The Heavenly Demon Can't Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 436

A little while ago, Raymond was preparing for his match against Edwin Hector when the noble who accompanied him made a serious request.

The noble said, “Raymond, this match is more important than any other. Your opponent is Prince Edwin Hector. The Hector family has always been against Valhalla, and now they are challenging us again. If Valhalla loses, people will say Valhalla is falling and Hector might take its place.”

Valhalla and Hector had a long history. Valhalla became strong long ago by defeating Hector, a powerful nation. That victory changed everything.

Because of this, the two countries were always rivals, and they fought again in the recent continental war. Hector won that war. Edwin Hector used the Magic Tower of the Sky to help Hector win, which hurt Valhalla’s reputation.

Raymond knew that if Valhalla lost this Ranking Match, people would have an even lower opinion of them.

Raymond looked at his opponent and said, “Don’t worry. I know how important this match is for Valhalla. I’ve been annoyed while getting ready for this tournament. Edwin Hector did well as a mage in the war, but it’s disrespectful for him to challenge swordsmen. He must think he can win even in this small space.”

Raymond was a swordsman who believed in old ways. He thought swordsmen were always better than mages in a fight.

Before Dimitri became famous, Raymond was one of the best in the land. So, he naturally didn’t like mages.

He didn’t deny that mages had skills, but he believed everyone had their own area of expertise. Mages were good against many enemies, but in a small space, no one could beat a swordsman who used aura.

That’s why he was angry when he heard that mages were joining the tournament, and even angrier when he found out he would fight one in the first round.

Raymond planned to show how different swordsmen and mages were in this first match. Everyone should stick to what they’re good at.

“Players, get ready!”

Raymond stood up when his name was called and said, “This won’t take long. I’ll prove why mages have never tried to be swordsmen.”

He walked onto the stage. The noble from Valhalla watched him, trusting him completely. He knew Raymond was someone he could count on.

Raymond had a plan. He knew Edwin would use memorize magic, so he would attack quickly while defending himself. He wanted Edwin to run out of magic tricks fast.

In a close fight, things changed quickly. Even Blink, the magic they were so proud of, wouldn’t work well in a small space.

If he could just catch Edwin, the match would be over. That’s what he thought, but he was wrong, and it would cost him.

“Explosion!”

Boom!

Roaring flames exploded. Raymond quickly moved to a spot with less heat, but crimson flame spears were already aimed at him from every direction.

He held his breath, trying not to breathe in the burning heat. He ran forward, desperate to get close to Edwin.

“Explosion!”

Again, flames burst in front of him. If Edwin was using memorize magic, he should be running out of power, but he was using powerful magic as if he didn’t need to cast spells.

More than a minute had passed. Raymond started to worry. He knew something was wrong. He protected himself with aura and charged through the weak spots in the flames, changing his plan.

‘I need to end this quickly.’

Rumble!

He saw Edwin through the flames. Raymond gathered his aura and attacked, trying to kill him instantly.

Flash!

“Blink.”

They were close together. Raymond’s sword cut through the space where Edwin had been, but Edwin appeared right above him, as if he had teleported.

It was shocking. Usually, Blink was used to move away, but Edwin used it like a swordsman would.

“Flare.”

Flash!

Boom!

High-temperature flames exploded. Because they were so close, it was hard to dodge. Raymond knew he would be hurt this time.

He used his aura to protect himself as much as possible. To survive the Flare, he released a lot of aura and tried to break through the flames to finish off Edwin.

He broke through the flames and saw Edwin preparing Flare again.

‘What is this?’

Edwin was too fast. Even with memorize magic, this shouldn’t be possible.

Then, he remembered a rumor about a magic revolution led by Roman Dimitri and Edwin Hector.

Raymond didn’t care about that. He didn’t think magic could really change that much. That was his mistake.

Because of the magic revolution, mages had found a new way to use magic. This gave them a powerful weapon: rapid casting.

This removed the mages’ weakness. In a close fight, mages now had a way to fight back against swordsmen.

Casting spells didn’t slow them down anymore.

Raymond looked into Edwin’s sharp gaze and realized what was about to happen.

‘I’m going to die.’

He couldn’t survive the flames. He knew he had to stop fighting to survive.

“I surrender!”

He raised his hands, showing that he couldn’t fight anymore, even though he was angry and resentful.

The flames flickered.

When Edwin Hector stopped his magic, the referee, who was watching closely, shouted loudly.

“Match 23, Edwin Hector wins!”

Round 1.

The shocking result made the crowd roar.

* * *

Everyone was excited to see a mage fight a swordsman. People wanted to know if mages or swordsmen were better.

This match was supposed to answer that question. But the result was completely unexpected, and everyone was shocked.

Almost no one thought Edwin Hector would win.

Everyone expected Raymond to win easily. But Edwin didn’t just win; he defeated Raymond easily.

Of course, Raymond was a little careless.

