Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 78: The Hidden Card

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Himanshu02

The commotion about the anomaly in the Prime Tournament was only temporary!

The important thing was the result of the General Tournament, and the crowd’s attention was all focused on the final match that would start soon.

“The final match of the General Tournament will begin now.”

Dmitri was extremely sensitive because of his failure in the last Northern War.

Moreover, he was in a situation where they had lost in the Prime Tournament, wasn’t he?

If he lost by any chance and missed the overall victory, he would not be able to avoid the Grand Duke’s severe punishment this time.

No, it would be a shame for shadow soldiers to lose to a knight group that was loyal to the first prince. He might even incur the Grand Duke’s wrath for losing even one match.

‘I must win. And overwhelmingly!’

Dmitri looked at the two shadow officers who followed him.

“Whatever opponent comes out, don’t be careless and deal with them.”

Fortunately, this time, it was the first prince’s side that sent out a knight first.

Dmitri watched the arena with a sharp expression. Did the first prince’s side decide on a knight to send out? A knight walked out.

‘He came out… Huh?’

Dmitri looked at the knight who walked out with a slightly puzzled expression.

The knight that Eurius sent out as the vanguard was Cain. But his condition seemed a bit strange.

‘He doesn’t look very skilled, but why does his eyes look a bit dull?’

“…”

Dmitri stared at Cain for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Glen, you should go first. He looks like a weakling, but don’t be complacent.”

The man called Glen nodded silently and slowly walked towards the arena.

“I am Glen Howard of the Golden Lion Knights.”

“…”

He greeted politely, but Cain didn’t seem to look at him properly.

Glen was a skilled knight as well as a shadow officer. He felt a bit angry that Cain showed such an attitude to him.

‘He’s rude. I won’t spare him and finish him quickly.’

In fact, it was not that a master-level knight’s skill would go anywhere when he fought with a general-level knight with limited power. Glen thought he could subdue Cain without much trouble.

Swoosh.

Glen drew his sword, and as if reacting to that, Cain’s eyes seemed to come back a little and he also drew his sword. And he seemed to mutter something.

“One hit… freedom… vacation…”

‘He must be crazy. Why did they send out such a guy as my opponent?’

Clang!

Glen swung his sword mercilessly from the start, but Cain blocked his sword lightly.

And he even counterattacked with a somewhat slow but sharp move.

‘Did they send him out because he can do something even though he has a screw loose in his head?’

Glen was surprised and tried to block Cain’s sword that came towards his waist. He smoothly switched from offense to defense like a great knight, but he soon felt something was wrong.

Swoosh.

“Ugh!”

Cain’s sword that was coming towards his waist suddenly bent at a right angle and aimed for his neck. His sword’s trajectory twisted without any warning.

Clang!

Glen barely blocked Cain’s sword, but his ordeal was just beginning.

‘What kind of guy is this!’

Cain’s sword was not powerful or flashy, but Glen started to sweat profusely as he was pushed back by him.

This was the power of his trait, Dull Sword. It seemed like nothing at first glance, but it had a huge merit to make it hard for the opponent to read his sword’s trajectory.

The higher the level of martial arts, the more important it was to fight with skills rather than simple collisions of power. Dull Sword was a trait that exploited this weakness brilliantly.

‘It’s as I expected.’

Eurius smiled contentedly as he watched the scene.

‘I was worried, but luckily he fell into the state of no-mind quickly and things went smoothly.’

For the past few months, Eurius had treated Cain quite harshly. He had to win one match with him in the final no matter what happened.

Of course, Cain tried to trick him somehow in the meantime, but he had no choice but to agree with Eurius’ words.

“If you can even touch my clothes, I’ll stop training and give you a vacation right away.”

Like the night of escape, Cains had to do personal duels with Eurius every night. But that duel was also the only hope of escape for the lazy him.

And during the duel, Eurius discovered a strange fact.

‘When he is cornered and his concentration reaches its peak, he can enter the state of no-mind like that night?’

Cain usually showed the trait of Dull Sword, but he was not skilled enough to use it freely.

But when he entered the state of no-mind like that night, he could use the Dull Sword as freely as if he recalled the reputation of Cains the Dull Sword in his previous life.

In that state, Cain almost succeeded in attacking Eurius, who was both a superhuman and player.

‘He won’t lose to a master-level knight in that state.’

As Eurius expected, the match between Glen and Cain ended quickly.

Slash!

Cain’s sword stopped at a line where it slightly pierced Glen’s neck. He came to his senses after succeeding in the attack.

“Huh?”

“Stop! The winner is Cain!”

“Woohoo!!!”

The crowd cheered loudly as he pushed back the opponent’s knight and won.

But he just walked out of the arena with a bewildered expression.

Thump.

Eurius patted his back and chuckled.

“Good job.”

