Following Lazurite Roy's words.
The entire Chamber of Commerce meeting hall fell dead silent.
With three Chairmen and two Darksteel Azurites present, even the Directors, who were used to throwing their weight around, all lowered their heads and said nothing. Czarny, standing in the corner, tried his best to become invisible; in reality, he was already celebrating wildly inside.
As expected.
He had underestimated the little squirrel. She could even kill Kazimierz's highest-level combatant.
Maybe the Flametail Knight really could do it.
The Directors' expressions were incredibly grim, as if they had all taken a bite of Surströmming, were holding it in their mouths, and were forbidden from spitting it out or swallowing it. This disgusting feeling of being thwarted left many of the Directors swaying, nearly collapsing and dying on the spot.
However.
Compared to the Directors.
The three Chairmen and the two Darksteel Azurites didn't show as much change in expression, though they frowned deeply. Their solemn looks were like the dark clouds preceding a violent storm.
As for the two Lazurites, they feigned seriousness but couldn't care less internally. The Platinum Azurite cared even less. If not for his low status, the Platinum Azurite would have been ready to ask, "Is there anything else for me? If not, I'm heading home to sleep."
For the Platinum Azurite, this feeling was like...
Working at a company with a 996 (or 007) culture, always on call, having signed a bullshit contract forbidding resignation under penalty of compensation high enough to buy a house and car and bankrupt him. And the three highest leaders above were equally idiotic. Then one day, one of those three top leaders went out to play and accidentally died.
As a miserable wage slave exploited by the company, the Platinum Azurite was far from sad—he wanted to pop champagne and celebrate. *Serves him right! Good riddance!*
Compared to the celebrating Platinum Azurite, the Lazurites were merely indifferent. Although their status was much higher than Platinum's, they were also replaceable. Few Lazurites could hold their position for several years. The number of Lazurites who died at the hands of their prey was actually low; most died for various other reasons, such as attempting to leave or taking the fall and dying by a Darksteel's arrow. Roy had managed to be a Lazurite for over a decade purely because he wasn't just strong—ranking among the top of all Lazurites in history—but also incredibly slick. He knew how to talk to people and how to talk to ghosts.
What should they do now?
Nobody knew.
Even the three Chairmen and the Darksteel Azurites had never encountered such a sudden situation. Usually, if public opinion couldn't be suppressed, the Darksteel Azurites would go out and "clean up" the center of the controversy. After all, in all this time, the Darksteel Azurites had never really met anyone stronger than them. Stronger people existed, like the Grand Knight Commander, but there was truly no one who could *kill* them.
Although Old Three's strength was average among the three Darksteel Azurites, weaker than the strongest, Big Boss, he couldn't have been *that* much weaker. Even Big Boss would have had a hard time killing him. This meant... the Flametail Knight was stronger than every Darksteel Azurite present.
Revenge? Impossible. They weren't idiots.
After ascending to the position of Darksteel Azurite, they had long since abandoned their personal emotions. Even after guessing that Old Three was likely dead, the remaining two didn't get very angry. Just as Lazurite and Platinum Azurites were replaceable, the Darksteels didn't feel their "colleague" was particularly important. Their strategies, similar to the three Chamber of Commerce Chairmen, were already on a very high level. They wouldn't be emotionally swayed by a single death.
Even if their own family died in front of them, their expressions wouldn't change much.
Putting emotions aside.
Even Big Boss, the top Darksteel Azurite, wasn't 100% confident he could kill a Knight capable of killing Old Three. And... behind this Knight was Raythean Industries. Raythean Industries was fanning the flames like crazy, completely different from what they had promised before. However, this time Raythean Industries had truly found a valid reason, and the Chamber of Commerce was powerless.
The pressure from inside and out was immense.
Under Raythean Industries' direct public assault, the public outcry grew louder and louder. The pressure on the public relations department was unprecedented. Everyone knew this couldn't last long. If it dragged on and the hype completely broke out of their control, wouldn't it just be driving more traffic to the Flametail Knight?
Just then, a call came through to the Chairman's official phone. When the assistant brought the phone over, the Chairman's face gradually darkened.
It was from the Supervisory Commission.
They were starting to apply pressure too.