Maybe if Raymond had tried his best from the start, things would have been different. But usually, in a mage versus swordsman fight, letting the mage attack first isn’t supposed to change who wins.

The fact that Edwin used that chance to win showed everyone how much he had improved.

“Wow, Prince Edwin Hector is a real contender now!” someone in the crowd shouted.

“He defeated Raymond so easily! Who knows what he’ll do against Dimitri’s best fighters? And he hasn’t even used his Phoenix secret technique yet!”

Everyone was now very interested in Edwin Hector.

At the same time, other matches were happening.

Before Edwin’s match, people weren’t sure who would win in many fights. But after Edwin’s surprising win, there were no more big surprises.

Dimitri’s swordsmen were amazing.

They easily beat all their opponents. Chris and Kevin both defeated the best swordsmen from Franck and Chronos.

All the Dimitri swordsmen showed everyone why they were chosen to fight for Dimitri.

People were amazed.

They knew Dimitri was strong, but they didn’t think Dimitri would win every single match.

Dimitri had sixteen fighters in the tournament.

Some of them were defeated and had to leave. Surprisingly, they weren’t defeated by fighters from other countries.

They lost in fights against other Dimitri fighters.

Dimitri had won every match!

People were saying, “Now we see how strong Dimitri is. It’s important to have fighters in the top 16, but any country that can win even one match against Dimitri will get huge honor. Dimitri is just that powerful now.”

This was like something a famous commentator, Mendes, had said before.

So, the first day and the first round of matches finished.

The next day, crowds of people came back to the stadium.

They checked the schedule for round 2 and got very excited.

* * *

The first match of round 2 was about to begin. Chris walked onto the stage.

When the schedule for this match came out, people were very interested in it.

Of course.

While his opponent wasn’t as famous as Dimitri’s Flash and Fiend, he was still very well-known in Dimitri.

“Waaaaaah!”

“It’s Vulcan!”

“Go, Vulcan!”

The crowd cheered loudly. Chris’s opponent was Vulcan.

Vulcan, a massive man, stepped onto the stage. His face was cold, and he didn’t look friendly at all.

Long ago, when Roman Dimitri first started recruiting people, Vulcan was the first to bravely take the test.

As a former mercenary, he had faced many difficulties and become a great swordsman.

Abruptly.

He stopped walking.

Vulcan looked at Chris and said coldly.

“Chris, I’ve always wanted a stage like this. A place to prove that I, Vulcan, am important in Dimitri, not just you and Kevin.

After the recent war, Dimitri needs to know who the best fighters are, right?”

Chris smiled. Vulcan was right.

The situation had changed. The people who used to follow Chris had become much stronger.

They needed a chance to show how strong they had become.

In this new situation, they needed a new ranking.

If Chris showed even a little weakness, Vulcan was ready to take Chris’s place, even though they were friends before.

The only person they completely obeyed was Roman Dimitri.

Because things were changing quickly, there was no reason to follow someone who was weaker than them.

Chris said, “I agree with you. If I lose, I will tell Emperor Roman about the new rankings myself.”

“Good.”

Clang.

He drew his sword.

It was a tense moment. The referee, who had been watching them closely, waved the flag quickly.

Flutter.

“Start!”

* * *

Another arena.

Matches were proceeding simultaneously.

Kevin stepped onto the stage, organizing his thoughts about the future situation in his head.

‘To fight Chris, I need to win all of the next 5 matches. I must win all 5 matches to advance to the finals.’

Chris and Kevin.

The two were in different groups.

Due to the large number of people, they were divided into Group A and Group B, and despite being a drawing system, the two ended up in different groups.

So people showed disappointment.

There was certainty that Chris and Kevin would meet in the finals, but it would take several days to see the match everyone was looking forward to.

The finals.

Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

Kevin had always coveted Chris’s position.

He wanted to defeat Chris in front of everyone and become the sword that Roman Dimitri trusted the most.

‘This ranking match was made at Chris’s request, not mine. Knowing my thoughts, he intends to crush me with force. That will never happen.

I have lived desperately every day for this day.’

The past month.

Kevin entered a closed-door training.

He only briefly appeared when Roman Dimitri presented the sword, and he devoted his entire life to training to the point where people were astonished.

Nothing was more important to him than being next to Roman Dimitri.

When he saw his family living happily, when he heard the news that his only younger sister was entering the academy, Kevin wanted to become an important person to Roman Dimitri, who had changed his life like this.

Chris.

He was a good superior and an excellent colleague, but he was a clear competitor to Kevin.

He couldn’t afford to lose.

Expressing an intense desire to win at all costs, Kevin stood on the stage with a cold face.

“Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!”

“Such a lineup from round 2!”

People were enthusiastic.

It couldn’t be helped.

Round 2.

Kevin looked beyond that, but the opponent right in front of him was also currently being mentioned as a championship contender.

‘Edwin Hector.’

The red-haired handsome man.