The fundantal difference lay with the dragons each had under contract.
The purity of a dragon’s bloodline is determined by how much Dragon God blood it contains.
If Baron rembered correctly, a book from the Inner Side written by a certain Alchemist, *How to Slay Dragons*, stated that besides the Three Great Dragon Kings, Red Dragons were the purest of the Dragon Race.
In Ancient Tis, they served as the Dragon God’s personal guards.
In general, the bloodline purity of other Pure-blood Dragon Race mbers—like Flying Dragons, Fire Dragons, and Ice Dragons—was far inferior to that of a Red Dragon.
This was even more true for Gawain’s contracted beast, an Azure Fire Dragon—a re Fire Dragon Subspecies.
And the Dragon Race was a group that placed the utmost importance on the hierarchy of bloodline status.
A pure-blooded dragon of noble lineage held absolute suppressive power over a common subspecies.
A normal Contract Knight might have been able to endure the Dragon Mighty by gritting their teeth and relying on willpower.
But in Gawain’s case, while it was clear he was resisting, his contracted Azure Fire Dragon had unexpectedly sensed the Red Dragon Aura on Baron. Through their contract, the dragon’s will descended upon him and forced him to kneel.
Baron had won a bloodless victory.
At the sa ti, this sparked another theory in his mind.
They say Pure-blood Dragon Knights are as rare as unicorns, that the noble-blooded Dragon Race looks down on humans.
’So why did I beco a Red Dragon’s Contract Knight so easily?’
’Setting aside why a Red Dragon would even acknowledge ... according to the official story, the Red Dragon died a hundred years ago during the Night of Dragonfall, slain by Carn’s hand as the Dragon Family fell...’
’This led to another question. Carn’s full na was Carn Ray Dragoon. Judging by her surna, even if she wasn’t of the Dragon Family’s direct lineage, she must have been close.’
’Why would she slaughter the Dragon Family and kill the Red Dragon...?’
’And what was this promise she ntioned needing to fulfill?’
Thinking of all this... Baron decided to stop.
He had to deal with the situation in front of him first.
After all, the Sun Knight Gawain had been so arrogant. Given Baron’s current temper, it wouldn’t be his style not to return the favor.
He turned to the announcer at the side of the arena, who was still in a daze. "According to the rules, that counts as my win, right?"
"Huh? Oh."
The announcer, as if just snapping out of it, said, "I declare, the final winner of the sixth day of the Hunting Competition is..."
He fell silent, because the Demon Hunter had taken the microphone from his hand.
The Demon Hunter took the microphone, his voice low and deep.
"The Hunting Competition isn’t over."
At his words, countless heads turned. The eyes of the entire stadium fixed upon him.
"What’s he doing?" Tate frowned.
Lewis and Victor exchanged strange looks. Stephen raised an eyebrow, unconsciously leaning forward to watch.
’Could it be...?’
Yalilan’s lovely eyes fluttered. She seed to have realized sothing, and a brilliant light shone in them.
An Attendant hurried forward, but Lewis stopped him with a shake of his head. "Let’s see what he’s planning."
Baron looked at the Glorious Knights in their designated area, who were all glaring at him, and said flatly,
"I said the Hunting Competition isn’t over."
His gaze fell upon Gawain, who had since woken up on a stretcher, his face pale. Their eyes t.
’If I recall, he fought one-on-seven, right? Overca all odds, even achieving Transform into a Dragon mid-battle.’
’Tsk. Not a bad show. Too bad he ran into .’
’If you hadn’t said what you said, I would have been happy to let you have your mont.’
’But you just had to open your mouth. So, as the price for pissing off, you can bear the consequences.’
Baron suddenly smiled.
He paused for a mont before speaking. His voice wasn’t loud, yet it seed to silence the wind. Like a horn sounding before a charge, it made the entire audience hold its breath, minds going blank.
The young man’s quiet yet thunderous voice was the only thing echoing in their ears.
"There’s only one person left on the Demon Hunters’ side—. But on the Knights’ side, besides Gawain, there are still six Knights who have yet to take the stage."
"If I only defeat Gawain, it would be neither fair nor convincing."
Not since his escape from the Outer Side had Baron spoken with such catharsis. It was as if he was finally venting all his pent-up frustration, breaking the blade of resentnt in his heart, and washing away days of bitter suffering.
"So co at all at once."
He thought of Zophie, of Julis, of Hira, of Teresa. He thought of the Baron and his wife, and of the girl covered in scars he’d seen that day.
He thought of Bill, Wilder, Battle Sister Lian, Soron, and Roy, all of whom he’d t on the run...
The final image that ca to mind was of him on the Griffin, amidst a sea of clouds at sunset, raising his gun at Roy Hestia and declaring:
"You tell them! Baron Constantin isn’t dead! He’s stubbornly alive! And he’ll keep on living that way!"
The roaring hurricane had forced him to bellow, "Until I get... my revenge on all of you!"
Revenge... Revenge... REVENGE!!!
"Just !"
He spoke, taking a deep breath, and slowly raised the two sabers before him. One shone with a sea of Light, while the Blood Pattern appeared on the other, reflecting the distant figures of the Knights.
In the stands, several High Tier experts shot to their feet as the Blood Pattern appeared. Their faces were slack with shock, as if they were looking at sothing unbelievable.
"Against the six of you!"
He angled his Long Sabers, their cold light flashing blindingly!!!
Arrogant! So arrogant! So damn arrogant!!!!
A dead silence fell over the arena and beyond. The crowd was collectively stunned. Compared to the earlier arrogance of the Sun Knight, this Intern Demon Hunter was on another level entirely.
Galahad and the other senior Knights exchanged a look, then gave a heavy nod.
In unison, they declared, "We accept your challenge!"
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