Book 2: Chapter 185
[The Dragon Hunter’s shocking record, 12 consecutive losses!]
[Is his hunt of the Ancient Dragon nothing more than an exaggerated rumor?]
[Hirup Subjugation Squad Leader, ‘Butcher’ Ashstar, says the hunt of the Ancient Dragon is not a lie and that Lukas is the strongest Sorcerer she has ever seen…]
“…”
Bargan read the article again with a strange expression on his face.
He’d already read it five times before, and the words in the article hadn’t changed, but he still couldn’t believe it. Eventually, he put down the newspaper with a sigh.
“Ah. He has a match today.”
“He?”
“I’m talking about Lukas.”
“Ah, the Dragon Hunter?”
The square was the center of the city and it was also the place where one could easily hear discussions about the hottest news in the city.
And at that moment, the topic the people were talking about was none other than Dragon Hunter Lukas.
“The Dragon Hunter is a fraud. You’ve never seen one of his matches have you?”
“Mhm. That’s why I intended to take a look today.”
“Don’t bother. I’ve seen three of his fights and I don’t want to see him fight ever again.”
When the man said those words through gritted teeth, the woman in front of him tilted her head to the side.
“Is it that bad?”
“That guy lost 12 matches straight in only two weeks! Usually, if a Fighter loses 5 times in a row, they would begin to consider retirement, but that bastard continues to fight as though he has no shame.”
“Losing 12 times in a row… Wow. That must be a record.”
“That’s right. Sh*t. I’m an idiot for going to watch him three times.”
The Dragonman crushed the newspaper in his hand as he clicked his tongue. From start to finish, he had continued grinding his teeth so much that it wouldn’t be surprising if powder came out of his mouth.
Pretending not to see that, Bargan let out a soft sigh.
This Dragonman wasn’t the only one who had such thoughts.
Combat Island.
True to its name, the biggest entertainment for those living here was to watch fights in the arena.
No, for them, the fights in the arena were more than just simple entertainment. Instead, it was an inseparable part of their culture and life.
And Lirua was a city that had one of the largest arenas on Combat Island.
The citizens of this city always eagerly anticipated the appearance of new Fighters, dark horses, and underdogs. Naturally, because of Lukas’ unique identity as a Dragon Hunter, the interest in him was unprecedented.
In fact, on the day of his first match, all the tickets in the arena had been sold out.
…If Lukas had won that fight.
No, if he had even been able to display a performance equal to his opponent, they would have only let out shouts of disappointment at most.
“Kuk.”
Bargan clenched his fists.
He knew.
He’s seen it with his own eyes and felt it with his own body.
Just how strong Lukas actually was.
…Of course, he understood that fighting against an Ancient Dragon in the wild and a Fighter in the arena was different. It was also common for Sorcerers to be at a disadvantage in head on combat.
‘Nevertheless.’
The strength of Lukas, who had been able to deal with an Ancient Dragon single-handedly, was not that simple.
Right.
If Lukas had lost to the Champion of Lirua or even one of the top five Fighters in the rankings, he wouldn’t find it too strange.
In the end, Bargan only had one question.
‘Why is he losing on purpose?’
He wanted to ask him directly. But at that moment, he couldn’t.
‘You have to do what you should do.’
‘Don’t look for me any longer.’
The words Lukas had left behind had become shackles that wrapped around his chest.
‘…do what I should do.’
What the hell did that mean?
Did that mean that he had to pick up and face the responsibilities that had been given to him? The ones that he’d thrown away when he ran.
He didn’t know, and it was giving him a headache.
He was a Fighter.
Rolling around questions in his head until he found the answer had never been a trait he possessed.
So instead, he decided to make internal guesses about what Lukas was planning.
‘Does he intend to continue losing for a while before turning it around and getting a winning streak in order to turn the crowd’s curses and criticism into cheers and admiration?’
It was something that would surely make him into a star.
However… that couldn’t be it.
If Lukas planned to do something like that, then he would never succeed.
