The Sword of the South Tournament was a competition to determine the strongest knight in the southern region. It attracted not only the nobles with power and influence in the south, but also hundreds of others who joined for social or entertainment purposes. The participant with the highest score across three types of matches would be awarded the title of the Sword of the South and receive three major benefits.0

First, if the winner wasn’t already a high noble, they would be granted that rank. Second, they would earn the right to challenge for the title of the Kingdom’s Greatest Swordsman. Third, they would gain the opportunity to meet Eslow, the Lord of the South and a Weaponmaster.0

For most nobles, the primary goal of competing was to attain the rank of high noble. On top of that, the prize money was huge—one million gold for first place, five hundred thousand for second, and even one hundred thousand for third place. 5

Not only that, this tournament was also the largest festival in the Lillian Kingdom. Tens of thousands of people traveled from other regions to watch, and hundreds of nobles from other territories also attended. In short, it was no exaggeration to say that the entire kingdom watched this event. 0

Participants who ranked within the top five were able to instantly gain fame and glory. However, what the audience truly craved was something else entirely: a bloodbath. The tournament’s rules mirrored those of a gladiator arena—blood splattering everywhere, flesh tearing, and screams filling the air. The participants just happened to be nobles. 1

What spectators really sought was violence; people wanted an outlet to vicariously release...0