287 Grandfather Dekan Goes Fishing
“This beast doesn’t plan to not fight a single battle and claim the championship directly, does he?”
Many spectators had noticed Dekan’s strategy.
Dekan’s prowess in direct combat was indeed not strong.
But what truly made him formidable was his unpredictable underhanded tactics.
Perhaps for Dekan’s opponents,
simply arriving at the competition venue safely was already half the battle won.
“We can only say Mr. Dekan lives up to his reputation as the most controversial participant; we look forward to his next performance…”
The host was still trying to smooth things over, hoping to transition smoothly to the second match…
A few minutes later.
After a brief victory interview, Dekan returned to the VIP lounge with his allies.
“So tired.”
The first thing Dekan did upon returning was to slump onto the sofa.
It was as if, after enduring a breathtaking battle, the hero had finally triumphed and returned.
Chloix on the left sighed helplessly.
And Cornelia on the right was stifling a laugh.
Teacher Cat noticed that, as time had passed,
these two seemed to have changed as well.
“You two just indulge him! As a teacher, I can’t stand it anymore meow! Alice, you should talk some sense into him! Isn’t he disgracing the reputation of the Norton Kingdom?!”
Teacher Cat even momentarily didn’t want to stay with these three people, hopping over to Mia’s side.
“Eh? Didn’t we win, that’s great. All I’m looking forward to is delivering a speech as the national representative when I become the champion; Dekan has already prepared the speech for me!”
Alice said this with full expectations.
“… meow.”
Teacher Cat was momentarily speechless.
They realized this princess was indeed too easy to be duped.
After all, the more desires one has in their heart, the easier they are to be easily manipulated by Dekan…
“Your one-hit kill can only be used once, so among the remaining three opponents, you need to deal with at least two off the field?”
Mia was actually quite skeptical that Dekan could lie his way to the final.
“Off-field tactics are also a form of one-hit kill. My upcoming opponents will surely be on high alert, I’ll have to honestly fight three rounds.”
Dekan sighed.
…
In the following time, Dekan was meticulously observing the three remaining matches.
These were all his opponents from the same half of the bracket.
Only one among them would ultimately advance to the final.
The second match was a battle between a 7th-rank mage and a 7th-rank summoner.
In terms of strength, the difference was minimal.
However, this mage had extensive experience battling in the Shadow World, even frequently clashing with brutal believers of the Rebirth Church.
He had once narrowly escaped from the claws of a Bishop of the Rebirth Church.
Just his survival skills were comparable to an 8th-rank.
There was no major surprise; this mage from the Northern Kingdoms, named Belika, defeated her opponent.
She would also become Dekan’s opponent in the day-after-tomorrow quarterfinals.
Interestingly, Belika was a cardmaker and also a branch president of the Cardmaker’s Association in the Northern Kingdoms.
Initially, when Belika and the Northern Kingdoms were making things difficult for Dekan and other specially ranked cardmakers, deliberately delaying his review,
she contributed to those tactics.
Looking at the results displayed on the screen, Dekan tilted his chin thoughtfully.
“Dekan, truly enemies meet on narrow roads. If you want to defeat her directly, you must reveal your full potential, right meow?”
Teacher Cat asked.
Since Dekan had said he wouldn’t resort to off-field tactics anymore,
to confront Belika in the Phantom Canyon, it would be far more difficult for Dekan to win her compared to directly defeating the first opponent.
“No. I’ve already begun studying the last two opponents.”
Dekan responded faintly.
Teacher Cat: “Then what about Belika, meow?!”
Dekan tossed a sheet of Belika’s data, extracted like a card, to Teacher Cat as if swatting it.
Teacher Cat was about to examine whether Dekan had any cards that could single-handedly counter Belika’s strengths.
But all they saw was Dekan circling a line on Belika’s past experiences section:
“【Cautious and Suspicious Personality】”
“Dekan meow… you…”
Teacher Cat stared incredulously at Dekan.
But Dekan didn’t respond.
He was deeply contemplating how to proceed with the last two games.
The next day’s match would be the other half of the bracket’s preliminary 16-to-8 competition.
But the result of that half was basically predictable.
Because in the other half of the bracket, there was a young Empire Sword Saint named Adair, rumored to possess near-Bishop-level strength, excelling even among the 8th ranks.
Without a surprise, this invincible person would steamroll through the opponents in the other half and advance to the finals.
He would be Dekan’s eventual opponent.
