Chapter 647: Contest

In the name of the visit, City Lord Kraut and Lord Walli used the matter of Reserve Light Knight candidates to jointly attack him in front of Eliza. Solanton did not expect it in advance. It was as if the subordinates had painstakingly prepared all the inspection items that needed to be dealt with when the superiors came to inspect the work, but suddenly a guy made an accusation and complained in public. This feeling was very frustrating.

In fact, Solanton had reached an agreement with Kraut and Walli about the candidates beforehand. Both of them suddenly changed their faces and gave Solanton a surprise attack now. What shocked and raged the pastor even more was that his most trusted Light Knight Legion Captain Tenisio betrayed him at the most critical moment which gave him no reason to be excused.

Solanton had always taken care of and guided Tenisio using his relationships. For more than a decade, the 2 had cooperated and managed the church in the Garden City in an orderly manner. At least, there weren’t any major disturbances. His ‘political performance’ was quite good.

A few days ago, Solanton deliberately visited Tenisio to talk about the candidacy spots. When Tenisio heard that it was related to the overall situation, he immediately agreed and said that he would ask his apprentice, Lodan, to voluntarily give up the candidate. On the contrary, Solanton felt apologetic and promised him a lot of benefits. Unexpectedly, at the most terrible moment today, Tenisio suddenly appeared and stabbed him fatally from the back!

Seeing the sinister smile on Tenisio’s face, Solanton suddenly understood. The central figure in this incident is not Fatty City Lord or Lord Walli, but Tenisio!

——Why would City Lord Kraut and Lord Walli know the exact time when Eliza came to visit quickly? Why would they change their faces and mention the candidate matter at the same time? This is a long-planned conspiracy!

Even if there was no candidate matter as an excuse, there would be other incidents. Their purpose was to discredit the Garden City’s church in front of Eliza (ie. in front of Sir Cardinal Roger) and discredit Solanton, the person in charge!

Normally, such disputes over candidates were just a trivial matter, but there was about to be an important change in the internal personnel of the church. At this sensitive moment, any details might affect the result of the future.

Whether it was Solanton or the betrayer Tenisio, they were just small pawns in the hands of the sirs. This conspiracy was also a manipulation game. However, for the small pawns, failure meant being abandoned, so he must never back down!

Tenisio had begun to sprinkle salt on the wound he stabbed, “Light Knight is synonymous with justice and strictness. Since I swore in front of the Light God statue, I have adhered to this creed until now. Witnessing justice being desecrated now, I can’t remain silent despite threats from authorities.”

Eliza did not expect that there would be a scene when she first came to Garden City. She was more shocked, “What is actually going on?”

“Ms. Eliza, you should understand with your wisdom.” Solanton had calmed down, “This is not an ordinary framing, but a conspiracy against the Garden City’s church. I’m very sad that there is actually an internal member participating in this conspiracy. Furthermore, they are my most trusted people. Perhaps this is simply a scheme planned by Tenisio!”

Tenisio came prepared, so he immediately retorted, “Ms. Eliza, you may not know, but this ‘Richard’ is just an incompetent person. I don’t know how much bribes he used to climb up to Solanton’s cousin, Mana, and became the only candidate recommended by the Garden City’s church. The truly powerful candidates were all rejected and deceived by Solanton. I can use my life to guarantee that everything I say is the truth. Ms. Eliza, please uphold justice and expose the greed and lust hidden behind the glory!”

“Then what should I do?” Eliza looked a little at a loss for a while, “What you guys said seems to make sense…”

“Very simple.” Tenisio showed a confident look, “Facts can prove everything. As long as the 4 candidates compete in front of everyone, the truth will be revealed.”

“Like that…” Eliza looked at Joanna inquiringly. Joanna was also someone who was experienced; she nodded slightly to Eliza.

Paul, who was observing the situation, immediately spoke up, “The winner takes it all. Strength is the most convincing thing.”

This sentence faintly alluded to Samuel. It felt particularly harsh in Joanna’s ears. She snorted and did not say a word.

