Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

When the microphone was passed to Maria, who was still preparing, she seemed preoccupied and didn't react for a moment. When asked about her impression of the Left-Handed Knight, Maria scratched her head and gave an awkward smile. "...Um, to be honest, it feels very tightly wrapped. It's quite hot, isn't it?"

"...I meant your comment about the Left-Handed Knight—it's okay if it's a little sharp."

"A little sharper... Ah, I get it. You're going to say something powerful, right? I saw what my sister said before the game. Hit the sack, let me think..." Maria slapped her head, remembering this was a reprieve from the pre-game trash talk. She pondered for a moment before putting on a serious face. "...I will protect everything belonging to the Lin Guang family! I don't know if you can see this interview, but while you're gone, I will strive to become a true Lin Guang parent rider!"

"Um... the Left-Hand Knight's evaluation..."

"Ah, ah? Uh... well, I'm actually not very familiar with him..." Maria pondered for a long time. Although she had watched many battle videos of the Left-Handed Knight, to be honest, aside from his fighting style in the arena, she didn't really have much of an impression of him. "I didn't pay much attention to him before, and later I just watched the battle videos. If I remember correctly, when my sister and he fought, he quickly conceded, so the fight didn't last long..."

"Understood--"

The interview was obviously a failure, but the reporter knew how to write it.

The Flawed Light Knight Maria Linguang publicly announced that the Left-Hand Knight did not leave any impression on her!

Maria Linguang mocked the Left-Hand Knight for being defeated by the Radiant Knight!

The arrogance of the new generation of knights! The Left-Handed Knight who admitted defeat was not worthy of being compared with her!

Combined with various editing techniques, the interview clip of Maria Linguang has become a naked mockery.

Noah, knowing Maria's true situation, was somewhat impressed by the authors' ability to rip her words out of context. Maria would never have taunted the Left-Hand Knight like that. It was probably just a normal response that was edited and spliced ​​together like this. Adding some filters makes it look even more sinister.

This is a common tactic used by this group of reporters, and Noah has gotten used to it.

She arrived at Maria's preparation room first. Kuro was carrying a huge black suitcase and placed it in front of her under Maria's puzzled gaze.

"Although I'm a little anxious, your previous weapon was damaged - so I made a new set for you. It was made by a craftsman I'm familiar with. I originally placed the order during the Rusted Bronze Knight, but I didn't expect it to be completed only now. You can try it during the competition." Noah asked Kuro to open the suitcase. It was a sword and shield made according to the specifications of the original Maria, but with a lot of strange mechanical structures added. With Maria's craftsmanship level, it was clear that there must be some special transformation mechanisms hidden in it.

"I originally wanted you to familiarize yourself with it first, but time is running out. You can take a look at the instruction manual first." Noah also handed the manual to Maria. "At least I used the best materials. You can use it as a simple sword and shield without any problems."

"This...how much did it cost?" Maria asked uneasily, looking at the golden sword and shield in the suitcase. "It looks so expensive..."

"Because it's a familiar craftsman. We used to have custom weapons made for us, so it didn't cost much." Noah shook his head. "If you're interested, I can take you to see it next time. He's the best craftsman I've ever seen."

"Wow—" Maria looked at the sword and shield, which were clearly of a special design, as well as the rather thick instruction manual, and immediately sensed the extraordinary nature of the new weapon. "It looks like it'll take a while to study before I can officially use it."

"Hmm..." Noah's eyes wandered. When he'd first met the craftsman, he'd specifically asked what kind of weapon he needed. When Noah had mentioned a sword and shield, preferably with a charge function, his eyes lit up, and he immediately understood. Even Noah found the final product a bit outlandish, but the craftsman's skill was undeniable. He'd also helped Noah make the compound bow he'd previously used, and it was of exceptional quality.

"Does this have a name?"

"...Uh, it's called Dragon Heat Mechanism: Flawed Light Charging Axe."

"……ax?"

Noah's answer left Maria completely confused. After all, no matter how she looked at it, the weapon looked like just a sword and a shield.

"You'll know once you try it."

Chapter 89: Craftsman Cat

Noya had been startled when she first met the craftsman. While she had seen ancient people in animal form before, she'd rarely seen anything as strange as this one-eyed craftsman. The craftsman was highly skilled in crafting exquisite weapons, and their scale was quite large. According to him, these weapons were originally used to fight behemoths, like natural disasters, capable only of being mastered by true hunters.