As for Dekan’s penultimate opponent…
The third match could be called both brilliant and utterly ordinary, where two equally matched opponents fought fiercely and decided the outcome only at the last moment.
And the just-concluded fourth match showcased the 8th-rank Sun God Church Paladin, Aljeer, who almost instantly dispatched his opponent.
He was currently the youngest paladin commander of the Sun God Church and the successor after Judith’s retirement.
He was also one of the favorites in this competition.
In the championship forecasts, the Bishop of Pain Dekan ranked first, the Empire Sword Saint Adair was second, and the Paladin Commander Aljeer came in third.
The gap among these three wasn’t large.
Occasionally, the odds of the Empire Sword Saint Adair winning would even surpass Dekan’s.
But if the Paladin Commander faced the Empire Sword Saint,
although the Empire Sword Saint’s chances would likely be better, it was uncertain who would truly win.
Among these two 8th-rank warriors, neither was easy to defeat.
Right when the Paladin Commander Aljeer, being interviewed at the venue, was asked by the host who the opponent he wished to face most was,
he suddenly pulled out his sword and gestured it towards the direction of Dekan’s VIP seat.
He said nothing.
But the aggressive intent in his stern eyes was unmistakable.
Aljeer seemed to have an immense grudge against Dekan.
And it appeared he wasn’t just targeting Dekan; his gaze then shifted to Chloix beside Dekan.
His expression bore even heavier hostility.
“Ah? This might get interesting.”
Dekan couldn’t resist covering his mouth and laughing softly.
At first, Dekan wasn’t sure why Aljeer held hostility towards him,
but now he understood immediately.
This guy was definitely harboring an unspoken affection for the former Knight Commander, Judith. But before he could express his feelings, Judith was tricked into becoming an idol and ended up together with Chloix.
Chloix frowned as well, indicating that he was somewhat bothered by Aljeer.
Dekan patted Chloix’s shoulder and said:
“Relax, buddy. I’ll mess with this stubborn newbie. I’ll make sure no one interrupts your romance.”
Chloix then nodded in relief.
The task of messing with the opponent’s psyche fell perfectly into Dekan’s expertise.
Lastly, there was the collective interview with the four victorious participants of the day, where they accepted questions from various journalists.
When they were about to leave,
Dekan appeared to glance at the mage Belika beside him knowingly and gave her a faint smile.
This made Belika bristle like a hedgehog, her entire body trembling in sudden alertness.
She felt that his gaze was like looking at a small snack on a plate.
It made her deeply fearful.
The one who had troubled her back then due to her actions within the Cardmaker’s Association had now become a powerful figure to be truly feared.
And forget old grievances for a moment.
She believed, following Dekan’s previous tactics against opponents,
whether she could even survive until two days later would be a question.
With such anxious thoughts,
Belika spent the entire night sleepless.
The next day, she immediately embarked on investigating the movements of Dekan and his group.
But the result was surprising.
The group seemed to be genuinely enjoying their vacation.
Dekan showed no signs of trying to sabotage her behind the scenes.
Even so, until the match began, she didn’t dare to drop her guard and continuously monitored Dekan at high energy levels.
By nightfall,
just as Dekan’s group was about to return to their residence, Dekan called aside Chloix, leading them off a different path.
“Finally, it’s coming…”
Belika was extremely frightened and hesitated whether she should continue trailing them.
Considering further.
She decided to continue observing.
After all, the protective barrier around the Capital City was quite secure.
Even if Dekan noticed her, he couldn’t possibly act against her directly.
If she didn’t follow,
tomorrow, she might find herself being tricked before she even knew what hit her.
But right as Belika locked onto Dekan and Chloix again,
she saw them conversing with a figure in a cloak.
The figure seemed to show them a seal of some sort.
Likewise, Dekan also produced another seal.
“Kyaaa—!”
Belika covered her mouth, her eyes wide with panic as if witnessing the most terrifying thing in the world.
There was no way she could be mistaken!
That was the Bishop’s Certificate!
She had once encountered a Bishop holding such a mark, the desolate power still haunting her today.
The person in the cloak held the Bishop’s Certificate of the Frenzied Bishop, while Dekan held another unknown emblem.
If it was an emblem other than the known Bishops…
That only meant…
“Whimper… whimper…”
Belika started crying fearfully, using intense enchantments to isolate sounds around her.
She had uncovered a shocking secret.
The Bishop of Pain, it wasn’t just a rumor!
