Roses for Rosalind

On the fourth day of the knightly tourney, there was a jousting, which was also the climax of the whole tourney.On this day, the knights participating in the contest will be divided into two teams of the enemy and us, and use blunt weapons to conduct a battle that simulates a real war.After the event, all that's left is a night of feasting and revelry.

Before the start of the game, there is also a small carnival: in order to increase the entertainment of the game, the noble lords and women will throw coins to the crowd standing under the stands during the game.Therefore, no matter whether they are interested in the martial arts competition or not, people will always gather in the Colosseum at this time.They wear hats or bibs, shouting largesse (reward) or noel (Noel) loudly to meet their fall from the sky.

On the tall aristocratic stands, Earl Paris was accompanying Prince Verona, watching the carnival crowd below.boring.Looking at the fanatical faces of the people below from above, he thought to himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a familiar slim figure walking towards him.He took a closer look and found that it was actually the youngest daughter of the Capulet family, Juliet.He twisted his neck calmly, puffed up his chest to make himself look more heroic and powerful, and stood there silently and reservedly waiting for the other party to take the initiative to say hello to him.

But what he didn't expect was——

The young girl was gorgeously dressed, her jet-black hair carefully tied up.Carefully protecting the rose in her hand, she turned her head and said this to the female companion beside her, seemingly not paying attention to his figure.

Paris frowned in displeasure. He deliberately cleared his throat, trying to attract the other party's attention. However, just a few steps away from them, the girl and her female companion But he suddenly changed direction and went to the stands on the next floor.

She walked lightly past him.

From the beginning to the end, she was completely unaware of his existence.

Paris looked thoughtfully at the bright red rose carefully guarded by Juliet in her arms.

Just like the previous two days, Juliet and Rosie came to the box of Capulet's house and found their place to sit down.

"Sissy," Juliet quietly took her hand and whispered in her ear, "...I'm a little nervous."

Rosie squeezed her back reassuringly.

"You said..." Juliet's other hand squeezed tightly the bright rose that Benvolio had given her last night: "They're going to win... right?"

"...Well." Rosie seemed to be speaking to Juliet or talking to herself: "They will win."

Under the tall stands, the knights who were about to fight were neatly divided into two rows.Red or blue logos were hung on their helmets as a proof of division between the enemy and us.The two parties were facing each other silently.Affected by this serious atmosphere, the auditorium, which was originally bustling with coins, seemed to be poured with cold water out of thin air, and the boiling noise gradually quieted down.Everyone stayed in their positions well-behaved, nervously waiting for the start of the game.

The announcer checked the time, cleared his throat, and raised his voice: "Everyone!" His ending sound was very long: "The time has come—!"

"No matter what the result of the game is, the glory of the knight will always be with you!"

He turned the hourglass upside down: "Then, the game begins!"

As soon as his words fell, the two parties rushed towards each other.Amidst the sound of horses hooting, the originally distinct red and blue parties quickly mingled into one ball.Yellow sand and dust rose all over the sky in the Colosseum, as if everyone's restraint and arrogance disappeared at this moment.Romeo drew out his long sword, and he quickly withstood the first frontal attack of the enemy knight in the chaotic handover.The black horse under his crotch was shocked by the huge momentum and took two steps back, but his fighting spirit became stronger because of it.It kept shaking its head, and from its nostrils, it also sprayed heavy white air at the opponent in a demonstrative manner.Romeo patted the black horse's head with one hand, tightened the sword in his hand, and slashed at the opponent's neck with his backhand without warning——

The weapons used in the competition were purposely blunted, so he didn't have to worry about killing people.According to the regulations of the conference, in this round of competition, once someone is shot down or disarmed, he should be considered a failure and lose the qualification to stay and continue to participate in the battle.Taking the hourglass as a measure, when the sand in the hourglass is exhausted, that is, when the time runs out, whichever team has the most remaining knights will win.The knight who beats the most opponents in the winning team will enjoy the greatest glory: the lord will reward him personally, and bards and musicians will compose poems and songs specially for his victory. The power to kiss the loveliest women at the banquet down the line.

This game has neither leaders nor tactics.What Romeo has to face is a battle that is completely entrusted to him.The only thing he needs to consider now is how to defeat as many opponents as possible to win the game.