The reason he crafted weapons for the Kirielight family was largely because Kirielight's ancestors had helped him, who had appeared in the wasteland for unknown reasons, set up a workshop. Because of this connection, Noah was now viewed with a different eye. After Noah made his request, he quickly became enthusiastic about weapon crafting, even telling him the story of his arrival in Casimir.

Noya had heard of them many times, but even the stories of soaring fire dragons, explosive Flame King Dragons, and mountainous Old Mountain Dragons still left her with a sense of awe. After all, she had never heard of such incredible creatures on Terra. The craftsman was simply nostalgic; he had been on Casimir for decades, and perhaps if he didn't tell his own story enough, even he would forget it.

Although he didn't know what the hunters the craftsmen were talking about, nor did he know how those hunters who possessed these weapons fought against the ancient dragons that were like a natural disaster, the world described by the craftsmen still made Noah very yearning.

The [Dragon Heat Trap: Flawed Light Charged Axe] before him was his creation, specially crafted for Maria Linguang. According to him, the hunters at the time were full of praise for this weapon, with phrases like "attack and defense all in one!" and "Remove! Remove the damn thing!" Such incomprehensible words were heard everywhere. Regardless, Noya could at least trust that the craftsman's weapons were of the highest quality.

Even if it is simply used as a sword and shield, it is much better than the two Maria had before.

Noah had rushed to deliver the weapon before Maria went on stage. As for how Maria would use it afterwards, that was her business. She had already done everything she could. When Noah returned to the spectator booth, someone sat down next to her. Noah knew what they were doing the moment they made a noise. "...Why are you here too?"

"My work finally has a chance to be shown, I came to take a look." Sitting next to her was a cat about one meter tall, with one eye and a pipe hanging from the corner of its mouth. After sitting on the chair, his feet could not reach the ground. According to the craftsman, his race name should be Elu Cat, not Filin.

"The things have been delivered, but I don't know if Maria will use them." Noah was still a little worried. She wanted it a day earlier, but it happened to be completed today. Although it was delivered as soon as possible so that Maria didn't have to use the training sword, she was still a little nervous.

"Don't worry. Even if she doesn't know how to use my stuff, it's much better than ordinary weapons. There aren't many people in Terra who can match my craftsmanship." The Artisan Cat shook his whiskers and said with a smile, "Based on your description, she should be able to learn how to use it quickly. After all, she's a craftsman herself. She should be able to tell the structure. Besides, isn't there an instruction manual attached?"

The Artisan Cat boasted, "At least those hunters didn't give me a bad review."

"..." Noya thought to herself, if the hunters you're talking about are facing an opponent comparable to a natural disaster, and if your weapon fails... they probably won't have the chance to give you a bad review. However, this was obviously not something she could say casually, so she could only swallow the words.

Soon, accompanied by a dynamic BGM, the Left-Hand Knight and Maria entered the scene one after another. It must be said that compared to before, Maria's expression has indeed begun to look like that of a warrior. She held a sword and shield, and although it was heavier than before, the feel had greatly improved. The effect of the Originium conduction skill was also much smoother. At least she would not break the sword directly with the Sword of Repentance like before.

The weapon Noah prepared for Maria was naturally made of the best materials. In order to allow Maria to play to her strengths, she even specifically asked the craftsman cat to design the length as much as possible according to Maria's figure when making it, so now Maria feels quite comfortable holding the sword.

The Left-Handed Knight looked at the Knight of Flawed Light in front of him. Carrying a lance, he was a head taller than Maria. Just standing in front of Maria, he felt like an Astartes standing in front of the Astra Militarum. Maria could not know his expression through the mask, but the aura he exuded was indeed not comparable to her previous opponents. Maria took a deep breath, forced herself to raise her head, and did not give in under the opponent's momentum.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and then the Left Hand Knight snorted coldly and turned back to his starting position.

At this point, no more words are meaningful, only fighting can explain everything.

Maria gripped the [Dragon Heat Device: Flawed Light Charged Axe] in her hand, feeling the weapon's heaviness while also sensing Noah's care for her. She would never lose!

