword Master.
Considering the hardships she experienced while reaching that level, it was right to consider that she had more experience and quality in her swordsmanship.
'No… if Ilya would go for a one hand stab like Lucas Gibson, could I have pulled it off?'
Irene, who thought that, shook his head.
No.
The reason he was able to hold off Lucas's sword was because the opponent was inferior to him in terms of skills.
Conversely, when he thought of having an opponent with higher skills than him, the opposite would be the result.
He couldn't be able to stop the swift stab of Ilya Lindsay.
'In the end, to defeat Ilya, I need to be a lot stronger.'
And the way to do that?
He didn't know.
But he wasn't worried.
Irene was still confident.
Confidence which he himself couldn't understand where it came from.
As he was now mentally armed and making plans for the future, the host arrived next to him and suddenly said something and held the mic.
'I didn't hear him speak.'
It didn't matter though.
It didn't matter what question was asked.
At least in this moment, the main character of the place was himself, and the words he prepared in advance were enough.
Irene took a deep breath and looked around at the audience.
The audience who were cheering for him all went silent in an instant.
"…"
"…"
A sight no one could explain.
In that strange atmosphere, Irene opened his mouth after a long silence.
"An interview I did in front of the reporters in front of the Land of Beginning, a promise which everyone pointed out as unreasonable."
"…"
"Is kept."
"Woah!"
"Irene Pareira!"
"Irene Pareira! Irene Pareira!"
The voices of the audience shook the arena once again at the words of Irene.
There was no one who disliked a person who had great talent, skills, looks and was interesting too.
To be honest, they couldn't say that he was good at talking, but they only looked at the content of the words.
In that sense, it was safe to say that there was no talented person like Irene in the entire Land of Proof.
However.
"Of course, it doesn't end here."
"After moving from the Land of Opportunity and moving to a new stage, I will tell you all about my new aspirations."
That wasn't the end.
Seeing him say all that, everyone in the stadium held their breath.
The referee, the host and even the other swordsmen.
Irene didn't drag it out.
And shocking words came next.
"In the next three months, I will challenge the champion of the Land of Proof, Ilya Lindsay."
"And it wouldn't just be a challenge."
"I will do my best and 'I lost but I fought well', isn't going to be the mindset I will use to enter the match."
"I will win. Must win… I will be the new champion in the Land of Proof."
With those words being said, Irene left the arena.
Just like the first time he said, he was confident.
And that evening.
Eisenmarkt turned noisy with the story of the 'challenge' uttered by a bold challenger.
"Wasn't it overdone?"
"I know. Does he think the Sword Master is some kind of joke? The more I see, it feels like he is crossing the line…"
"He is out of the boat. Forget a champion, any King level one would be pissed at this…"
"Maybe he was drunk on fame?"
"Tch, I hope he gets to King level soon. Once he gets a proper teaching, he will come to his senses."
Irene's interview was the hottest topic.
It was a level of attention which couldn't be compared to his first interview.
The increase of fame for Irene played a part, but it was because he spoke of the champion and garnered antipathy.
Who was the current champion?
A Sword Master, the youngest one.
Ilya Lindsay, the genius of the Lindsay family, one of the top five swordsmanship families in the west.
And people of the west were hurt by two people in the past, Ian, the owner of Krono and then Julius Hul of Holy Kingdom.
'How dare he challenge her?'
'By someone who only now reached the Queen level?'
'The cheekiest bastard genius of all time! Even the King level ones respect her!'
Of course, the people of Eisenmarkt didn't always favor the west.
They were all simple people when it came to gambling and fighting, so if one had skills and justification, they would surely encourage them.
And Pareira didn't seem like that.
Skills still had to be checked, and not to mention the justification.
He wasn't in the 10 King level people.
Nor was he entangled with the Land of proof.
That was the public perception.
And as a sign of that, the magazines of the arena would constantly give out columns of that.
Most of the weekly magazines, even the Weekly Valhalla, were cold in their assessment of Irene Pareira's skills.
Some reporters even wrote something similar to calling him an evil person and someone who wouldn't cross King Level.
And the people nodded in agreement.
But the next day.
The Weekly Arena, which was different, revealed the hidden facts about Irene Pareira.
[Six years ago, a person who fought for the top position in Krono with Ilya Lindsay!]
[A secret existence that has been hidden under a veil for a long time, dig into the truth!]
A secret yet shocking information which only the prospective trainees of that time would know.
Reading the article published under the reporter Hinz who was trusted in the place, people had no choice but to react differently.
The 35th day that Irene Pareira had been staying in Eisenmarkt.
At last, the world began to prepare to accept a new genius.
And the moment when the third storm hit the Land of Proof.
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