Chapter 40: The Return of the Real Deal (4)

With the appearance of a challenger, the match proceeded quickly. Damaen was tall and blonde.

“Looks like you’re from a rich family, do you really want to show off your skills that much?”

“Damn, I’m jealous. I should have been chosen.”

“He’s so unlucky, to have picked Damaen of all people.”

“He should be ashamed of himself, a B-rank trying to take away an F-rank’s money.”

Damaen was a B-rank participant. He was a mercenary turned Sword Expert, wearing formidable armor befitting his huge size.

A debut match for an F-rank participant normally wouldn’t warrant even a single spectator, but due to the unusual stakes, the stadium was now packed with spectators.

“Damaen! Give that rich young lad a taste of reality!”

“Does he think that the swordsmanship he learned from his butler will work here?”

The audience's reactions were varied, but most of it was ridicule.

Soon, the referee signaled the start of the match.

“Injuring your opponent means immediate disqualification. Understood? Then let us begin.”

The referee raised his arm in the center, and soon, Henry and Damaen were the only people left in the arena.

“Hey, hey, buddy. Do you know why Sword Clash is such a popular game?” asked Damaen.

“Do I need to know that?” Henry asked in response.

“Because the difference in skills is always made clear. Try and stop this!”

The swords they had were just ordinary iron swords, crafted in Vivaldi Town. Damaen raised his sword high in the air.

“

Wahahaha!

Consider this your tuition fee! Think long and hard, while you try your best to block this!”

Damaen swiftly swung his sword toward Henry.

Whoosh!

Slash!

“...Huh?”

Henry cut through Damaen’s sword with a single strike, as if cutting through an apple falling from a tree.

“W-what the hell?”

Although it wasn’t immediately obvious, there were mild traces of Aura on the surface of the iron sword. Sword Clash didn't require any other specific skills, so Damaen had simply swung his sword as hard as he could with both his hands. Now, it was split in two.

The arena fell silent in an instant.

“Aren’t you going to make the call?” shouted someone from the crowd.

“A-ah! The winner is Henry!” the stunned referee belatedly declared Henry’s victory.

“W-wait! Isn’t he an F-rank?”

“Is it possible that he was hiding his talent?”

“No, I don’t think so. The data says that he’s only a Sword Learner.”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“But Damaen’s a Sword Expert, no?”

“What the hell is up with that guy?”

With the match over in an instant, the spectators began to speculate wildly about how Henry had won.

Seeing the commotion, Henry spoke softly, “I will double my fight money. From now on, anybody B-rank and above, come face me.”

“T-two hundred gold!”

The prize money doubled, and the reception desk heated up again.

* * *

“The winner is Henry Morris.” the referee once again declared Henry the victor.

Henry had quickly become an S-rank participant.

‘Easy.’

Henry had doubled the prize money every time he had been promoted to a new grade. Thanks to this, the prize money, which had started out as a hundred gold, had now become a formidable sum of more than four digits.

Rumors spread quickly, and the unexpected rising Sword Clash star now had the whole arena buzzing with excitement. Thanks to this, Million Gold’s Sword Clash arena was able to generate superior sales compared to the other arenas in the town. Even professional scouts who heard the rumors began to gather at Million Gold one by one to see the rising star.

“Yo, Henry! Are you going to raise the prize money again?” asked a spectator.

“I will now raise the prize money to three thousand gold. If there’s an S-rank participant who wishes to defeat me, come and try me.”

“Whoa!!!”

The highest rank: S. It was ambitious, but Henry wanted to keep his momentum going. Even though he had now reached the highest rank, there were still hundreds of S-rank Sword Clash fighters in this huge gambling city. Henry had to emerge as the top among them all. The highest-ranking Sword Clash fighter among all of the S-rank fighters was given the SS-rank.

Henry also received a flood of scouting calls, coveted by all the teams that professionally developed Sword Clash fighters. Henry, of course, rejected them all. His goal was to make it to the top, and become the talk of town.