"The two knights are ready! Dear audience! This match is undoubtedly a high-level competition. Will Maria Linguang, the sister of Knight Yao, be able to display the true strength of a Mustang? Or will the real official goalkeeper, the Left-Handed Knight, once again defend his honor? Let's wait and see! This match will be--"

Once again, they ignored the advertisement read out by Big Mouth Mob at a rap-like speed. The cheers from the audience were getting louder and louder. Before the market closed, Maria's odds had reached 1 to 4. Without a doubt, everyone was more optimistic about the Left-Handed Knight, and now was the time to see the outcome.

Game on! Start!

Maria did not rush out immediately. As usual, her main tactic was still defense and counterattack. She had to see clearly how the Left-Hand Knight planned to attack, and then think about how to break the deadlock.

As expected, the first to attack was the Left-Handed Knight. He stepped forward, swinging his spear at Maria—his attack was so nonchalant that Maria felt she could easily withstand it. But she was wrong…

boom!

Eh?

Maria used her shield to block the blow, but the impact force passed through the shield and directly reached Maria's arm. The shield was not damaged - but the opponent's strength was even greater than that of the Rusty Bronze Knight!

The shield was smashed open, leaving Maria wide open.

With just one strike, he had revealed a weakness that was enough to be defeated?

Is this... the knight in the official competition?

Chapter 90: No More Retreat!

"This guy's strength is even comparable to that of the Dragonite's dragon chariot... This is going to be troublesome." The Artisan Cat saw clearly that Maria's strength seemed to have weakened. The weapon that she could bear before suddenly became much heavier. It was precisely because of this that she was left wide open. If the Left Hand Knight had not intended to end the battle in one go, with the shield being hit to the other side, the Left Hand could have easily finished the battle with another blow.

But the left hand did not finish off the opponent. Instead, he watched Maria with a grim face and returned to his original stance, as if he was playing with his prey.

"This is the Left-Handed Knight's Originium Technique. His Originium Technique can weaken the enemy. The longer you fight the Left-Handed Knight, the more likely you are to be depleted of your physical strength by his Originium Technique, and ultimately defeated. Although Maria is also good at protracted battles, she is least able to fight against the Left-Handed Knight. The longer it drags on, the more dangerous Maria becomes." Noah explained. "As much as I hate to admit it, it may be too early for Maria to fight against a knight with an official title."

"Don't worry, she holds the fruit of my labor. If she can truly master her charged shield axe, then defeating the Left-Handed Knight won't be impossible." The Artisan Cat wasn't anxious, waving his hand cheerfully. "You have to trust the Linguang family's children, and you also have to trust my weapons."

"That's all I can do... Is the Radiant Knight's sister only at this level?" The Left-Handed Knight taunted, "Defeating you right now would be as easy as tearing a piece of paper."

"..."

"Can't you refute? As a knight, don't you even have the courage to fight back?" The Left-Hand Knight sneered, "Compared to your sister, you are indeed too weak. If it was your sister, the Radiant Knight, who was here, she would have only confronted me head-on, but you don't even have the qualifications! You are so far inferior to your sister at the same age!"

Maria knew that she was indeed inferior to her sister, and what Left Hand said was right. If it were her sister, she would definitely be able to confront the Left Hand Knight head-on at this time, instead of revealing a flaw that was enough to lose the game like herself at the first encounter.

If this was a life-or-death battle, I would have already died—

Titus Topol...this knight with an official title might want more than just victory over himself...

He wanted to completely break Maria Linguang's will.

The captain of the Knights of the Bladehelm, a noble knight, a senior commercial knight, and one of the top sixteen competitive knights—Titus Topol.

Logically speaking, Maria's points shouldn't be matched with his. But therein lies the problem: the Knights Association has the final say on this matching mechanism, not me, the spokesperson. Given the Left-Hand Knight's strength, he's more than capable of matching Zofia in her prime, perhaps even significantly stronger. For Maria now, facing such an opponent is simply... too much of a stretch.

The Left Hand Knight came to stop Maria. He didn't want to see Maria move forward, and he also realized that Maria was getting stronger at an incredible speed.

So, this time, they chose to make the Left-Handed Knight the insurmountable obstacle for Maria. They were probably already popping champagne, right? After all, the difference in strength was clearly exposed from the very first encounter.

