The Valhalla Temple.

Willas, a priest of the Cairo branch, grumbled as he watered a withering flower.

So boring.

For the past year, it has been boring in Valhalla. Usually, although not often, he would receive requests for a Ranking Match, but as if everyone had made a promise, no one wanted a Ranking Match.

Willas knew why. The moment Roman Dmitry returned from the Southern Front and spoke about the Ranking Matches, all the rankers went silent.

Exactly one year later, Roman Dmitry will cause havoc in the Cairo Kingdoms rankings. Those who want to prove themselves just have one year to hone their skills and prove themselves against Roman Dmitry.

It was a huge event. Roman Dmitry was a talent that the continent paid attention to. Regardless of victory or defeat, they wanted to test their skills against Roman Dmitry for the chance to instantly improve their positions as swordsmen.

What was the Ranking Match?

It was the stage for battles, where people with the desire to hold on to their honor fought to prove themselves. Moreover, it was a stage where many people would watch them fight and be given many rewards.

So all of Cairos rankers went into training. This was an unprecedented and unanticipated event in Cairo. People responded in ways that had never been seen before as a swordsman in his mid-20s turned the continent upside down.

And Willas understood their feelings. If the opponents were specific, then maybe people wouldve still submitted a request for a Ranking Match right now.

Roman Dmitry is truly on a strange borderline. Although his official ranking is 100th due to his duel with Homer. He proved his skills by defeating Butler, who was ranked 2nd in the Hector Kingdom. And this is where the problem starts. Common sense should say that the 100th ranker would prove his worth by going against the 99th one, but it is safe to say that Romans skills are already top-notch in Cairo.

From the 1st to the 99th, everyone was Romans prey now. Not knowing whom he would choose, everyone was wary of Roman. Furthermore.

He is still in his mid-20s but he is already making everyone cautious.

The people had their doubts. They admit Roman was strong, but they wondered if he had a trick up his sleeve when he defeated Butler.

Then, this could be a chance. It was nearly impossible for him to achieve that level in his mid-20s, so they hoped to claim victory over Roman Dmitry.

Because of the vague line, Cairo fell into silence. With the rise of a monster named Roman Dmitry, everyone was pushing themselves to grow.

No matter what choice they make, it is certain that Cairos ranking will be pushed down more once Roman Dmitry makes a move.

This much was certain. According to the sources of Valhalla, the battle with Butler was real. Whether Roman challenged the bottom or top rankers, it was undeniable that all the rankers of Cairo would be pushed out of their ranks by Roman. It was then.

Priest, priest!

A follower of Valhalla came running and called out to him.

We got a call from Roman Dmitry! The Ranking Match youve wanted to start is finally beginning!

Hearing those words, Willas smiled brightly like a child.

At that time, Marquis Benedict also received the same report.

is he finally moving?

Last year, he did his best to recruit Roman. Roman Dmitry set a deadline of one year, but Marquis Benedict believed that only those who worked hard could achieve results.

He periodically sent gifts to Roman Dmitry and took care of congratulating his family when needed, and he even sent his own daughter to bring Roman to his side.

Despite such efforts, Roman didnt give him an answer. Although he was liked a lot more by nobles, Roman Dmitry never gave a firm answer.

The recent situation on the international side is quite unique.

The Kronos Empire was like an active volcano. One could never know when it would explode and invade Cairo. But above all, a Magic Tower had recently disappeared from the Kronos Empire.

It started with the Phoenix Magic Tower of the Frank Kingdom. People didnt care much about a fallen tower, but when the entire tower vanished, people realized something was wrong.

Since the Kronos Empire suffered the most damage, they were furious. Convinced that it was the work of other nations, they raised their voices, saying they would conquer the continent.

The Kronos Empire was strong. And even knowing what kind of ambition they had, people couldnt do anything against this beehive.

And the Valhalla Empire was the same. Despite Valhallas rapid rise to power as a result of its vast lands, lush forests, and the advantage of not sharing a border with Kronos, a head-on victory against them could not be guaranteed.

In this terrifying situation, the weaker nations were the most anxious. In particular, Cairo, which bordered Kronos, was in the strangest situation of all.

A war with Kronos is an unavoidable reality. When they cross the borders, they will surely try to capture our land, and Cairo will need an orderly movement to even try and counter them. The war on the Southern Front revealed Cairos flaws. Now is the time for a change. If the nobles can just get Dmitry on their side, then the current power system will not be stagnant.

Royal knight. It was the last piece of the puzzle that Benedict needed to defeat the King, and so he waited patiently.

A person worth having. As long as Cairo secured the best talent, the nobles wouldnt have a hard time overthrowing the king.

A weak king cannot handle the chaotic times. Even if Roman Dmitry doesnt give us the answer we want, it wont work out for him.

Puak!

Crack.

He broke the cup.

Favor was born out of hope. At the moment when even hope wasnt allowed, Marquis Benedict didnt leave Roman alone.

Blood flowed from his hand.

As he wiped the blood off with a handkerchief, he called for his vassal.

So, where is Roman Dmitry?

