The story of the black silk female knight

"But I wasn't actually hurt at all... so it must be something wrong with this duel barrier after all."

Valensa was still confused and couldn't understand what Serant meant.

"...It seems you completely misunderstand the essence of dueling competition, Valensa."

Serant paused for a moment, sighed, and then continued to explain:

"Although this kind of competition has the name of a duel, it is actually a commercial performance aimed at the majority of ordinary people."

Your incredible physical strength, capable of completely ignoring attacks from ice crystal guns, is something ordinary people can hardly comprehend. To them, ice crystal guns are already quite deadly weapons.

Therefore, in order to provide the best viewing experience for ordinary viewers, the rules for determining the winner in duels are actually calculated based on the physical endurance of ordinary people.

In other words, regardless of whether the Ice Crystal Gun can break through your defense, as long as its shot is capable of killing an ordinary person upon impact, then according to the rules of the duel, it can defeat you.

"...Is that even a possibility? I didn't see it mentioned in the rules."

Valensa then understood why she had lost, but she was still somewhat unconvinced. She quickly took out the dueling rulebook she had gotten from Yashiro and began to carefully review it.

Chapter 4 The Female Knight Manipulated by the Rules

"it's here."

Before Valensa could look through it any further, Serant pointed to a line in the manual and showed it to her.

For the sake of entertainment and spectator appeal, a unified standard is used for damage assessment in duels, and the organizers reserve the right to the final interpretation of this standard.

"The current standard is that any attack that can be fatal to an ordinary person is considered an effective injury that can determine the outcome of a battle."

Serant smiled slightly as he spoke:

"Of course, this is the current standard for determining injury. It may change in the future, but that's a matter for the future."

"This is really... tsk."

Valensa really wanted to give this competition and its organizers a piece of her mind.

However, considering that she was only using participating in the competition as a cover, and there was no real need for her to compete for the top spots, it didn't matter.

But even if participating in the competition is just for show, it would be too embarrassing if you couldn't win a single game and were always easily defeated by your opponent right from the start.

Therefore, it is necessary to do some match adaptation training to prevent losing too quickly in every game.

"Let's try two more rounds!"

Thinking this, Valensa reached out her hand to Serant, signaling for the training to continue.

"it is good."

Serant pressed his bracelet-wearing hand against Valensa's palm and then recited the oath to activate the duel barrier as required.

The duel resumes.

In this match, Valencia learned from her previous loss and decided to unleash her ultimate move from the start, using speed far exceeding that of a typical lighthouse to shake off any attacks and secure a quick victory.

She immediately activated the [Ceremony Armor: Dark Lightning Armor], then enhanced herself with mental power, bringing her speed close to four times the speed of sound, and then...

drop--!

The duel barrier emitted a long ringing sound, signaling the end of the duel; Valensa had lost again.

"What's going on now!?"

Valensa reluctantly dispelled the lightning around her, her brow furrowed in displeasure.

"I can confirm that I was absolutely not attacked by you in any way!"

“You were not attacked by me, but... you fouled, Miss Valensa.”

Serant's expression was somewhat complicated:

"Miss Valensa, you should know that only those with power below the Radiant Rank are eligible to participate in duels."

"I'm below the Shining rank! I'm just a Lighthouse-level Paladin, and I only broke through to the Lighthouse rank a few months ago."

Valensa was even more dissatisfied:

"Do I look like a Radiant-rank expert? How come I didn't even know I was this strong?"

"...No, you've misunderstood the rule again, Miss Valensa."

Serant paused for a moment, then adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses before speaking:

"The correct meaning of this rule is that the power used by duelists cannot reach the Radiant rank, not that the strength of duelists must be below the Radiant rank."

Although it is a very rare case, there are always some geniuses in the world who can deliver a blow of Radiant rank strength or briefly possess Radiant rank combat power before reaching the Radiant rank through some means.

As you know, the power of the Radiant Rank is overwhelming for those below Radiant Rank. It's a gap that no amount of skill or trickery can bridge, making the match predictable and uninteresting... Therefore, not only can the normal strength of the participants not exceed that of the Radiant Rank, but any attack that can reach the strength of the Radiant Rank or any ability that temporarily grants the combat power of the Radiant Rank is also prohibited. Using such an attack will result in a loss due to a foul.

