Asura in Arknights

If anything happens to me, please ask the Maytree family to take care of the last bloodline of the Rinko family.

—Marconius.

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At the same time, in a very cheap, third-rate inn somewhere in the Great Knight Territory, Margaret was pacing anxiously back and forth in her room.

She looked completely different from before. Her long golden hair had been dyed black, and she had taken off her weathered armor, replacing it with a crudely made suit of armor, which was printed with the promotional slogan of a famous competitive knight.

She looks like a young girl who is obsessed with celebrities. Unless you know her very well, no one would associate her with the famous 'Radiant Knight' of Kazimierz. Moreover, three years have passed, and Margaret has changed quite a bit since then.

Liz, who was not feeling well, had fallen into a deep sleep, but Margaret was wide awake and hadn't closed her eyes at all in the past two days.

Two days have passed since The Shining secretly infiltrated the research institute of Paul Pharmaceuticals, and there have even been news reports about it, but Margaret has still not received any news related to The Shining.

Something happened to Shining? That's impossible.

Margaret quickly dismissed her suspicions. Shining's strength was still above hers. Even if she were discovered while infiltrating, Shining would be able to force her way out before the Knights of Conquest were deployed.

With these anxious thoughts in mind, Margaret wandered around for an unknown amount of time before a figure finally landed silently beside her.

"The Shining!" Margaret finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the figure. "I thought something had happened to you."

“I got entangled with some troublesome people, and it took me a while to shake them off,” Shining replied, adjusting her robes.

"That company has such strong defenses?"

“No,” Shining shook his head, “Besides us, there are other people who have their eyes on that company, and the ones tracking me are that group of people.”

"So that's how it is."

Since Shining had successfully returned, it meant there were no problems, so Margaret didn't dwell on it. She quickly asked, "What about Liz? Did she find what she was looking for?"

"I have the information, but... it's a little different from what I expected."

"Anyway, you can see for yourself."

Shining took a small chip from her pocket and placed it in Margaret's hand.

Chapter Twenty-Four: I'm Ready

Time passed little by little.

News about Boer Pharmaceuticals only stayed in the public eye for two days before being overwhelmed by a deluge of advertisements, and then there was no further news. It seemed as if the matter had simply passed.

Soon, the Cavaliers Major would officially begin.

The Cleveland Cavaliers Major, held every three years, is the premier tournament in Kazimierz. Countless people hope to turn their lives around through this event. It's not just the goal of countless competitive riders; for businesses, it's also a crucial promotional channel.

Countless people are putting in their best effort, waiting for this day to arrive.

During this time, Renn has been helping Li Ang with targeted training. Although his strength is not as good as Li Ang's, Renn has been in the Knights' Arena for a long time. With his guidance, Li Ang can avoid a lot of detours.

Knightly competitions are considered a competitive sport because they have specific rules. Different competition formats, such as point-based races, team races, and speed races, have different rules. Rein's most important task is to familiarize Li Ang with these rules.

This was related to his future life, so Li Ang studied very seriously and quickly became familiar with the rules.

After the Major begins, all events within the Great Knights Territory will have a common 'Major Points' system. By accumulating points through events in various lower-level regions, players can qualify for the main tournament once they reach a certain level.

This is no easy task, especially for independent knights. Large knightly orders can even have their subordinate knights throw matches, transferring all the Major points to one person to secure a spot in the main tournament, while independent knights have to rely on themselves to accumulate points bit by bit.

Qualifying for the main tournament is also Li Ang's goal.

According to his calculations, even if he didn't place in the Special Championship main event, the sponsorship money he received would be enough for him to squander for a long time, and more than enough to support him and Adele on their next trip.

The rules of the Cavaliers competition are not many, but the one that Li Ang finds most incomprehensible is that the audience can directly interfere with the game. As long as the audience is willing to pay, the organizers of the Major will use drones to deliver the supplies purchased by the audience to the venue.

In most cases, what's sent in are just props like weapons and equipment, or similar consumables. Of course, theoretically, if the audience spends enough money, they could even airdrop a Raytheon Industrial drone mech in to help the contestants take down the enemy.

However, there aren't that many wealthy people watching the esports scene right now, so such outrageous things haven't happened yet. But it's foreseeable that if Kazimierz continues to be corrupted by capital, this absurd conjecture will one day become a reality.

Finally, the day arrived for Li Ang to officially participate in the competition.

……

Wearing the armor purchased for him by the owner of Rennes, Li Ang had already arrived at the competition venue and was getting ready in the players' lounge.

After a period of training, he had gotten used to the weight of the armor. The sea-blue paint and streamlined outer armor, combined with Li Ang's fairly tall and upright figure, made the suit look quite good. According to Renn's opinion, if he took off his helmet after winning the match, he should be able to get a lot of screams from young girls.

The only downside is the 'Bell Health Products' advertisement in the background... but since the contract has already been signed, Li Ang won't say anything more.

Renn also had matches to participate in these days, so he didn't come to accompany Li Ang. In the players' lounge, besides Li Ang, there was also the mysterious Mr. Marner.