Dekan really was connected to the Rebirth Church!
Just as Belika, trembling uncontrollably, pulled out her recording crystal to document the event,
Dekan suddenly turned his head towards her direction.
At that moment, Dekan’s eyes had completely transformed into gold demonic pupils, resembling the sovereign of some unknown dark world.
That was not the aura of a human!
In an instant, driven purely by instinct, Belika escaped as if possessed, running full speed.
Tens of seconds later.
Chloix, assured that they could no longer perceive Belika’s magic, signaled Dekan to confirm her departure.
“Ha-ha-ha! There will be some fun in the next match.”
Dekan couldn’t suppress his laugh.
Chloix also shrugged in exasperation.
As an experienced veteran 7th-rank mage, Belika naturally wouldn’t believe she’d be so easily spotted by the novice 7th-rank Chloix.
But she didn’t know that Chloix’s magic growth potential was SS, and Chloix had perfected the control of his magic.
…
Trembling and crying, Belika ran back home.
Crouching in a corner, she hid, her entire body shivering.
She felt that her life might end at any moment.
And like that, she cried for nearly the entire night.
Realizing no one followed her, she was still alive.
She finally calmed herself to think.
Fortunately, at the time, she was under a disguise spell, so they probably didn’t discover her identity.
However.
She wasn’t sure whether Dekan genuinely hadn’t caught on to her or had detected her long ago and just refrained from acting, waiting for an opportunity after the Hero Festival.
And what was the Frenzied Bishop discussing with the Bishop of Pain?
Could the Hero Festival have a major upheaval?
Belika felt increasingly terrified the more she thought.
It was as though the Grim Reaper might come for her at any time.
She didn’t dare recklessly accuse Dekan because she lacked evidence; doing so would expose her as a raving lunatic and give her away to Dekan.
That would truly be the end.
She now had no clue
what to do next…
…
On the day of the quarterfinals,
Dekan and his opponent, Belika, both successfully reached the competition venue.
After exchanging friendly gestures, they were finally entering the Phantom Canyon.
Dekan seemed extremely normal, very courteous and elegant towards his opponent.
This made the spectators sigh in appreciation, assuming Dekan finally decided to focus on winning the match properly.
Yet…
Belika’s mental state seemed abnormal.
Look at her—deep dark circles under her eyes, bloodshot eyes, trembling uncontrollably when seeing Dekan smile.
Belika wanted to flee.
But the more she was aware of her current state, the more she feared exposing her fear to Dekan.
This led to a vicious cycle.
In the last two days, her mental state had deteriorated significantly.
Though she considered forfeiting,
she also worried that forfeiting might expose some information to Dekan.
Thus, she mustered her courage to show up, only to realize her body was betraying her.
Fortunately, Dekan couldn’t do anything blatantly in front of the public.
However,
just before entering the Shadow World,
she suddenly saw Dekan smile eerily.
And his lips appeared to form the words, “Did–you–see–anything?”
At that moment, from her feet to her head, Belika felt as if pierced by icicles.
[Welcome to the upgraded Phantom Canyon 2.0.]
[Generally, mock duels do not involve life-threatening danger.]
[Terrain set as mountainous, pain intensity reduced to one-quarter.]
[If you surrender or lose consciousness completely and are unable to recover inside the Phantom Canyon, you will be teleported out.]
[Surrender can be announced mentally.]
[Pain thresholds are capped; no permanent harm will be inflicted.]
[When magic power runs out, further consumption will trigger a security fail, removing you from the Phantom Canyon.]
[Combatants’ initial distance is set to 20 meters.]
[Combat begins in 30 seconds, be prepared.]
At the moment they entered the Shadow World,
Belika was already entirely devoid of any fighting spirit.
She wanted to cry but had to suppress her tears.
“Sp-spare me… I don’t know anything…”
Belika pleaded, looking at the distant Dekan.
Dekan simply tilted his head with evident confusion and asked,
“What are you talking about? Are you referring to the time the Northern Kingdoms purposefully used tactics to delay my review as a specially ranked cardmaker?”
“Yes, yes, you’re right, we were wrong… please forgive me, spare me… I was only following orders…”
At that moment, an uproar erupted throughout the arena, the audience seats a cacophony.
On the stage of the Hero Festival,
Belika, in front of everyone,
admitted to something incredibly serious…
And many of the high-ranking delegates from the Northern Kingdoms,
their faces turned pale as death.