"I don't know what ability you used, Miss Valencia, but it's obvious... that ability is a power only a Radiant-rank character can possess according to the duel barrier's rules, which is why you lost another round to me because of a foul."

"Well... tsk, fine."

The tactic of using stacked buffs to comprehensively strengthen oneself and then overwhelming others with superior attributes is no longer viable, leaving Valensa somewhat helpless.

She then turned to look at Yashiro and Chiba, who were watching from the sidelines. The two of them were indeed quite amused by Valensa's repeated setbacks.

This made Valensa grit her teeth again, feeling very annoyed, and she decided that she had to win a game against Serant no matter what!

"Come again!"

For the third time, the two placed their palms together and recited the duel oath together.

In this round, Valensa was very careful. She not only kept her strength and speed at the normal level of an ordinary Lighthouse-level warrior, but also was extremely cautious and would never easily take on Serant's seemingly weak attacks, prioritizing defense and evasion.

This cautious approach did prevent Valensa from being easily defeated again, but her offensive was also hampered by Serant's constant firing of the Ice Crystal Gun, leaving her with almost no chance to attack.

Valensa remained calm, maintaining an impregnable defense and using her exceptional dynamic vision to capture every move of Serant, precisely neutralizing all of Serant's attacks.

She wanted to quickly adapt to the rhythm of dueling competition and also wanted to try to defeat her opponent by outlasting him.

Then, after being unilaterally suppressed by Serant for three minutes, Valensa was declared defeated by the duel barrier... even though she was not hit by any attacks and did not use any power beyond the limit.

"...What's going on this time?"

After losing three games in a row for no apparent reason, Valensa had become somewhat used to it... so this time she didn't show any shock, but rather numbly asked Serant for the reason.

"Because you haven't made a single effective attack in three whole minutes, Miss Valensa."

Serant shrugged, picked up the dueling rules manual again, skillfully flipped through it, and pointed to a line of small print on a certain page for Valensa to see:

"This is clearly stated in the rules... It's to prevent some players from focusing solely on defense and abandoning their offense, like you just did, which would turn the match into a boring physical contest."

"……I see."

Valensa thought about it carefully and realized that she did remember this rule... but she had forgotten it for a moment because she was a little anxious after losing two games in a row.

There's nothing more to say, let's continue training.

"Come again!"

Valensa once again extended her bracelet-wearing hand, placing it against Serant's, as they recited the duel oath for the fourth round together.

And then Valensa lost again.

After feeling that she had adapted to Serant's rhythm, she tried to launch a charge and take the initiative to attack, but ended up stepping into a fire trap set by Serant and was judged to have lost by the duel barrier.

"This……"

In the previous matches, Valensa could explain her loss by saying she didn't understand the rules, but in this match, there was no reason to explain her loss; she was simply outmatched.

Her weaknesses were thoroughly exploited by Serant.

"It seems you've finally realized your biggest shortcoming, Miss Valencia."

Serant didn't show any smugness; his smile remained calm.

"Your biggest weakness is that you are too strong in actual combat and rely too much on your rich practical experience and excellent combat intuition."

Chapter 5 is too strong, which is also a weakness.

Serant is absolutely right.

Valensa herself was well aware of these things.

All warrior-type cultivators, regardless of strength, possess a combat instinct.

Warriors with strong combat instincts are fearless in the face of any sneak attack and can always pinpoint the enemy's weaknesses shortly after engaging in combat.

Even the weakest combat instinct possesses a basic ability: to anticipate an impending attack and understand the likely damage one will suffer, thus enabling the warrior to make the right choices when facing various attacks.

For many experienced warriors, dodging and defending against overly dangerous attacks, and directly withstanding harmless attacks in order to maximize attack efficiency, has become almost an instinct.

Valensa had already reached this level. Back when she was still hunting monsters in the jungles near Sergin Town every day for bounties, she could already predict the approximate intensity of an upcoming attack entirely based on her combat intuition.