Just as Henry raised the prize money…

“I’ll challenge you.”

“N-no way, that guy is!”

“It’s the Wall Sword himself! It’s Sawan the Wall Sword!”

‘Wall Sword?’

The man the crowd called ‘Sawan’ raised his hand at Henry’s declaration. He had been given the nickname ‘Wall Sword’ by the spectators because whenever he held his sword, he was as sturdy and steadfast as a brick wall.

“Your rank?” Henry asked Sawan.

“S-rank, eighteenth.”

“Guess you’ll be nineteenth soon.”

“Hahaha, that would be interesting, eh?”

Henry was now an S-rank fighter, and yet, he had yet to place any bets himself. He had yet to reach the standard that he held himself to. Conversely, huge bets were being placed among the crowd, and with the increasing amount of bets, Henry’s value skyrocketed as well. Shortly after, Sawan the Wall Sword, who had now officially applied for the battle, entered the arena.

“If you think I’m on the same level as the guy you just defeated, you’re in for a surprise.”

“You two look the same though.”

“Yeah, right.”

Henry had defeated an S-rank fighter to be promoted from A-rank to S-rank.

His previous opponent had been ranked two-hundred-and-twenty-second. Compared to Sawan, that guy was truly on a lesser tier, even though they were both S-rank.

“Both players, take your swords.”

Henry received the same iron sword he had been using since he started.

“As you are both S-rank fighters, I’m sure you are familiar with the rules. Never injure your opponents. Let’s go.”

The referee signaled the start of the match before exiting the arena, leaving just Henry and Sawan. A clear blue aura that Henry did not recognize formed on Sawan’s sword.

“I’ll show you why my nickname is the Wall Sword. Come at me,” Sawan spoke confidently as he held up his sword.

Henry looked at Sawan’s aura, assessing it.

‘He must be an Advanced Expert, at least.’

That was what it seemed on the surface. After making his judgment, Henry finally began using his magic buffs for the first time since he started playing Sword Clash.

Thud.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Henry responded.

His preparations were over. With the blade infused with a mage’s power, Henry swung his sword as hard as he could.

Clang!

‘Oh?’

It didn’t feel like Henry had cut something but had simply bumped into something instead. When the two swords collided, the spectators roared with enthusiasm.

“Whoa! For the first time ever, it’s not over in one strike!”

“See, what did I tell you! Didn’t I tell you to bet on Sawan? S-ranks are a different breed!”

“Dude, don’t kick up a fuss just yet! The match isn’t even over!”

It was as the people said. For the first time ever, Henry had not broken his opponent’s sword in one strike.

Having blocked Henry’s attack, Sawan smirked. “You’re strong. Is it my turn now?”

“No.”

Slash!

Sawan had been smiling confidently after successfully defending against Henry’s first attack. Seeing this, Henry injected just a little more of his magic into his blade before delivering a second blow.

The results were disastrous.

“Whoaaa!

The Wall Sword’s blade was cut in two. The spectators cheered as Sawan stared at his iron sword with a blank look on his face, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

“Looks like all it took was for me to knock twice. From today onward, you’re not a wall, but a door.”

Thus, Sawan the Wall Sword—no, the Door Sword gave up his rank to the new rising star.

* * *

“No way… that Black Knight lost?”

“He really defeated the Black Knight… is that guy really a Learner-class swordsman?”

“Shouldn’t we do a doping test on him? The Black Knight is damn near a Sword Master, isn’t he?”

Another S-class fighter, the undisputed runner-up known as the Black Knight, had just been defeated. Even more rumors about Henry spread, and the more they spread, the more Henry’s value increased.

“Now, there’s one more guy left, right?”

Henry looked up at the top of the Sword Clash scoreboard. The absolute best of the Sword Clash arena. The only SS-rank fighter, often referred to as the Vant of the Sword Clash World, was nicknamed ‘King.’

