Whispering Verse

As the loud horn sounded, and amid the cheers of the crowd, Shade led the maroon horse and entered the competition venue with his sword. Jazz on the other side also entered the venue wearing full armor like him. As the crowd chanted their names, the two waved to the audience together.

The sunshine this afternoon is particularly dazzling, but since it is not yet summer, the dazzling sunshine is not so hot.

Under this kind of sunshine, under the attention of thousands of people, dueling with a guy who knew he was not a human but looked like a human, even Shade felt a little hairy in the corner of his heart.

The two led the horses to the center of the field, bowed to each other, and then mounted their horses. His Majesty the King, who was sitting on the highest stage of the auditorium, actually did not leave because there were relics here. He picked up the small golden pistol on the small table in front of him, smiled and motioned to Queen Diana to cover her ears, and then pulled the trigger towards the sky.

Peng!

Shade and "Sir Hells" waved their reins at the same time and carried out the first round of face-to-face charge. Both of them were full of courage. At the moment of contact, the vibration and sparks generated by the two steel swords hitting each other were enough to A testament to the power of two huge forces.

Although Shade knew that the other party could exert greater power using the physical fitness of ordinary people, he did not expect that the other party was so powerful. He did not suffer a loss from this attack, but his mount shared the power of Shade, and the force of the charge obviously stagnated.

If the next race is still such a head-to-head encounter, Shade will not have any problems, but the horse may retire early due to internal bleeding.

"That's not okay."

Shade thought in his mind, and continued to rush forward after staggering and separating from Sir Hells, and then waved the reins to let the horse turn.

At this time, the cheers and cheers from the audience almost covered up all other sounds. Dorothy, who was watching Shade from the high stands, breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was not good at cold weapon combat, she could see that Shade was definitely not at a disadvantage.

"Actually, we should give him more confidence. He has completed countless adventures that in our opinion can be called miracles. Shade's physical fitness cannot be compared to even the young lady."

Tifa whispered next to Dorothy that this stand was very close to where Queen Diana and the King were, and was reserved for Miss Carina alone. Yin Luna and her team had left at this point, so they could talk about sensitive topics.

"I know he's great."

Dorothy pursed her lips and turned to look at the black-haired maid. Her eyes uncontrollably glanced at her chest. The corners of her mouth twitched but she could do nothing about it:

"But it is an angel-level relic after all..."

The two watched the duel off the field together. Shade continued to dodge Sir Hells' pursuit on horseback, while the latter chased behind him.

Clang!

The knight who was chasing Shade on horseback swung his sword at his back, but Shade in front seemed to be able to see the situation behind him, and turned around and swung his sword to fight back.

The two long swords collided together, and sparks flew everywhere. At the same time, no one could clearly see the expressions of the two people behind the helmets. After this close confrontation, Shade did not continue to "escape" forward, but swung the reins to change the direction of advancement.

Instead, "Sir Hells" took the initiative to ride his horse to make some distance to the side. The two horses kept almost the same distance and kept pacing. Then they approached again according to the master's order, and then with another sword exchange. The voice was forced to bear the pressure from its master.

In a pure swordsmanship competition, except for accidents like Sister Devlin, there should be few people in the steam age who can be Shade's opponent. But Sir Hells, who was obviously replaced, also fell into the category of "accident". After the two swords collided with each other, he actually withdrew his arm faster than Shade. After Shade stabbed the sword again, As he came, Jazz raised his left hand to block his attack with his gauntlet, and then stabbed the lower part of Shade's helmet with the sword in his right hand.

Shade also raised his gauntlet to try to block. After the two collisions, there were slash marks on Sir Hells's gauntlet, but Shade's armor was still intact.

The wrestling between the hand and the sword lasted for a while, and the two separated with a tacit understanding. They tested it again while riding the horse, and then approached again and slashed at their opponent with the sword.

The people in the audience could only see that as the two horses continued to move, the long swords of the two knights on the horses continued to jingle and collide, and no one could take the lead to cause an effective attack. But it doesn't look boring at all. The two men wielding swords on horseback show a sense of power and impact that you can never see on a daily basis.

The surging emotions caused by the collision of steel are getting higher and higher, and the cheers of the people are getting louder and louder with the high emotions and the desire to win the bet.

Continuously swinging a sword is still burdensome for ordinary people's bodies, but it is not a big problem for Shade and "Sir Hells". Because they were wearing armor, no one could see their mouths moving or hear their voices.

