Imperial Crown.

Chapter 255 Martial Spirit
The battle has begun, but everyone's attention is not on the battle itself.

Raven knew that this was because everyone could see where the game was going.

The current stage of the competition is no longer what everyone had expected. Not only Raven and Anthony did not expect it, but Montreal would not have expected it either.

The demands of each family are also changing accordingly.

Montreal confronted Anthony at the beginning because Anthony's intention was too obvious, which was to suppress the Fox family and hit Raven at the same time.

But now, after 8 rounds of competition, the reputation of the Fox family has gradually recovered, at least not worse than before the re-examination of military merits. Anthony's original intention to suppress Fox can be said to have failed.

In this context, letting Gul'dan lose to Acorre meant that the Fox family was surrendering and showing goodwill to Anthony, who represented the royal power.

This is the wisest choice, everyone is happy and there are no harms.

Not only Raven, but everyone else was also obviously aware of this. The atmosphere in the box was so harmonious for the first time, and they even started chatting.

"Come to think of it, I have lived in Nord Province all my life and have hardly left." Montreal looked at Anthony and said, "Acorei is from Mantelid Province. Since you have recruited him, the Marquis should also know something about the customs of the South, right?"

"When the late king was still alive, I did work for him and went to Mantelid once." Anthony said, "The climate there is indeed different from that of the Nordic province. It rains for eight months out of the 1 months of the year. The jungle is dense and the mosquitoes are very annoying."

"As for mosquitoes, there may be more in the south, but in terms of size, the ones in Molinier are still the biggest." Count Jonah added, "It's still better in Nord Province. The mosquitoes are just tiny, while those in our province are as big as moths! If you get bitten, you won't be able to sleep well for half a month."

"Then you might as well stay here for a while." Raven laughed, "Wait until late autumn, when there are no mosquitoes, and then go back."

"I appreciate Baron Raven's kindness." Earl Jonah shook his head. "But this year, there was a severe drought in the province. I came here on my own accord. I still have to go back early to stabilize the situation. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it will be no fun."

"I have also heard about what happened in Molinier Province." Earl Tyrone said, "It's not just your province. The rainfall in Nord Province this year is not as much as in previous years. The water level of the Monn River is much lower than before."

At this moment, a scream was heard in the arena, attracting everyone's attention.

In the arena, there were scattered blazing flames. Akori was holding a huge sword with a wave blade in his hand, gasping for breath violently.

The shoulder armor of his golden armor had melted away, and even the soft cloth lining was burned to ashes. A wound appeared on his collarbone, blood was flowing out, and the wound was covered with blisters.

Activating his life force to repair the injury on his shoulder, Akori's face was as cold as iron: "Gul'dan...what do you mean by this?"

Anthony had warned him before the game not to hit too hard and not to embarrass the opponent, and to just treat it as a normal drill.

Although he didn't like to give up in a battle, Akori was not a brainless reckless man after all, so he executed it well.

But he didn't expect that Gul'dan would actually mean it. If it weren't for Akori's quick reaction, his neck would probably have been broken in half by now!
"In a competition, of course, victory is achieved through strength." Gul'dan raised his rapier and pointed it at Akori: "If you don't want to fight, you can admit defeat now!"

The fighting spirit healed the wound on his shoulder. Akori raised his brows and a trace of anger rose in his heart.

"Winning by force... Very good! Then I will let you see what real strength is!"

Dark green Dou Qi rose from his body, not in the shape of armor, but like a seed sprouting, the Dou Qi was entangled together like branches and leaves. In just a few seconds, it seemed to evolve the life of a plant, and gradually condensed into a Dou Qi shadow behind him that was no different from himself!
hum-

Invisible ripples swept across, and Akori slowly floated into the air.

Ingra's voice was more excited than ever before: "Martial Soul! I actually saw a Martial Soul!"

"Is this the power of a genius!?"

Viscount John in the stands shook his head and exclaimed:

"Amazing, really amazing!"

Martial Soul is a special ability that can only be activated when a knight's fighting spirit, physical strength, and spirit are all at their best. It is the only way to go from the third level to the fourth level!

It is very rare to reach the third level at the age of 27, and it is even rarer to be able to awaken the martial soul at the same time!
How many knights are unable to break through to the fourth level in their entire lives, because even though their fighting spirit has accumulated to the limit, they are still unable to awaken their martial spirits.

