A figure landed on the octagon, surprising everyone. It was Haji Tea, holding a lower-high grade spear. He then looked at the old man in the black suit and uttered.

"Mr. Mit, aren't you aware that he is the tamer of Abran City?"

Mit Amen raised his eyebrows before replying.

"Abran means nothing to me, he violated the rules of the tournament by interfering. He must compensate for his actions by giving me this panda beast. However..."

Mit stepped forward and added.

"Now, you have also killed that referee, another violation of the rules. You will be charged with murdering a government official."

He signaled and someone at the Star Prince realm stepped forward before dashing towards Akash with astonishing speed. Haji couldn't keep up with his speed, but he still tried to reach Akash and just as he was about to touch him…

~SLICE~

A hand was seen flying in the sky, leaving a trail of blood mid-air. The tamer who was trying to grab Akash got his hand cut off by some unseen weapon. Soon, a man gently descended in front of Akash. He was wielding a short sword in each hand, both radiating darkness. Riassuba Rosehip had come to defend his only king and he bought a weapon resembling Kaliya Subedar from the store, to practice and master wielding it first.

~BANG~

A loud bang was heard before three beastmean came down on the land. They were Daan Godlyn, Sacra Emilat and Sohrab Khan. The stadium's tension was immediately raised after their arrival. The populace was shocked that someone could cut the hand of Mit Amen's man and was even able to kill a referee.

Mit Amen was pissed as he gave out orders.

"Kill them!"

Around twenty people jumped forward before suddenly, out of the audience, small knives and shurikens were thrown towards them instead. However, they quickly used their weapons and deflected it all away

~CLANG CLANG~

They then turned their attention in the direction of the audience, looking for the culprits.

~WHOOSH~

Just like shadows, silhouettes came out of the people and stood behind Akash Tagar. Their faces were covered by black masks with black robes covering the rest. The House of Espionage, Death Gate had just arrived. As the tournament commenced, they were ordered to stay in the stadium just in case.

For the first time, Mir Amen was shocked, asking himself.

"Hmm, I have a feeling he might become a great threat to me in the future…"

Nevertheless, he stepped forward without a sign of worry, surprising Akash. The latter wanted to avoid facing an expert of the Star King realm as he knew his attacks would barely scratch him. Using his Star King strength and speed, Mit Amen instantly closed the distance before declaring.

"I'm going to kill you and everyone else in this city who dares to oppose me."

"Hahaha, is that so?"

A peal of sudden laughter reverberated throughout the stadium. Amen looked at the owner of this voice before squinting his eyes in realization.

"Chand Gandraf…"

The mayor of Slave City had arrived at the perfect time as he floated in mid-air, looking at Mit Amen.

"Mr. Mit, I know you are a mayor of a 1st tier city but that doesn't give you the right to mess around in my domain, especially against participating representatives of their cities."

Mit Amen smiled.

"Mayor Chand, don't be mistaken. That man broke the rules of tournaments, he sent his beast in the middle of a fight and disturbed the outcome. As a mayor of a city, I am also the government's employee and I have the right to punish him."

"He didn't break any rule."

Chand refuted his claim.

"What do you mean? Everyone saw that he did!"

Chand pointed at the corner of the octagon

"Look, that's the mayor of Rosehill city. He had come to stop the fight, but the referee didn't listen to him and ignored him on purpose. His death was the punishment given by Haji Tea per my order."

Mit Amen looked at a corner in anger, glaring at a trembling and fragile old man.

"Did you surrender?"

He asked.

"Ye... yes. I... did."

The fragile old man replied as he shivered.

"Speak the truth!"

Mir Amen yelled with an amplified voice before a typhoon of cosmic waves were unleashed, making the old man faint instantly.

"MIT AMEN, BEHAVE YOURSELF!"

Chand Gandraf released his cosmic powers as well, both cosmic waves collided, producing terrifying thunderclaps. The audience panicked and ran out of the stadium as Chand came down. There was a 1-meter gap between both mayors possessing the strength of the 1st Moon of the Star King realm, ready to engage.

"Enough!"

A gentle voice came out of nowhere, both mayors flinched.