"Mr. Hamilton, you really surprised me. I thought that today's young people would no longer like long swords as before. They prefer firearms. After all, the era of knights has ended."

"Sir Hells" still played his role, waving his sword and saying to Shade.

The long sword reflected the spring afternoon sun, forming a so-called "sword light" that made this exhibition match even more exciting. Shade pretended to be breathless:

"You are not bad either. You have reached an age where your physical strength is weak, but you are still able to compete with young people like me."

The knight smiled, then suddenly raised Shade's sword, pushed his feet forward in the stirrups, raised his weapon with his right hand, and slashed diagonally downwards.

Shade had no time to accumulate strength, so he could only hold the hilt of the sword with one hand and press the blade with the other, and was forced to block the blow. While his wrists were sore and he heard bursts of cheers, he took the initiative to withdraw to the side, ending another brief round of confrontation.

"I still have a lot to do and I can't grow old yet."

Sir Hells did not catch up, and was still talking breathlessly, as if he was taking a short rest. Shade knew that the next question would touch on the characteristics of the relic, but this was what he originally wanted:

"Jazz, what else do you have to do?"

As the voice came, the whispering element entangled Sha De's soul:

"My brother is missing."

"Lo and behold, they're in contact again!"

At the highest point of the arena, on a high platform guarded by guards in red uniforms, Queen Diana held up a telescope with great interest and looked at the situation in the arena. At this time, His Majesty the King had temporarily left, and there were only the Queen and a few princes and princesses in the stands. The oldest among them is seventeen-year-old Agelina:

"Mr. Hamilton's skills are really good. He saved my life at the Opera House last year."

Agelina said softly, and she also used binoculars to look at the situation in the field, her face flushed with excitement:

"I bet Mr. Hamilton will win."

"Rejed's Hamilton is still a bit young after all."

Next to Agelina, her fifteen-year-old brother, Hoynes Cavendish, who also has the Cavendish family's iconic red hair, said that Agelina ignored him and she believed in Shade. .

Queen Diana had put down the telescope at this time. She subconsciously touched her belly, then smiled and asked her daughter:

"Agelina, I found that you have been very concerned about Hamilton recently."

"Sister Lesia has often mentioned him to me recently."

The little princess said immediately, but the queen did not care about the relationship between Lecia and Shade:

"Do you like Hamilton?"

She asked her question to her daughter in this way, and the expression on Agelina's face remained unchanged. Although they often appear immature in front of their sisters, the heirs of the Cavendish family are definitely not flowers in the greenhouse:

"Mr. Hamilton likes mature ladies like Aunt Carina."

She didn't mention herself, but her elders. After speaking, she lowered her head and glanced at her figure. They are both Cavendish, but the size difference between her and Carina and Lesia is really big.

With a just right look of lament on her face, Queen Diana held her daughter's hand:

"Although your father has other plans for your marriage, until you are actually engaged, Agelina, you are free."

She smiled and winked at her daughter. Agelina pursed her lips and nodded. She knew that this was her mother's hint that she could try to contact Shade as long as there was no big mistake.

Picking up the telescope, Agelina looked at the battle in the arena again. Shade and Sir Hells, who were very close, were seen raising their feet to kick each other from the horse at the same time, and then they both rolled and fell off the horse at the same time.

Amidst the continuous "Oh~" sounds from the audience, the two horses ran towards the edge of the arena, while Shade and Sir Hells each rolled on the ground and then stood up, preparing for a close swordsmanship competition.

"It is indeed excellent."

Agelina heard her mother's voice, and she nodded slightly, the burning desire in her heart stronger than ever.

"Missing brother?"

Shade moved forward violently, standing with his feet extremely stable on the ground. Feeling the power of the earth, he thrust his long sword towards Sir Hells. After arriving on the ground, he felt that he could completely suppress the Jazz in front of him. Jazz swung his sword to fight back, but he only got a blow and had to retreat quickly. He moved his painful wrist and continued to speak:

"Yes, my brother disappeared more than ten years ago. I plan to ask His Majesty for help in searching for him across the country. I think this should work."

Sir Hells said in a normal tone, and under Shade's helmet, his expression became more serious. Holding the sword with both hands and lowering his center of gravity, he raised the sword flat and thrust forward violently. Sir Hells, who was ready to counterattack, dodged to the side, but Shade's sword seemed to be sure to hit the moment it was thrust out, and still stabbed towards his heart.

