Ruler Vol 4 Chapter 31
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Author: Anit666
Editor: Weasalopes
【Sam’s POV】
After we came back to our rooms, the battles for the other groups commenced. From what I could make out from the announcer’s voice reaching our room, the winners for Group 2 were two adventurers and one knight.
And then it was finally the turn for Group 3, the group Lantz was in. And….. it was a massacre. There was only one winner of that group; Lantz. He wiped out the remaining participants in under two minutes and emerged victorious.
“Uwaaah, that guy’s bad news.”
Pars grumbled with a sigh.
Should I tell him that I’m the main target of Lantz? I’m interested in how he’ll react, but I’ll refrain for now.
“Let’s hope that we don’t have to fight him….”
“Let’s hope that we fight each other in the next round!”
Well, that also works. But before that, I should probably decrease the limit on my stats.
‘Limit 10’.
‘Status’.
LVL: 1
HP: 247897
MP: 2515
STR: 3036
VIT: 1080
DEX: 499
AGI: 580
INT: 9999
POT: 666
LUC: 0
Hmm, aside from my too OP HP, my stats are three times that of the Heroes (assuming that Phiria’s information was correct). But if I account for a worst-case scenario where the current Hero got hold of a new power through a ‘back door’ and became insanely strong due to that, I should probably remove the limit and execute Gamma 1.
The Gamma 0 series is only for emergencies; the power of the Lords, the Absolute Authorities, are just too strong to just casually take them out after all. In this world, Solomon and Regina are the only ones who can make me use that. And then my third trump card, Tzeeneth. I wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to use it.
I can’t really use the other two trump cards, well, at least not until the final stage.
Just then, a small electric shock ran through my hand. Tzeeneth was pissed.
Yeah yeah, don’t worry. You’ll get your chance to rampage soon enough, so just stay still for now.
What, you want to fight Schrödinger? And right now, you say? What are you, a fucking idiot?
Huh? You prefer to be called an ‘Artist of Battles’ than a fucking idiot? But you see, Schrödinger is so powerful that he’ll fucking end our existence by a single glance, so yeah, now is not the time to fight him, not until I get that back.
When, you ask? Hmm, why don’t you ask Maxwell instead of me? He’ll give you a better answer.
“Hmm, Group 4’s battle has ended, and the winners are all knights. Aren’t there too many knights this time?”
Pars rubbed his chin.
“Too many?”
“Yeah. First of all, this time’s tournament itself is weird; we never had group battles like these. Though I understand that’s because of the war with the demons, I still don’t know why so many knights are participating this time. Especially Lantz.”
“Is there something special about him?”
“Something?” Pars stared at me. “You don’t know, do you? Lantz is the captain of the First Order of Knights. That means he’s the strongest knight of this kingdom. Rumours say that he’s as strong as the Heroes.”
………..
‘Limit 5’.
“So the strongest of this country is a possible opponent? Damn, maybe I should withdraw.”
“Nah, he’s not the strongest.” He gripped my shoulders tightly. “And don’t you dare withdraw before fighting me!”
“All right all right. But if that guy’s not the strongest, then who is?”
Like, there are guys who are stronger than the Heroes in this country?
“Ah, that would be the Fae Lord Leige. The strongest of them all, he’s the vanguard of this country. He leads the Zeroth Order of Knights and reports directly to the King.”
His eyes shined as he told me about Leige.
Hmm, but the Fae Lord is working under the King? Why? According to the books I read, the Fae Lord is supposed to be the strongest after the Demon King and the Hero. In fact, in one of the Holy Wars of the past, it was the Fae Lord, not the Hero, who killed the Demon King. Why would an existence as strong as him work under the humans?
Before that, aren’t there too many OP people in this country? The Heroes, Lantz, Leige. Like, what the fuck, Meteron? This world’s system is as fucked up as Phiria’s. Gosh, even Walter could do a better job than this.
Anyway, since the battle for Group 4 has ended, I think it’s time for us to move to the stage. The door that opened up was a testament to this.