Paul was the top genius of the Dragon Bright Empire who was 1 of the contenders of Holy Light Mountain Divinity Temple Knight this time. What he said had a lot of weight naturally. Tenisio and the others were happy.

Eliza had stabilized her emotions as she nodded, “Since this is the case, let them compete once. I will use the privileges granted by the Holy Lady to directly appoint the winner as the Reserve Light Knight. As for the losers, if you do have outstanding strength, I will also suggest my uncle to increase the number of candidates for Garden City. Therefore, I hope the candidates will show their true strength and perform well.”

As soon as the words came out, the eyes of the 2 candidates, Omi and Matt, lit up at the same time.

Tenisio saluted, “Ms. Eliza is no doubt wise, but it’s not convenient to contend here. I suggest going to the church’s battle arena. Solanton, you have no objections, right?”

“Hmph! Of course, I have no objection.” Solanton and Mana looked at each other with displeased faces. By now, they could not stop halfway. They could only take 1 step at a time.

The battle arena of the church was equivalent to a large arena surrounded by an auditorium that could clearly see everything on the stage.

A young man appeared beside Tenisio. It was his apprentice, Lodan, who was in his 20s. He was carrying a broad sword, and his gazes were very fierce.

Solanton frowned tightly. Putting aside Omi and Matt, this Lodan is not simple. He is a young talent in the Yang Shao Empire who has amazing potential. He inherited everything from Tenisio. He has been in the Master level for 4 years. He was very famous at one point in time for eliminating the ferocious Bloodmist Bandits Gang by himself. His actual combat ability and experience are quite terrifying.

In contrast, even though the true strength of ‘Richard’ is also Master, his special skill is best taming skill. His combat power is definitely not as good as Lodan. Now I can only pray that he will perform miracles that surpass his current level.

The 3 candidates walked to the battle arena 1 by 1 as everyone watched them. ‘Richard’ seemed to be late.

To Eliza’s surprise, there was a small eagle on ‘Richard”s shoulder, followed by a wind leopard.

Chen Rui saluted Eliza far away, “Ms. Eliza, I’m a beast tamer, so please allow me to fight with my partners.

“It turns out that Richard is a beast tamer!” Eliza suddenly became interested, “Of course!”

All 4 of them stood in the arena. To be precise, there were 2 more beasts… Uh, 1 bird and 1 beast.

The rules of this competition were very simple. 4 of them attack each other. Whoever fell out of the arena or conceded defeat was judged to lose. Whoever could stand in the arena in the end would be the winner.

Chen Rui’s recalled Solanton’s previous instructions- “Lodan’s strength is too powerful; try not to fight him head-on. Try to beat Omi and Matt out of the arena first, then try to show your strength and hold on for a while. Even if you lose, it’s still a good performance.”

Too powerful? This term was just ridiculous for Chen Rui. Among the people present, there are only 2 people who can barely catch my eyes. 1 is Paul, whose comprehensive strength has reached A-, the early stage of the Demon Emperor. Although Paul and Samuel was the early stage of the Demon Emperor, Chen Rui could see that Paul’s strength was higher than Samuel which should be close to breaking through to the intermediate stage; the other was actually Eliza, whose surface strength was C, but her real comprehensive strength was A which was the intermediate stage of the Demon Emperor. She is more powerful than Paul, especially her spirit power has reached A+. It seems that this little girl really deserves to become the apprentice of the Holy Lady.

As for the strength of Lodan, it is only C- which is the early stage Demon King. The other 2 are E and E- which is not worth mentioning.

However, Solanton really valued Chen Rui, who had a ‘beast taming skill’. He had specially given him 2 life-saving scrolls.

With the announcement of Paul as the arbitrator, the contest began.

Almost coincidentally, Omi, Matt and Lodan all attacked Chen Rui.

“It’s not fair! They’re all attacking Richard” Solanton stood up abruptly, “This is a collusion in advance!”

“Sir Solanton, when it comes to this kind of battle, you are an absolute layman. Generally speaking, the first to be eliminated in a melee is the weakest-looking person. Too bad, Richard looks vulnerable.” Tenisio immediately replied to him; it was actually to explain to Eliza.

