Volume Two, The Fallen Light, Chapter 106, The Competition...
The next day, the royal competition ground outside Korun City was crowded, and almost all the knights and nobles in Batoria were present.
The tourney is a tradition that has been maintained since the founding of Batoria and is a major festival for the knights.
The tourney actually has a long history in the continent of Toril, but only Batoria has truly carried it forward and continued it.
The knight class is the ruling class of Batoria. As feudal lords, they have to provide military services to the king and the great knights and nobles.
The best among them can show their bravery and build their reputation through martial arts competitions, and then they can receive material rewards and an increase in social status.
What's more, in the kingdom of knights who believe in the Lake Fairy, knights often have higher requirements.
That is to gain the favor of the Lake Fairy through hard work and become a knight of the goddess, or even a Knight of the Holy Grail.
With the arrival of the personnel and the passage of time, Knight King Ryan officially announced:
The martial arts competition officially begins!
The honorary referee is Knight King Ryan, but the real referee off the court is Sir Marcus.
Being a referee not only requires a fair and impartial attitude, but also requires strong strength. When the two sides are fighting, they should immediately step forward to stop it, so as to avoid death between knights.
Marcus is a representative of both knightly virtue and strength, and is a model for almost all knights.
Let him serve as the referee and do his part.
The first thing to do was a group competition, which was not very attractive to Iloth.
Because the strength of the knights sent by both sides of the group competition is actually uneven, it is difficult to achieve the same strength between both sides.
Although in a real large-scale battle, the strength that an individual can display is minimal, the group competition in the martial arts competition is obviously not that large-scale.
Then in small-scale battles such as group competitions, strong personal strength can lead other knights to victory.
Sure enough, the Guardian Knights, one of the seven knights in the Toril continent, sent out silver-level knights of average strength. Under the leadership of Simmons, they swept across the armed forces of other knights and the great knight lords.
Knight King Ryan personally came to the scene and presented awards to the victors of the Guardian Knights headed by Simmons.
The prize is a gold artifact in the shape of a Holy Grail and a whole box of gold galleons.
Although the rest of the people are envious, they don't take it seriously, and some are just longing for gold.
The real highlight is the individual martial arts competition, which is the focus and essence of the martial arts competition. It is an event of great viewing value.
The commentator of the tournament was a jester in the palace. His high-pitched and clear voice, artistic vocabulary and precise insights into martial arts were welcomed by the knights present.
"With the presence of the Fairy of the Lake and the King of Knights, we begin the second event of the competition, which is also the most anticipated event for everyone - the individual competition, officially begins!"
The high-pitched voice of the court jester echoed throughout the audience.
"In this personal competition, there are a total of twelve brave knights who are eligible to register and participate. The first person to enter the competition field is the expedition knight Montana, with peak gold level strength. From the knights under the Grand Duke of Aquitaine -
The Luanweihua Knights are strong and a strong contender for the championship of this tournament..."
Montana, dressed in gorgeous and exquisite armor, walked into the arena and aroused warm applause and cheers.
"The second one coming towards us is..."
The court jester was still introducing the participating knights incessantly, as if in his mouth, all the participating knights were invincible.
It's all bragging anyway, and it doesn't take much effort. The court jester doesn't intend to offend any of the participating knights.
"Next, the person who walks into the competition field is Solomon, the only son of Duke Mousilon, the deputy leader of the Guardian Knights, and the expedition knight Solomon. Five years ago, he embarked on the road to pursue the Holy Grail. Now he has returned as a Holy Knight, and he is the favorite to win the championship.
Choose!"
As soon as the middle-aged knight in simple silver armor walked into the competition arena, the audience immediately burst into the most enthusiastic and thunderous applause and cheers so far.
Solomon, the only son of Duke Mousilon, is not only powerful but also of noble character. He is the Knight of the Holy Grail that has long been destined by everyone.
After returning from the expedition for five years, he brought back countless trophies, the most precious of which was the head of an evil dragon.
