CHAPTER 79: CHAMPION

Lysette could not understand the intricacies of the match since she wasn’t a fighter, but even she was able to see how incredible it was.

"What do you think of Lucen Thornehart?" Lysette asked one of her bodyguards.

"He’s an incredible fighter," the bodyguard replied, after a brief pause. "That’s all I can say."

"Do you think you could defeat him, under the same rules?"

The bodyguard fell silent. Lysette smiled beneath her mask. That was all the answer she needed.

’To think he was this good... I guess no matter how late he bloomed, he is a Thornehart after all.’ Lysette giggled softly to herself as she watched Lucen, his chest heaving from the exertion.

’I wonder how everyone will react once they find out about this. I’d better hold another tea party.’

Lysette stood up from her chair.

"Are we going now, milady?" One of the bodyguards asked.

"Yes. I’ve seen enough." She turned toward the door. "And besides... things might get noisy if we stay any longer."

Without another word, Lysette glanced once more at Lucen and left the room, her bodyguards trailing behind like shadows.

***

"Lady announcer, aren’t you going to announce Lucen Thornehart’s victory?" The second Faust said those words, the world that seemed to have paused started again.

"A-ah y-yes." The announcer was about to announce Lucen as the winner when one of the people in the audience shouted.

"Faust, you b*star,d what do you mean you concede?! I bet a lot of money on you, do you f*cking dare say you lose!"

"Yeah, you only got hit once, and it was just a pat to the cheek!"

"This is rigged, right? The Thornehart brat bought you out, right?!"

"Now that you mention it, that seems about right. How could a once-known sickly loser suddenly become so strong?!"

"He must’ve paid off the other fighters too! All of this was a setup!"

"Shameless! Disgusting!"

The crowd’s discontent became a frenzy. Jeering, accusations, and outrage filled the air. Sir Thalos, Harlik, and Mark stood up, their expressions twisted with fury. They were about to shout right back at the crowd when suddenly a booming voice made everyone quiet.

"ENOUGH!"

The stadium fell silent. Faust’s voice thundered like a divine command, shaking the very foundations of the arena. An overwhelming pressure swept over the crowd. Even the strongest present, third mantle elites, felt their breath hitch. Some staggered. Others fell to one knee.

Sir Thalos, who was at the beginning of the fifth mantle, also felt the pressure weighing down on him. The only other time he felt such pressure was when he was with his lord, Vardon Thornehart.

’No... Not even the lord’s pressure is like this. Who... No, what is this man?’

Faust stood tall at the center of the ring, like a mountain made flesh. His voice rumbled again, cold and furious.

"You dare... You dare speak such filth after witnessing such courage and honor? You stain the name of a fighter who earned his victory!"

He pointed to Lucen, whose stance remained steady despite the pressure bearing down on everyone else.

"To say that he cheated? To say that I, Faust Kriegerisch, was bought? To taint my duel with such garbage!"

Faust’s blindfold shifted slightly with the tremble of restrained wrath.

"You insult not just him, but me. You insult the very spirit of combat! I would sooner die than sully the battlefield with lies!

Not a single person dared speak. Not even to breathe too loudly.

"This young one has fought with honor and courage! He took hits from me directly. If you think you can do the same," Faust lifted his fist.

"Then come down here any single one of you, in fact, all of you, come and you’ll see what it means to take a hit from me!"

He slammed his fist into the stone floor.

CRACK!

The arena trembled. The ground beneath his fist fractured like glass beneath a hammer, splintering outward in a spiderweb of cracks. And he had done it without a drop of aura. It was pure force. Pure weight. Pure Faust.

Silence reigned. No one moved. No one dared to breathe. Lucen, who got his breathing back to normal, watched the entire event like a cut scene.

’Did he hit me with that much power? If he did, does that mean my body is more durable than I thought?’ Lucen thought to himself.

***

Seeing the crack in the arena floor, the ones who shouted were trembling in fear. Not much is known about Faust’s origins. He just suddenly appeared in the underground arena and dominated.

Every time he won a match, he added restrictions to himself. The blindfold, the weights, and sometimes even restricting the use of a single body part. It was as if he were seeking not just the perfection of martial arts, but seeking his defeat as well.

A noble had once wanted to take Faust as a knight, but was rejected. Feeling disgraced, the noble sent assassins to Faust, but they were all killed. The noble who sent those assassins also disappeared shortly after.

Of course, many who knew of the feud between the two thought of Faust, but there was no evidence that could prove Faust was guilty.

Some had tried to do the same thing, but ended up dead or disappeared. It was then that the people understood that it did not matter who you were. If you touched Faust, the end was the same.

Even now, no one truly understood why such a powerful person was hiding in the underground arena, in a kingdom like theirs. Still, no one dared to question him.

The loss of money had momentarily made the people forget what kind of person Faust was. They could only close their mouths tightly, hoping that Faust would not retaliate against them.

***

"Thank you for speaking up for me, Sir Faust, but you don’t need to do all this. I can handle my own problems."

When Faust heard what Lucen said, he moved his head in the direction of the other party and then started laughing heartily.

"Hahaha! I guess you could, it seems that I have disrespected you as well, young one. I apologize for doing so. I just couldn’t hold myself back when these people sullied our dignity as fighters... To not be able to keep my emotions in check, how childish of me... I guess I too have still have a long way to go."

Faust bowed his head for a second, but that was enough to shock all the other people. Not once have they seen Faust bow his head to anyone. Not to any other fighter or noble.

Lucen nodded, his eyes steady. "No need to apologize, Sir Faust, I understand why you did what you did."

After speaking with Faust, Lucen glanced at the audience and spoke in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear.

"If any of you still believe I cheated, then step onto this stage and fight me yourselves! I will prove with my own fists to you all that I have not done anything that you all claim I did! I, Lucen Thornehart, will not back down! If you wish to not only sully my honor but that of the Thornehart household, I will respond in kind!"

No one moved or spoke. They did not even dare breathe loudly. A nobleman who had been shouting earlier sank into his chair, face pale.

They understood that fighting Lucen in the arena was one thing, but facing the might of the Thornehart household was another. The latter would just get you beaten up or, at most, killed, but the latter might end with your entire bloodline vanishing from history.

Several hooded figures at the far end of the arena turned and left, boots echoing on the stone.

Seeing that no one else seemed to have anything to say, Faust exhaled slowly, his shoulders finally relaxing as the tension in the arena defused like steam from a boiling pot. He turned his head toward the frozen announcer, his tone returning to a calm, deep bass.

"Lady Announcer, if you please."

The announcer looked around and hesitated a little before finally speaking out loud.

"Due to the champion Faust Kriegerisch conceding the match... The winner of this battle, and the new champion of the arena... Is Lucen Thornehart!"

There were a few seconds of silence when Lucen’s victory was announced, but after a while, someone started clapping their hands. As if that was the signal, everyone else started clapping as well, until finally everyone in the entire arena was clapping.

"You did it, young master!" Sir Thalos shouted while clapping the loudest.

"I never doubted your victory, little leader." Mark smiled gently as he clapped his hands.

"We got all the coins now! Little leader, you truly are my lucky star!" Harlik, who had won the betting pool, was grinning from ear to ear.

Long after the applause faded, the name ’Lucen Thornehart’ lingered in every mouth. The boy who had once gone unnoticed now stood atop the arena’s throne, his name etched into its blood-stained stone.