Lodan had been lurking behind Omi and Matt. He actually disdained these 2 people in his heart, but because he couldn’t figure out the strength of ‘Richard’, so he let these 2 idiots take the lead to explore.

The wind leopard next to Chen Rui roared and took the lead. Omi and Matt trembled at the same time and saw a black figure rushing toward them quickly. Omi who charged at the front shuddered and hurriedly stepped back. He hoped that his ‘ally’, Lodan, could help him block this wind leopard, but when he looked back, Lodan was gone.

Seeing that the wind leopard was about to pounce at him, Omi immediately activated an acceleration scroll without hesitation. His speed suddenly doubled, but Omi did not choose to fight the wind leopard. Instead, he ran toward Matt swiftly in an attempt to divert its target.

Matt, who discovered Omi’s intention, cursed in his heart. He was a magic trainer, and his melee combat ability was almost zero. He couldn’t withstand the attack of the wind leopard at all. Once Omi succeeded, he would be seriously injured even if he was not dead.

Matt desperately cast [Decelerate] on Omi, and the wind-like ‘elegant’ figure suddenly slowed down. Matt quickly seized the opportunity to pull a distance from Omi. This time, the wind leopard was much closer to Omi again.

“You bastard!” Omi screamed out. He hurriedly threw out a bunch of scrolls. There were explosions all around, and he managed to temporarily block the wind leopard’s attack.

Although Matt’s magic power was limited, he had many scrolls. He quarreled with Omi while blasting magic scrolls against each other. Under Chen Rui’s deliberate control, the wind leopard did not seize the opportunity to attack vigorously. Instead, the offense was sometimes eased and sometimes tight which made the scene even more exciting.

The Fatty City Lord and the sir lord below did not expect such a scene to appear. Their faces were a little unsightly.

Solanton’s sarcastic voice sounded in time, “I’m really not good at fighting, but it’s the first time I have seen such a wonderful scroll battle. Moreover, it’s between the 2 ‘future’ Light Knights.”

Ms. Eliza didn’t even bother to listen to this now. She was watching Omi and Matt’s ‘intensive battle’ with relish. During the ‘climax’, she couldn’t help holding her belly while laughing.

Most of the audiences’ eyes were focused on Chen Rui and Lodan. Compared with the 2 clowns, these 2 talents were the real protagonists.

The battle between Chen Rui and Lodan was also a chase. Lodan had the upper hand. He was chasing Chen Rui closely with a broadsword in his hand like a hurricane. Despite the solid enchantment of the battle arena, there were often cracks on the ground due to the huge pressure.

Lodan’s attack was very vigorous; each slash was aimed at the vital parts. If Chen Rui only had the surface-level strength, he would become disabled even if he did not die in 1 slash.

Chen Rui, who was in a passive state, kept retreating and evading with several close calls. The young thunderbird standing on his shoulder was motionless as if it was shocked.

Tenisio smiled with sure-win confidence. Although Lodan can’t compare to the genius Paul, his aptitude and potential are among the best in the Yang Shao Empire. In a few years, he will even surpass me. A mere beast tamer is nothing.

As Lodan yelled, the broad sword in his hand burst out with a strong yellow light. The sharp qi burst out to the sky and slashed toward Chen Rui, who had not stabilized himself. Seeing that it was coming close, Chen Rui seemed to have an idea. He did a lazy donkey roll on the spot and barely avoided the blow. The stone slab on the ground showed a 10-meter-long crack under the blow. The bird also flew up because of Chen Rui’s rolling.

Just as Lodan was about to pursue even more, he felt a vibrant light in front of him. The strong brilliance made his eyes sting, and he couldn’t open his eyes temporarily: [Flare]?

[Flare] was the lowest level light element magic. It mainly emitted a dazzling light to obstruct the enemy’s sight. For a while, the audience’s sight was also blocked.

All of a sudden, Lodan, who closed his eyes, keenly sensed danger. He immediately blocked it with his sword.

“Buzz buzz…” This attack was actually a flash of lightning. Lodan’s whole body suddenly twitched. Although the power of the lightning was not fatal, it made him temporarily incapacitated.