In a hurry, Jazz raised his sword and tried to block, but then he felt as if he had been kicked by an elephant, and his whole body fell backwards. Amid people's exclamations, he landed on his back and rolled with all his strength. Before Shade stabbed his sword downwards, he rolled to dodge and then stood up quickly.

Of course, Shade would not let go of such an opportunity. He quickly followed up and continued the pursuit, making a continuous sound of clanking as he swung his long sword.

"But I haven't heard that you have a younger brother."

Shade said in a very steady voice, as if the person wielding the sword was not him at all. Sir Hulls, who was tired of blocking, was retreating while fighting, and the balance of victory was tilting at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Hamilton of Rejed, you are not from Coldwater Port, so you probably don't know the past of my family. In fact, I was born as a twin, but when I was about one year old, my younger brother was stolen. This family incident The scandal, even locally in Coldwater Port, was something that few people knew about.”

Shade smiled, and nimbly dodged to the left, avoiding the steel sword that tried to counterattack during the defense. Then he twisted his right ankle and bumped his right shoulder forward with an almost impossible movement, causing He Sir Ers almost lost his balance and fell again.

"Is there a possibility..."

He wanted to continue drawing his sword, but suddenly frowned, the knight's strength actually became stronger.

[He is suspecting you of questioning his identity, and the relic is showing some power. 】

"She" reminded softly, so Shade's attack was temporarily suspended. He took a step back to take a look at the situation, but Sir Hells had already taken the initiative to catch up. At this moment, the long sword in his hand really turned into an afterimage and began to dance. With the potential energy brought by the twisting of Jazz's body, the sword dance-like offensive overwhelmed Shade, who was unprepared.

"The sword dance of the demon hunter is specially designed to deal with hordes of inhuman humanoid creatures. The sword master uses this sword skill to walk in the rain, and even the raindrops cannot wet his clothes."

Shade recognized this swordsmanship immediately. It was definitely not something Sir Hells could master.

Fortunately, there is a record of this swordsmanship in the inheritance of [Night Watch]. Although Shade cannot use it as skillfully as the person in front of him, at least he knows from what angle he should block.

The crowd's exclamations and cheers were completely indistinguishable. Ordinary people could not recognize the burden "sword dance" had on the body and wrists, and only thought it was some fancy swordsmanship. However, the ring warlocks who were ready to rescue at any time could Everyone knows how dangerous the situation is.

But fortunately, although Shade could not stop every swing of the sword, even if the steel sword hit his armor, it would not cause any damage at all.

"Miss Carina is really willing to spend money."

Many people think so.

"Is there a possibility that the missing person is you, and you are actually your brother?"

Shade asked in a complete sentence, and the sword dance that came towards him like a gust of wind and rain suddenly paused.

"What's the meaning?"

Because he felt more and more like something was going to happen recently, this morning, Shade got up early and went to Fort Midhill to find Grace and Helen, asking them about the [Faceless Man] who was also an angel-level humanoid relic.

The two sisters also knew about this relic. Although they didn't know much about him, because they were all related to the "twins", the Hongdie girls gave Shade a very definite conclusion:

"Although you can't make him realize that you doubt his identity, you can make him doubt his own identity, thus making him temporarily confused. Since the faceless man steals other people's faces, it is easier to confuse himself. This is The people of the Fifth Age have summed up how to face him. As for the story of what happened to him, this is another sad past."

At this time, in the central stand area, Miss Carina and Lesia appeared together. The Duke and the Princess came from the city together and got the news just now on the way.

The bright spring sunshine shone on their very similar long red hair. After greeting Queen Diana, the Witch frowned slightly and said in Lesia's ear:

"You can't hear what they are saying at all, but don't worry too much. Although it is an angel-level relic, Shade has faced more dangerous things."

"If [the Faceless Man] goes crazy, can you beat it?"

Lecia asked. Miss Carina thought for a moment and shook her head cautiously:

"It's impossible to defeat it completely, but it's still possible to take you away. After all, there are so many people here."

Lesia knew what she meant:

"It's not convenient for me to come forward. After this matter is over, you have to get appropriate compensation for Shade. There are so many people here, why let him, an ordinary person, face such a dangerous thing. Even if the other party's characteristics have not yet been revealed, There is no difference from normal people, but it is a relic after all.”

"The church will provide appropriate compensation...it looks like it's almost over."

"It's me who's lost, but I'm actually my brother?"

Sir Hells repeated Shade's words in a low voice, and suddenly brought his sword to Shade's shoulder. Shade used almost the same moves to fight back. The two swords collided. The helmets of the two men almost stuck to their swords:

"What evidence do you have?"

