"First of all, I'm not targeting anyone in particular,"
"I just want to say, every single one of you here is trash!"
As soon as those words were spoken, shock rippled through the crowd.
Immediately, shouts, curses, and cries of indignation erupted from all sides of the arena:
"Where did this human brat come from? He must have a death wish!"
"Shh, I heard he was specially recruited by Lady Nocknere from outside as a Vanguard Officer."
"Even if he was handpicked by Lady Nocknere, isn't this a bit too arrogant?!"
"Which of our brothers is going to step up and teach him a lesson?"
Not only were the soldiers surrounding the arena enraged, even Nocknere, seated on the throne, was visibly stunned by Guinevere's outburst.
"What a surprise. So this is what he's really like?"
Up to this point, in the days she'd spent with him, Guinevere had always left the impression of being a gentle, good-natured man — the kind who enjoyed sweet things like Pocky.
Not just Nocknere, but others in the palace who had interacted with him recently — like Karen and Aiken — had all shared the same impression.
And now, as he suddenly revealed this sharp and wild side of himself, Nocknere found it a bit hard to adapt.
But she quickly came back to her senses, shook her head, and muttered to herself with a trace of self-mockery:
"No, what am I saying… There's no way he's some gentle and kind person."
After all, in one version of the future, he became a bloodthirsty tyrant who slaughtered nearly all the fae of Britain — a merciless enemy who even made her tremble. Even in the timeline where he became the Swordbearer and ruled Britain as its rightful king, he was a man infamous for the "Crowning of Blood."
Someone whose very existence was bound to bloodshed could never truly be gentle or kind.
"But maybe this isn't a bad thing either."
Crossing her long legs, Nocknere leaned back into the throne, one hand propping up her chin, gazing at the arena with intrigued eyes that sparkled with a strange gleam:
"This kind of sharp, unrestrained arrogance — that's exactly what I need in my Vanguard Officer."
"But, my lady, there is one thing..." Aiken, standing at Nocknere's side, suddenly spoke up.
"What is it?" Nocknere raised an eyebrow, asking offhandedly.
Though Aiken had a tendency to say things that made her feel dizzy with rage, considering Guinevere wasn't present right now, maybe it was fine to let him finish.
"It's just, Vanguard Officer Guinevere just said, 'everyone here is trash,'" Aiken said earnestly. "Doesn't that mean… he's including you too, my lady?"
Nocknere's face froze instantly.
Of course. Letting Aiken speak was always a mistake.
…
[In order to intensify the battle and provoke your enemies, you immediately activated taunt against all Northern fae soldiers.]
[It worked perfectly.]
[Soon, the first fae warrior stepped onto the arena.]
The first challenger was a fae wielding a greatsword and a massive shield. His green skin, bald shiny head, pointed ears and hooked nose made him look remarkably like a goblin.
Guinevere recalled that in Britain, besides the six major fae clans, there were also rare, lesser fae races — and goblins, as a transliteration of "dwarves," could perhaps be considered a type of fae too?
No — judging by this guy's nearly two-meter height, maybe "troll" would be a more fitting term.
"You've got some nerve — a mere human dares to run his mouth like this?"
The giant goblin pointed his massive blade at Guinevere and growled coldly:
"Now, I'll show Lady Nocknere who truly deserves to be her Vanguard—"
"Too much talk."
Before the goblin could finish, the edge of a longsword was already flying toward his face. Guinevere had no interest in wasting time — he launched a surprise attack.
Startled by the speed of the strike, the goblin instinctively took a step back. But he wasn't some random grunt. To be the first to reach the arena after Guinevere's full-court taunt meant he was strong — comparable to a Queen's Knight.
He executed a textbook counter: retreating swiftly while raising his shield to block the incoming slash.
With a loud clang, he felt the force of the blow on the shield and confirmed it wasn't a feint. Grinning, he shoved the shield forward to knock Guinevere's blade aside. Simultaneously, his other hand swung the greatsword down toward Guinevere's face.
As he struck, he grinned savagely. That shove had exposed a brief opening in Guinevere's stance. The sword wouldn't be able to attack or defend again in time — this strike would be enough to finish him.
