A powerful blast of air descended from the skies.
Prince Jason’s sixth sense screamed at him to dodge it at all cost. However, no matter where he went, he would still be within the range of the attack.
The Prince knew that now was a moment of life and death, so he decided to activate the bracelet on his wrist.
A powerful explosion shook the arena. A cloud of dust rose up in the air, preventing everyone from seeing the outcome of Pearl’s powerful attack. The Emperors, Kings, and Patriarch’s, who were at their respective seats, narrowed their eyes.
Empress Andraste shook her head before speaking out her thoughts.
“Maybe we should have added in the rules that these kinds of artifacts must not be allowed in the tournament,” Empress Andraste said. “This is considered cheating.”
The other rulers nodded their heads in agreement before glancing at the Emperor who hosted the event.
Empress Leonidas’ face remained calm as he gazed down at the arena. “We can always add this to the rule later. Right now, it is too late to change anything.”
Empress Andrasted nodded her head. She was one of the people that had drafted the rules of the tournament. None of them had anticipated the use of such artifacts, so it wasn’t included in the rule book.
The other Sovereigns exchanged glances at each other, but there was nothing they could do about it. It was a loophole that they didn’t foresee. As the host of the tournament, Emperor Leonidas had taken a hands off policy in the drafting of the rules. This meant that he was innocent and the current circumstance couldn’t be blamed on him.
The Demon General, Zagarl, snorted to show his stand on the matter. Deep down, he was disappointed because Prince Jason didn’t die. Now that the Prince had activated his Trump Card, the outcome of the match was set in stone.
A powerful aura dispersed the dust cloud from the arena. Just like Prince Maximilian had predicted, half of the arena was destroyed. But, there was one thing he wasn’t able to predict.
Standing at the destroyed part of the arena was Prince Jason. He was wearing crimson colored full-plate armor that was strong enough to withstand Pearl’s devastating attack.
“Despicable Human Prince!” Pearl’s face contorted in rage. “So this is why you wanted to have a bet with me. Compared to that brat named William, you’re nothing but a piece of trash!”
Prince Jason was feeling a surge of power inside his body and decided to enjoy the pleasurable feeling. However, his opponent had spoken something he didn’t like and it soured his mood. What he hated the most was to be compared to William.
For him, the Half-Elf was a thorn in his side that wouldn’t disappear no matter how hard he tried to pull it out. Now that he was being called a piece of trash, he no longer planned to show any mercy to the beautiful Elf whom he planned to humiliate in front of everyone.
Prince Jason took a step forward, and instantly appeared two meters away from Pearl. The beautiful elf gritted her teeth as she attempted to jump backwards.
It was quite unfortunate that the Prince’s hand was able to grab her arm first, preventing her from jumping away.
With a loud cracking sound, the bones on Pearl’s arm broke. The Elf bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming out loud.
Behind the crimson helmet covering his face, Prince Jason was sneering.
“You b*tch, I’ll make sure that you will regret comparing me to that Half-Elf bastard!” Prince Jason pulled back his arm with the intention of punching Pearl’s stomach to make her kneel in front of him.
However, before he could execute his plan, someone grabbed his hand, preventing him from punching the Elven beauty.
“That’s enough, Your Highness,” Evexius said with a smile. “This round goes to you.”
Prince Jason didn’t know why Evexius stopped him from teaching the Elven girl a lesson. However, the look that the Grand Archmage of the Kraetor Empire was giving him made him feel that something was terribly wrong.
Because of this, he decided to play along to better understand the situation.
The Prince glanced up to where the Emperor of the Kraetor Empire was seated. He wanted to know why someone interfered in the middle of his match.
Emperor Leonidas stared down at him. His expression was calm as if there was nothing in the world that could move him. But, this same expression was enough to tell Prince Jason that he could no longer do anything to his opponent, whose arm was now currently being treated by the medics of the Kraetor Empire.
“Let’s go, Your Highness,” Evexius commented. “The other matches still need to be held. We are hogging the spotlight right now.”
Prince Jason snorted as he turned around to walk towards the exit of the arena. The crimson armor that covered his body receded, and once again turned into a bracelet that hung on his right wrist.
“The winner of this battle is Prince Jason!” The referee announced.
Although the audience was confused on what happened inside the arena, they still applauded Prince Jason for winning and proceeding to the Semifinal Rounds. Only the elite warriors were aware of what had transpired, and they felt that the Prince had won unfairly.
Even so, they kept mum about it. It was not their place to scold the Prince for using an underhanded trick to win the tournament. They just pitied the Elven beauty who was being escorted outside the arena.
Pearl saw Kenneth standing not far from her, and decided to walk in his direction. She passed by him, but before she did, she said something that only the silver-haired teenage boy could hear.
“I’ll leave the rest to you,” Pearl said as she passed Kenneth. “Take the win for our race. Use whatever means necessary to accomplish our goal.”
Kenneth didn’t give her any answer. Instead, he walked towards the arena because it was his turn to fight next.
Pearl glanced at his retreating back with complicated feelings before heading towards the resting area. Although she lost, she planned to watch the tournament until the end.
Kenneth was the only remaining candidate of the Elven Race. Originally, she wanted to become the champion of the tournament. It was quite unfortunate that her goal was crushed by the Prince who shamelessly used an artifact to drastically increase his defenses, and boost his rank to the peak of the Mortal Realm.
Pearl was frustrated, but she understood that she couldn’t make any waves within the Kraetor Empire. The only thing she could do was wait.
Wait for Kenneth to win, and wait for the son of the Saintess to return. While Pearl was pondering about these things, a soft but firm voice reached her sensitive ears.
“Don’t worry. I will win.”
Kenneth stepped inside the arena with a determined look on his face. He vowed that he would break Princess Sidonie’s engagement with William, and he would carry it out without fail.
‘Don’t worry, Will,’ Kenneth thought as he unsheathed the shortsword from his scabbard. ‘I will set you free.’
—–
