Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 28 - To Surpass a Knight

"Impossible..." Viviane's eyes widened, her mouth hanging agape.

The spectating knights were speechless. Even Krista stood stunned, staring at her opponent who stood across from her, gracefully poised and with another arrow already laid upon her bowstring.

It was no secret that everyone in the room had been expecting the match to end immediately after Krista's first shot. Yet, something so incredibly logic-defying had occurred instead.

What just happened...? Did she really...? Krista's brow furrowed as she replayed the sequence of events that had occurred just seconds prior.

She had brought her bow up and to full draw in one smooth motion. Its arrowhead had been squarely centered on Sakura's head. That much she had been sure of.

But then it happened. Krista wasn't even sure she had actually seen it happen, but she knew for a fact that it had. Sakura's arms had moved in a blur even as Krista loosed her arrow, and that pitifully small bow had spat an arrow in reply.

Krista's gaze shifted downward to the floor now, confirming once and for all that what she had seen hadn't been an illusion. Sure enough, two arrows laid lifeless on the ground, their shafts splintered.

This moment of stunned silence held for a few seconds longer before it was broken by an eruption of cheers. The knights were indeed proud of their hard-earned skills, and none of them appreciated an overconfident noble who swaggered in believing that they could even begin to match that skill.

But Sakura was not the overconfident noble they once believed her to be. In fact, she had not been overconfident at all. She had merely been stating the truth.

Even now, she did not gloat. She merely maintained that serene smile on her face, all while waiting for Krista to recover from that moment of shock.

Sakura's skill was beyond impressive, and the knights knew when to recognize someone's achievements, regardless of whether they were nobles or not. At last, the tension in the room eased as the knights now cheered for both archers who were clearly masters of their craft.

"I would like to apologize," Krista said as she nocked an arrow to her bow.

"There is no need for words. Show me your sincerity through action."

"That's exactly what I was planning to do!" A wide grin spread across Krista's lips as she loosed three arrows in rapid succession, her movements so quick that each arrow sailed through the air nearly parallel to one another.

Kssh!

The sound repeated thrice within the span of a single second as Sakura's own arrows streaked through the air, intercepting those of her opponent's with ridiculous accuracy. Six arrows clattered to the ground.

And impossibly, one still flew through the air, speeding toward Krista unerringly.

Krista grit her teeth, the thrill of battle coursing through her body. This was the very first time she'd actually been challenged as an archer. While bows were not uncommon in the empire, they were viewed as tools meant for hunting and for the militia. Knights who wielded it as a weapon existed, but they were few in number.

After becoming established as the best archer in Avalyne Academy, Krista had grown complacent, and she knew it. Though she still practiced daily, she had stopped seeking greater heights, thinking that she had already achieved the peak of archery. After all, there were few who could compare to her, and she had been taught by some of the best archers in the empire.

But as she gazed upon the arrow that was about to strike the center of her breastplate, she understood that the world she knew had been no more than a droplet of water in a vast ocean.