"I heard that Lord Solomon has been recognized by Lord Trisly, the high priest of the Fairy of the Lake. With his strength, the champion of this competition is not easy to win. A new Holy Grail Knight will be born in Batoria..."
The knights on the field began to whisper.
Even Knight King Ryan is particularly optimistic about Solomon, the deputy leader of the Guardian Knights who is loyal to him. He already thinks that he must be the champion of this session.
However, the King of Knights still looked meaningfully at Ilosu, who had not yet played. As the youngest paladin in the mainland (many people and forces do not know the strength of Joan of Arc, otherwise the youngest paladin should be Joan of Arc).
), he was Solomon's most powerful competitor.
But Ryan is still optimistic about Solomon, after all, Eloise is too young.
But what makes Ryan a little confused is why the Lake Fairy asked the high priest to tell him to recommend Elos, a foreigner, to participate in the competition.
The strange thing is that Marcus seems to have received instructions from the Lady of the Lake, and he is also recommending Eloise.
Knight King Ryan is actually jealous of Marcus.
If it weren't for the bloodline inheritance of the King of Knights, Ryan's qualifications would not be able to achieve legendary strength.
Relying on the blood inheritance of his family, Ryan, as the pinnacle of the legendary level, his absolute power is stronger than Marcus, but his real combat power is only the same as the mid-level legendary Marcus.
It's even slightly lacking.
Without him, Marcus relied on his own talent and countless conquests in life and death to become a legend.
However, Ryan only had the inheritance of the family's secret method and was able to smoothly advance to the peak of the legend. He lacked the struggle and experience in life and death, and he lacked the insight to break the mirror.
In a short time, the court jester introduced the eleven knights participating in the competition in a very exaggerated manner. Next, it was Iloth's turn to enter the arena.
Encouraged by Yekaterina's eyes, Ilos walked into the competition arena with his head held high. This time, he wanted to fight on his behalf.
"The next person to appear is His Excellency Iloth from the Knights of the Silver Hand of the Albrex Empire. He is the adopted son of Grand Duke Gros of the Principality of Shire and the youngest paladin on the continent. Oh my god, he looks so good.
It looks so good, I thought it was a beautiful woman in disguise..."
The somewhat malicious introduction by the court jester made the knights present burst into laughter, and they all laughed at Ilosu for being a pretty boy from a foreign country.
Knight King Ryan and Marcus looked a little unhappy.
As for Yekaterina, she was already a little angry, but seeing Ilosu's indifferent performance, she suppressed her anger.
"That's enough!" Marcus couldn't stand it anymore and shouted loudly to stop.
"What do you mean by laughing at me? Have you reached the level of a Paladin, or do you have decent looks? Don't do anything that will disgrace the reputation of a knight!"
After saying this, Marcus glared at the court jester, which frightened him so much that he immediately dared not speak any more.
He did not dare to offend Marcus. Even if Marcus killed him on the spot, His Majesty Lane would not support him. He was just a funny little jester, and his weight in the emperor's heart was negligible.
Marcus' words immediately silenced the knights present. Most of them were indeed jealous and dissatisfied that Elos had occupied a quota.
"Why let a foreigner participate in our martial arts competition? He doesn't believe in the Fairy of the Lake..."
Marcus heard someone whispering, and he immediately said:
"As for letting Your Excellency Elos participate in our martial arts tournament in Batoria, it is the oracle of the Lake Fairy. This is something that His Majesty Ryan, I, and the high priest can all prove."
As soon as these words came out, none of the knights present had any objections.
Since it was the oracle of the Lake Fairy, it should be obeyed to the letter, so the knights put away their xenophobia and looked at Eloise.
The youngest paladin, he once regained his place and avenged Sir Mackenson who was guarding the Knights. There is no reason why he should not be respected!
Solomon, who was unanimously favored by the knights, looked at Elos carefully.
He didn't laugh along with him just now because he felt the pressure from Elos.