Bai Zemin looked out from the rest area at the Gales Kingdom team in the arena. Approximately 40 minutes had passed since Liam had returned with the name of the kingdom they would face first, and during those 40 minutes, there were a total of two matches involving four kingdoms.
All matches were disqualifying, in other words, the loser was out immediately and only the winner could continue advancing. Of course, by the time the team competition was over and if one of the losing teams believed they were more powerful than the overall winner or the second place winner, then they could raise a challenge, and depending on the winning teams’ damage situation, a new battle would be held a day or two later to give everyone time to rest; it was for this reason that the realm competition lasted almost a full week.
In just 40 minutes, two of the 49 total kingdoms had been disqualified while the third match of the day was about to begin.
Bai Zemin closed his eyes, remembering his brief talk with Ellis just before the 12 left to the arena after being called by the mage who would be serving as the general judge on behalf of the kings of kingdoms.
He had asked her if killing was allowed in the competition. This was because Bai Zemin and probably everyone else could feel the murderous intent oozing out of Liam’s body.
Not to Bai Zemin’s surprise, Ellis answered in negative, something that was natural considering that this was a competition meant to avoid large-scale conflicts. Intentional murder would naturally not be taken well by any kingdom, especially considering that the party involved this time was one of the three most powerful kingdoms in the entire Eventide World.
However, Ellis also told him something else that somehow managed to calm Bai Zemin down.
“Even though you can’t commit intentional murder, you don’t need to worry, Bai Zemin…. You just watch carefully, I’m sure Liam will surprise you. He is not only tremendously powerful but also has his feet firmly planted on the ground despite being young…. You’ll see, he won’t be defeated by anger.”
Bai Zemin slowly opened his eyes, just in time as the judge’s voice announced that the match would begin in a minute.
“Let’s see what you’re made of, Liam.”
Bai Zemin couldn’t deny that he felt some sympathy for the young soul evolver after hearing about his past. At the same time, after getting to know his personality a little, as well as understanding the reason behind his anger, Bai Zemin’s goodwill towards the young future hero of Gales increased exponentially.
‘If the worst comes to the worst…. Then I just have to play my own game. Even if I’m not at my 100%, it should be fine as long as I’m careful.’”
* * *
“Hahahaha!” The king of the Azure Kingdom chuckled good-naturedly as he looked at the two kingdoms about to collide in the arena. “Philip, looks like luck is not on your people’s side this time! First match but your kingdom will be facing the parent kingdom, really, fate doesn’t want your Gales Kingdom to shine at all!”
King Philip had a deep frown on his face as he looked down at the arena. He wasn’t worried about the nonsense that King Edgar was saying, his concern lay in the fact that he could see the angry expression on Liam Anworth’s face.
‘What happened…?’ King Philip didn’t understand, Liam was usually a very kind and warm person. It could be said that making Liam angry was more difficult than traveling alone into demon territory and coming back alive.
However, the ever increasing red aura surrounding Liam’s body didn’t lie; he was really furious!
The King of Gales stood up, and as he looked up, he focused on King Albert, King of the Zivell Kingdom.
“King Albert, what happens inside the arena stays in the arena, that’s one of the basic rules of competition of kingdoms. Am I right?”
“Mm?” King Albert of the Zivell Kingdom looked at the King of Gales and said in confusion, “King Philip, I don’t understand where you are going with this question.”
Although the Zivell Kingdom was undoubtedly more powerful than the Gales Kingdom, which is why it was considered one of the three parent kingdoms; Albert and Philip’s strength was not too different, and in a 1 vs 1 battle the winner and loser were not clear. The reason why Albert’s status was higher was because the Zivell Kingdom possessed greater powerhouses and more powerful soul evolvers, that was all. Therefore, even the three kings/queens of the parent kingdoms were to give their due respect to the kings of the affiliated kingdoms as long as they did not disrespect them.
“There are no ulterior motives, it’s just a simple question and I would like you, King Albert, to answer it before the clash begins.”
King Albert looked in the direction of the arena. He was no fool, otherwise he would not have gotten to where he was and he would not have made it past level 100 by a good margin. Feeling the tension between the two sides, he finally understood the reason why the King of Gales was asking him something like this.
“What happens in the arena stays in the arena.” Albert nodded with a slight smile. “Therefore, I hope that if the princesses of Gales get hurt, you won’t hold it against the Zivell Kingdom, Philip Di Gales.”
King Philip smiled slightly and said in a kind voice, “That’s natural… However, I’m afraid my two kids will not get a chance to participate this time.”
“Mm? What do you mea-“
Bang!
