The Reborn Swordmaster
Chapter 37
“Wooooooo!”
The roar of a hundred thousand spectators filling the Arena was no longer just sound.
It was almost a physical force.
Eardrums rang.
The stone structure itself seemed to tremble.
And at the center of that overwhelming noise...
There was a vast lake.
“...”
The fighters who had rushed out so boldly faltered for a moment.
The dusty Arena floor was nowhere to be seen.
The enormous space had been completely filled with water, shimmering blue beneath the sunlight.
They had expected something like this in theory.
But seeing it with their own eyes was something else entirely.
It far exceeded anything they had imagined.
“I’m honestly speechless.”
“...Same.”
Even Riyan nodded at Aries’s dazed remark.
A hundred thousand spectators.
Ten galleys.
And hundreds of fighters.
The scale itself wasn’t unfamiliar to him.
He had experienced large-scale battles in his previous life.
But this was different.
This was happening in the very center of the Imperial Capital.
And all of it had been created merely to entertain the citizens.
Bwooooo!
At that moment, a second horn shook the heavens and earth.
It was the signal to board.
“W-We should move, right?”
Aries sounded almost broken as he spoke.
Riyan nodded and began walking toward the ten galleys floating on the lake.
Their destination was obvious.
Ten piers had been arranged clockwise around the edge of the water.
At the end of each pier, one galley waited with its heavy hull resting in the lake.
“Those three must be ours.”
Three galleys were moored side by side.
They belonged to the Rodus alliance.
Each carried the flags of their respective training centers, so there was no chance of confusion.
They were also the closest to their entrance.
When Riyan reached the pier assigned to them, he signaled Yarik.
Yarik drew in a deep breath.
“BOOOOARD!”
At his shout, the fighters immediately rushed toward the ships.
Just as planned.
Fifty fighters boarded each of the two flanking ships.
The central ship carried twenty-eight in total, including Riyan and the special detachment.
Riyan crossed the pier without wasting a single movement.
As he did, his eyes happened to fall on the name carved into the galley.
Sea Wolf.
A sea wolf.
For some reason, Riyan strongly suspected Berka had insisted on the name.
He stepped aboard.
Above him, the Rodus flag snapped violently in the wind.
The fighters moved quickly.
Yarik shouted at the top of his lungs, ordering everyone into their assigned positions.
Riyan watched for a moment, then turned his gaze across the lake.
At the opposite entrance stood four galleys belonging to the Trident alliance.
Each carried a huge trident emblem on its flag.
Bwooooo!
The third horn sounded.
The signal to begin.
Riyan’s black eyes turned cold.
So it starts.
And yet the galley didn’t move.
Of course, with no oarsmen and no sails, that was only natural.
Instead, the water itself began to move.
“...Huh?”
One of the fighters leaned over the railing and let out a stupid sound.
The current beneath them was twisting strangely and beginning to push the hull.
Fighters seeing magic for the first time started murmuring in fascination.
A few of the barbarians even trembled, muttering that it was an evil power.
“Yarik.”
Riyan called him.
There were several reasons Yarik had been included in the special detachment.
His brute strength was one.
But more importantly, Riyan needed someone who could act as an aide.
No matter how skilled Riyan was with a sword, he hadn’t grown up in the open sea like a Nord man.
He didn’t possess Yarik’s knowledge of ships and navigation.
“You called, Captain?”
“Measure our speed. Then estimate when and how we’ll collide with an enemy ship, and how strong the impact will be. Warn the others in advance so we don’t take unnecessary losses before the fighting even starts.”
Yarik’s eyes spun slightly at the number of instructions.
Riyan clicked his tongue and simplified it.
“Report to me one minute before impact, and warn the fighters too.”
“...Got it!”
Riyan turned back toward the lake.
He could feel it.
Something unpleasantly dense was entangling itself beneath the surface.
It had to be Mana.
The energy spread like a spiderweb, creating artificial currents throughout the lake.
So Berka really was right. We have no control at all. We can only move the way they want us to.
Riyan finally understood what Berka had meant when he told him to forget about maneuvering tactics.
Splash!
The artificial current grew stronger.
Soon it formed into a high wave and slammed against the side of the ship.
Water washed over the fighters.
“Ptoo! Kgh, spit!”
“Damn it! What the hell kind of wave is that?”
The fighters shouted in surprise.
Riyan had been soaked as well.
He wiped a hand across his mouth.
Then he noticed something strange.
It isn’t salty. Fresh water?
But the sea was right next to the Imperial Capital.
Why waste water filling the Arena with fresh water?
Perhaps they wanted to avoid corrosion.
Or maybe salt would make cleanup more troublesome later.
While Riyan was thinking, all ten galleys completely cleared the entry area.
The ships were pushed out across the lake by magical currents and placed into their assigned positions.
The stage was complete.
There was no way to leave.
No way to escape.
That was when it happened.
Rumble...
A deep vibration rose from beneath the water.
Everyone in the Arena could feel it.
Then came the grinding sound of metal against metal, spreading through the water with a low tremor.
“Wh-What was that?”
“What the hell made that noise?”
The fighters became restless.
Their expressions tightened.
Riyan, however, reacted differently.
Of course they wouldn’t let this stay simple.
He had visited the Arena enough times to guess where that sound had come from.
The passage used to release monsters into the Arena.
Only now, that gate was underwater.
Even the hundred thousand spectators seemed to sense that something unusual was happening.
The cheering died away.
And then...
Something appeared.
“...!”
Riyan saw it clearly.
The first thing visible was the shadow.
Something long and enormous glided beneath the blue surface.