‘How cute, calling himself king because of whatever Sword Clash.’

Achieving the top spot in a game that had a leaderboard brought about enormous benefits. Since Sword Clash was as popular as chess, any reigning champion was given benefits as good as the champion of chess himself. Among the many benefits, Henry only wanted one unlimited betting.

Henry turned to the arena staff. “Go to King and tell him a new challenger has appeared.”

It was a short statement, but it was enough to make the crowd go wild.

“Maybe today, the history of this arena will be rewritten!”

“He only had to win eight matches to earn the right to challenge King, right?”

“That’s right. Not only that, Henry’s prize money is currently at five-thousand gold.”

“F-five thousand? Is he the son of some rich Noble? Why the hell does he have so much money?”

“Hey, hey, take a proper look. The clothes Henry is wearing right now are designed by Sylvia.”

“Whoa… no wonder it seemed like he was in a class of his own.”

“Only someone like him could wear something so exquisite.”

The people were now curious about who Henry was, and whether or not a newcomer like him, who appeared out of nowhere, could take the throne.

However, as Henry was waiting for a response from King…

“Hey, that guy over there, isn’t he the owner of Million Gold?”

The owner of the Million Gold Arena, Ten, had appeared.

“What? Ten himself showed up in person?”

“I’m right, ain’t I? That does look like Ten!”

“Whoa, even Ten is coming out for this match?”

Ten was a middle-aged man with golden hair, appropriately matching the arena’s name. When he arrived, all the staff stood up on the spot and bowed deeply. The giant security guards who accompanied him exuded a terrifying sense of intimidation.

Henry thought to himself,

‘Finally, you’re here.’

Since he had pulled off such a bold move, he thought that by now, those looking to profit would have caught a whiff of his prize money and shown themselves. He hadn’t thought that the person would be the owner of Million Gold himself.

“Excuse me for interrupting. My name is Ten, and I’m the owner of Million Gold here. Are you, by any chance, Sir Henry, the one who defeated the Black Knight?”

“Yes, what brings you…?”

“I heard from my staff that you wish to challenge King… if it’s okay with you, I’m here to make a suggestion.”

“A suggestion? Let’s hear it.” Henry said, pretending to be indifferent.

“It’s been a while since someone new has challenged King, so I would like to increase the stakes of this battle.”

“And how do you plan on doing so?”

“Do you know of the special rule that applies only when challenging King?”

“A special rule?”

“Victory or defeat in Sword Clash is determined by breaking the opponent’s sword without injuring them.”

“So?”

“It’s different with King. While fighting against King, injuring your opponent is legal.”

This was the first time Henry had heard of such a rule, but now he finally understood why many people weren’t challenging King.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that King is the sole Sword Master of the Sword Clash arena, and Sir Henry, you are a Sword Learner. The Sword Master versus a Sword Learner. A rare match like this will never be seen ever again.”

“So what is it that you’re trying to say?”

“As the owner of Million Gold, it is very unfortunate that such a legendary match might end so quickly. So, how about you two duke it out in front of everyone in town tomorrow afternoon instead?”

“And is there any reason why I should agree to those terms?”

“Of course, it will be quite a large and profitable event, and you will be rewarded appropriately. Is there anything you want?”

Ten was the owner of Million Gold, the largest arena in town. He was probably the richest man in the whole city.

“Before that, let me ask you something,” said Henry.

“Please.”

“I heard that there is no upper limit on the amount you can bet against King… is that true?”

“Yes, of course. It’s a privilege that only King can have.”

“But what if Million Gold can’t make the payout?”

“Haha, we’re not called Million Gold for nothing. You can put your worries to rest.”

“Is that so? Then that’s all I have to ask. Oh, but I only arrived here today, so I don’t have a place to stay yet. My accommodations will be arranged, yes?”

“Of course! We will take you to the best accommodation available in town.”

With the deal made, the corners of Ten’s lips curled upward.