“Your Highness?”

Only then did Cain remember the surprise duel he had with Eurius, who had set a condition before the final match.

“There are about twenty minutes left until the final match. The condition is the same as before. If you even touch my clothes, I will exempt you from the special training for a month, regardless of the outcome of this tournament.”

Of course, Cain accepted the condition without hesitation. And as soon as the final match began, he was sent to the arena in a state of trance, without knowing why.

“As promised, I will exempt you from the special training for a month after the tournament is over.”

Cain grinned from ear to ear. He didn’t know how it happened, but he got a month of rest from that hell.

“Thank you!”

Eurius also chuckled here.

‘Maybe he doesn’t need to change his personality after all.’

On the other hand, Dmitri’s side was gloomy as if they had lost their faces.

“I never thought there would be someone who could beat Glen in that makeshift knight order…”

Glen received first aid and couldn’t even open his mouth, as if he had no face. It was understandable, since he had lost to a regular knight, even with some limitations.

‘I have no choice but to go out next time.’

Dmitri hardened his expression. He had to win in the next match, because everything would be over if he lost.

‘You’ve finally come out, huh?’

As he showed himself in the arena, Eurius also changed to a serious expression.

[Ivan Dmitri]

Job: Senior Knight, Force Master

Strength: A+ Agility: A Intelligence: B+ Spirit: A Force Aptitude: A Force: A+

Disposition: Loyal, Cold

[Traits]

Swordsmanship (A+)

Eurius knew that he was the chief of the Grand Duke’s subordinates in the north since he first heard Dmitri’s name.

He had mentioned his name when he interrogated Gundar, and his stats were also worthy of being cherished by the Grand Duke.

‘It’s time for me to pay back my debt from the north.’

“I’ll go out this time.”

“…?!”

When Eurius suddenly stood up, all the new knights in his seat looked bewildered. He had put his name on the roster, but he never participated in any matches in the preliminaries or the finals, only giving orders.

But Eurius had saved Cain and his participation for this moment.

As soon as he came out to the arena, the stadium buzzed.

“The First Prince himself is coming out?”

“He may have gained some martial arts skills in the north, but was he capable enough to show them in this tournament?”

“Even if he is a royal family member, isn’t he a knight if he receives a knight title? There is no clause that prevents him from participating. Anyway, it’s an interesting spectacle.”

But Dmitri had no choice but to be tense. He had been warned by the Grand Duke beforehand.

“If the First Prince comes out, try to gauge his skills regardless of victory or defeat.”

‘The only variable is the First Prince’s martial prowess, but it’s hard to dismiss him as just talented among his peers.’

In fact, the Grand Duke was still not sure about Eurius’s martial prowess. He couldn’t penetrate Eurius’s Camouflage with his insight, so it was natural.

But it was also doubtful that Eurius had gained enough skills to beat Dmitri in his tight schedule as a prince.

It was understandable for Beatrix, who was originally one of the three great warriors of the continent, but how much time did Eurius have to train after subtracting his education time as a prince?

Leaving behind the Grand Duke’s suspicious gaze, Eurius and Dmitri exchanged greetings.

“It is an honor to meet Your Highness. I am Dmitri of the Golden Lion Knight Order.”

“Glad to meet you. But it feels a bit disappointing to hear you say that so formally.”

At that point, Eurius smiled faintly.

“Haven’t we met once in the north?”

For a moment, Dmitri couldn’t hide his confusion.

“What do you mean? Haha…”

Trying to laugh it off, Eurius just smiled thinly at him. But inside, he was sharpening his blade.

‘Today I’ll just take a little bit of blood for my knights who died unjustly.’

“Then I hope for a good match.”

With that said, Eurius made the first move.

Clang!

Their swords clashed and made a loud friction sound.

They were both hiding their skills, so it wasn’t an earth-shattering fight, but one was a superhuman and one was a knight very close to a superhuman.

There were few people in the stadium who recognized them, but a fairly high-level battle continued for a while.

After dozens of exchanges, Dmitri was inwardly flustered.

‘He’s not an easy opponent to overpower.’

He was using all his skills except for limiting his force output. But Eurius was defending his attacks too lightly and fighting on equal terms.

‘He was hiding his martial prowess, that snake of a First Prince.’

The Grand Duke watched the scene with a flash in his eyes. Dmitri was his most devoted disciple, who had no successor yet.

He also had a secret trick that he had told him before the match.

“If you feel like you’re losing, you can use the secret technique.”

“…!?”

Dmitri was very surprised.

The Grand Duke’s family was also one of the three great martial families of the continent!

Of course, they had a secret martial art that was passed down.

But the Shadow was a group that was raised secretly, so he was not allowed to use the secret technique even during the Northern War.

‘I have no choice.’

Dmitri finally decided that it was impossible to overpower Eurius with a normal battle.

