When Maria came out, a clear look of nervousness still hung on her face. She knew the dangers of this melee round.
Many Knights would hide their true strength in individual battles to avoid being targeted in the melee round, but she had shown too much of her edge.
Especially the effect of fully activating her light sword that one time, no one knew she simply couldn't control this Stone source art, rather than deliberately showing off.
So, upon entering, Maria felt no less than a dozen gazes focused on her. Whether as Shining Knight's sister or because of that one performance, she had completely become a conspicuous target.
But there was no use regretting it now. All Maria wanted now was not to disgrace the Nearl Family.
Holding her sword and shield, the sword to fight enemies, the shield to protect those behind her. She was still immature now, only able to attend to one thing at a time.
Compared to this sword, she hoped to protect what she cared about, the people she cared about. If she couldn't even get through a melee of this level, what right did she have to protect Sister Noah in her sister's place?
Her face suddenly became resolute, and her previous nervousness vanished. For the first time – she didn't know if she should say it this way, but she really felt so full of fighting spirit for the first time.
People of the Nearl Family, once they determine what they want to protect, can unleash infinite courage. This courage is not for being aggressive, nor for gaining glory.
Those things, to Maria, were even less interesting than the absurd inventions she tinkered with in the workshop. But once it involved the Nearl Family, involved her sister, involved her Aunt, her uncle, and… Sister Noah.
Then it was different. She knew that now, in the stands, Noah was worrying about her. Because of her recklessness, because of her mistakes, her original plan was certainly not like this.
But for her, Noah would easily abandon her stance, appearing as a spokesperson in the stands, even bringing along Candle Knight and another spokesperson.
It was clearly to protect Maria. Maria understood all of it, clearly.
She kept all of Sister Noah's kindness in her heart.
So, when her sister wasn't around, who could protect her sister…
And me!
A gentle radiance began to emanate from her. Her light was not dazzling, even very soft, but it rose like a flame. Her eyes at this moment seemed to have turned pure gold.
All those who were still looking down on her at this moment had to re-evaluate, especially some old-timers. Their originally casual sitting postures suddenly straightened.
In this girl, they had, for a moment, seen the demeanor of Old Tianma.
That not fierce, yet fiercely burning golden halo enveloped Maria, making her hair, skin, and eyes seem to burn with golden flames. At the moment the match began, Maria struck her shield with her training sword, emitting a clang.
"Come on!"
It was a still-immature shout, yet the Knights participating in the melee did not immediately swarm her. No one wanted to be the first to charge.
Finally, the one who stepped out of the crowd to face Maria was a Knight with flame-red long hair. A look of anticipation hung on her lips, and she held a slender rapier.
As if impatient, she directly confronted the battle-ready Golden Pegasus. The rules of this match were survival; as long as one wasn't eliminated and remained on stage until the end, they could advance and earn a large number of points.
So most people were unwilling to be the first to charge—
Actually, she thought the same, but upon seeing Maria radiating light, she couldn't suppress the stirring in her heart.
"Flame Tail Knight! Sona! I wish to witness the sword art of the Nearl Family clan!"
Announcing her name, like a classical Knight's duel, Sona, with her flame-like hair, emerged against the crowd, holding her sharp sword and challenging solemnly.
"Xia Guang Knight! Maria Nearl, I accept your challenge!"
Maria, seeing the opponent's politeness, naturally couldn't be rude. Even if the Lingguang Family had declined, the necessary etiquette education would not be neglected.
It was clearly a melee battlefield, but at this moment, it was like an arena battle. Flame Tail Knight as the challenger, Xia Guang Knight as the challenged.
Although some spectators were dissatisfied that the melee wasn't chaotic enough, upon seeing such a classical Knight's duel, they still held their breath, wanting to see how this battle would begin.
"Flame Tail Knight, I remember she's from the Infected Knight Order… the leader of the Red Pine Knights, right?" Noah listened to the conversation below the entire time.
As the first person to issue a formal challenge to Maria, she became more interested in this girl who called herself Flame Tail Knight.
"I hadn't paid much attention before, but in this situation, not choosing to fish in troubled waters to Maria's disadvantage, but instead formally challenging her, preventing others from ganging up on Maria… I don't know if it's intentional, but she did help Maria."
"I've paid attention to this Knight. Her swordsmanship is very fast, good at evading others' attacks, and then deciding the outcome with extremely fast sword speed. She is a typical swift swordsman," Viviana explained, as someone who also uses a swift sword.
"However, she is also helpless against large-scale attacks, and for some Knights with strong defenses, she lacks a decisive winning move."
"So, Flame Tail Knight is actually at a disadvantage against Maria?" Noah became even more interested. "Challenging an opponent who is not favorable to oneself in such a public setting… Should I say she's courageous, or that she doesn't care about her reputation?"
"Although Maria's swordsmanship has talent and a foundation, it has been neglected for too long and has not yet reached the point of being wielded freely—if the opponent's technique is good enough, it's not impossible to defeat Maria."
At this moment, Manner spoke. Compared to Viviana, who was optimistic about Maria, Manner felt that Maria had not yet perfected her skills.
"At a time like this, I still want to believe in Maria," Noah said with a smile. "She has always worked very hard, and I want to respond to that effort. At least cheer her on."
"It's precisely because of your indulgence…" Manner sighed. Indeed, if Noah hadn't unconditionally supported Maria in doing what she liked, she wouldn't have neglected her swordsmanship for so long, or even been unable to control the family's inherited light sword technique.
One must know that Margaret learned this technique when she was very young. However, there was no blame in his tone; in fact, Noah was not the only one who indulged Maria, but Manner himself.
He was probably the person who least wanted Maria to embark on the path of a Knight…
But perhaps… he was mistaken.
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