Now, as Valensa's strength continues to improve, her combat intuition is also constantly being optimized, and she even has the ability to filter.

Simply put, her combat instincts will ignore any weak attacks that won't harm her in battle... This allows her to maintain focus in combat and concentrate more energy on dealing with threatening attacks or inflicting effective damage on enemies.

This is actually a powerful and enviable combat intuition and instinct. Many warriors desperately participate in battles to train themselves, but they may not be able to reach 70% of Valensa's current level.

However, it is precisely this very strong combat intuition and instinct in actual combat that gives Valensa a huge weakness that is very easy to exploit in dueling competitions.

For example, Valensa could have easily spotted and avoided the fire trap that Serant just set.

However, Valensa's combat intuition and instincts determined that the fire trap posed no threat and that stepping on it would be like walking on flat ground, so she filtered out the relevant information... As a result, Valensa's body clearly detected the fire trap, but she herself did not know it and stepped on it directly.

As it turned out, Valensa's combat instincts and intuition were absolutely correct. The power of that fire trap was like being blown into a hot air conditioner unit while taking a walk in the summer in her previous life—it didn't cause her any harm at all.

However, in the judgment of the duel barrier, the power of the fire trap was enough to kill an ordinary person, so Serant's attack was judged to be effective and fatal, giving her an immediate victory.

"...Actually, you don't need to be sad."

Seemingly sensing Valensa's distress, Serant offered very sincere advice:

"This is a truly outstanding combat talent, something others can only envy. You should be proud of it."

As for dueling competition... well, this kind of fighting talent is indeed a fatal weakness in dueling competition, but this is originally a commercial duel for entertainment purposes, so there is no need to care too much about it.

In fact, during my first two seasons in America, I encountered a duelist with the same problem as you. After understanding this, she voluntarily withdrew from the competition.

"...No, I will not give up the competition."

Valensa quickly became convinced of this.

Whether she's involved in the manhunt for Savat Langdon or trying to acquire the collectible known as the "Eternal Artist," she has to go to America.

Duel competitions were the best excuse for Valensa to go to America and stay for a long time; she would hardly find any other suitable reason in the short term.

However, giving up her rare fighting talent just for an entertainment-oriented commercial competition would be putting the cart before the horse, something Valensa would not consider either.

...There's only one way left.

In the ten days or so before the start of the dueling competition qualifiers, I developed a unique set of tactics that I could apply to dueling competitions!

I don't aspire to be a top duelist, but at least I shouldn't become a free female knight who can get points from anyone, right?

"Come again!"

Valensa fully embodied the glorious tradition of female knights who became stronger with each defeat, once again extending her braceleted hand towards Serant and reciting the duel oath.

Fifth game.

Game six.

The seventh game...

As a coach and former professional player, Serant is still very professional.

She would give Valensa all sorts of sincere advice, and in the duel she would ruthlessly exploit Valensa's weaknesses to launch a fierce attack, easily winning three more rounds.

Valensa couldn't take it anymore and suddenly used Moon Kiss in the eighth round, instantly killing Serant with the teleportation ability of the Exquisite Magic Sword.

However, the duel barrier still ruled that Valensa had lost... because the performance of Moon Kiss was no weaker than the Noble Phantasm that only Star-level powerhouses possessed, and Valensa had violated the rules again.

Although this game was lost, it gave Valensa an idea.

Initially, Valensa intended to use her combination of swordsmanship and divine magic to engage in a direct confrontation with Serant using orthodox dueling techniques.

However, the consecutive losses in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds made Valensa realize that this tactic was simply not going to work... Unless she deliberately abandoned her precious fighting instincts, she would definitely be exploited by professional duelists who would score heavily on this weakness.

The third round of the battle made Valensa realize that if she focused all her energy on using divine magic for defense, she could make it watertight, even against an excellent duelist like Serant who had once reached the quarterfinals.

Unfortunately, the rules of the competition restrict duelists from solely defending themselves. If they use divine magic or swordsmanship to switch from defense to offense, it is easy for skilled duelists to seize their weaknesses and defeat them instantly.