Boom!
King Albert’s words were cut off as the hangman slammed down hard on the bronze shield and the next moment a loud boom thundered across the arena. Looking down, the breath of all the kings stagnated for a moment as they saw what was happening.
“Edmund Zivell, surrender your dog’s life!!!”
Followed by a bone-deafening roar, Liam’s body shot forward like a cannonball after stomping with every point of Strength on the ground. Several cracks spread across the arena, but the runes that had been drawn on the walls soon glowed and those cracks began to recede until they were completely repaired in an instant.
One of the Zivell Kingdom mages waved his staff and a dozen magic circles glowed around Liam’s body.
“Firestorm!”
At the same time, another 3 mages waved their staffs and activated the same skill at the same time.
“””Whirlwind!”””
A large magic circle appeared under Liam’s feet and before he could do anything a fierce wall of wind enclosed him. Immediately after, the dozen magic circles that surrounded him previously exploded and a powerful fiery flame shot out from multiple directions.
Fire and wind joined forces and in an instant, a quarter of the arena was tinged with bright flames. The temperature rose and the tornado of fire grew, rapidly approaching the walls and stands.
“Ah!”
“Save my life!”
“Help!”
“No!”
Everyone immediately panicked at the sight of the ferocious magic attack composed of two different but complementing energies.
Just when things seemed to be about to get out of control, the runes on the walls flared up again and a round blue energy shield surrounded the entire arena. In just an instant, the stands and the combat zone were separated by a large, deep blue dome.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
The uncontrolled tornado of burning flames repeatedly struck the energy dome, however, the energy dome did not even flinch. Just at that moment, the voice of the general judge sounded throughout the arena.
“No need to worry, with this Water Tear shield covering the entire arena, only the attack of a soul evolver above level 120 would be able to break it so your lives are safe!”
The pale-faced spectators immediately began to calm down as they saw that the energy shield really could withstand the attacks and they hurriedly returned to their seats.
Prince Edmund of the Zivell Kingdom sneered as he saw the swirling whirlwind of fire fiercely spinning where Liam stood a moment ago.
“Filthy demon who doesn’t know his place. In your next life-“
BOOM!!!
The flames broke out and the walls of wind shattered. Hundreds of fire balls of different sizes flew everywhere, hitting the wall, the ground, the energy shield and even forcing the participants of both kingdoms to defend against them.
“Bloodlust!” roared Liam, his body was intact and without any visible burns despite being surrounded by flames just before.
After activating his skill Bloodlust, Liam immediately received a huge boost in his natural regeneration at the same time as his Strength and Agility received a boost of 240 points each.
Without delay, Liam charged again with his eyes fixed on the enemy prince. He literally ignored the others as only the silhouette of the surprised prince was reflected in his pupils.
“Continue the assault!” Prince Edmund ordered and he himself dashed forward, holding onto his bronze spear with both hands at the same time as he activated one of his attack skills, “Unstoppable Piercing!”
Edmund’s spear took on a faint green radiance and once it was within acceptable range he stabbed ferociously with a spear technique he had learned from his childhood.
“Filthy demon, I will personally take it upon myself to pierce your heart!”
The air split in two and the earth opened up even though Edmund’s spear was never aimed at the ground. This was proof of how strong this attack made by a level 84 soul evolver was.
Unfortunately, in this fight, Edmund had no ranged advantage using his spear.
This was because Liam’s weapon was no ordinary sword.
Ignoring the magic attacks flying towards him and the lightning arrows launched by the enemy archers, several red magic circles appeared on Liam’s greatsword at the same time as he roared like an enraged beast the activation of the skill.
“Total Vacuum!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!….
A huge bubble of nothingness formed around Liam’s body as the enormous pressure caused by the ferocious swing of his weapon released by the skill he had activated expelled all the air within 10 meters around him.
The lightning arrows exploded as they met the transparent but visible to the naked eye bubble while the elemental magic spells broke out after finding an obstacle to hit.
Edmund also noticed the air around him disappearing and soon became aware of the problems. However, it was too late to retreat as his spear was stabbing forward and his body accompanied the movement.
With a split second remaining, Edmund roared with bloodshot eyes the activation of another skill.
“Sonic Wind Cannon!”
A large green magic circle appeared at the tip of the spear, and immediately after a huge wind cannon shot forward, meeting Liam’s greatsword head on as it was about to hit the spear.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Rumble…
The arena shook and dust covered the surroundings as cracks spread far and wide. The energy shield called Water Tear due to its shape and color trembled for a moment before regaining its composure, much to the relief of the crowd watching the brief but fierce confrontation with wide eyes.
