Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

As the longsword was swung out, a burst of intensely cold air erupted in front of Wood, causing sharp, spiky ice spikes to rise from the ground.

Then, as the longsword in Wood's hand shattered, in Rius's vision, it seemed as if a stunningly beautiful woman brushed past him, and immediately afterward, the right side of his body completely lost sensation...

Seeing what was happening in the "Knight Simulation Battle," all the spectators stood up and witnessed the snow falling in front of them. Many of them didn't even realize what had just happened.

At this moment, in the arena of the "Knight Simulation Battle", a huge ice wall stood directly in the center of the field, as if dividing the entire battlefield in two.

Meanwhile, the "best knight," the vice-commander of the Royal Guard and the second strongest knight, had half of his body, along with the sword in his hand, frozen inside the ice wall.

"Wood's attack just now shattered Julius's magical sword technique in an instant, but he seemed to have restrained a lot of magic power at the end."

Reinhardt, observing the battle on the field, directly stated what he had just witnessed.

Many people may not know what just happened, but for the cheat-like Sword Saint, understanding the cause and effect of what just happened is no problem at all.

"I lost this duel. Welcome to the Royal Guard Knights."

Julius had no complaints about the defeat in this battle, and he knew that if Wood hadn't held back at the end, he might have died from that final blow.

The gap in strength between the two sides is too great; in some ways, they are not even on the same level.

The last person to give Julius such a sense of invincibility was some overpowered swordsman, but now their knightly order has produced another monster.

Upon hearing the opponent concede, Wood reached out and made a fist, and the ice wall that stood on the field like a mountain instantly melted into water.

Julius's surrender also meant that Wood had passed the so-called test of the Knights and was qualified to join the Royal Guard.

No, it should be said that ever since Wood demonstrated sufficient strength, Marcus changed his original idea and had no intention of letting Wood leave.

The stronger the Royal Guard Knights are, the more advantageous it will be for the Dragon Kingdom. Previously, Marcus believed that Wood was a morally corrupt rogue, which is why he made all sorts of excuses.

Through Julius's battle and what Reinhard said, Marcus now naturally understands that he had misunderstood Wood before.

As for Priscilla, who had been watching the entire battle, her gaze toward Wood became even more intense. She finally understood why her intuition had been so strong before.

Chapter 354 Wood's True Identity!

His swordsmanship and magic were both at the top level, so much so that even the kingdom's 'best knight' was defeated so easily.

With the opponent's strength, even if I don't stand out in the royal selection ceremony and become the new queen of the Dragon Kingdom...

But Priscilla believed she could also take revenge if Wood was willing to help her.

The strongest fighter in the Flacian Empire is Cecilus Segumdo, but Priscilla has seen him before. In terms of strength, Cecilus might be able to defeat Julius, but he definitely couldn't do it as easily as Wood.

Powerful individuals like Wood and Reinhard are already considered to be beyond the norm.

While Wood defeated Julius and successfully joined the Royal Guard, even becoming the captain of a squad, Emilia's team also arrived in the capital.

Because Roswaal's territory is located on the frontier, Emilia and her group were among the last candidates to arrive at the area.

Besides Roswaal himself, who arrived in the capital earlier, Emilia was accompanied by Rem, Ram, and Subaru Natsuki.

"Barus, you'll be useful this time, won't you? If you can't help Lady Emilia in this royal selection, your housework will double when you get back."

Because of limited funds for the event, Ram, who was supposed to stay home to look after things, took Natsuki Subaru's place.

However, Natsuki Subaru, who considers himself the true protagonist, knows that the plot has been triggered as soon as he sees an event like the "Royal Selection Ceremony".

To be fair, he is, after all, a time traveler. Although he is not very strong in terms of martial arts, he is still the main character and an important figure in driving the plot.

How could Subaru Natsuki possibly miss out on something that allowed him to both show off and help Emilia gain favor?

So, with his persistent pleading and Emilia's intercession, Subaru Natsuki finally got his wish and followed him to the royal capital.

"Don't worry, although I still don't understand how the so-called 'royal selection ceremony' is actually conducted."

"But in terms of physical strength, I have you and Rem, and Puck and Roswaal; as for intelligence, I have absolute confidence."

Listening to Ram's sharp tongue, Subaru Natsuki wore a confident expression.

Subaru Natsuki's confidence was not without reason. Besides the fact that he had indeed played a lot of RPG games and believed that he had completely mastered the routines, the key point was that he also had a cheat code.

If something irreversible happens, or if a major mistake is made, he can use the power of "Return by Death" to start over.

"Sister, let's find a place to settle down as soon as possible, and then go find Mr. Wood."

As he had said before, he was supposed to arrive in the capital ahead of schedule and become a knight.

Because Wood ruined the "monster incident" that Meli had started, Rem here did not establish a deep bond or affection with Subaru Natsuki.

Therefore, compared to Emilia and Subaru, Rem is now more anxious to find Wood in the royal capital and ask him to check her sister's injuries.

"It's not easy to find someone in such a vast capital city. Since he said he wanted to come to the capital to join the knights, then the only option is the Royal Guard Knights, which are directly under the kingdom's command."

We don't need to go to great lengths to find each other. We'll just need to attend the 'Royal Selection Ceremony' with Lady Emilia, and then we'll see each other, Rem."

To be honest, Ram didn't have high hopes that Wood could heal his broken horn.

After all, if even Lady Beatrice, who oversees the forbidden library and possesses such extensive magical knowledge, and Lord Roswaal, whom Ram considers so powerful, couldn't do anything about her situation, Ram found it hard to believe that there were any other people in the world who could help her.

But since it was her cute little sister's request, Ram couldn't bear to refuse, so she decided to give it a try and followed her to the capital.