Along the way, she defeated the Plastic Knight and the Rusted Bronze Knight. Each battle seemed to elevate Maria to a new level. Especially against the Rusted Bronze Knight, the dazzling Sword of Repentance made the group uneasy. She even won the melee, demonstrating exceptional combat intelligence. Naturally, the merchants were not interested in seeing Maria grow stronger, nor did they want to witness her true transformation.

The essence of capital is that it can’t afford to play——

In this battle, Maria's chance of winning... is actually terribly low.

In fact, even Zofia and Mainna thought they would lose this match... but it wasn't a knockout round, so losing was not a big deal.

Noah might be the only one who believes Maria can win.

But rather than a rational analysis, it's more like Noah wants Maria to win. She needs to prove herself -

"Lin Guang..."

"To preserve your so-called knightly noble status, to protect your outdated glory, you now look as weak as a baby that could be easily torn apart." The Left-Hand Knight looked down on Maria. "You have no right to call yourself the sister of the Glory Knight, nor do you have the strength to protect your family's honor. All you can do is shamelessly cling to me! Admit defeat now, and I can still leave you with some dignity."

"It has nothing to do with you!" Maria gritted her teeth and once again blocked the casual attack of the Left Hand Knight. Her arm had begun to feel numb. Her slash was easily blocked by the spear and then parried away. The weapon in her hand became heavier and heavier. Maria now looked like a child waving a weapon in front of the Left Hand.

"It doesn't matter. Now the last knight of the Linguang family will be destroyed in my hands!" The Left-Handed Knight once again fiercely smashed his weapon against Maria's shield. He even deliberately aimed at the shield, again and again. "You keep retreating. Is that all you knights of the Linguang family can do?!"

"Shut up!" Maria swung her sword with all her might, intending to charge forward, but the next second, the Left-Handed Knight let her know what it meant that an inch longer is an inch stronger. The Left-Handed Knight holding a spear had almost no flaws, and Maria's sword... could not even touch the opponent's armor!

"Very good, you are finally going to take the initiative! But your sword! It's not on the same level as the Knight Yao's gun!" The Left-Handed Knight laughed and resolved Maria's charge. When the weapons clashed, Maria's sword began to emit a faint light, but the light was still weak, and even Maria herself did not notice it.

"Nice weapon! I was thinking of breaking your sword too." The Left-Handed Knight was the first to praise Maria's sword, actually praising its quality. "But if it's only this good, you should just go hug your doll!"

The sound of weapons clashing was incessant. Maria didn't want to retreat anymore, so she rushed forward desperately. She had no time to gather strength and couldn't use the Sword of Repentance. In addition, her attack range was indeed not as good as the Left-Handed Knight. So far, Maria hadn't even touched the Left-Handed Knight once.

Is this... the knight in the official competition?

After repeated futile attempts, the sword in Maria's hand had begun to become scorching hot. She felt her sweat steaming. If she had just participated in the knight competition... she might have already given up.

However, she is no longer the weak self she used to be.

The blade was scorching hot, and the light of the long sword in Maria's hand flickered through the blade, as if it were burning red.

Chapter 91: Super High Output Attribute Liberation Slash

"The show...is about to begin." The Artisan Cat looked at the one-handed sword in Maria's hand, which seemed to be burning red, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Let them see the slash from another world."

"I understand... why you've persisted until now." The Left-Handed Knight smiled sarcastically as he watched Maria clutch her longsword, which had likely grown scorching hot from the clash of their weapons. "I heard a tidbit from the Knights that you have a close relationship with the current spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce... So, even the knights of the Linguang family have become playthings of the higher-ups?"

"……what?"

"Want to refute? Now that you, Lin Guang, have finally stopped being out of touch with the times and decided to integrate into this era, are you wagging your tail to the people of the Commerce Federation?" The Left-Hand Knight's words pierced Maria's heart. "Then I should apologize to you. For the sake of making money... to avoid shame."

"You guy..."

"Oh, I remember the spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce was a blind and lame man, right? I've seen that guy before. I remember she was once a knight of the Kirilet family. It's a pity she's blind and has a crippled leg. She'll never be able to be a knight again. No wonder she's so perverted. If someone like that were to keep you captive and treat you like an ornamental animal in a knightly competition, watching you get injured, spit blood, and finally barely win, that would be a truly profound interest."

