A New Challenger

Ogre’s voice reached Raging Bear’s ears. When he looked up, Ogre had already pulled out his spear.

“It’s time to end this. Do you still want to fight? If we keep going, I’ll have to use my weapon. Without it, I really can’t inflict effective damage on you.” Ogre adjusted his mask, which had been tilted from the exertion, with one hand. Then, he pointed the tip of his spear at the knuckle dusters on the ground.

“I lose...” Raging Bear looked at Ogre and finally let out a bitter laugh, declaring the end of the battle. He suddenly understood why Ogre had put down his weapon to fight him.

If Ogre hadn't chosen to do so, he would have definitely continued to attack out of sheer stubbornness. The final result and counterattack he would have faced might have truly been what the person before him described—death.

Even if he didn't die, getting a few holes poked in him by a spear would still be extremely troublesome. This round, he was utterly defeated and accepted it with complete conviction.

“Good match,” Ogre gave a calm response.

“Thank you...” Raging Bear picked up his knuckle dusters and thanked him with implicit meaning.

Ogre did not usually drive people into a corner. If Ogre prepared to do so, he would never give his opponent any chance of a last-ditch counterattack.

‘It seems this physical reaction isn’t too severe. I can still barely restrain it.’

After two simple rounds of exchange, Ogre successfully regained control of his body, suppressing his instinctive dodging.

Any living creature has neural reflex instincts—such as closing eyes and raising hands when attacked, or shrinking the neck when attacked from behind. These instincts are essentially subconscious protective actions made by the body.

However, in actual life-and-death combat, this kind of protection often failed to play its intended role and would instead become a weakness. Long ago, Ogre had already suppressed the instincts brought by his body.

But with the rapid inflation of his physical fitness recently, along with the emergence of that peculiar perception, Ogre's physical instincts had once again slipped out of his control. Fortunately, he discovered it in time. Relying on this fight across tiers, Ogre quickly adjusted back to his peak state.

“Ogre wins!” The sharp-eyed host quickly announced the result of the battle. However, the cheers he expected did not occur.

“Match-fixing! Rigged!” Several nobles were the first to raise objections. In their eyes, this battle was too much of a joke.

He just swung his spear twice, then switched to bare-handed combat, and it ended in less than five rounds? Who are they kidding!

“In the name of the Border Family, I challenge you to a duel! I suspect you of fixing matches—deceiving nobles is a capital offense!”

A blue-haired Knight clad in plate armor leaped down from the spectator stands and entered the arena.

In the Empire, noble Knights possessed the right to initiate a death match against any lower-ranking noble of equal strength.

If the opponent was not a Mage and failed to meet any of the aforementioned conditions, they had no right to refuse.

In a way, this also gave them the authority to crack down on rigged matches in the arena. As long as they suspected a match, they could immediately exercise this right.

If match-fixing was proven, the price the arena had to pay would be immense.

“Interesting. The Border Family wants to be the first to stick their neck out. By the way, hasn't he completed his knighthood ceremony yet...?”

“That old fellow Charlie Border, how could he be willing to complete the ceremony so soon? Tsk... just watch the show.”

The whispering of the several nobles did not affect the blue-haired Knight and Ogre.

“State your name. Standing before you is the son of Viscount Border IV, an Imperial Knight—Will von Border.”

The blue-haired Knight drew his personal arming sword and pointed it straight at Ogre.

Generally speaking, even if they knew a match was fixed, nobles wouldn't degrade themselves so much as to initiate a death match against an arena competitor.

But the problem lay exactly there. Ogre's fight had ended too quickly, making it look far too fake.

This made many nobles feel their dignity had been insulted. They didn't spend money to watch this kind of rubbish.

On top of that, this blue-haired Knight had bet a lot of money on Raging Bear...

“Imperial law doesn't permit you to initiate a death match against an Apprentice, does it?” Ogre turned back to look at the blue-haired Knight, responding calmly.

A high-ranking noble Knight could indeed initiate a death match against another of a lower noble rank but of the same Professional rating, like another Knight or Martial Artist. However, the premise was that the opponent had to share the same Professional rating as him.

Ogre was merely an Apprentice.

“You bast—!” The blue-haired Knight choked on his words, as he realized that he indeed had no such right.

Having just been egged on by a "friend" beside him, he hadn't thought it through before leaping down. Now, he suddenly found himself in a position where he could neither advance nor retreat.

Either choice was embarrassing—he was caught in a dilemma.

“However, I accept your challenge.” Ogre took off his mask and tossed it aside, revealing his unremarkable disguised face.

Then, Ogre pointed his spear forward and barked, “But it's not you challenging me. I am initiating a death match against you!”

Regardless of status, any lower-rated Professional, except for slaves, had the right to initiate a challenge against a stronger Professional.

If the difference in their noble titles did not exceed one rank, and after obtaining the witness of another noble, the duel must be executed by force within the agreed-upon time!

This kind of death match was most commonly used not when conflicts arose between different noble families, but between different heirs of the same Knight family.

This rule guaranteed that the successor of a Knight family would always be the strongest!

Ogre held no noble title, but he knew the other party would not refuse.

And all the other spectators present would serve as the witnesses to this duel!

“Standing before you is an Imperial commoner, a Martial Apprentice, 'Ogre'—Ogre Kessin.”

The moment Ogre removed his mask, many people gasped.

Some were shocked by Ogre's age, some were astonished by his courage, and others were surprised by his identity.

“I recognize him! That kid is a Dawn believer; he even restored some murals.”

“I've seen him at the Professionals Association...”

“I've seen him at a restaurant...”

“His name is in two parts. Is he a descendant of exiled nobility?”

“Kessin... is there such a family in the frontier region?”

“A Professional Knight isn't someone a Martial Artist like Raging Bear can compare to.”

The sheer volume of discussions instantly ignited the atmosphere within the arena. This asymmetrical challenge simply had too many spectacles to watch.

The romance of heroic rebellion would never go out of style, no matter the time or place.

Ogre's unmasking even made Raging Bear, who had already left the stage, halt in his steps.

“By the way, you might have also seen my previous matches. In this very arena, I once went by another title—'Gourmet'.”

Since he had already stirred up trouble, Ogre didn't mind making it even bigger.

The higher his profile, the safer he would be.

Dignity was never something obtained through concessions. The more one yielded, the easier it was for others to walk all over them.

“I accept your challenge, Gourmet!” The blue-haired Knight, Will, had no other choice now.

Instantly, he ignited the battle qi around his body, intending to perform the salute of engagement before taking down this arrogant commoner who did not know his place.

Hmph, what "Strongest Mortal"? He actually took that seriously.

“Wait!” Ogre raised his hand.

“What is it now?!” Will was truly furious this time.

From the moment he heard Ogre reveal himself as "Gourmet", he could feel that the previous match was indeed not rigged.

But... what he cared about now was no longer that, but his own dignity as a noble.

“I just went through a battle. According to Imperial law, when initiating a duel, one has the right to rest and recover their condition.”

Seeing the other party starting to lose their composure, Ogre knew his goal was about to be achieved.

“Fine, I will give you room to rest!” Hearing this, Will could only withdraw his battle qi and sheathe his sword.

For a death match initiated right after a fight, Imperial law did indeed dictate that one party possessed the right to recover their state.

This recovery would be conducted under the witness of a third party, depending on the injuries and physical condition.

In Ogre's situation, he would have at least one hour of recovery time.

“No need. I was merely stating the rights I'm entitled to.” Ogre smiled faintly. “In fact, I'm already prepared.”

The other party's state of mind had been completely disrupted. His chances of winning this battle had increased slightly.