Yes, only winning.

The blue knight who was trying to attack him obviously didn't have time to react.Instinctively, he fell back, narrowly dodging the point of Romeo's sweeping sword.However, inertia made him unable to control his body, and he had no choice but to grab the rein vigorously in desperation.It's just that the horse under his crotch was pulled so hard by him, and under the pain, it raised its front hooves high and neighed to the sky.Thus, the knight, who had nothing to hold on to anymore, fell heavily off his horse in such a distressed manner.

One.

Uninterested in fighting, Romeo turned his horse's head and rushed in the direction of Benvolio, who was being pinched back and forth by two blue knights, and the situation seemed to be in bad shape.Along the way, there were many people rushing up to try to stop him. Romeo's wrist deftly exerted force, pierced, and retracted. Before everyone could see clearly, the blue knights who tried to attack him had been swept off their horses one by one by him.

five.

Benvolio gritted his teeth and was wrestling with the blue knight in front of him.Tiny sparks scattered from the place where the two swords collided, accompanied by the tooth-piercing sound of metal rubbing.He heard the wind coming from behind him, and he knew that it was an enemy who wanted to sneak up on him from behind, but he was powerless to parry.He frowned unwillingly, thinking that he was going to be defeated like this.However, at this moment, the back that should have been in severe pain was still unscathed.Accompanied by a muffled groan and the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, a sword gleaming with cold light cuts Benvolio and the enemy out of the stalemate, and at the same time swipes to the right, helping Benvolio in time Solved this urgent need.

"This heroic knight~" After finishing off the enemy, Benvolio rode his horse and approached Benvolio affectionately, and lightly poked his ribs with the hilt of his sword: "You were so handsome just now! I I swear to God, if I didn't already have Juliet, I would even give you my life!"

"...shut up!" Disgusted by the picture that appeared in his mind, Romeo shivered unconsciously.He gave Benvolio a disgusted look, who looked back at him with a smirk.

Their performance just now has attracted the attention of a bunch of people around them. Several knights from the blue side have come to them, and they seem to want to besiege them: "I will break through from there later, you are responsible Cut it off for me." Romeo frowned and looked at the obviously malicious enemy, and said softly to Benvolio: "Once I tear open the opening of the encirclement, you will follow right away-don't love to fight."

"Of order, Lord Knight." Benvolio smiled and winked at him.

Romeo pinched the horse under his crotch with both legs, urging it to rush towards an enemy knight facing him at the opposite side at full speed.Perhaps hearing the sound of galloping horses, the knight quickly turned his horse's head, narrowly avoiding Romeo's attack.But the other knight standing behind him was not as lucky as him. With the sound of the horse neighing, the black horse under Romeo's crotch raised its front hooves and kicked the man hard. mounts.The horse that was kicked wailed and fell heavily to the ground, and the knight on the horse was not spared either—his half of his body was pinned under the horse, unable to move, and he could only wail in pain loudly .He can no longer continue to fight.

The servants on the sidelines quickly ran forward to separate the man from the horse, and trotted to lift the man down.

Romeo successfully tore through the encirclement and rushed out with Benvolio.Benvolio soon found himself in a new round of fighting.Romeo grabbed the rein vigorously to calm the neighing horse.At this time, he was surprised to find that the knight he wanted to attack but failed turned out to be his rival in love, Arco De Niro.

There is no such thing as a coincidence in the world.

Originally wanted to put him in the last one, Romeo thought.But the current situation seems to have no room for him to choose.

Romeo reined in the war horse under his crotch, and looked at the opponent cautiously with his sword, while Arco De Niro also watched him silently.For a while, neither of them spoke.

The black war horse planed its hooves restlessly, and its long tail kept swinging behind it.

"Your horse is fine." Arco De Niro said suddenly, "I hope your riding skills won't disgrace it."

"I'm sure it's proud of having me as its master." Romeo hooked the corner of his mouth: "Although in fact, I'm indeed better at swordsmanship."

"Oh, what a coincidence." Alcor said, "Me too."

After a moment of silence, the horses under the crotch of the two moved at the same time.