"……shut up……"

"I'm really sorry for exposing your affair - but I think everyone has seen it, but they just don't say it. Is it so hard for you to accept that Lin Guang is just a plaything of the Chamber of Commerce?" The Left-Hand Knight looked at Maria in front of him with almost pity. She was almost unable to stand. With gorgeous armor and expensive weapons, she now looked like those idol knights in beautiful clothes.

Her whole body was trembling, and the golden light that once was glorious was now so dim in front of him, which made the Left Hand Knight somewhat happy.

He had seen Margaret's light, which was unquestionable, powerful, and almost impossible to look directly at. He admitted that Margaret was a rare genius, and also admitted that he was no match for Margaret. However, when facing Margaret's sister, Maria, who was the same age as her, he just felt bored.

When he knew that it was Margaret's sister, he was looking forward to it for a moment, but he didn't expect it to be of this level.

As expected, the bigwigs above didn't want to see another Margaret Linguang, so they let him take action, which was like killing someone with a borrowed knife. Although he was very unhappy, resisting the Knights Association and the Commerce Federation was obviously a bit too foolish, and Zuo Shou didn't intend to be a fool.

"Don't worry, I will preserve your dignity. All you need to do is admit defeat—admit defeat, acknowledge that the honor of the Linguang family is worthless." Maria could barely hear the Left-Hand Knight's words, but she felt an unprecedented rage.

And this anger, in the next moment - completely erupted.

"And that blind girl is pretty good-looking—maybe she'll become a plaything for some important figure in the future? Then you two can continue to be good sisters."

"shut up!"

Sonorous...

Maria's sword and shield were seamlessly connected. The energy from the sword instantly flowed into the shield, forming a tight connection between the two. Then the shield cracked, and the sharp sides of the shield turned into blades. As if sensing Maria's anger, energy surged in a specially designed energy circuit. When Maria drew her sword again, she actually thrust forward with her shield.

The Left-Handed Knight naturally couldn't let his opponent have his way, but when he used his spear to block the shield's thrust, he was surprised to find that this time the shield thrust actually left a visible mark on his spear. Although it didn't break his spear, the power of this impact was definitely not the same as before. At this time, the energy in Maria's sword had completely merged into the shield, and the shield had entered a state of complete liberation. Maria's sword was also pulled out of the shield, aiming to strike in the direction of her left hand.

"Hmph—" The Left-Handed Knight once again blocked Maria's shield charge and the spinning slash she used with the force. Although the power of the shield charge caused him to lose some pressure, it was just that, and he would not be overturned.

But he inexplicably focused his gaze on the shield, which was already beginning to emit a brilliant light. Why was he so wary of it? No matter how sharp the edge of a shield was, it was still a shield. It could never be used as a primary offensive weapon.

That shield burst...was it a coincidence?

In fact, Maria herself was a little confused. According to the instruction manual, this sword can accumulate energy when attacking, regardless of whether it hits the opponent or not. When the energy reaches the limit, the excess energy must be stored in the shield, allowing the shield to enter the [Liberation] state, and then continue to accumulate energy, and finally it can burst out with the strongest power.

Maria was using this weapon for the first time, so naturally, she wasn't very comfortable with it. However, this weapon, which stored energy and then released it, did make up for her lack of a single-hit kill attack besides the Sword of Repentance. It was no wonder that Sister Noya had prepared this for her, but she wasn't sure if what she was doing was right. According to the instructions, she had already entered the shield's release state, and then she needed to continue charging...

Maria merged her own light into the sword in her hand, and when attacking, she confirmed the energy on the sword again and again. She had to do many things at the same time - otherwise, she would not be able to use the move that was said to be extremely powerful in the manual.

Maria was confused, and Left Hand was even more confused. He had never seen this move before, especially after the shield entered a strange state. Maria stopped using the shield and instead used the longsword in her hand to try to gain an advantage. After Left Hand blocked it again and again, his patience was almost gone.

"If that's all, then get ready to be defeated by me?" Zuo Shou took a step forward, intending to knock Maria away with one blow and let her fall directly to the stage, but at this moment, Maria once again combined the sword and shield in her hand. Zuo Shou thought she was going to make another shield charge, and subconsciously retracted the spear to block in front of her body, but this time, the shield and sword unfolded behind Maria, combined, deformed, and finally - turned into a huge axe shining with light.