The Flametail Knight had clearly won, yet the Chamber of Commerce was delaying the announcement and refusing to award the championship trophy. This was a huge insult to a Knight. As the Supervisory Commission for the Knights, the Supervisory Commission naturally had to stand up for the young Knight.
A finely spoken excuse, with sound reasoning.
However, everyone knew.
The Supervisory Commission and the Chamber of Commerce had always been at odds. They would never pass up an opportunity to suppress the Chamber of Commerce.
"That woman... with the foreign power Raythean Industries fanning the flames outside, she still dares to pressure our Chamber of Commerce. She doesn't understand the concept of uniting against an external enemy...."
One of the Vice-Chairmen, who was a bit short and had a rather sinister appearance, snorted coldly.
The atmosphere in the meeting hall was like the bottom of the deep sea, suffocatingly heavy.
The Directors looked like they had eaten shit, the Chairmen and Darksteels looked grim, the Lazurites were shifting their shoulders in boredom, the Platinum Azurite was popping champagne in his head, and Czarny was silently lowering his head, enjoying the show.
Finally, the Darksteel Azurites and the Chairmen seemed to have reached a consensus.
"Send word down. Acknowledge the Flametail Knight's victory. As for the reason, just say we uphold a strict and impartial attitude toward the competition, and we dared not arbitrarily announce a result without finding the Nameless Knight's tracks or body. The Knight Major is the fairest and most just competition, and our attitude toward it is also the fairest and most just."
"Go find someone with a similar appearance to impersonate the corpse..."
"As for the issue of maliciously swapping contestants, let the Knight Major organizers take the blame. We'll select new organizers afterward."
The series of operations was smooth as silk.
If Raythean Industries hadn't jumped in and fanned the flames, they could have easily suppressed the outcry from these ordinary spectators with a wave of their hand. There would have been no need for so many reasons and excuses.
But.
In the end....
The Chamber of Commerce was forced to compromise.
The only fortunate thing was that this was just a Spring Major championship. Even if many people were paying attention, it was, after all, just the Spring Major. Its value was far less than the overall Knight Major Championship. In the future, they just needed to deliberately promote the Blood Knight and reduce news about the Flametail Knight. Over time, the hype around the Flametail Knight's championship would die down.
However.
What gave the Chairman the biggest headache right now was this:
The Flametail Knight could defeat a Darksteel Azurite, and she was the culprit who had killed a Director before. This meant that if the Flametail Knight wanted to, she could kill *more* Directors, and even slaughter the Chamber of Commerce from top to bottom.
*This* was the most terrifying part.
Compared to this, the Spring Major championship wasn't so important.
No one wanted a sharp blade hanging over their heads 24/7.
The Chairman, who had been standing by the main seat without speaking, suddenly said, "How should we... deal with the little squirrel..."
He was speaking to all the Directors present, but he was met with silence. All the Directors lowered their heads, afraid to speak. In truth, they had no other ideas. Just then, one Director weakly said, "Chairman, why don't we just send a large group to encircle and kill her? Even if the little squirrel has Raythean Industries behind her, this is our Kazimierz. Even if we really kill the little squirrel, Raythean Industries wouldn't just go all out and fight us to the death, right? After all, it wasn't easy for them to develop their branch here. Fighting us to the death wouldn't do them any good either."
"Moreover, we've already checked this little squirrel's background. It's completely clean. She has no connection to Raythean Industries whatsoever. She's likely just a pawn Raythean Industries selected for their game... so...."
Before the Director could finish, the Chairman cut him off.
"Say no more!"
"If the Supervisory Commission was willing to stand with us, we wouldn't fear even Raythean Industries. No matter how strong Raythean Industries is, it can't contend with a nation. The Supervisory Commission also has the Campaign Knights. But now... will the Supervisory Commission stand with us? That woman at the Supervisory Commission has long wished for our immediate demise!!"
At this, the Chairman continued, "Strengthen your own defenses, or arrange for body doubles to represent you outside. Regarding the Knight King's Tomb, accelerate the excavation. As long as I can obtain the Knight King's Holy Sword, all problems will be solved. Funnel resources to all the biotech companies. I need powerful monsters... not cannon fodder that gets killed in one hit..."