Li Ang had been working with him for some time now, and during this time the other party had been very responsible, often coming to discuss matters related to the Knights' Games with Li Ang. It seemed that he had completely integrated into the role of manager, but Li Ang still couldn't figure out what this person was thinking.

At this moment, Marner, holding the notice issued by the official organizers of the Special Championship, walked up to Li Ang and asked, "Mr. Li, there's still half an hour before the start of the competition. Are you ready?"

"I am ready."

"So, in addition to the basic rules of the team competition, this competition adopts a points-based system. What you need to do is to eliminate as many opponents as possible while avoiding being attacked by other participants. Every time you are hit, you will lose the corresponding points."

After introducing the basic situation, Marna thought for a moment and said, "Actually, these rules are very disadvantageous to you. You can refuse this competition at all."

Unlike other tournaments where there are no penalties for losing, this kind of points-grabbing competition really does deduct points. Where would a complete novice like Li Ang get points to lose? If he were to be eliminated with negative points, it would mean he would completely lose his qualification to participate in the main tournament.

“Isn’t this also an opportunity to gain a lot of points at once?” Li Ang had no such worries at all. “I have confidence in my abilities.”

Aside from this special tournament format, there's no way to quickly earn points in regular matches; you can only climb the ranks slowly, one match at a time.

However, in competitions like this, it is usually arranged by a knightly order for their seeded players to come and collect independent knight points. But even if these seeded players are very strong, can they be as strong as a tower sorcerer?

Li Ang expressed his doubts about this.

"All right……"

At this moment, the announcement to all contestants to enter the arena was made. Seeing Li Ang's confidence, Marna shut up and said no more.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I'd like to ask you."

As Li Ang was preparing to head to the competition venue, he suddenly remembered something, so he took out two Pure Origin Stones from a hidden compartment in his armor and handed them to Marna.

"Betting is allowed in this match, right? I'll bet these two Pure Origin Stones on me winning. If I remember correctly, this isn't considered a violation the first time."

For contestants to bet on themselves is a major taboo in the eyes of the Business Alliance, but the first bet on winning is an exception, which can be considered a gift from the Business Alliance to the Rising Star Knight.

However, this kind of good thing only happens once. If you don't know your place and want to do it again, you will receive close attention from the business alliance. This kind of thing has long been an unspoken rule in the knightly competition.

“…It’s not against the rules.” Marna nodded hesitantly. “However, the odds for this kind of competition are very low. Even if you bet everything, you won’t make much money.”

"I'll earn whatever I can." Li Ang waved his hand, turned around and walked out of the players' lounge. "The competition is about to start, so I'm leaving this to you."

As she watched the lounge door slowly close, a glint of light flashed in Marner's eyes. Money... huh?

If it's money, he can actually come up with quite a bit.

However... everything will have to wait until the dust settles after this match.

Marna wanted to see if this young Agor was up to his standards.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Preliminary Rounds

Kazimir Grand Knights Territory, Arena Seven in the Western Division.

The sun hung high in the sky, but the sunlight it cast offered little warmth. The temperature was close to minus twenty degrees Celsius, and even the biting wind could not extinguish the passion in Kasimmirmi's heart.

Even in such a peripheral competition area, the stands were still full of spectators.

Unable to secure tickets to the main arena, these people could only feast their eyes on this remote arena. Even so, tickets to Arena Seven remained extremely difficult to obtain.

Every visible area of ​​the stadium was filled with advertisements and logos from various sponsors, leaving no gaps at all.

The match was about to begin, and the knights had not yet officially entered the arena, but the atmosphere in the stands had already become boiling. Screams and shouts were stirring people's nerves, and ordinary people simply could not remain calm in such an environment.

Countless drones were on standby in the air above the competition venue. They not only needed to capture every move of each contestant, but also shouldered the important task of delivering 'support' to the contestants.

A giant projection stands above each audience seat, ensuring that spectators can appreciate the heroic figure of every knight even if they are too far away from the stadium.

On the commentary platform on the north side of the audience seats sat a middle-aged man in a suit and tie with a small mustache. Seeing that it was almost time, he picked up the microphone beside him.

"Ahem, good morning everyone, I'm your old friend Donny Wormirian, and I'm here live from Arena Seven."

"The triennial Cavaliers Major is here again. I wonder how many amazing performances the knights will deliver..."

Donnie shrugged. "Well, I know it's a pipe dream for them."

This drew a burst of laughter from the audience, but what Donnie said was indeed true. What exciting performances could there be in such a fringe division? They just wanted to see a bunch of Cavaliers fight to the death.

"Alright, enough talk, let's get back to the nonsense."

"First up is an advertisement inserted today by Blue Ear Wine Cellar, the sponsor of Arena Seven..."

Donnie was on stage, reciting the advertisements submitted by the various sponsors, while the audience below could no longer contain their excitement and looked towards the entrance gate.

As a peripheral competition area, Arena 7 does not occupy a large area, and there are not many fancy things on the stage. It simply simulates the ruins of a city to build such a competition venue.

