Chapter 541: Chapter 541: Hummingbird
âThe Captain switched his player at the last minute, seemingly catching onto some of Winryâs traitsâŠThis new knight, heâs so fast! Heâs much faster than even when Lucius fully activated his blood energy acceleration.
ThisâŠheâs probably beyond the level of an ordinary knight, isnât he?â
Han Dong has always kept the Little Demon Eye in a concealed activation state at 30%.
It took a mere blink of an eye to reach the fighting stage from the audience seats.
Ordinary people could only see the knight âdisappearâ and âappearâ, assuming that he used some kind of space secret method⊠But Han Dong caught three frames.
A blurry image of ultra-high-speed movement.
Relying on pure speed to reach a level comparable to spatial transfer, it was a perfect counter to Winryâs characteristics of âheavinessâ due to an emphasis on strength.
âMoreover, the dagger between this knightâs fingers seems a bit strange⊠Itâs not surprising, though. If a formal knight lost to a graduate, the captainâs face would be lost. I hope Winry can give a special performance.â
On the other hand,
Dressed as an ordinary audience member, Heidrig the Great Blacksmith, hidden among the crowd, was just about to stand up and curse, but eventually held back, deciding to deal with WindRider Knights afterwards.
âThe sharp Owl, he actually sent out the fastest Hummingbird to test Winryâs power⊠how cunning! Now, Winry is going to have a hard time⊠that damn light-less man still has such a venomous gaze.â
âŠ
The score of the semi-final assessment is also related to the knight in the battle.
The commander of the Hummingbird Guard that Winry faced had a basic score of 50 points, while other ordinary knights had only 10 basic points.
âGreetings, knight. My name is Winry AustinâŠIâm a graduate from the Knightâs Academy â Mechanical Series.â
âJudy BecherankâŠâ a voice resounded from under the cloak, audible only to Winry.
Alonso the Observer, the battle referee, and host.
From the moment they stepped onto the battle stage, the contest officially began, but only net battle time was recorded for scoring.
Winry had already held her blacksmithâs hammer in her hand in the first moment, and also wore a crystal necklace to compensate for her slight deficiency in soul defense.
âYour armor, where is it? You better equip it.â Judy asked, she didnât want to accidentally kill a graduate and cause unnecessary trouble for herself.
Winry explained awkwardly, âWell⊠my master didnât want me to wear armor, he wanted me to hone a body sturdier than an armor.â
As soon as her voice fell,
Judy the knight, made an ultra high-speed hand-raising action.
When the bowstring vibrated, light flickered.
A dagger was less than two meters away from Winry, flying straight towards Winryâs abdomen.
Ding!
Sparks flew.
The clear sound of a metal collision echoed throughout the Colosseum.
The dagger in mid-flight was spinning at ultra-high speed and bounced directly into the row of the Doomsday Knight Brigade in the audience seat, where a demon conveniently caught it⊠reflecting the power of the arrow was no less fierce.
But only a layer of skin was broken on Winryâs abdomen.
This scene left the entire field in shock.
Knight Rolan, the Great Demon, and Marlon all cast interested glances.
Captain Jack of the WindRider Knights stared at the redhead girlâs body, seemingly reminded of someone heâd once known in the Holy City.
The one most shocked was Judy the knight who initiated the attack⊠the arrow she shot, although not at full strength, was not one that a newcomer could withstand.
A direct hit, yet completely ineffective.
You must know, she was the WindRider Knightsâ âclose combat shooterâ, adept at short-range rapid fire, transforming her arrows into more lethal daggers due to her innate talents, she used ultra-fast movement for close-range firing.
âIs this a human body!?â
Judy had a clear understanding of the human bodyâs structure.
But her own shooting was abruptly repelled by high-density muscles⊠surmounting the realm of ordinary humans.
