Night Ranger

The final stage of Magore Academy’s Battle of the Holy Grail was about to officially start.

This time, the competition attracted a lot of people from the neighbouring Three Ring Towers.

After all, it was the period for new student registration, so lots of southern nobles were staying in the surroundings. And stories of Marvin killing in Magore Academy, followed by what happened in the Arbitration Hall, had already spread throughout the Three Ring Towers’ surroundings.

Hearing that Marvin wanted to use the follower spot to participate with his brother, everyone suddenly got interested.

White River Valley was an unfamiliar name. A small place in the countryside actually came out with such a pair of brothers?

Most people hadn’t expected this.

For this reason, they were especially curious. Dame Hathaway showing her face also covered Marvin in another layer of mystery.

It seemed like this little baron’s origin wasn’t insignificant.

And their opponent, Unicorn clan’s Young Master White, didn’t meet any problems on his path to the final qualifying round.

Most people thought White would end up victorious.

After all, in this contest between wizards, just one Marvin would be unable to change anything.

And although Marvin’s younger brother, the kid known as Wayne, was apparently very talented, he had barely recovered from the curse. His casting ability was close to none.

He definitely couldn’t use much strength in this match, and might instead even become a liability.

Insisting in taking part in the competition in this situation undoubtedly made a lot of people puzzled.

However, most people came for entertainment.

They wanted to see that Baron Marvin who had just arrived at the Three Ring Towers and then became the center of attention by repeatedly shocking people. They wanted to know what else he could do!

Thus, on the day of the match, the audience had completely filled the seats of Ashes Tower’s third magic practice field.

...

"This is your plan? A one versus two?"

In the contestant room, Hanzer anxiously looked at Marvin after listening to his plan.

He didn’t worry about Wayne, because according to Marvin’s plan he wouldn’t need to appear on stage .

Even if he said he would fight as Wayne’s follower, he had never once thought of letting his recovering brother get on stage.

He would inevitably fight alone this time.

He knew he could do it.

If it was the normal tournament terrain, Marvin might have a headache. But since it was in the forest, Marvin had great confidence.

Level 5 Ranger, with a Ruler of the Night’s experience. This should be enough to teach a lesson to two 1st rank class holders, even if one of them had the current strongest class, wizard.

"White is a level 5 wizard, his follower is a level 5 guardian. You have no way to get near them!"

Hanzer shook his head. "Even if it’s a complex terrain, White must have made some preparations, and detection type spells are the counter to your rogue class."

"I’ll wait for an opportunity."

Marvin also knew that a guardian along with a prepared wizard would be very troublesome.

A big shield combined with a big cannon was simply unequalled.

But how could they know the result without trying?

...

Ten minutes later, the competition officially started. With a signal from a staff member, Marvin walked on the contestant path, alone.

Wayne stayed behind in the contestant’s corner. There was some worry in his eyes, but he still fully trusted Marvin.

Since his older brother said he was quite confident, he must trust him.

His older brother had previously told him that the only thing he could do now was get better more quickly.

If Marvin won this round, he had to recover to his peak for the next Battle of the Holy Grail. This way, he would be able to fight with those powerhouses from the other two academies.

After all, the Battle of the Holy Grail’s terrain was the snow mountain, unlike this forest terrain which was favorable to Marvin.

...

Marvin walked down the contestant path and went through a sliding door.

In front of him was a vast and obscure forest.

In front of him was a sheepskin scroll on top of a stone.

The rules of the current round were written on the scroll.

The rules were simple. Both sides started on opposite ends, North and South. A golden Holy Grail was put in the middle of the forest. It could be found by following the map.

To win, you just had to get the Holy Grail and reach a set location.

The location was on the western edge of the forest.

Both sides had a scroll with a map of the forest. There was a red point on the map, marking the Holy Grail’s location.

Once someone grabbed the Holy Grail and started moving, they would also be seen on the scroll.

‘Looks like my side is a bit closer…’

‘A guardian’s running speed isn’t fast. Even with haste, he still wouldn’t be as fast as me, and the same applies for the wizard. They should be aware of this.’

‘Thus, they’ll probably give up on the Holy Grail and wait at the set location instead,’ Marvin calmly analyzed.

This was a very decent plan. Marvin was a ranger after all, so his speed would be very fast in a forest.

But if they waited at the set location, Marvin would find it quite difficult to carry the Holy Grail there while being attacked by two people.

It needed to be placed in a very small circle.

‘In any case, I’ll first get the Holy Grail and think about the rest later.’

Marvin no longer hesitated and put away the scroll before rushing toward the depths of the forest.

...

"I reckon we shouldn’t be as fast as him."

"According to the information, the other side is a level 5 ranger. They might split up, letting the ranger grab the Holy Grail first while that Wayne starts going to the set location."

On the other side, White was muttering while looking at the scroll.

A tall man was standing behind him, wearing full body armor and holding a very large shield.

This was a level 5 guardian. Not much firepower but outstanding defense. It was usually said that guardians are rogues’ nemesis.

An ordinary thief who wanted to break through a guardian’s defense was simply a lunatic!

Even a ranger with a fierce attack would have a headache.

Maybe even Marvin’s curved daggers’ slashes couldn’t break the other side’s armor.

"We are going to the set location first to wait for them!" White Firmly ordered.

He immediately used haste on the guardian and himself and the two quickly headed west.

...

A shadow kept moving between trees.

Marvin was like a fish in water in the forest. His perception had also risen slightly. Although this kind of increase was very faint and based on the situation, Marvin could still clearly feel himself becoming sharper.

In this forest, the two men weren’t the only threats.

There were still quite a lot of beasts and monsters. However, most of them were at the 1st rank.

Ranger abilities could let him easily avoid all kinds of monsters.

On the way, he avoided at least three monsters with strength similar to his. He wouldn’t be able to do this in the snow mountain!

‘The location of the Holy Grail is ahead.’

After going around a pine tree, the area in front of him turned out to be a large open space.

A stone platform was standing in the middle of the open area.

Marvin squinted. He examined the place and found no traps.

‘There doesn’t seem to be anything to the north.’

‘Seems like they really went straight to the set location to wait for me.’

Marvin took the Holy Grail and put it in his pouch. It was a gold colored cup, the size of a little bell.

He took a look at his surroundings, suddenly displaying a smile on his face.

‘Waiting for an opportunity?’

‘Let’s see who has more patience.’

A bold plan suddenly took shape in Marvin’s mind!

...

"The Holy Grail is on the move, Sir!"

"His speed is very fast, but we should be able to get to the set location first," The guardian reported.

"Good, we are speeding up!" White grimly said.

A moment later, the guardian that was in charge of looking at the map regularly suddenly shouted, "Sir! Wait!"

"It stopped moving!"

"What?" White was surprised. They had shared the work. He had to regularly use a detection spell. Fortunately he carried enough uncommon detection items.

The guardian was in charge of checking the map.

"Look." The guardian pointed at the map. "It suddenly stopped moving."

"And based on the map, he seems to be not too far from us!"

‘Uh?’ White was confused

He felt a hint of a scheme.

But the other side shouldn’t know his location?

Being this close, this was an opportunity!

"He might be resting."

"Regardless, we should go and see!"

White firmly said.