And so, we three walked through the corridor and reached the stage, where everyone else was already waiting for us. Seeing me, Lantz waved his hand with a smile.
“Do you…… know him?”
Pars whispered.
“I have never met this man in my life.”
Yepp, I don’t know any Lantz.
“But he’s walking towards us.”
“He’s probably coming to meet you.”
“Why the hell would he want to meet me?! Look, he’s definitely coming for you!”
“Hey Samael, so we finally meet again.”
Lantz greeted me with a smile.
“Sorry, who are you?”
“Pretending to not know me, are you?” His eyes narrowed. “We’ll see how long you can keep that up when we fight.”
Why is he so fixated on me now? Did I hurt his pride by saying that I could beat him? Let bygones be bygones, yeah?
As Lantz walked away after saying that, Pars grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.
“See? He totally knows you! What the heck did you do this time?!”
“Why did you assume that I did something? It could be him that was at fault, no?”
“Yeah, he could be. But you definitely seem more suspicious. So, spill the beans; what did you do?!”
“Like I said, I didn’t do anything. Even I don’t know why he’s so fixated on me.”
I lied. I definitely don’t want to tell him what happened when I met Cecile.
“Hmph, what a liar.”
He grunted and let go of my arm. So unreasonable.
“Everyone, congratulations on passing the qualifiers!” The announcer started. “Without further ado, one by one draw lots for the pairing of the next round from this drawing lot!”
A box with lots inside it was presented to us and we drew lots from it in the order of our groups. The results were as follows:
First Match: Balfazar vs. Lantz
Second Match: Reyshaw (a knight) vs. Pars
Third Match: Samael (me) vs. Carlos (a gold ranked adventurer)
Fourth Match: Diana (a female knight) vs. Gin (another knight)
Fifth Match: Gen (a knight) vs. Rugtred (a swordsman)
The results of the drawing were announced by the announcer right away, along with a one-hour break. As the audience left the venue for the break, I made my way with Pars to the betting area outside the arena; the place I had arranged to meet with Phiria.
The betting for this tournament was actually run by the country itself. People could predict the results and bet on the one they think would be the winner of the match. For the first match, both Balfazar and Lantz were pretty famous, so they had almost equal number of betters.
For the second match, Pars was in overwhelming majority, while for the third match, it seemed that I was less popular than my opponent. The fourth and fifth also had almost equal number of betters, while in the fifth match most of the people had betted on Rugtred, the unknown swordsman.
As we were going through the bets, I heard a familiar voice at the betting counter.
“I want to bet on Samael’s victory in the third match.”
“Yes, we will- Eh? This much?!”
The receptionist who took the bag of coins from Phiria exclaimed upon feeling its weight.
“P-please wait a moment.” The receptionist nudged the other receptionist. “Help me count this!”
After they finished counting the coins, the receptionist said.
“81 gold coins on the contender Samael. Here’s your ticket.”
“Ah, thanks.”
Phiria took the ticket and trotted towards me.
“Good work out there, Samael! Just win the next match and we’ll make a killing!”
She clutched her fists and leaned towards me.
“It seems that I have no other choice but to win now.”
“Yeah, you better do that.” Came another voice from behind Phiria. “I also bet my money on you.”
“And you didn’t bet anything on me?!”
Pars complained to Selica.
“Oooooh.” She shivered. “Just the thought of believing in you sent shivers down my spine.”
“Oi!”
Pars shouted in tears as his shoulders drooped.
But the two ticket stubs peeking out from Selica’s pocket told me a different story. Selica noticed my gaze and her eyes widened as she realised her blunder. She quickly stuffed the tickets inside and started pushing us.
“A-anyway! Let’s go and eat something! I’m sure you are hungry!”
Huh. I didn’t think she was capable of being cute. Wonders never cease, I guess. Keep fighting, Pars! I’m sure you’ll win someday!
Phiria giggled as she saw the slightly red ears of Selica.
“Aah, it’s good to be young.”
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