When the player substitution was declared, the crowd erupted in excitement.

“Finally, a Wonhwa showdown! I thought we wouldn’t see this year, haha!”

“A battle between the Central Wonhwa and the rising Western Wonhwa—it’ll be worth watching.”

The noise grew deafening as the soldiers of both armies began stamping their feet.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Raise the torches!”

“Raise the torches! Our mother guards the night path!”

“Raise the torches!”

The soldiers’ voices echoed throughout the palace, and the referee officially approved the player substitution.

I stepped onto the arena before Silin.

Meanwhile, Silin was conversing with Central Army’s number four.

“They can’t use monsters over there... but... so, Wonhwa should...”

She was receiving advice about the match from number four.

Silin, who was glaring at me, nodded in response.

Ignoring her, I scanned the arena.

Soon Silin also entered the arena.

Referee Wolfgang looked us over and asked,

“Are you ready?”

I glanced at him briefly.

‘What? He’s so polite.’

He had been ignoring the crowd all match but now wore a very friendly expression.

Silin nodded, and he replied, “Yes,” then sharply raised his arm.

“We will resume the match!”

Dong─, dong─, dong─!

The drum sounded.

Even after the match resumed, I stayed still for a moment.

Silin smiled faintly and pulled out a necklace from beneath her clothes.

It was a luxurious necklace made of three large white quartz stones, far bigger than the small white quartz I gave Alexis.

‘Those must be the white quartz containing replicated blessings.’

Silin caressed the white quartz and said,

“Unfortunate for you.”

“......”

“If I could have faced the Western Wonhwa’s blessing, it would have helped my own progress.”

The Central Army chuckled, their laughter dripping with contempt.

They were mocking the fact that I could not use the blessing in this match.

The world only knew of two blessings I had:

.

.

Neither would help here.

Silin and the Central Army laughed at that.

But to me, it was laughable.

‘I don’t actually have those blessings. It’s all a lie.’

I had come this far without such powers.

Then—

Pajit, pajijijijit─!

A noise erupted nearby, and a ring of flames rose around me.

“Pyroclasm...”

It was clearly the blessing .

As I muttered this, Silin’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile.

“What blessing could suit the ‘source of flame’ Wonhwa better?”

The moment she spoke, the flames rapidly grew.

I covered my mouth with my arm and glanced anxiously around.

‘If the fire spreads to my clothes...!’

Silin strode toward me, cloaked in a protective barrier.

‘Those three white quartz each contain different blessings.’

In other words, she could use three blessings.

I asked with a firm expression.

“Have you raised the blessing levels? I thought level 1 could only copy one blessing at a time.”

“Well, I have no obligation to answer.”

Silin smiled slyly.

With her hands behind her back, she bent her waist slightly toward me.

“Hmm, shall I give you a hint? It’d be pitiful if this were too one-sided.”

“......”

“It’s not good to see your leader get beaten badly in front of the soldiers. How about surrendering now?”

“......”

I glanced briefly behind Silin.

The Western Army soldiers watched me with grim faces.

Meanwhile, the Central Army chuckled gleefully.

I lowered my head and murmured,

“...Foul luck...”

“Pardon?”

Just as Silin moved closer as if expecting me to surrender,

I suddenly stretched my hand out of the flames and grabbed her hair.

“Aaah─!”

“There’s no way I’d surrender, idiot.”

When I first heard that a Wonhwa could participate directly, I had already planned to face Silin.

I had also expected she would use fire.

‘She loves showing off, so she must have prepared a blessing that suits the title ‘source of flame.’’

She had used a fire blessing in last year’s match for the same reason.

So—

“Did you think I wouldn’t prepare to counter fire attacks?”

I already had a barrier stone specialized against fire.

“Can’t let go?!”

Silin screamed as I gripped her hair.

But I never loosened my grip.

Even while escaping the flames.

Silin frantically scratched my hand.

‘Still no thought of using her blessings.’

After all, she had to physically touch the white quartz carrying blessings to use them.

That made it easy.

Bang─!

I swiftly twisted Silin’s shoulder, slammed her head onto the floor, and quickly mounted her to pin her down.

Silin writhed like an insect under my full weight.

The crowd gasped loudly from the stands.

“W-what the....”

“My, her body moves like a machine.”

This time it was the Central Army’s face that turned pale.

The sight of their Central Wonhwa so utterly humiliated was unbearable.

Meanwhile, the Western Army cheered loudly, banging drums and cymbals.

“Erilot Astra!”

“Waaah─!! Erilot ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Astra! Western Army’s strongest─!”

Far off, Duke Jermo gave a slight bow.

His shoulder trembled subtly as if he was trying not to laugh.

Duke Chateaubriand glared at him, and though Jermo cleared his throat and composed himself,

Silin Chateaubriand shouted,

“Let go of me─!”

I elegantly rolled up my sleeve and wound her hair around my fingers.

Then Bam!

I slammed her head on the floor once more.

“How about it? Will you surrender now?”

— I said.

I am the strongest fighter in the Astra brawl, you know.

Duke Jermo struggled to hold back laughter.

Until Erilot Astra elegantly wound Silin’s hair around her fingers and said,

“How about it? Will you surrender now?”

— he couldn’t hold it anymore.

Puhat!

He burst out laughing, and Duke Chateaubriand glared at him fiercely.

Jermo cleared his throat again. His expression looked like he could kill a few people on the spot.

Avoiding Chateaubriand’s gaze, he asked Duke Astra,

“The Western Wonhwa is skilled in physical combat. Aren’t specialists in other fields usually a bit... clumsy?”

Duke Astra’s mouth twitched.

“She never lost to even my cousin who is ten years older.”