"Think about it carefully, why do you want to look like someone else?"

Shade said softly, kicked Sir Hells away violently, and then launched a counterattack while the opponent was stunned:

"Because you don't know what your lost brother looks like, so when you think you are your brother, you look like a faceless man. Although they are twins, there are still differences in appearance."

"Is that so?"

Jazz's tone was full of doubts, but that didn't stop him from parrying Shade's attack. The long sword in Shade's hand was swinging more and more powerfully, and even he felt as if he was slamming the sword forward forcefully.

One of the two moved forward and the other retreated. Sir Hells fell into deeper confusion:

"I'm not an older brother, but a younger brother? But if that's the case, why don't I remember what I was like as a younger brother?"

"Isn't it easy to understand? You have been lost in a wrong identity for so long that you have completely forgotten who you are. Do you know what the farthest distance in the world is?"

"The distance between life and death, I have been worried about my brother... It may be that my brother is dead."

"No, no, the farthest distance in the world is - your brother is you, but you can't see him. Jazz, I think you should understand."

Then there was continuous silence, only Shade's offensive became more and more fierce and powerful.

But Shade did not win so easily. Suddenly Sir raised his long sword to hold Shade's sword, and slammed forward. The two armors separated from each other with a heavy collision sound.

Jazz said in a deep voice:

"What you say is interesting, but I still can't quite believe you."

"I will defeat you and then make you believe in me. It's time to end after fighting for so long. How about one move to determine the outcome?"

The last step of the method provided by Helen and Grace is to defeat the disguised [faceless man] in a reasonable way, and then the confused relic will leave on its own. It sounds simple, but this is the knowledge that the witches of the Fifth Age gained with their lives.

Jazz accepted Shade's challenge, and the two of them retreated under the gaze of thousands of pairs of eyes in the audience. Then they raised their weapons in front of them, bowed to each other, and launched the final charge at the same time.

This is like the last remnant of the era of cold weapon knights, ringing in this crazy and progressive era. Amid cheers and cheers, the knights in armor launched their final attack on this sunny spring afternoon in the ancient arena that has been passed down for hundreds of years and witnessed by tens of thousands of people.

The swords collided with each other, and time seemed to stand still at that moment.

As the two charging men slowed down and turned to move in different directions, their leg armor made a rhythmic metallic sound as they walked. The long sword in Shade's hand was lowered to the ground, and half of the sword in Sir Hells' hand was still buzzing. Sound.

The blade of the broken sword flew into the air, reflecting dazzling light, and was inserted into the ground in front of the auditorium on the east side amidst people's exclamations, laughter and curses.

Woohoo~

The loud horn blast celebrated the birth of the new year's champion. Everyone stood up to cheer and applaud. The sound from the loudspeaker spread throughout the Edward III Arena:

"In the name of King Larousse III, the 1854 Tobesk Spring Equestrian Competition has ended. The champion who bears the honor of a knight is Hamilton of Rejed!"

The ribbons were blown far away by the wind, and the clouds in the blue sky slowly drifted farther away. Shade took off his helmet with great effort, wiped the sweat from his forehead, stabbed the sword into the ground, then turned around to look at "Sir Hells" while holding the helmet.

The latter also took off his helmet, revealing a face that Shade had never seen before. He nodded to Shade with a puzzled expression, then turned and walked towards the rest area that was already filled with church ring warlocks.

Shade shook his head, grabbed his sword, then raised his helmet and sword high, looking up to accept the enthusiastic cheers and applause of the audience.

In the tense adventurous life and tiring running, enjoying life in this way is a very good choice for outsiders. He smiled and looked at everyone above him, watching the gentlemen laughing and clapping, watching the ladies waving handkerchiefs to him, watching the middle-class citizens talking excitedly to each other about this year's event, and also seeing the people holding betting tickets. People who cry bitterly:

"Damn, how can you win?"

The paper ball wanted to hit him, but was blown back by the gentle wind and hit his face again, making people laugh.

"What a nice young man."

Queen Diana said to Miss Carina, who raised her red lips with lipstick and looked at the young knights in the arena with her grandniece.

"Rejed's Hamilton! Rejed's Hamilton!"

The shouts gradually became one, and Shade looked up at the blue sky, feeling that the deep sky was so close to him at this moment.

"Look at that cloud, does it look like little Mia?"

All I got was "her" gentle laughter.