‘I have to end it with an unexpected attack.’

As soon as he finished his thought, he deliberately exposed a gap in his waist.

Shriek!

As soon as he saw the gap, Eurius’s sword flew mercilessly. But Dmitri dodged his body slightly as if he had been waiting for it, and pointed his sword at Eurius.

It looked like nothing special, but this was the secret technique that was handed down in the Grand Duke’s family.

The so-called Air Strike Sword!

It was a skill in which the sword struck in empty air can hit a target far away from the sword. Dmitri’s proficiency was not high yet, so he could use it only a few times and the range was not very long, but it was enough to use it as a surprise attack.

At that moment, Dmitri’s sword aimed precisely at Eurius’s shoulder.

‘I can’t take his life because he’s a prince, but I’ll make a hole in his shoulder instead!’

Bang!

The Air Strike Sword hit Eurius’s shoulder and made a very small explosion sound. And Eurius’s sword barely grazed Dimitri’s waist.

‘I won.’

Dmitri was confident of his victory.

It was a hastily used secret technique, so it wasn’t powerful enough, but he thought he had inflicted enough injury to make him unable to use his shoulder.

But before his thought was finished, Eurius’s voice rang in his ears.

“That was an interesting skill.”

“…!?”

At the same time, Eurius began to attack Dmitri fiercely.

He didn’t need to raise his force output, because he had many other advantages.

The traits he had learned, such as Core, White Tiger Defense Technique, Camouflage, etc., were enough to give him an edge in close combat while hiding his skills.

He had just received Dmitri’s immature Air Strike Sword with his body using the rebound force of the White Tiger Defense Technique.

Of course, if it was the Air Strike Sword used by the Grand Duke himself, there would have been a big hole in his shoulder, but there was no way Dmitri could hurt him at his level.

‘And I’ve been hit by that technique several times, how could I not know?’

He had been threatened by the Grand Duke countless times in his previous life. Even if it was a martial art that was passed down secretly, he had to use it to catch him, who was the emperor.

Eurius smiled slightly here.

‘You aimed for my shoulder?’

His sword disappeared like a ghost and reappeared near Dmitri’s shoulder.

Puck!

“Aaargh!”

Dmitri fell down at once, clutching his shoulder.

He hit him with the back of his sword, but this blow shattered his shoulder bone completely.

As he collapsed, the announcer quickly declared the result.

“Stop! The winner is His Highness the First Prince. And…”

The announcer seemed a bit flustered by this outcome and continued stuttering.

“With fourth place in the Sacred War Tournament, first place in the Prime Tournament, and first place in the General Tournament, the overall winner of this Royal Martial Arts Tournament is His Highness the First Prince’s Knight Order!”

Buzz buzz

The stadium plunged into chaos for a moment.

The crowd needed time to accept this result with their hearts, even though they understood it with their heads.

For nearly twenty years, the Royal Martial Arts Tournament had been dominated by the Golden Lion Knight Order as a custom. But that twenty-year feat was broken here today.

After that brief confusion passed, a louder cheer than ever filled the inside of the central arena.

“Woohoo!!!”

“Long live His Highness the First Prince!!”

“Those who invested safely on the Golden Lion Knight Order this time are all screwed.”

“Hey man! How many people do you think bet on His Highness the First Prince’s Knight Order?”

The crowd had no spare time to talk about this unexpected incident with their excited faces.

‘Phew, I managed to solve this somehow.’

Eurius sheathed his sword and looked at Dmitri who was receiving emergency treatment with a cold expression.

He hit him with the back of his sword, but it was a blow from a superhuman.

No healer could restore the bone that was completely pulverized. Dmitri’s one arm was crippled for life.

‘It serves him right. Actually, I wanted to cut his throat with one stroke for the knights who died unjustly, but I can’t do that in a martial arts tournament…’

He was the one who provoked him first, along with the Grand Duke.

And if they hadn’t sent them out in this martial arts tournament, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Eurius lifted his head and looked at the VIP seat where the emperor was. And he bowed deeply to the emperor.

The emperor nodded his head repeatedly with a pleased expression. And as Eurius moved his gaze, he met eyes with the Grand Duke.

Snicker.

Eurius let out a small laugh.

It was a subtle change of expression that only the Grand Duke, who had superhuman eyesight, could notice from such a distance.

‘That bastard dares to…’

The Grand Duke was a person who became colder as he got angrier.

He was making a terrifying expression that anyone who looked at his face would freeze in an instant.

But Eurius faced him directly with a calm expression.

‘If you’re so unhappy, why don’t you come out yourself? You’re a knight too.’

He smiled at him again and tried to move away from the arena. But at that moment!

“Start the Holy War!”

An unidentified eerie voice echoed throughout the stadium.

“…?!”