Next, more than fifty knights will enter the arena from various entrances and fight until the last one stands.

Aside from prohibiting direct killing, the competition allows the use of any means necessary. Of course, mistakes are inevitable. The Knights' Tournament has been held for nearly a hundred years, and the audience's standards have been constantly rising. Only this kind of brutal competition system can firmly attract their attention and make them willingly take out the gold coins in their pockets.

As the entrance gate slowly opened, Donnie's advertising slogan finally came to an end.

"Alright, let's turn our attention back to the match. To be honest, the only interesting thing about this match is the seeded player from the Rachel Knights, Harry Gibson!"

The drone also flew to the entrance at the right time, handing the screen to a dashing young knight.

He was dressed in a sci-fi-style armor full of light pollution, with a long gun slung across his back. He held his helmet in one hand and was waving confidently at the drone's camera.

"This Harry is using a long spear? That won't be very effective in narrow terrain."

"How could the Rachel Knights have dumped him in a place like this? We can't help but wonder if he's sided with the wrong powerful figure."

Of course, everyone knows why this person is here. Donnie only made a few lighthearted remarks before turning his attention to the other participating knights.

Besides this promising player from the Rachel Knights, many other knights entered the arena one after another. Donnie always managed to find fault with them and make sarcastic remarks, and even Li Ang was no exception.

Donnie immediately recognized his monkey-themed armor, and it would be a disservice to his mouth if he didn't say something about it.

Li Ang's eyebrows twitched as he listened. Based on his intuition, many players were targeting Doni, preparing to teach him a lesson after the match. However, the fact that he had managed to remain a commentator for so long showed that he was quite capable.

Once the match officially started, Donny's mouth quieted down for a while.

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Doni really pulled off a good aggro move. The match had barely started when the seeded player from Rachel's Knights found himself surrounded and attacked by numerous knights.

But as it turned out, the cramped terrain of the city ruins had no effect on Harry; on the contrary, it gave him a huge advantage.

If it were in an open setting, no matter how skilled he was, he wouldn't be able to face a dozen or so knights charging at him.

In such confined terrain, he can only face a limited number of opponents at a time. Unless his strength completely overwhelms them, these lower-ranking knights rushing up are simply handing him points.

This Harry player was indeed quite skilled, handling the attacks of several knights with ease. His points on the leaderboard continued to grow steadily, and he soon climbed to the top.

The audience was completely aroused, with drones frequently whizzing overhead, dropping support items purchased by the audience near the athletes.

Surprisingly, most of this support was purchased for the opponents of the seeded players. It seems that the audience would rather see a seeded player fall than win an overwhelming victory. It is because of this support that they have been able to stay in a stalemate until now.

After the match started, Li Ang did not get involved in the siege, but steadily reaped points from the knights he encountered. His points quickly rose from the bottom of the rankings to the middle of the leaderboard. For a newcomer with no record, this was a remarkable performance.

The melee continued, and Li Ang was still waiting for his chance. According to the records of the Special Championship, the longest melee of this type of competition lasted for a full day and night before the last two competitors collapsed from exhaustion.

Li Ang is waiting for an opportunity.

As yet another knight fell and was carried off the field, the arena shrank further, and Li Ang knew his chance had come.

Li Ang kicked aside the knight who had been used as a training dummy for half a day and charged to the center of the arena as if it were empty.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Match Ends

As Li Ang made his move, nearly a third of the drones on the field turned their cameras to him, and his figure immediately appeared on the big screen in the audience.

The tedious stalemate had already bored most of the audience, but Li Ang's actions were like a shot in the arm for them. After a brief silence, the audience erupted in a wave of cheers.

"Uh, at this crucial moment, someone else has rushed to the center of the battlefield. Does he also want to get a share of the spoils from our player Harry? Well, let's take a look at this player's profile and see where he gets his confidence from."

When Li Ang's information appeared on the big screen, Doni was visibly taken aback.

His information... well, it was really too clean. Apart from Li Ang's name and photo, it was a completely blank page, without a single word written on it.

This left Doni a bit bewildered. He was the commentator, that was true, but shouldn't he have something to say? There was nothing written on it; was he supposed to just criticize a name?

"Alright, it's clear that our Li Ang is a newcomer. He does seem to have some skill, firmly holding onto sixteenth place on the leaderboard. But does our dear Li Ang truly understand that the enemy he faces in the center of the battlefield is on a completely different level from what he just faced?"

"Who gave him the courage? Was it the Howling Guardian armor? Oh, sorry, I forgot. Although this player's courage is admirable, he is obviously having some minor financial difficulties and simply cannot afford the price of the Howling Guardian armor."

"Anyone from Howling Guardians watching this match? Howling Guardians, even the gales will submit to you! Can you really bear to watch our warriors charge in tattered clothes? Oh, and please transfer the advertising fee for that line from earlier to my personal account as well, thank you."

Admittedly, Li Ang's previous performance was quite good, but his reckless charge into the very center of the battlefield was still seen as a reckless act.