Alcor raised the long sword in his hand and stabbed in the direction of Romeo pre-emptively.Seeing that the menacing silver weapon was only an inch away from the target, another long sword blocked its way in time - Romeo's horizontal sword came up to meet it.The intertwined sword glows disappeared at the intersection of each other's blades, and the moment the weapons collided, there was an unpleasant and piercing sound.

The muscles in Romeo's arms were shaking violently, as was Alcor's.Neither of them could say which had the upper hand.

There is an obvious advantage of choosing a long spear or a long sword as a weapon, that is, when it dances, its effective attack range is quite wide and impressive, and its lethality is also very large.Yet its length is also its fatal weakness—between strikes, the gaps in the exposed defense are almost obvious and inevitable.

As long as whoever can attack the vacancy under the opponent's ribs first, whoever can become the winner of this game.

Sweat slid down his forehead, but Romeo didn't have the time to reach out to wipe it off—all his attention was firmly focused on the other party.

The real battle seems to have just begun from this moment.

Suddenly, Alcor was once again spearheading the attack.His long sword cut through the air with a whirl, and stabbed directly at Romeo's rib.In an instant, the two were fighting together again.

Alcor's movements were fast, and Romeo's energy was almost exhausted just by defending.He is indeed good at swordsmanship as he said, and his swordsmanship is far more flexible and diverse than the previous knights.Sometimes it flips up and down, sometimes it stabs left and right, all the moves without exception are aimed at the loopholes that Romeo exposed.After a few moves, Romeo has already begun to vaguely feel that his tiger's mouth is numb - it seems that rather than defending, this young brown-haired youth is better at tough attacks that are completely different from his gentle appearance.

His rhythm must be disrupted.

thought Romeo.

While dodging Alcor's attack on him, Romeo turned his brain quickly, trying to find a way to crack it.He tried to entangle the opponent's sword, but in exchange for a more violent attack.Alcor flung his sword violently, ignoring the possibility of the long sword being thrown away, and pulled back his own sword.

The two fought inseparably, kept separating, wrestling, and chasing.Both of them have their own strengths, and their skills are more familiar and exciting.There were bursts of exclamations from the audience, and Rosie's fingertips felt cold, and she held Juliet's hand tightly.

At first the two seemed evenly matched, but Romeo never thought of a good solution.Although he caused a lot of trouble for the opponent with his quick response, gradually, Alcor still gained the upper hand.

The long swords of the two were at a stalemate.All of a sudden, Alcor lightened his strength without warning, and the steed under his crotch seemed to understand the intention of the master, and very tacitly took a step back at the moment Alcor retracted his strength, allowing Alcor to escape in time. Jianfeng.Before Romeo had time to restrain his strength, he suddenly lowered his body and completely gave up the defense on the right side of his body. With the sound of wind and thunder, he quickly passed through Romeo's opening. To attack Romeo's vital point——

All of this happened in an instant, and when Romeo finally reacted, the tip of the opponent's sword had already pointed to his throat, which was not protected by the protective gear.

"Admit defeat, sir." Alcor's chest heaved greatly.He pushed the tip of the sword another half a point, and stopped at a place far from the vital point: "There is no room for turning things around."

Romeo's neck was slightly tilted back, "Oh, is it?" His eyes were shining with high fighting spirit, as if they were burning with raging green flames: "That's not necessarily true, after all," he subtly hooked the corners of his mouth : "...the world is impermanent."

Alcor felt bad.But when it was too late, Romeo bent down and avoided the silver long sword that was shining with cold light.He turned the wrist holding the long sword, and the deliberately blunted long sword hit Alcor's wrist deftly and accurately.The position of his strike was very ingenious. Although the force was not strong, Arco felt his arm numb after being hit, and his right hand, which was holding the long sword tightly, loosened involuntarily.

The silver long sword fell to the ground.

The long sword in Romeo's hand pressed forward and quickly reached Alcor's chest.

Almost in an instant, the situation immediately reversed.

Six... oh no, Dzogchen.

There was a smug smile in Romeo's green eyes.

"Look, what am I talking about." He elegantly held a sword flower in the air, put his left hand on his chest, and actually gave a beautiful salute to the opponent on the field: "The world is impermanent, sir."