Perhaps.. There was a high probability that he had come to the capital. It was because most rankers were in the capital. But the vassals answer was quite different from what he had expected.

well, Roman Dmitry is in the North.

The North. This made it clear. Roman was starting from the bottom.

The 99th ranker, Jayden, gulped at the letter he had received a few days ago.

[As a ranker of Cairo, I am requesting a Ranking Match against Jayden, who is ranked 99th.]

Finally, the time came. Roman Dmitry, who was rumored to move unexpectedly, had pointed his sword at Jayden rather than the top rankers.

Actually, looking at the facts themselves, it was clear that Roman Dmitry was going to win. In the first place, there was no need to even talk about his battle with Butler. Just his victory against Homer proved that he could go up against the middle-level rankers.

But Jayden saw this fight with Roman as a chance.

Roman Dmitry is a person aiming to be the top ranker. If he is someone who lives up to the rumors, there is no way he would want to battle against the lower rankers, so this must mean the rumors were just exaggerations. That is why he must be expecting that he will lose to higher rankers, so he is trying to raise his rank from the lower levels by using us.

It was a reasonable theory. If Roman Dmitrys skills were real, it would be more beneficial for Roman to skip the meaningless battles with low-level rankers and challenge the top-level ones.

The only thing he could gain from fighting people with lower ranks was that people would talk about it. If he did this, he would only get exhausted, and his victory over other rankers couldnt be guaranteed.

Maybe that was it. If fatigue builds up and he gets injured, then Roman could claim to be hurt and hold the position while stepping out of the Ranking Matches.

Was that why?

So Jayden didnt avoid the fight. He showed up on the specified date and met Roman.

As the rumors said, he is young.

Mid-20s. His appearance showed it. According to the rumors, he had already sent a request for the next opponent too.

I will do my best right from the start.

He didnt expect to win this match. But he wanted to lose by showing that he was someone who was worthy of being in the rankings.

Willas came as the referee for the fight.

As soon as he received the application for the Ranking Match, he rushed here and immediately gave the signal to start.

Swish!

Start!

The signal fell like lightning.

And.

Puak!

Jaydens mind fell into darkness.

The people were shocked.

One second. The result was instant. They wondered if Roman rushed in before Jayden was even ready to respond, but that was the end of it.

The people were silent. They knew Roman was strong, but like Jayden, they also wondered if Jayden had a chance.

Willas checked Jaydens condition.

Seeing that he hadnt come to his senses, he looked at Roman.

It is a one-sided match, which makes no sense here. Do you really need to go through such fights? With Roman Dmitrys skills, you can go for the top rankers right away, so why not skip all this and start from the 30th rank? You know it too, right? Mr. Roman? The fact that fighting from the bottom isnt beneficial for someone like you who is aiming for the top.

Willas also heard the rumors. The match against the 99th ranker. Roman was looking for an excuse to stop in the middle. If he defeats only those at the bottom ranks and accumulates exhaustion, Roman Dmitry could avoid fighting stronger rankers and even hold his honor.

It was a clever move. And when he would feel that he was not climbing the ranks fast enough, he could withdraw, saying he was hurt, and even give hope to the people that there was a chance that he would continue fighting later on.

Roman said,

I understand why you are saying that. But this is why I need to rise from the bottom.

The publics words. Roman Dmitry chose his path from there. If he had been called a genius swordsman since he was young, people wouldnt have cared much about this.

But the truth was different. Before Baek Joong-hyuk possessed Romans body, this man was called a fool and trash, so that title stuck longer, and people always doubted him.

Even though people recognized his skills as the hero of Cairo, they still doubted whether his skills were as great as the rumors.

And the fight with the 99th ranker ignited this.

No matter how much they thought about it, there was no reason for Roman Dmitry to push himself from the bottom to the top.

I know what rumors are going around about this fight. People doubt my decisions because they think I cannot claim the top rank in the Cairo Kingdom. So I made this choice. From the bottom to the top. If I dont stop and defeat everyone, no matter what kind of life I had in the past, no one will doubt me any longer.

With that, Roman took a step back.

The next fight was scheduled, and seeing Roman leave, Willas felt his blood boil.

This is it.

From the 99th to the 1st, Roman said he would fight everyone. Whether people doubted him or not, Willas was genuinely happy at Romans statement about wanting to prove himself.

In his boring life in Cairo, he had been waiting for someone like Roman. He wasnt sure where Romans challenges would stop, but Willas wanted Roman to last for as long as possible.

The match ended in vain, and everyone in Cairo came to know about it.

People didnt care about the first win. There were still negative rumors about it.

Isnt this too much? Roman Dmitry has a tight schedule. And no matter how great he is, if he constantly uses aura, wouldnt fatigue pile up? Then how will he win over the top rankers?

Right. But he cannot delay that either. He said that he would defeat everyone, starting with Jayden, and go to the top, and if he postponed it, then it would be considered lame words.

These Ranking Matches were unusual. Those who acknowledged Roman Dmitrys strength thought it was difficult for him to get to the 1st rank.

One match every day for ninety-nine days. It felt impossible to finish all of them with victories. Yet it only took less than a week for their doubts to vanish.