The audience wasn’t made up of fools. Many of them were people who had fought in or watched countless arena battles during their lives. Their eyesight was so developed that they could almost be compared to experts.
He didn’t think that a childish plan like hiding his power before suddenly revealing it would be able to fool them. Instead, it would probably spark outrage because he would be insulting the spectators and Fighters.
‘It can’t be that.’
Bargan clenched his fist.
Whatever it was that Lukas was planning, he couldn’t just stand around and do nothing.
So what should he do?
“…”
His shaky gaze slowly turned to the arena.
…In the end, he was a Fighter.
And from the past to now.
There was only one way for Fighters to prove themselves.
* * *
“Twelve straight losses, huh?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Kangki remained silent, his chin resting against his knuckles.
The person who was currently bowing in front of Kangki waiting for him to speak was someone that anyone in Lirua would be able to recognise with a single glance.
It was the 3rd place Fighter in the arena rankings, ‘Padudu’.
Of course, it wasn’t strange for Fighters from the arena to be polite to the City Lords. The problem was that Padudu’s current posture was something that went far past simple courtesy.
He was currently on his hands and knees on the floor with his head almost touching the ground. This type of posture was something that not even slave Fighters would take when expressing their complete surrender.
Just because they were called slave Fighters didn’t mean they were actually slaves. At the very least, in Dragonman society, you still had to at least show a certain level of respect to the slaves that followed you.
Their pride was the bottom line for all Dragonmen, and their loyalty stemmed from this pride. Therefore, regardless of how the slave owner might feel, they would never touch the pride of their slave.
Otherwise, if they were to provoke them carelessly, the slave might stop caring about their own life and death or even kill themself directly.
—In other words, one thing was clear.
The fact that Padudu was able to take such a position in front of Kangki meant that he didn’t have the slightest shred of pride.
“Hunting the Ancient Dragon… didn’t he do that on his own?”
Kangki frowned.
It was said that the Ancient Dragon had been as large as a small mountain.
For such a large Ancient Dragon, he didn’t even dare to guess how valuable its corpse would be.
Kangki had received the news too late, so he hadn’t been able to take part in the race for body parts with the other Major City Lords.
But he became even more upset when he learned that the Ancient Dragon’s corpse had been shared among the Major City Lords for free.
The fact that he couldn’t take part in such an opportunity was more painful than anything he’d encountered for a long time.
However, the Dragon Hunter, the main character in the subjugation of the Ancient Dragon, had actually come to Lirua. Since he’d received this news, Kangki had been paying close attention to Lukas.
Lukas had entered the arena.
This was something he expected. After all, there were only so many reasons why such a talented person would come to a major city like Lirua.
Because of this, he had some expectations.
Of course, he didn’t have any expectations of Lukas’ strength.
Instead, what he focused on was how much the title of ‘Dragon Hunter’ would increase the profits from the arena.
With that in mind, he decided to choose a fairly good fighter as his opponent.
To put it simply, he was laying the groundwork.
If Lukas won, the attention he gained would multiply in an instant.
Nevertheless,
‘Complete defeat.’
He never would have expected it.
The man who had defeated an Ancient Dragon was suppressed by a Fighter on the level of Jaihum?
Was he hiding his power?
Kangki thought that was likely to be the case.
Although he had lost, Lukas hadn’t received a single injury. Anyone with eyes could see that he hadn’t been trying at all.
Similarly, he wasn’t hurt in the next battle either. If he had been hurt in the first place, then there was no way he could do something crazy like fighting 14 matches in two weeks.
‘Disgusting tricks.’
Kangki’s lips twisted into a cold expression.
He felt dirty.
Like his authority was being violated.
He was the only one who could decide who won or lost in the arena. This was something that only he, Kangki, Major City Lord of Lirua, could do.
And now, an outsider who he didn’t know had come to trample all over him with his dirty feet.
It would be strange if he wasn’t upset.
“He is Bargan’s master?”
“Yes.”
Bargan.
He remembered him.
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