The watching crowd which had been cheering steadily till now stood up and roared at the top of their lungs, seeing that the "selfish" king was about to die.
Usually, when two people were evenly matched, fights went in this way where the Ravens fought amongst themselves while the contenders duked it out in a one-on-one duel.
Although watching a proper Black Raven Fighter display his coordination with the Raven was always more exciting to see, the crowd had no complaints as this had been a blood boiling fight from start to finish.
They had no idea what occurred at that moment when the reversal had happened, but they were happy that the one they supported was actually winning.
In their eyes, the new contender was someone who would ensue in a period where they wouldn"t have to swallow their pride in front of other kingdoms.
Of course, the reign of the previous king hadn"t had many highlights with regards to appeasing the people except for a few like the fight with Elanev which had let them show their strength to the world.
The images of the soldier"s deaths had roused a bloodthirst in them which would definitely not subside until they saw the one responsible, dead.
Faxul, who was pointing his sword at Tenebrol"s neck, resonated with the feelings of the people. Although they weren"t yet screaming for his death, they would soon do so if he even showed the slightest hint of letting his opponent go.
Of course, he had never had any intention of letting the man who was responsible for his parent"s death go scotch free in the first place.
Till now, he had completely been immersed in the fight and the feeling that came with being remolded by whatever it was that he had tapped into inside his body. He had put aside all feelings to allowed himself to enter a state where he could take advantage of his strength to gain victory.
It was only at this moment that all the pain and the emotion came back to him. His entire body hurt as if it had been crushed underneath a large rock, and he marveled at the fact that he was even still standing straight right now.
As for his strength, he had clearly exceeded the level of an Eminent Human Fighter.
The main indication of this came from the clear difference in grip strength as he held the sword.
Even though the sword"s grip was made of st.u.r.dy cloth entwined around metal, he knew he could crush it if he wished.
This strength was worlds apart from that of an Eminent Human Fighter.
He had actually become… an Exalted Human Fighter?!
Jumping to the Exalted Human realm in one go in a matter of minutes?
This was something that was definitely unprecedented in the entire continent. Yet, he had somehow accomplished it.
Resolving to find out how later on with Daneel"s help, he tried to ignore the pain again and looked down at Tenebrol"s face.
All he saw was peace. The peace of one who was ready for death.
"How did you do it?", he asked, voicing the question he had asked himself many times for decades.
His father had definitely been the strongest Fighter in the entire kingdom, but he had been suddenly defeated by an unknown soldier.
It hadn"t made sense to anyone, but they had let it go thinking that it was the will of the Almighty Black Raven.
Yet, Faxul needed to know. He needed to know the reason.
Tenebrol, who had calmly been waiting for death, opened his eyes and looked into Faxul"s which were filled with doubt.
He was tempted to strike one last blow at this opponent by lying, but he decided to try and accomplish the same more effectively by telling the truth.
"The old man casted some spell on me which lets me force a connection with Black Ravens. He also gave me some kind of magical drug which enhanced my strength for a period of time without giving any indication outwards. Although I did enjoy killing him, I was blinded by my desire for power, so I didn"t care about taking outside help to win. Kid, I know you did the same just now. Listen to me. It isn"t worth it. Us fighter"s lives should be led with our heads held high instead of being burdened down by regrets. I always felt that that d.a.m.n Raven in the Throne Room was watching me and judging me because of my actions. Don"t let it do the same to you. And kill that old man if you can, otherwise, he will squeeze our kingdom dry. I don"t even know why I"m telling you this, knowing that you resorted to winning in the same way I did so many years ago. Maybe you"re more similar to me than your father. HA -"
The laugh at the end made him cough blood, and the smile returned to his face on seeing Faxul"s become ashen due to the accusation.
Seeing this, Tenebrol felt glad at his decision.
Sometimes, the truth could hurt more than lies.
Faxul was, after all, an enemy who was responsible for his death. Hence, it felt good to throw a blow at him one last time before dying.
There were just too many wounds, and he was losing too much blood. Even his physique of an Exalted Human Fighter couldn"t handle it without having any help. Hence, he once again closed his eyes while laughing silently to himself.
Faxul, who had seen the truth in Tenebrol"s eyes, wanted to say that it was his own strength that had let him win the fight.
Yet, the slight doubt that had been born in him that he would be lying to himself if he said so stopped him.
This doubt troubled him, but the bloodthirsty cheers of the people which were growing louder brought him back to his senses.
Although Tenebrol"s final words had served to cause doubt in him, they had also managed to reinforce the hate due to his statement of enjoying the act of killing his father.
Without any more hesitation, he did what he had been dreaming about for years and years.
With a strong swing, he separated the head and body of the man who had been revered as King for so long.
Throwing the sword aside, he turned to the people and remembered the words he had gone over the Daneel.
Raising his hand to indicate silence, he said, "Black Raven Kingdom, I have fulfilled my promise and taken my revenge! Let this death usher in a new era that will see every man, woman and child of our Kingdom puff up with the pride of being part of one of the mightiest Kingdoms on the continent. Follow me now to the Palace, for the final step. All hail the Almighty Black Raven!"
Turning around, Faxul walked towards the exit of the stadium where Elanev was waiting after commanding the Raven to return to him.
It had disabled Tenebrol"s Raven on seeing Faxul win the fight, and had even been ready to rush to his side when he was about to lose.
Of course, he hadn"t needed it.
He had obtained his revenge, but he did not know what he was supposed to feel.
Although the contentment was there that he had finally avenged his parent"s deaths, he knew that the true culprit was that old man whose fate was still unknown.
The next step was to bond with the protector Raven, thereby showing the people that the blessings of the Black Raven were also with him. Hence, he would have to go back to the Palace.
Yet, at the moment he reached the entrance and went out of sight of the people, the man whom the Black Raven Kingdom wanted to crown as the King collapsed into the arms of Elanev, completely drained from the exhaustion and the blood loss.
…
Meanwhile, in the air above the stadium, Daneel had a cold expression on his face as he saw his friend leaving the ground.
All this while, he had been observing with the same shock that he had felt when he saw him make the miraculous reversal.
Each and every blow had been so close that he had been tempted to tell the system to launch his countermeasure so that he wouldn"t risk Faxul"s life.
Yet, he hadn"t needed to do so. After a few minutes, it had become quite clear who the victor would be.
Completely puzzled by what was going on, he had asked the system to a.n.a.lyze what was happening and give him at least a preliminary report.
It was this report that had made him go numb.
[Phenomena a.n.a.lysis Module has detected that the one under observation has progressed to the Exalted Fighter Level due to some unknown power. Complexity of the process exceeds system"s complexity. Please upgrade the system for more information.]