Cheers resounded in the arena as two fighters stood with their weapons drawn.
Prince Jason faced Alinska Lafitte from the Demonic Continent.
The two fighters appraised each other with a critical eye. Anyone that had survived the harsh competition wasn’t someone ordinary, and although Prince Jason was arrogant, he knew that he couldn’t underestimate the lady that was in front of him.
“Battle Start!” The referee declared as he stepped outside the arena.
Prince Jason raised his sword and Alinska summoned her spear. A second later, both fighters lunged at each other.
Having a longer reach, Alinska unleashed a consecutive barrage of spear thrusts, which forced Prince Jason to take defensive actions.
The attack didn’t last long because Alinska noticed something wasn’t right. She jumped away from where she stood, just in time to evade a metallic spike that jutted out of the ground.
Prince Jason didn’t miss this opportunity and closed the gap between them. He specialized in Metal Magic, just like Wendy, but his technique was more refined than William’s lover. In order to prevent Alinska from regaining her stance, several metallic spears materialized in the air and flew in her direction.
The demonic lady sneered as she twirled her spear, creating a purple barrier. The metallic spears pelted it to no avail, but that was only a distraction that Prince Jason created. As soon as he came within strike range, the Prince activated his artifact and slashed the barrier.
At first, many thought that it was a futile attempt, but as soon as the sword touched the barrier, it went through as if the barrier didn’t exist.
Alinska didn’t expect the turn of events, and hurriedly tried to block the attack, but it was already too late.
With a shout, Prince Jason cut off the Demonic Lady’s arm as the latter bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming out loud. She had forced herself to lean to the side and sacrificed her left arm, in order to survive the killing blow that was meant to slice her body in half.
Prince Jason was about to do a follow up attack, but something unexpected happened. The arm that he had just cut off pierced his right shoulder, which broke his momentum.
Alinska screeched and thrust her spear forward, with the intention to stab Prince Jason’s chest, destroying his heart in the process.
Princess Vanessa who was watching from the Royal Seats, covered her eyes as a whimper escaped her lips. She didn’t dare to look at her beloved’s unexpected demise at the hand of the Demonic Lady whom she thought was as good as dead.
No one expected Alinska’s counter-attack to be so fierce.
Blood sprayed in the air as the weapon hit its target. A scream filled with pain and disbelief resounded in the arena.
Alinska’s spear had grazed Prince Jason’s waist, and the Prince’s sword was firmly planted on her chest.
“H-How?” Alinska asked as blood spilled at the corner of her lips.
Prince Jason twisted his sword, completely crushing the Demon’s heart. Until her last breath, Alinska didn’t hear the Prince’s reply.
Prince Jason knelt on the ground as he pressed his hand over the wound on his waist. The Demonic Lady’s spear was coated in a powerful poison that even a scratch was enough to kill a person in minutes.
Prince Jason forcefully slowed down his blood flow, and tried to slow down the poison from invading his body.
The referee hurriedly declared the end of the match, and several Clerics standing at the side ran towards the arena.
The Head Cleric ran a diagnostic scan on the Prince’s body and hissed at his discovery.
“Venom from the Two Horned World Cobra,” the Head Cleric immediately administered a powerful cure spell, but he knew that it would only help slow down the poison.
The Two Horned World Cobra was one of the Myriad Beasts that lorded over one of the territories in the Demonic Continent. Its poison was very potent, and the only way to cure it completely was to use the Divinity of the Gods.
“Quick, take him to Aamon’s Temple!” the Head Cleric ordered.
The Cleric knew that this was a fruitless task. There was no way that Prince Jason would be able to resist the poison until they arrived at the Temple, but there was nothing he could do. He could only pray that the Emperor wouldn’t punish him for his inability to save the Prince’s life.
As the Clerics were about to carry their Prince, a cold and commanding voice stopped them in their tracks.
“There’s no need to go to the Temple,” a beautiful woman with purple hair appeared a few meters away from where they stood. “I will take over from here.”
“L-Lady Alina,” the Head Cleric stuttered. He didn’t expect that the Oracle of Aamon’s Temple would be present in the tournament.
Alina ignored the Head Cleric and pressed her hand over Prince Jason’s chest. She then closed her eyes and muttered a short prayer for the God that watched over the Kraetor Empire.
“Great Aamon, Our Lord and Guardian, hear my prayer in my troubled hour,” Alina prayed reverently. “Renew my strength so I might show the world your greatness. Sustain our Prince with your power, so he may overcome this obstacle.
“I seek this of you, Our Lord and Savior. Absolve our Prince with your infinite mercy!”
A bluish light descended from the heavens and covered Prince Jason’s body. When the light receded, Prince Jason’s injuries were completely healed. Although his face was still a bit pale, his life was no longer in danger.
The Head Cleric thanked the Oracle as he ordered his subordinates to carry the Prince out of the arena.
‘Too bad,’ The Demon General, Zagarl Rannath, thought.
The handsome Demon General with gray hair, and two protruding horns on his head leaned on his chair in disappointment.
He was Carter’s superior and the one responsible for the plan to abduct the talented young men and women of the Hellan Royal Academy. Unfortunately, his plan failed and two of his trusted subordinates had died in the aftermath.
The Demon General was hoping that the Prince would also die along with their disposable pawn. That way, there would be less competitors, and it would also deal a devastating blow to the Kraetor Royal Family.
Although some of the Emperors, and Kings had gathered in the Kraetor Empire for the competition, that didn’t mean that their rivalries had ended.
It was not only Zagarl who felt the same. Several of the Kraetor Empire’s rivals, and enemies were disappointed that the Oracle of Aamon was present in the competition. If she wasn’t then one of the Princes’ would have died, giving them a reason to celebrate.
Some of them glanced at Emperor Leonidas who was seated far from them in the VIP Box that was reserved for the rulers of the Central Continent.
The Emperor had a calm expression on his face. No one could tell what he was thinking, or what he felt at that time.
As if understanding their intentions, Emperor Leonidas smirked as he looked down on the arena.
“Only weaklings and cowards scheme in the dark,” the Emperor said with confidence. “These kinds of people will not amount to anything. They will forever be mediocre.”
The Emperors, Kings, as well as the Patriarch’s of the other influential families were very tempted to spit on the Emperor of the Kraetor Empire. Among all of them, Emperor Leonidas was known as a schemer.
This was why he was given the title of the “Emperor that Stood Above the Clouds”.
“Have you no shame, old man?” Empress Andraste wasn’t able to take the Kraetor Emperor’s words lying down. “You should just retire and wait until the day you kick the bucket. Acting high and mighty doesn’t suit your senile face.”
Emperor Leonidas chuckled and completely ignored Empress Andraste’s outburst. Among the Sovereigns seated near him, the Amazon Empress was one of the handful of people that could openly berate him like this.
After all, the two of them had gone adventuring together when they were still young. They even shared several romantic nights together. It was quite unfortunate that their unions had born no fruit.
This was one of Emperor Leonidas’ regrets. The same could be said to the Empress Andraste, who still held some lingering attachment to the man who took all of her firsts. If only a child was born between them then their relationship wouldn’t have become distant, as they parted ways to rule their own Empires.
