Noah had thought about it countless times, of course she had thought about it countless times.
She imagined that one day her legs would miraculously heal, her eyes would once again capture light, she would be able to leave this accursed wheelchair, and she would become the Knight of her dreams.
But she also warned herself countless times not to dream.
The wound had scabbed over, and would eventually turn into an ugly scar, but what about a scar? Besides being unsightly, at least it wouldn't hurt anymore.
That dream, which was already out of reach, was now right in front of her. This seemingly unfair duel—it was actually the opportunity she had always dreamed of having.
Noah Guillerette, holding a longbow, stepped onto the ring one step at a time. The complex artificial terrain and the irritating stage lighting, which made Noah's knight armor glow faintly, made the knight appear more radiant in the eyes of the audience, much like a vendor at a market would spray water on cabbage to make it look fresher. Nowadays, knights had become commodities wrapped in layers.
No longer possessing the honor that true knights should have…
The stuffy, chaotic, suffocating cheers, and her own slightly trembling hands.
No… why…
The borrowed body was heating up, it was truly strange. She should clearly be feeling sorrow, she should be feeling anger.
—But why am I smiling?
The corners of her mouth unconsciously turned upwards…
"Strange! Our Shining Knight has abandoned that strange sword and shield that defeated the Left-Hand Knight this time, and has brought out a new weapon! Could this be her trump card! That huge bow and arrow! Indeed! The Nearl Family always bring us surprises! Just like the sparkling wine from the Blue Ear Winery—"
Big Mouth Mobu immediately noticed the peculiarity about [Maria], but at this point, everyone no longer cared what weapon Maria held. What they cheered for was simply that a knight from the Nearl Family had taken the stage.
Although she looked a bit conspicuous holding a longbow, Kazimierz's archers were already famous, and bow and crossbow practice was common in knight training, so it was an unexpected yet reasonable development.
It seemed everyone was anticipating Maria Nearl's performance, except for a certain person sitting in the spectator stands—
"Is everything arranged?"
"Don't worry, the Shieldless League has finished deploying outside the arena. No one can disrupt this… battle."
"I don't like calling this kind of match a 'battle.' I call it a 'hunt.'" This mysterious big shot had specifically pushed back several meetings to watch the match. Although she didn't know why Noah Guillerette suddenly fell ill, the timing was perfect. If it weren't for Nuo Ya, that troublesome fellow, suddenly getting sick, she wouldn't have been able to casually pocket this prize money. Now, there were quite a few people spending money for Maria Nearl.
This time, the odds were much higher than before, with tens of thousands of people participating in the betting for this match. In this match, whether viewed from a perspective of profit or future, Maria Nearl could not leave the arena alive.
Yes, she was indeed a noble Knight, but the era of Knights was over.
Now that Old Tianma was already dead, what waves could a small Maria Nearl stir up? Foolish, short-sighted, drown in the past glory.
The investigation into the Howling Guard incident ultimately yielded no results, but the Supervisory Council's reaction was clear: they did not want the Commercial Federation to interfere. This seemed to be a signal, not a good one.
To solidify the Howling Guard's position, he had to actively demonstrate his capabilities—
For example, by dealing with… this thing that gave the Commercial Federation the biggest headache.
Normally, he wouldn't personally get involved; countless people were willing to do his bidding. But now it was different. Those colleagues from the Commercial Federation were still wary of the Zhengzhan Knight, still wary of the Supervisory Council.
However, Kazimierz's lifeline was now in their hands; the Supervisory Council was merely a decoration. To be hesitant because of the Supervisory Council's attitude now was the height of foolishness. Now was the time to proclaim that the era of Knights was over. Having returned from studying in Columbia, he smelled an opportunity. If this succeeded, he would surely use this capital to elevate his net worth to new heights.
By then, surely those Witch King Remnants would also increase their investment in him—
Opportunity favors the prepared.
And in his hand, he already held the future—
"Alright, let's see Maria Nearl's opponents! They are from the Snowheel Knights… huh?" Big Mouth Mobu was stunned the moment he saw the contestants enter. Although these two Knights were nominally members of the Snowheel Knights, Big Mouth Mobu, who had commentated so many matches and seen profiles of almost all contestants, found them very unfamiliar—had they really appeared in Knight tournaments before?
"Ah… although they might seem like new faces, they are indeed from the Snowheel Knights… Knights Withering and Decay! I believe they will bring us a wonderful duel!" Big Mouth Mobu forcefully rounded off his commentary, even this designation was just reminded to him through his earpiece from backstage. In his own opinion, these two things looked nothing like Knights; they looked exactly like two monsters.
This made him even a little… worried about Maria Nearl on the other side.
These two monsters were tall, filled with an aura of death and Decay. Just their presence on the field gave the audience a very bad impression. Their appearance was as out of place as two burly men wielding spiked maces crashing into an elegant fencing match. These two Knights, named Withering and Decay, seemed to pay no mind to the audience's reactions, but instead, from the very beginning, stared intently at the seemingly expressionless Maria Nearl.
"Just get rid of her…"
"Make it look like an accident."
Boom—the giant hammer hit the ground. This sound indicated the hammer's immense weight. Noah also realized that these two guys—indeed possessed strength beyond most arena Knights, and it wasn't just for show.
It was the murderous aura of someone who had truly crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Noah Guillerette sniffed the strong smell of blood and Decay in the air, but the smile on her lips did not disappear.
On the contrary, her hand gripping the bow tightened even more.
"If it were Maria… I would probably forcibly stop the match." She muttered to herself, "After all, Maria has never encountered something like this…"
"But…"
Noah… was someone who had fought her way out of a group of desperadoes at the age of thirteen.
Trying to suppress her with murderous intent?
"I was immune to this kind of thing at thirteen."
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