"Also...."
The Chairman looked at the CEO of Shaw-Ranke Biotechnology and said, "From now on, the Chamber of Commerce's resources will be prioritized for you. That Test Subject from the Loken Water Tank you mentioned... I need to see it in half a year...."
"Yes!!"
The meeting ended.
All the Directors scattered. The first thing they did after leaving the Chamber of Commerce was to call their companies and activate their emergency chairman protection plans. At least until the little squirrel was dead, they probably wouldn't dare emerge from their designated safe rooms. All external affairs would be handled by body doubles.
After all the Directors had left, the few members of the Armorless Union also left the Chamber of Commerce and headed for their own skyscraper. Since one Darksteel Azurite had died, Roy, as the strongest and longest-serving Lazurite, had a high probability of becoming the next Darksteel.
However.
Roy's strength was a critical weakness. Although he was strong, the gap between him and even the weakest Darksteel Azurite was still immense.
After dismissing the Lazurite and Platinum Azurites.
The two Darksteel Azurites finally spoke.
"Boss... I've investigated. That little squirrel's strength was genuinely mediocre in the past. I've watched all her previous matches; she wasn't hiding any strength. But after the top-eight match against the Swift-Sword Knight, it's as if she became a different person. Plus, the little squirrel is only in her twenties and has no powerful bloodline. Even if she started training in her last life, it's impossible for her to be this strong."
"And... the power she displayed in the match... didn't seem human...."
Big Boss, the true core of the Armorless Union, fell silent for a long while before saying, "It's a god...."
"It's recorded in the old texts that the ancient gods would seal parts of their power within objects, or inside people's bodies. To suddenly erupt with this level of power... only a god could do that...."
Old Two was stunned. "Could it be... Old Three really faced a god...."
Big Boss nodded. "What else? You know Old Three's strength. Even Old Nearl at his peak couldn't have killed him so easily. Besides a god, I can't think of any other way a 20-year-old ordinary little Knight could kill Old Three so easily. Besides, did you see the video? That crimson glow... it wasn't Originium Arts at all. A single person can't possess that many types of Originium Arts."
"Then what do we do..."
"Gods only possess such power because of their bloodline. Without that bloodline, a god is nothing. Continue the experiment over there. Agree to their cooperation... *His* threat is too great.."
——————
A full forty minutes passed.
The host finally received the update from above, so happy he almost cried.
"Ladies! Gentlemen!!"
The audience, which had already descended into chaos, finally quieted down a bit upon hearing the host's voice.
The host said awkwardly, "After forty minutes of rigorous investigation, we have finally found the mangled body of the Nameless Knight under the deepest part of the ruins!! We, the Knight Major, uphold the principles of utmost fairness and justice. Before seeing a body, we dared not rashly make a judgment. If we made a mistake, it would be the greatest insult to the fairness of the Knight Major!"
Tsk...
The host's shameless words made Lucas Reeve and Sona roll their eyes.
As expected.
The real Nameless Knight was long gone, not even dust remaining. If Lucas Reeve wasn't mistaken, they had probably just found a random person to be a stand-in.
"Next!! Let us announce!! The champion of this Spring Major is!!"
"The Flametail Knight!!!"
Amidst the host's passionate roar, the fireworks prepared for the Nameless Knight outside The Wastes bloomed behind the Flametail Knight. The Chamber of Commerce executive responsible for the Knight Major also came on stage with a fake smile to present the award. Lucas Reeve even specifically returned the body to Sona, letting her experience what it felt like to accept the prize.
"We have all witnessed the strength of the Flametail Knight! And according to the rules, the champion of the Spring Major will be able to skip the Knight Major selection tournament in a few months and directly enter the main Knight Major Championship, which will be held in half a year! Let us look forward to seeing what great surprises the Flametail Knight will bring us at the Knight Major Championship in six months!!"
The Flametail Knight had finally won the championship.
Her fans erupted, howling in the streets. Many shops even spontaneously changed their posters to ones of the Flametail Knight. The slums also erupted, with people excitedly embracing and celebrating, shouting the Flametail Knight's name, as if that name had already become their new faith.
We... are the champions!
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