âNo wonder the captain asked me to go on stage at the last minute⊠given that she has such a sturdy body, I can feel at ease attacking.â
In the blink of an eye, Judy the knight disappeared right under everyoneâs noses.
There were fewer than twenty people in the audience who could clearly capture this hummingbird knight.
Not just her mastery of wind, but also her absolute control over speed, combined with the speed support given by the Talent Tree.
âClose Range Shotâ
Five daggers, each accompanied by the effect of âWindcut,â were shot from different directions at Winryâs armpits, lumbar spine, throat, and ankles.
These are all relatively weak areas of the human body.
If even one of them is successful in penetrating Winryâs physical defense, the hummingbird knight will continuously aim at the same spot in order to secure a victory.
HoweverâŠ
Ding~ Ding~ Ding!
Every single dagger has been deflected without exceptionâŠ
Either flying towards the spectators or being stuck in the ground beneath the arena.
No effect.
At this time, Winry has made a move.
Although she wasnât able to keep up with this speed and couldnât clearly see her opponentâs movements, the knight was close by.
She reached out to the seemingly empty space based on her senses.
A simple-looking grab.
This move, unique to Winry, honed amidst the [Underground Furnace Bastion], was the âBlacksmithâs Gripâ taught to her by the Great Blacksmith himself.
A powerful attraction formed at the point of grip, successfully affecting Knight Judy, who was moving at ultra-high speedsâŠ
SwooshâŠ
The cloak used for concealment was caught in Winryâs hand.
A slightly smaller figure had already withdrawnâŠ
Black short hair, a delicate face, a height of just 1.5 meters and a weight of less than 35 kilograms, it seems she hadnât yet reached thirty years old.
Three identical ink marks were branded on her cheeks.
She wore a notably light and sleeveless silk shirt, revealing her slim waist.
She also wore light shorts, exposing Judyâs slender legs.
HoweverâŠ
The act of Winry pulling off the cloak, or rather revealing Judyâs appearance, directly infuriated the knight.
As Winry wore an apologetic expression and prepared to give the cloak back, a sense of imminent death came over her.
Perhaps others couldnât feel it.
It feels as though Winry has entered a special domain exclusive to this knight, standing in a confined space riddled with floating daggers.
âThe Knights of the WindRider Brigade have no concept of holding back⊠Winry, surrender.â
Upon receiving the Great Blacksmithâs instruction through telepathy, Winry quickly raised her hand in surrender.
Knight Judy had already aimed her fully drawn shortbow at Winryâs side neck. As Winry surrendered, she naturally had to withdraw the dagger that she was about to release.
She grabbed the cloak and turned around to return to her own brigade, the cloak shielding her body.
Winry was dazed, and also a bit dejected. She guessed in her heart that she might not be able to make it to the top ten.
However, she couldnât keep up for long to begin with. After all, she couldnât see the knightâs movements clearly⊠As soon as the opponent has the means to penetrate her physical body, Winry would lose; itâs only a matter of time.
âThe âDomainâ⊠Winry momentarily fell into this knightâs unique domain a moment ago, which significantly weakened her defense power. Surrendering was the right choice.
Though, the fact that Winryâs physical defense could block such a shot was shocking enough for the Knight Brigade⊠It seems that Winryâs âBreaking the Breedâ ability is of a defensive type.â
And⊠If she had really managed to capture the knight with that grab, there is a possibility that we might have witnessed a dramatic turn in the outcome.â
Han Dong could discern the reason for Winryâs surrender from the arena floor.
An important reason why official knights are much stronger than knights-in-training lies in the âformation of the domainâ.
However, Han Dong had already experienced the domain in his battle against the Scarlet Count. Even before receiving knight brigade training, he had already stepped into the âDomainâ.
âI lost faceâŠâ Winry said apologetically as she approached her friends,
âYou did well. Look at the other arenas.â
The matches in the other four arenas had already ended⊠the graduates were completely defeated, two of them didnât even put up a shred of resistance and instantly lost the match.