Meanwhile, Natsuki Subaru, who had been beaming with ambition upon hearing that Wood was also in the capital, wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

If we were to name the person who has inflicted the most psychological trauma on Subaru Natsuki, the first name that would undoubtedly be the black-stockinged older sister, "Gut Hunter."

After all, anyone who still has the horrific memory of someone tearing their intestines out will inevitably have some psychological trauma.

Besides the "Bowel Hunter," the second person who made Subaru Natsuki feel pressured and afraid was Wood, whom Rem and the others mentioned.

The Wood that Rem and the others were talking about was a handsome blond boy who not only possessed ridiculously strong fighting abilities, but was also, like them, a so-called "transmigrator".

However, compared to himself, a "newbie transmigrator," the other party was a seasoned veteran. Not only did he grow up in this other world, but he also picked up the customs of this other world. He had no normal modern values ​​and would shout for violence at the drop of a hat.

As fellow "time travelers," his cheat ability "Return by Death" had no effect on Wood, and the other party also seemed to dislike the feeling of being reset.

Wood once boasted that if he were to use the "Return by Death" technique from time to time, he would completely turn Subaru Natsuki into a vegetable or cripple his limbs.

Such a brutal warning made Subaru Natsuki somewhat afraid of encountering Wood. At the same time, Wood's good looks and strength always stole his thunder, which made Subaru Natsuki even more reluctant to meet Wood.

"Calm down, Subaru Natsuki. This is the capital of the Dragon Kingdom. It's generally impossible for a life-or-death crisis to occur here."

The royal selection ceremony usually tests not only military strength, but also strategic and domestic affairs skills.

"If we're talking about this aspect, even if we're comparing myself to Wood, I, Natsuki Subaru, might not necessarily lose."

While encouraging himself to overcome his fear of Wood, Natsuki Subaru arrived at an inn in the royal capital with Emilia and the others.

Almost immediately after Emilia and her companions entered the hotel, Lugnica's officials found them and informed them of the start time of the royal selection ceremony.

The Royal Selection Ceremony was originally scheduled for soon, but because the five "Dragon Maidens" gathered in the capital, the Dragon Stone seemed to react in an unprecedented way. Therefore, in order to avoid any unforeseen complications, the Kingdom's Council of Sages decided to start the Royal Selection Ceremony ahead of schedule.

Emilia had just arrived in the capital and was still only vaguely aware of the "Royal Selection Ceremony" when she was suddenly told to go to the palace for the ceremony the next day. She was completely bewildered.

However, when Emilia politely tried to ask the official who delivered the message about some specific matters, she found that the official had no intention of paying attention to her at all. After announcing the message of the "Sages' Council," the official turned around and left.

As they were leaving, Natsuki Subaru and the others vaguely heard the other party say something like, "I never thought that even an evil half-elf could be a candidate for the throne."

Seemingly sensing the sarcasm in the other person's words, Emilia pulled her hood down even lower, trying her best to cover her ears.

Rem and Subaru originally wanted to stop the other party and teach them a lesson, but Emilia stopped them.

Although the official who delivered the message was unpleasant, this wasn't the first time Emilia had been treated this way since waking up from her frozen state.

Emilia didn't know why, but she was indeed a half-elf, just like Satella, the jealous witch who brought disaster to the kingdom 400 years ago.

Furthermore, Emilia's appearance is almost identical to Satella's!

It was for this reason that Emilia wanted to participate in the royal selection ceremony. She wanted to prove that she was not Satella, unlike the witch who brought disaster, and that she could bring happiness to the people of this kingdom.

Emilia's arrival and the reaction to the appearance of the Dragon Stone caused the royal selection ceremony to begin ahead of schedule.

Although Emilia and the others were basically unaware of the procedures for the royal selection ceremony, now that the ceremony had been announced to begin, they had no choice but to follow along.

Wood had finally managed to shake off the nagging Priscilla and originally wanted to use his position as the Royal Guard Commander to open up channels and allow Elsa and her forces to infiltrate the capital.

However, just as he finished writing the letter and handed it to Melie, a knight came in to report that he was to go to the palace the next day to perform a guard duty.

Wood was naturally quite resentful about having to work overtime after only one day on the job, but those resentments completely disappeared after Marcus paid Wood two months' salary in advance.

If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it grass; if you want a horse to run as fast as it can, then there must be plenty of grass. Wood firmly believes in this point.

Unlike that stingy old man with the goatee, who only made him work overtime every day without ever calculating overtime pay, Wood never even received a salary from him.

In comparison, Marcus, Wood's superior, was clearly much more sensible. He not only prepaid Wood two months' salary, but also paid him according to the standards for a knight captain.

This moment made Wood think that it wouldn't be so bad to reluctantly stand guard for a day tomorrow.

Lugnica's "Royal Selection Ceremony" is about to begin, and the identities of the five "Dragon Maidens" are gradually coming to light.

They are Emilia, who is a half-elf and bears a striking resemblance to the Witch of Envy, Satella.

There is also Felt, the daughter of the late king's brother who was kidnapped and later found in the slums by the current sword saint.

Priscilla, who inherited the Baliel family, is known as the "Bloody Bride".

Crusch Karsten, a talented and remarkable woman who inherited the family business at the young age of seventeen, is the head of the Karsten family.

Finally, there is Anastasia Hessin, who possesses business acumen, comes from a merchant guild, and is the oldest of the five Dragon Witches.

The people of Lugnica, the Kingdom of Dragons, are extremely curious about who will become the new king, as the succession of a new king is closely related to their lives.

There are even casinos in the community that have opened betting games, where people are betting on which of the five "Dragon Witches" will become the new queen of Lugnica.

Crusch Karsten has the lowest odds among them because he has the most supporters and is the most likely candidate to be elected.