Chapter 42 of 100

Chapter 42: The Knight's Confrontation, the Great Battle of Summoned Beasts

13 min read3,317 words

"You lost!" Luo pressed his hand against the wound on his chest and said these words to Hiburu again.

Hiburu staggered to his feet beside the weapon rack. His armor was shattered in several places from Luo's fierce attacks, and blood flowed continuously. "N-no, I haven't lost. I haven't been defeated by you, and I haven't fallen!" He roared madly, picking up a heavy mace from the side and swinging it at Luo again.

"You bastard!" Luo was also furious and thrust his spear forward to meet the attack. He thought the other would dodge, but Hiburu seemed to have gone completely mad, ignoring the spear piercing his body, and raised the mace to strike Luo on the head. Luo couldn't avoid it in time and had to turn his back, taking the full force of the blow.

"Luo!" Konelia cried out in alarm.

Everyone fell silent.

"This is really getting out of hand," Ursula said softly.

Luo was slammed to the ground, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood. The chest plate on his back was dented by the heavy mace.

Vain and the others quickly ran to the center of the arena and gathered around Luo. "Luo, Luo...!"

Irina hurriedly said to someone nearby, "Who knows magic? Heal him quickly!"

Hiburu pulled the spear out of his body and threw it aside, not caring about his own injuries. He looked down at the fallen Luo with a mocking smile. "You... you can't get up, can you? I told you, I will be the one to win in the end."

A few students who had learned medical skills undid the clasps on the chest plate and examined his injuries. "It looks like a few ribs are broken!"

Luo lay on the ground, clenching his teeth tightly, and pushed away the person trying to heal him. "Damn it, I haven't lost yet. No one is allowed to touch me!" He ignored his own pain, kicked with both legs, and knocked Hiburu to the ground, mounting him and pummeling him.

Hiburu frowned tightly. "You're really stubborn." He grabbed Luo's neck and threw him backward, flinging him away.

Both of them struggled to their feet, barely able to stand, but they still glared at each other, neither willing to admit defeat.

A few onlookers thought it was getting dangerous. "Why isn't the teacher here? We should go find the teacher."

"Right." Another person agreed and turned to go find the teacher but was blocked by a large, fat person. He looked up and his face turned pale. "D-d-demon...!"

"Since we're knights, let's fight with our mounts!" Hiburu shouted.

Everyone was shocked. The academy had a rule that students were not allowed to use summoned beasts in combat without a teacher present. Most students had only recently obtained their summoned beasts and might not be able to control them well, fearing that the beasts would go out of control.

But Hiburu didn't wait for Luo's agreement. He gathered his magic and formed a magical star array in front of him, and soon a massive creature tore through the star array.

Luo was secretly alarmed. "This is..."

A huge body, thick red-brown armor, sharp spines on the neck and tail, and a large lizard-like head with a gaping mouth. The massive creature, over ten meters long, took up half of the arena.

"Spine Dragon!" Several people who had read the bestiary shouted in alarm. Everyone backed away, afraid that the fierce Spine Dragon would harm them.

Konelia and Irina were still in the middle of the arena. Seeing such a huge creature, they were terrified and pulled Luo aside. "Stop fighting. If you keep going, someone will really die! Vain, this is all because of you. Come and talk to him!"

Vain also felt that continuing the fight was very dangerous. The Spine Dragon, which only existed in dangerous places, was extremely unwise to fight. "Luo, stop fighting. This is over. If I want revenge, I will do it myself..." He suddenly realized that Luo wasn't listening to them but was staring intently at Hiburu, who had already mounted the Spine Dragon. "This guy..."

Hiburu looked down at him. "Heh heh heh... Piger Luo, listen to your friends' advice. You can't possibly win against me. Accept this fact. Admitting defeat to someone better than you isn't shameful."

"Are you done with your nonsense?" Luo pushed Konelia and Irina away. "Today, one of us must fall!" Lightning flashed, and a Thunder Rhino appeared in the arena. Luo picked up the spear that Hiburu had dropped and mounted the rhino.

