novelraw Chapter 56: Conditions for Staying
Chapter 56: Conditions for Staying
Not long after Duke Lemer finished speaking, the situation in the arena changed.
The young knight blocked Henwil's thrust with his sword, then counterattacked by using the pommel weight at the end of his greatsword to strike hard at Henwil's chest.
This was a mistake born of inexperience - the young knight's teacher must never have fought on actual battlefields.
At the very least, he had never fought against proper armored legions!
Because this technique of striking with the pommel weight was mostly used against enemies who got too close.
And these enemies were usually unarmored serf soldiers.
A pommel strike could easily shatter the ribs of an unarmored serf soldier, basically rendering them combat ineffective with a single blow, possibly even killing them.
But now Henwil was wearing full knight's plate armor with a breastplate!
When the pommel struck Henwil's breastplate with a clear ringing sound, the young knight realized he had made a fatal mistake.
But Henwil wouldn't give him another chance. He braced through the impact and stepped forward.Gripping his longsword with both hands, he dropped his stance and passed under the opponent's arm, opening a gash in the armpit that completely disabled that arm.
Circling behind, Henwil turned and thrust backward, his blade precisely finding the gap between armor and helmet, piercing through the chainmail to sink into the back of the neck and spine.
After this fatal strike, the young knight's body stiffened, unable to control itself for counterattack, and collapsed limply to the ground.
Henwil didn't follow the rules of bloodshed gambling by stepping forward to behead his opponent.
Instead, he planted his sword in the ground and bowed his head in respect toward the young knight's body.
Completing the final courtesy of a knightly duel.
All the nobles in attendance rose and returned the gesture, acknowledging they had witnessed an honorable duel between knights.
Both Henwil's etiquette and the techniques used in combat convinced the nobles this wasn't merely gladiators slaughtering each other, but a true battle between knights.
In their eyes, Henwil wasn't a gladiator - at least not in this fight!
The arena was unusually silent without cheers, all spectators following the nobles' lead by standing and applauding Henwil.
The bow was to mourn a knight dying for honor, the applause to celebrate another knight proving his honor and courage.
From the VIP seats, Duke Lemer looked toward Count Obiken beside him: "Well? Was I right or not!"
Count Obiken, lightly applauding, smiled: "Haha! Fine! You win, this little gladiator is quite impressive!"
Just as Obiken expressed his admiration, Henwil happened to bow respectfully in their direction.
He didn't yet know that the person responsible for his current situation was sitting there watching his life-and-death struggle.
After Henwil's victory, Scorpion Tail entered the arena next.
After just a few exchanges, Henwil frowned - he noticed Scorpion Tail was holding back, not using his full strength.
This was bloodshed gambling! How dare he conserve energy?!
Soon, Scorpion Tail took a sword strike. Though not fatal, it affected his subsequent combat ability.
His opponent's advantage grew increasingly evident, and two minutes later, Scorpion Tail was struck again.
At this point, Scorpion Tail raised his right hand to announce his surrender.
Surrender was permitted in bloodshed gambling, but one's fate depended on the opponent's actions and the challenge sponsor's decision.
The young man sheathed his sword and looked back toward his employer.
One of the five arena managers smiled as he stood and raised his thumb.
Just as Scorpion Tail breathed a sigh of relief, the man suddenly turned his thumb downward.
"Wait-"
Before he could finish, the young gladiator opponent swung his sword, beheading Scorpion Tail.
Henwil glanced at his grim-faced companions, then at Bloodhorn who was grinding his teeth.
He already understood what had happened and could only sigh.
Next was Tarantula's match, and his opponent proved formidable.
Despite Tarantula fighting with everything he had, his opponent maintained the advantage.
Even a desperate final counterattack seriously wounded his opponent, but ultimately Tarantula suffered worse injuries, dying before they could carry him from the arena.
After two consecutive losses, the anger on Bloodhorn's face intensified.
Fortunately, in the next two matches, Flying Ant killed his opponent at the cost of light injuries.
Mishir employed rather unscrupulous tactics, deliberately exposing parts of her body.
Though not yet adult, her body had already developed.
Her budding figure distracted her opponent, allowing Mishir to thrust her sword into his vital spot.
With three wins and two losses, Bloodhorn's side ultimately achieved victory.
But because it was individual combat, Bloodhorn could only claim three-fifths of the bet money.
After the closing ceremony, Bloodhorn found Henwil and the other two.
Generously handing over 120,000 gold coins to the three, he didn't interfere with their decisions to stay or leave.
Henwil looked at the other two: "You each take 30,000 gold coins. I'll handle the remaining 60,000."
Neither objected. Henwil took two slips of paper from his robe and handed them to Bloodhorn: "These are people important to Scorpion Tail and Tarantula. Please find them, Lord Bloodhorn."
"They participated in this gamble too. Even though they failed, they should receive the reward earned with their lives."
"Give their life-money to those they cared about. Deduct the search expenses from my share."
"As compensation for troubling Lord Bloodhorn, I'll remain at the arena - I won't leave for at least a year!"
Bloodhorn's lips curved into a smile: "Quite righteous! I accept. You don't need to pay for the search either - I have that much integrity. I'm not completely heartless."
"Additionally, I guarantee you that Scorpion Tail and Tarantula's families will receive my protection. Without promising too much, they'll be trouble-free for at least five years."
Just as Henwil started to bow in gratitude, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His two teammates rushed over to check on him while Bloodhorn called for a doctor.
Henwil shook his head: "Broken ribs. When I took that pommel strike, even with armor protection, the impact still transferred through."
After the doctor arrived, he confirmed Henwil had four broken ribs.
Bloodhorn told them to rest well and recover from their injuries first.
Though the young knight's final strike had been fierce, Henwil had diverted some of its force, mainly receiving chest impact.
These four ribs - Henwil had broken them himself.
Right after Scorpion Tail's death, during the armor-changing period, Henwil had broken his own ribs.
Late at night, both Flying Ant and Mishir came to Henwil.
Mishir spoke first: "Qin, are you really not leaving?"
Henwil shook his head: "Not leaving! Don't want to leave for now! Can't leave either!"
Seeing their silence, Henwil hesitated momentarily before speaking: "Before the fights, Bloodhorn approached you two, didn't he!"
"He definitely told you that even if you surrendered, you could survive - that he would let you leave!"
The two looked at Henwil in surprise. Flying Ant asked: "He didn't tell you?"
Henwil: "He wanted to, but I didn't give him the chance!"