Even Adam, the largest among Astra’s third generation males,

Didn’t want to train in hand-to-hand combat with her.

“Erilot is really stubborn...”

Joffrey also cried with a bloody nose every time he trained with her in hand-to-hand combat.

“That cruel girl... haaahhh, Father...!”

Grabbing hair was nothing unusual.

Since brute force didn’t work, she tried every method.

Dodging desperately, throwing sand, scratching, biting.

Joffrey was knocked unconscious many times after kicks to the groin.

Viscount Debussy once asked,

“How do you fight like that when it’s not a back-alley brawl?”

“Because I hate losing.”

Her hair was messy and her eyes bruised, but she huffed with pride.

Duke Astra chuckled.

She’d been like that since she was little. Hand-to-hand combat was naturally no match for the properly raised Silin Chateaubriand.

“Hey, look over there!”

A spectator shouted.

Everyone’s gaze snapped to Erilot Astra.

She swiftly grabbed Silin’s white quartz necklace and tore it off.

“......!”

Duke Chateaubriand, Central Army’s number four, and Silin all turned pale.

“You... you...”

Silin murmured, and Erilot smiled.

Then she threw the necklace.

It dangled at the edge of the arena.

“Oh well, what a shame. I guess I’ll have to get stronger.”

“You─!!”

Silin screamed, struggling wildly.

But then something strange happened.

Erilot suddenly became sluggish.

From the outside, it looked like she was playfully toying with Silin.

“What’s going on?”

“Why suddenly...?”

Erilot didn’t move even as Silin escaped.

Silin kicked Erilot and slipped free.

“Stupid...! What are you thinking letting her push you out there?!”

“If Silin finds her necklace again...”

“Erilot Astra took this match too lightly. How could she let herself be pushed around like that?”

The Western Army participants watching the match were also stunned.

“What the....”

Liam muttered in surprise, and Kazyn furrowed his brows.

‘Something’s off.’

Erilot was a swift child. But she was helpless against Silin’s clumsy kicks?

Surely something was wrong.

Erilot clutched her stomach, groaning.

Silin, hurriedly rising, ran toward the white quartz necklace.

And—

“Oh no─!”

“Wonhwa! Get up!”

...The necklace was back in Silin’s hand.

A proud smile appeared on Silin’s lips.

I clutched my stomach, groaning in pain.

The kick was so fierce it felt like my insides were being pierced.

‘Someone just used a blessing on me.’

Before Silin kicked me, someone had ‘restricted’ me.

My body dulled, and I was unable to move until Silin slipped away.

‘No one else could see it, but the referee must have...!’

I clenched my teeth as I stared at referee Wolfgang.

The moment our eyes met, he quickly looked away.

‘He knew someone intervened but pretended not to.’

No wonder he had been suspiciously polite.

That referee was one of the goldfish droppings attached to Duke Chateaubriand.

‘Wait, what was that referee’s blessing?’

I flinched.

‘That bastard....’

Wolfgang’s blessing was .

A blessing that restricts an opponent’s movements.

‘He didn’t just pretend not to see it—he actively used his blessing on me!’

While I processed the situation, Silin held the necklace and walked toward me.

She looked at me with a fierce glare.

“This is the first insult I’ve ever received, Western Wonhwa.”

“......”

“And I never forgive those who insult me.”

Silin gripped a bluish-white quartz.

The arena’s ground cracked and shards rose. Countless fragments flew toward me.

I was frantically dodging.

“Goodness...! That’s dangerous!”

“W-Wonhwa...”

Silin stood arrogantly, watching me dodge messily while smiling.

I wasn’t dodging perfectly.

Some shards hit my arms, legs, and face.

I was being pushed slowly toward the outside.

“How much longer can the Western Wonhwa hold on so disgracefully?”

“......”

“Without blessings, too.”

No blessings?

‘Nonsense.’

At that moment, I released all the magic I had stored.

“Show them, Seiron.”

Thanks to becoming the child commander of the knights, the world’s story changed, and I could now use a higher-level blessing.

My vision blurred, and letters began to gather.

[‘She’s going to die like that.’]

[‘Wonhwa...!’]

[‘She should just declare defeat. What a disgrace for a noble child.’]

[‘She can’t use the Monster Taming blessing, so she’s no match.’]

[‘Clearly, Silin Chateaubriand is a higher-level Wonhwa.’]

[‘If she can’t use blessings, she can be handled easily.’]

.

.

[‘The time to cast a replicated blessing on others is only five minutes. After that, there will be gaps...’]

That was it.

‘Five minutes.’

Four minutes had already passed, so a gap in attacks was imminent.

I gauged the time and looked around Silin and the nearby area.

“Give up now─”

I dashed quickly toward Silin.

Avoiding shards was no longer important. My whole body trembled, but I never slowed.

And then—

“Huh? Huh, huh?!”

“What? You weren’t going to attack?!”

The crowd’s eyes went wide.

I ran right past Silin.

“What’s wrong, is she crazy?”

Someone murmured.

Just as the five minutes ended,

A huge shard freed itself from Silin’s control and slammed into a pillar behind her.

It was the pillar Alexis had reshaped using Kazyn’s blessing.

Bang─!!

The pillar collapsed, hitting Silin directly.

“Kyaaaaak─!!”

Silin collapsed under the fallen pillar.

“......!”

“......!!”

Some spectators jumped up.

Among them was Duke Chateaubriand. And one more—

“Yes, Erilot!”

My father grabbed the railing and shouted at me.

Silin writhed like a worm.

“Ugh, ughh...”

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

“As I came up, I made a decision.”

“......”

“I’m going to kill you.”