The sonorous sounds of trumpets that were superseded by the boisterous applause from the audience marked the start of close combat competition of the Knight Tournament.
Within no time, the first eight pairs of squires were called upon to their position. Their appearance was welcomed by another round of applause. Afterwards, the aide continued by announcing the rules of the competition, which were very simple.
The squires would be fighting against each other, until one of them yielded or was unable to continue fighting. Obviously, the act of killing was strictly not forbidden and the transgressor would be sentenced under the royal authority.
"Lanzelot Dulat!"
The moment the aide called Emery's current name, the commotion instantly escalated to a whole other level, as the crowd exploded into excitement. The commotion was to be expected because some of them were worried about the injuries he received from yesterday's competition. However, those injuries didn't seem to be able to stop the young champion from participating, which meant they would be able to be entertained again today, just like yesterday.
Even before the competition began, thousands from the audience were already chanting his name over and over, bringing a formless pressure to other squires who heard it. The enthusiasm the audience showed wasn't without reason, as it was rare to find a participant who managed to become the champion in both archery and cavalry. Throughout the history of the Knights Tournament, there had only been a handful of them.
Hence, it was natural for them to root for this young squire to achieve the all-kill, winning all the competitions as the champion.
"Lanzelot! Lanzelot! Lanzelot!"
The people who sat in the VIP area were also amazed by the spectacle; impressed with how this year's Tournament had become so different.
"Princess Gwenneth... Who is this Lanzelot figure? Is he any good in close combat as well?" asked one of the high ranking officials from other kingdoms.
"What about his family? I never heard of the Dulat Family in Lioness before." said another.
"How old is he, princess? It appears he's the youngest among this year's participants..."
For a moment, Gwen was overwhelmed by all the questions. She did not know if they asked because they were indeed curious about Emery or planned to poach him to their own kingdom. Hence, she kept her silent.
However, her attitude brought even more questions, instead of silencing them. Fortunately, when the golden prince, Prince Arthur Pendragon, moved his seat next to her, all those people shut their mouths and the noise disappeared immediately.
Ignoring the gazes given by others, Arthur looked at the princess and said with a smile, "My dear princess, I hope you don't mind my company."
Gwen nodded her head subtly as a response. Right when she thought that her tranquility was restored, Prince Arthur's voice resounded from beside her.
"Actually, I also do have a question. From what Gaius told me, I was surprised that your squire was able to participate today."
"Me and you both, my prince... Me and you both…"
The crowd once again became noisier, cheering so loudly that it was almost as if they had fallen into madness.
It appeared the crowd cheered because the young squire had easily disable his first opponent. One could even say that the young squire almost did it with no effort, seeing how unscathed the former was.
"Lanzelot!! Lanzelot!!"
"That was pretty quick! I wasn't able to see his skill at all." said Arthur, carefully observing the duel. His words were almost like a shout due to the excitement.
Emery calmly returned back, under the sight of everyone, to the corner where the other Lioness' squires were. Immediately after, the others congratulated him. Even though they weren't the ones who achieved that feat, they felt proud for him as well.
All squires in this competition would fight 5 times each and the top 100 with the most wins would all receive their title. This certainly made all of them fight with all they got as there was no room for mistakes.
All the 240 squires were the best of what the young generation of the 7 kingdoms had to offer. Most of them were children of nobles who had studied the way of the knight from a young age. Hence, none of them were weak.
But for Emery, this was no challenge at all. Compared to the combat puppets the Academy had, they were mostly at the strength of level two, or level three at most. He was sure none of them could scratch him even if he didn't move his legs and only moved his body.
The second, the third, the fourth, even the fifth match; Emery was undefeated, as he beat his opponent effortlessly. He won each fight beautifully, with his opponent yielding under his sword. As a result, the audience became even more excited.
"Lanzelot! Lanzelot! Lanzelot!"
Emery wasn't too worried about hiding his sword skills anymore, as he unleashed it completely. Unfortunately, the other squires weren't capable enough to show everything he had to offer.
Though he wasn't sure if he did this for his own childhood dream, his kingdom, or someone else. All in all, those reasons encouraged him for one purpose.
Win!
"I yield!"
With this one sentence, the young squire of the Lioness Kingdom, Lanzelot Dulat won all 5 matches perfectly. His position to be knighted was guaranteed because of his accomplishment.
He defeated all of his opponents without receiving any attacks, much to the amazement of those who saw his performance.
...
The close combat competition finally ended, with the crowd hoping to see him again tomorrow for the silver knight title.
As for the Lioness' squires, all of them were in a very good mood. Even though some of them didn't make it through, surprisingly 12 of them did, Marc, Lucas and Abe being part of them.
Though this number was not as many as the other kingdoms, it was actually a new record for the Lioness Kingdom itself.
Therefore, another round of celebration was held that night.
"For the Lioness Kingdom!!"
"Cheers!!!
"To Lioness!!"
"To our champion!!"
"..."
"Where is he?"
While people wanted to celebrate with him, Emery was already gone without a trace.
At the moment, Emery had secretly escaped the celebration and made his return to Venta Village through his [Spatial Gate].
Kastan, who was once part of the silver knights, told him about the mysterious room with the huge door. And the answer was actually quite unsurprising for him.
"That is the place where the Sword of Divine, the Excalibur, is kept. And only gold knights are allowed inside. We, silver knights, would only be able to see it once, when we won the title.
Hearing this definitely gave Emery more reason to win tomorrow's competition.