Viscount John, as a fourth-rank knight, was once able to awaken his martial soul, but as his body weakened, he could no longer use this gift that symbolizes the spirit of chivalry!
The audience in the stands were extremely excited and shouted Akori's name fiercely. For most of them, it was the first time in their lives that they saw someone display their martial spirit!

Powerful, majestic, and unrestrained!
Gul'dan looked at this scene and suddenly smiled happily:

"Martial Soul, is that so amazing?!"

Pure green flame fighting spirit suddenly erupted, gushing out from the cracks in his armor, entangled and coiled, twisting and igniting the surrounding air, rising from his body like a soul leaving his body, forming a phantom made of flames behind him.

Gul'dan slowly rose into the air, his palms clenched, and the flames scattered across the field floated up and gathered in his palms.

At this moment, he seemed to be the king of all flames!
"This is..." Ingra swallowed his saliva: "Contestant Gul'dan...also showed his martial spirit!"

"It looks like today, we will have the most exciting battle since the competition began!"

Anthony's face became gloomier than ever before. He looked at Montreal coldly and clenched his fists.

This is a blatant provocation to his authority!

Earl Tyrone looked at Montreal and found that he still had a calm expression, but his heart was already in turmoil.

Gul'dan is already 35 years old this year, so it's not surprising that he can master the martial spirit, but the question is, why does he want to show it here?

This is clearly a confrontation with Anthony!

Increasing the intensity of the battle to this level will do more harm than good to the Fox family, regardless of victory or defeat.

Montreal, what on earth are you thinking!?
Just when everyone was thinking about their own things, the battle started again!
The martial spirit is the manifestation of the knight's soul. The moment it awakens, it marks the beginning of the knight's fighting style.

Gul'dan is extremely introverted and self-centered. He ignores everything and tramples everything under his feet.

So his attack was swift and extreme. He waved the rapier in his hand continuously, and after being transformed by his martial spirit, it became a series of thorn-like flaming sword blades, weaving a large sword blade net, covering Akori with an overwhelming force! Wherever he passed, the air was distorted, and even the rising dust was melted and turned into star-like light.

Akori, on the other hand, is extremely unrestrained, with no dignity or reserve. All he has is a thirst to survive and a ferocious desire to tear his opponents apart!

He held the giant wave-blade sword in his mouth and leaned down. His martial spirit began to flow behind him, covering his body like armor, making him look like an extremely ferocious wolf!

The fighting spirit surged, leaped and landed on the ground, transforming into various ferocious beasts: tigers, leopards, bears, and wolves.

They were clearly made of fighting spirit, yet each one seemed substantial. They splashed up large amounts of dust when they landed on the ground, then they ran wildly on all fours, howling and rushing forward, just like a tide of beasts erupting in the Miracle Mountains!
When the two collided, the beast tide turned into fighting spirit and collapsed, and the sword blade net also gradually began to dim, just like a river embankment washed by floods, which could collapse at any time!

The balance of victory was tipping towards Gul'dan, who was clearly at a disadvantage.

Marquis Anthony heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Thomas first. He didn't think this was a decision that Montreal could make. The Church of Light must be involved!
But this time, he wronged Thomas.

Although Thomas also hopes that the two sides will fight to the death, the general trend cannot be violated. Montreal is not an idiot and will not ignore the family interests because of his two words.

Only now did Thomas finally figure it out.

Montreal has never been a good politician, he is too emotional.

Although Montreal always talks about being humble, he has had a smooth life, but like Gul'dan, he never takes anyone seriously.

Previously, he had cooperated with Thomas and was willing to turn half of the Nord province into scorched earth in order to crush Tyrone.

The re-audit of military achievements was undoubtedly a severe blow to Montreal's self-esteem, so he completely turned to the Church of Light.

It is precisely because of this that he would disregard any political considerations in this competition and ask Gul'dan to use all means at his disposal just to vent his resentment and anger!

Raven's eyes kept wandering around the arena and the box. He really couldn't understand what was going on.

Eventually, he set his sights on Montreal.

At this moment, Montreal was focusing his attention wholeheartedly on the arena. He clenched his hands, raised the corners of his mouth, hunched his body, and there was a hint of... fanaticism in his eyes?
A trace of surprise rose in Raven's heart, followed by an intense sense of absurdity.