But the next moment left the goblin wide-eyed in disbelief.
After his sword was knocked aside, Guinevere didn't retreat. Instead, he stepped forward. His arms crossed above his head, and the deflected blade returned in a flash — even faster than before — slashing from the opposite direction.
Before the goblin's strike could land, Guinevere's sword collided with the middle of the goblin's greatsword, deflecting it. With a sharp pivot, Guinevere slipped to the goblin's side. Using the point of blade contact as leverage, his sword twisted and pressed against the goblin's throat.
In the blink of an eye, the goblin — a respected warrior in the Northern army — had been defeated.
"S-So strong…"
Muttering a generic loser's line, the goblin prepared to slink off the stage.
But before he could, Guinevere frowned.
Then, under the astonished gazes of everyone present, he turned his sword and slashed it across his own throat.
[You defeated your opponent, but before the victory could be finalized, you chose to commit suicide and restart the Endless Trial.]
Time rewound to the moment the goblin first leaped onto the arena, taunting Guinevere.
He seemed weaker than expected… Maybe a good warm-up.
With that thought, Guinevere casually stuck his greatsword into the arena floor and pulled the spear from his back.
"Come — let me test my spear."
Guinevere said calmly.
Then, he lunged forward with the spear.
[As you are unfamiliar with spear techniques, and your base stats are roughly equal, you quickly fell into a disadvantage.]
[After only a few exchanges, you were defeated.]
Well, that was to be expected.
Though he was a fan of martial combat, the only weapon he had ever seriously trained with was the greatsword. His knowledge of spearplay… was limited to watching a few Liuhe Spear tutorials and half-heartedly copying them. In actual combat, his only experience with spears was throwing them like javelins.
But that didn't matter.
After all, combat technique and experience could always be built up through repeated fighting.
And now, in front of him stood a moderately difficult opponent — ideal for endless grinding.
[You chose to commit suicide again and restart the Endless Trial.]
"Again."
[You fought the goblin warrior once more.]
[Thanks to the trait "Heaven's Envy," your learning speed with spears increased significantly.]
[With the status effect "Advance Unrelenting," your combat experience gain also rose.]
[This time, your spearplay was far more refined, putting serious pressure on your opponent — but still not good enough. After several dozen exchanges, you were defeated again.]
"Again."
[In your third battle with the goblin warrior…]
[Thanks to the continued effects of "Heaven's Envy" and "Advance Unrelenting," your spear skills improved even further. This time, the match was evenly matched.]
[After nearly a hundred rounds, you won by a hair's breadth.]
"...That's truly impressive."
Lifting the spear away from the goblin warrior's throat, Guinevere glanced down at the weapon and murmured in admiration.
Spears were known for being easy to learn but hard to master. A week of training could beat someone who had practiced swords for years — but to become truly elite? That took a lifetime.
Against weak opponents, that advantage was enough. But when facing battle-hardened monsters like these, the gap closed. Without mastery, it was just asking to get beaten — as he had been at first.
And yet, thanks to the combined effects of "Heaven's Envy" and "Advance Unrelenting," he had progressed from novice to near-expert in just three battles.
Still, his comment about rapid progress was misunderstood by the goblin warrior.
"Hmph! What, getting scared now? Realizing you bit off more than you can chew?"
"I'll admit I'm weaker than you. But there are plenty of soldiers stronger than me in the army! If you had this much trouble beating me, what do you think's going to happen when they step up?! You'll be weeping!"
"——"
Snapped out of thought by the goblin's words, Guinevere slowly turned to look at him. His expression was half-smile, half-sneer — unsettling enough to make the goblin shiver.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that? I'll have you know, I've already conceded, so don't think you can—"
Before he could finish, he saw Guinevere flip the spear and stab himself in the throat.
The Endless Trial resumed once more.
[By the seventh time you fought the goblin warrior, you had completely memorized his style. With a single sweep and thrust, you knocked him off the stage.]
"So then…"
Resting the spear on his shoulder, Guinevere scanned the now much quieter military camp:
"Who's next?"