Irina exclaimed, "You're crazy, Luo! Why? Why are you fighting like this?"

Konelia, worried about his injuries, shed tears and called out, "Stop fighting, it's dangerous! Vain, talk to him. He's doing this for you. Can you just stand by and watch?"

Vain lowered his head, seemingly hesitating.

Seeing that Vain wouldn't move, Konelia and Irina went to pull Luo again.

Hiburu laughed. "Yes, listen to the women. Show everyone your fear and cowardice, admit defeat to me, or you'll lose your life."

Luo's veins bulged with anger. He turned to them and shouted, "Get out of the way, this is my own business!"

Irina said, "What's your own business? This is Vain's business. Let Vain handle it himself. Don't let him provoke you. You've lost your mind!"

Konelia and Irina's arms were suddenly grabbed. "Vain, what are you doing?"

Vain lowered his head. "Stop arguing, this is his own business."

"His own business? How is it his own business?" Konelia said. "Vain, what are you saying? This is clearly your fault. Saying such things is irresponsible! I never thought you would be like this." She slapped him across the face.

Vain was stunned. Although he was the son of a servant of the Isabella family, Konelia had never treated him like this. But he still dragged the angry Konelia and Irina away.

They struggled, hitting Vain. "Let go of me, let go of me! You won't help Luo and just let us watch? Luo has lost his mind. We should help him regain his senses, or he will get hurt."

"He hasn't lost his mind!" Vain suddenly shouted at them.

Konelia and Irina were startled. Irina had never seen Vain shout at Konelia like this, but she still said, "How hasn't he lost his mind? He's been driven mad by anger!"

"What do you two women know?" Vain said. "Luo hasn't lost his mind; you two have. They are fighting for their beliefs and honor, and neither is willing to admit they are weaker than the other. This is their fight, and it has nothing to do with us. If he backs down now, he will be a coward for the rest of his life and never be able to hold his head up."

Konelia was stunned. Irina still said, "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with honor? Is it worth getting hurt over such a trivial matter?"

Regardless of their arguments, the battle in the arena had already begun. Luo, wielding a heavy knight's spear, circled the massive Spine Dragon, using the Thunder Rhino's lightning and charges to strike the Spine Dragon repeatedly.

Skills like 'Thunder Lance' and 'Lightning Strike,' which usually had immense power and could shatter rocks, were useless against the Spine Dragon. Luo realized the situation was dire and shouted, "Dual Flame and Thunder!" One end of the spear was engulfed in fire, the other in lightning. These two most destructive elements, guided by magic, formed a blue and white light wheel that struck the Spine Dragon's tail, only leaving a small wound.

Hiburu stood on the Spine Dragon's back, laughing. "Do you see my power now? You can never match me, because you can never obtain such a powerful summoned beast!"

Luo gritted his teeth in frustration. Suddenly, a gust of wind came, and the massive tail swept across, sending his mount flying over ten meters away, and he himself fell to the ground.

Everyone was shocked by the Spine Dragon's immense strength, drawing in a sharp breath. The Thunder Rhino, which was probably a ton or two, was easily thrown away.

Seeing Hiburu laughing, Selt said, "The secret weapon he mentioned is this big lizard, right?"

"Yep!" Ursula, who was watching the show, sneered. "Does he really think this thing is a dragon?"

Selt said, "It seems many people think so. The 3,000 dragon knights of the empire have been showing off their power on the battlefield recently, and many ignorant people want to get such a big lizard as a summoned guardian, thinking the empire only has 3,000 such dragon knights because they are powerful and rare."

Ursula added, "Actually, having more of these things is useless. With 5,000, 3,000 for the main force and 2,000 as reserves, they are enough to serve as meat shields in sieges. Raising more would waste resources, so keeping this number is fine."

Selt said, "But these things are powerful, just not the best choice for a summoned guardian."

"These things are suitable for common nouveau riche, but the imperial nobility wouldn't choose them." The conversation between Ursula and Selt went unnoticed by the shocked onlookers.

---