Immediately afterward, the sense of danger rose again. What made Lodan petrified was that this one seemed to be 100 times stronger than last time!

In the dazzling light, Lodan screamed. Tenisio’s triumphant smile instantly froze on his face.

When the light faded, Lodan was seen rolling on the ground, covering his eyes with his hands and screaming tragically.

Chen Rui got up and panted violently. Judging from the half-cut leather armor on his chest and abdomen, it would be a disaster if he dodged a little later. What caught the people’s attention was that the young thunderbird had moved from Chen Rui’s shoulder to his arm with blood dripping from its sharp beak.

“Lodan!”

This scene stunned Tenisio. He couldn’t believe his eyes. His genius apprentice, London, actually lost!

This was not only the loss in the Reserve Light Knight contest, but it also meant the loss of another battle.

Solanton and the fatty were equally stunned. Even they were not optimistic about ‘Richard’. He miraculously knocked down Lodan!

“Impossible. What despicable tricks did you use?!” Tenisio yelled as he desperately rushed toward Chen Rui on the stage.

Chen Rui seemed to be exhausted due to the battle just now and he couldn’t avoid it. At this moment, Paul as the arbitrator instantly appeared in front of Tenisio. Before everyone could see Paul’s movements clearly, Tenisio’s huge body flew back upside down and hit a wall tens of meters away. He fell to the ground and couldn’t get up for a while, leaving a human-shaped dent on the wall. The large cracks in the area showed the power of this blow.

“How dare you ignore the contest rule!” Paul said coldly while floating in the air. This attack was meant to show off his strength.

Omi and Matt, who had finally gotten away from the chase of the wind leopard, were horrified to see the scene of Lodan’s loss. The tragic situation caused the 2 to shiver together. Those 2 who were scolding and exploding each other just now glanced at each other tacitly, then they made an action simultaneously: jump off the arena.

As Chen Rui shouted, the wind leopard did not rush down the arena to pursue Omi and Matt, but it slowly approached Lodan who was tumbling and howling on the ground.

“Sir Paul.” Chen Rui ‘barely’ recovered some strength and bowed to Paul, “I think there is no need for this battle to go on. Although I’m not a soft-hearted person to the enemy, there is Ms. Eliza and the respected madam here… It’s better not to let the ladies witness the gruesome scenes.”

The word ‘respectable madam’ satisfied Paul’s heart. He felt pleased while looking at this ‘beast tamer’. He nodded immediately, “The fight is over! Omi and Matt admit defeat. Lodan lost the ability to continue fighting. I declared that the winner is Richard!”

Chen Rui bowed at the auditorium again and hobbled off the arena. Solanton and Mana hurriedly greeted him and helped him aside to rest, especially Solanton, who could hardly conceal the ecstasy in his heart.

It’s all thanks to ‘Richard’ this time. Not only did he successfully comeback at the most important moment and claimed the victory of the candidate contest, but he also defeated the conspiracy of Tenisio and the forces behind him! Of course, the [Flare] scroll presented by Solanton also played a key role– At least, Sir Pastor himself thought so.

“Richard used [Flare]’s scroll just now in a critical moment, then he commanded that thunderbird to launch its lightning talent. When Lodan was paralyzed by lightning, it pecked his eyes blind.” Paul explained Chen Rui’s winning strategy to the crowd. Although [Flare] also covered my sight, but with my Saint’s strength, even if I only relied on my sensing ability, I could clearly perceive everything happening in the arena- At least, Paul himself thought so.

In fact, [Flare], lightning, and thunderbird attack were just covers. Before the thunderbird approached Lodan, a trace of Chen Rui’s power had destroyed Lodan’s defenses. It could be said that his eyes were destroyed by this power. To be honest, if Lodan’s attack was not so vicious previously, Chen Rui would not do it. In short, he claimed victory without any flaws in a ‘Richard’ way in front of everyone.

According to the previous promise of Eliza, Chen Rui had now become the Reserve Light Knight which was 1 step closer to that plan.

TL: No one knew what I did- At least, Chen Rui thought so 🤔. Maybe Eliza has already seen through his trick?

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