“Shit, the dust won’t let me see!”
“Be careful, don’t hit Prince Edmund!”
The mages and archers immediately became frustrated as the dust obstructed their eyes. None of them dared to casually attack for fear of hurting their ally.
Swoosh!
At that moment, a silhouette flew out from within the dust cloud.
“Prince Edmund!”
Edmund’s feet slid along the ground for over twenty meters leaving the mark of his war boots along the way. His expression of astonishment was mixed with pain as his hands shook, barely clinging to the fiercely vibrating spear.
The prince of the Zivell Kingdom had no time to be surprised when another silhouette shot out from the dust cloud. However, this person was clearly not being drawn anywhere as it flew straight at him with fierce eyes!
“Demon Vanquisher!”
Liam’s roar thundered across the length and breadth of the arena as the blade of his greatsword was surrounded by a dark purple blaze.
“Don’t get so cocky, you filthy demon!” Edmund roared in shame and anger at the same time. He ignored the pain in his arms and relied on his equipment’s defense as he activated several movement skills ignoring Mana consumption while stabbing forward more than 60 times in one second.
“Eternal Wind Stab!”
The sixty spear stabs came together and in the air formed the image of a 5-meter plus green spear that flew out like lightning towards Liam.
“WEAK!”
Liam’s shout was followed by the fierce swing of his weapon, causing a new explosion that shook the walls. The green-colored spear only resisted the purple pressure for a moment before shattering into a million particles of light that disappeared in an instant.
However, the shockwave from Liam’s attack was so powerful that apart from suppressing the shockwave from the explosion it continued to advance towards the prince of the Zivell Kingdom.
Edmund clearly did not expect this at all as, by the time he realized that his attack had been completely crushed, the shockwave was inches away from his chest.
Swoosh!
An old, cracked bronze bell flew out from inside Edmund’s armor and a thin yellow barrier covered his body.
Although the barrier only lasted a moment under the pressure of the purple shockwave, that brief moment was enough for the prince of Zivell to place his spear diagonally in front of his chest while activating a defensive skill.
“Sacred Wind Barrier!”
Just as a fierce wind barrier surrounded Edmund’s body, the purple shockwave slammed fiercely against the green walls.
Edmund’s body inside the barrier was pushed back more than 20 meters and the barrier weakened so much that it was about to break. Finally, after another 5 meters, the barrier was destroyed by the weakened purple shockwave that finally hit Edmund’s spear viciously.
“Ugh!”
The prince’s body flew back at the same time as a pained expression covered his face when he felt the bones in his fingers crunching as if they were going to break at any moment.
“YOU’RE TOO WEAK, ZIVELL TRASH!” Liam roared like a lion. His hair blew fiercely as a layer of red-colored wind surrounded his body and his speed burst as he flew towards the enemy prince without planning to give him time to recover.
Fortunately for him, the 11 soul evolvers of the Zivell Kingdom did not stand still as they immediately attacked Liam.
The mages launched their skills from a distance just as the archers tried to attack Liam from blind spots. The two assassins disappeared after using some skill to confuse perception and the warriors charged forward activating attack and defense skills alike.
A flash of frustration shone in Liam’s eyes, he was forced to stop his charge as he was surrounded by enemies. Even he would not come out unscathed after taking on the attacks of 1 Second Order mage and 10 powers that were at least level 45.
“All of you… Scram!!!!” Liam raised his sword with both hands above his head. A large deep red magic circle glowed on the blade of his weapon, and as he slashed towards the ground, he shouted out loud, “Shattering Moon!”
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The hidden assassins were immediately revealed as their bodies were sent flying into the sky after the ground made them bounce like a spring from being hit by Liam’s fierce attack.
The mages immediately suffered breaks in their legs to the point where 40% of their bones turned into dust. Most of them fainted from the overwhelming pain as they flew backwards, viciously hitting the arena walls before falling to the ground like broken bags.
The warriors were a little better off as their physiques were more resistant. However, even though they only had minor fractures due to the fierce shaking of the ground and resulting force that traveled to their legs, they could not avoid being sent flying either and upon hitting the Water Tear or the arena walls, they all spat blood before falling heavily to the ground.
The prince of Zivell didn’t have time to process the fact that his team had just been crushed just like that when a bestial roar shook his soul.
“Edmund Zivell!!!”
His blue eyes finally showed a trace of fear as they met the red eyes of the one he scorned and scoffed at less than 1 hour before.
“Die, Zivell’s dog!!!”
* * * * * * *