Could it be that Montreal would really make such a decision just for momentary pleasure?

But now, he can no longer find another answer.

"3..." Montreal's lips suddenly moved: "2..."

"1!"

As the countdown reached the end, the situation in the arena suddenly changed.

Seeing that he could hardly suppress the surging herd of fighting beasts, Gul'dan suddenly snapped his fingers, and a dark iron plate appeared in his hand. The plate was covered with intricate patterns, and a dark red crystal was inlaid in the center.

A little bit of fighting spirit was infused into it, and the iron plate suddenly rose into the air. A few red cracks appeared on the surface, and bits of scarlet light emanated from the iron plate. When the cracks spread to the dark red crystal, dark red mist as thick as clouds rose up and then swept across!
Wherever he passed, the active green beasts wailed and shattered into pieces, and even the fighting spirit in Akori disappeared, as if it had never existed.

"This is!! A life suppression field!" Ingra shouted loudly, "Contestant Gul'dan used a life suppression field, and Baron Akori's fighting spirit was completely suppressed!"

This sentence immediately attracted a heated discussion in the stands: "Life suppression force field? What is that?"

"…A third-tier enchanted item, its value is no less than a pseudo-third-tier enchanted weapon."

"This is a treasure specially used to suppress enemy generals in war!"

In the box, Earl Tyrone had a gloomy face, Earl Jonah looked at Montreal in surprise, and Marquis Anthony began to shake his legs anxiously.

Raven became more and more certain of his previous guess - if it weren't for his emotions, no one would use such a precious thing in the arena!

Indeed, Raven also equipped Eric with a second-level enchanted armor, but that was something that could be used continuously, not this kind of consumable!

At this time, in the arena, Gul'dan rushed towards Akori with a sneer. His figure drew a flame shadow in the air, and pure green fighting spirit covered his whole body. He was like a ghost returning from hell, and the sword in his hand suddenly pointed at Akori's eyebrows!
The latter raised his head to avoid, but was still pierced by the sword in the helmet.

The red tassel fluttered, and the helmet fell to the ground with a clang, melting into molten iron. Akori's long golden hair spread out, and his handsome face was full of ferocity, shock and anger!
He brandished the giant wave-blade sword. Even though all the Dou Qi in his body had been suppressed, the strong physique brought by the third-level life Dou Qi was still his asset. Behind him, although there was no Dou Qi to support it, the shadow of his martial soul was still condensed and did not disperse.

He didn't give up!
when--

The wave blade giant sword collided with the rapier in Gul'dan's hand, sparks splashed, and the power contained in it actually made Gul'dan take two steps back.

"I can still defeat you even without fighting spirit!"

Akori grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands and rubbed it suddenly. The blade that was originally tightly fitted together separated in the middle, and the huge wavy-blade sword turned into two long swords held in his hands.

He raised his left hand diagonally upwards and his right hand as well, as if he had completely given up on defense.

This is not any kind of sword technique from the human race, but rather the "Roaring Mountain Sword Style" from the bear clan of the orcs!
Then, taking big steps, Akori rushed forward with an indomitable momentum, slashing left and right, and the two sharp swords kept smashing down on Gul'dan's head like two heavy hammers!
This may seem simple, but only Gul'dan who faced him knew how much pressure it was. Even though he could drive his fighting spirit and float in the air, making him more maneuverable, he was still unable to completely escape Akori's offensive and was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Even in terms of strength, he was completely suppressed!

Akori was not afraid of the flames on the blade at all. Even though it had already climbed up his armor along the weapon, he did not retreat an inch, and his movements were not at all scattered.

Anger rose in Gul'dan's heart.

He is a playboy who spends his days enjoying himself, but he is also a nobleman and the heir of the Gul'dan family!
Now that he has used all his tricks, even the life suppression force field, he is still no match for Akori who can't even use his fighting spirit!
Indeed, he could withdraw now and then use his fighting spirit to wear down Akori, but what else would that demonstrate except his cowardice and incompetence?
He wants to win!
As soon as he thought of this, the momentum of the sword in his hand suddenly changed. He let the long sword in Akori's hand chop towards his chest, and the dagger in his hand went straight to Akori's throat.

Montreal stood up suddenly: "Gul'dan!!!"

……

(End of this chapter)