"Mit Amen, just apologize and return to your city, and don't come back till the end of the tournament."

Mir Amen lowered his head, fear clearly visible on his face.

"Yes... governor. I apologize for my misbehavior."

Mit Amen acquiesced before quickly leaving. The voice came again, now directed at the three judges.

"The three of didn't even bother to interfere instead daring to simply enjoy the ensuing chaos… Can you even comprehend how much this whole incident will affect the province's reputation? Because of you, these youths could have been killed. Come to my office immediately, I hope you have a convincing enough reason for this, for your own sake."

The judges' faces turned pale, they moved quickly and three new judges arrived at the same time. The atmosphere was calmed once again.

Akash and the others felt tremendous power behind those words, understanding that this man was a tamer with the cultivation of at least the 3rd Moon of the Star King realm. Meanwhile, Chand Gandraf bowed, showing his respect towards the owner of that voice before going to Akash Tagar.

"Sorry, Mr. Akash, I received your message late and came as fast as I could. Thank goodness, I came just in time."

Akash had sent a message to Shehneel Shodo and Neon Rosehip to call Mayor Chand, they were the only two out of Death Gate who weren't ordered to stay at the stadium.

"Thank you, Mr. Chand."

Akash expressed his gratitude before one of the new judges came forward and announced.

"Apologies for the… uh… inconvenience, Rosehill City has surrendered, thus Fojipor City wins. Fojipor will move onto the next round and the tournament will resume tomorrow."

Akash sighed, he had barely avoided imminent death. He told himself.

"I am still far too weak, I need to work twice or even thrice as hard..."

Chand Gandraf looked at the girl Akash had saved, the first impression shocked him. The tall woman was not afraid at all, her calm face gave the impressions of someone who had already accepted their death.

Akash ordered.

"Let's go."

Death Gate disappeared once again, and the 5 lords followed their king. Soon after, everyone arrived, and the news of today's events quickly spread.

<Inside the Apartment>

On top of the 6 prime paladins, there were three other people. The Mayor of Slave City, the Madam of Cosmiwood, who had come when she heard the news, and lastly Rukh Haseen, the real reason for this mess.

Akash Tagar asked Haji Tea.

"How were you able to convince the mayor of Rosehill to transfer her to Abran?"

Haji Tea sighed and replied.

"I gave him all the money I won from that bet. He is rich enough to live in a 1st tier city now…"

A smirk appeared on Akash's lips as he said.

"Haha, I'm sorry, dear Haji."

"Huh! Haha, no worries, My Liege. That amount of money doesn't mean anything to me, as long as I can continue to follow you and serve you to my fullest."

Haji laughed in response before soon becoming serious again. He then turned to Chand and the latter quickly understood.

"I'll take my leave then, Mr. Akash."

The Madam of Cosmiwood was puzzled by the respectful behaviour of the mayor towards Akash Tagar. Chand coughed and gently hit Rukh with his elbow.

"Ehm, Miss Rukh, let's go."

She understood as well and gave an excuse.

"Oh, yeah... I also had something to do as well, see ya everyone."

She left somewhat confused while Akash pivoted his eyes to Mehak Pitafi.

"Who are you?"

He asked

"I am Mehak Pitafi."

She replied with empty eyes.

"How did you come here?"

"I was brought by the mayor to participate, like everyone else."

She replied.

"No, I am talking about this planet. How did you get to Planet Earth?"

Akash asked more clearly this time, making her flinch as her expression suddenly changed.

"I was born here."

She said after a moment.

"Don't try fooling me, I'm as abnormal as you are. That's why I went to great lengths to save you. Don't worry, you are safe now."

Akash explained.

"You... do you also want to humiliate me?"

She asked, tears gathering in her eyes. Akash became more anxious about her past, he had ordered everyone to leave the apartment, leaving them two alone.

"No, I'm not that type of person. All I want to know is the truth. Just answer my questions honestly. Who are you?"

She took some deep breaths and replied.

"I'm... Mehak. I was sent here by... by my father when I was young."

Akash squinted his eyes, his interest rising.

"Where is your father?"

"He... he is... dead."

Mehak covered her face, tears welled up from deep inside and coursed down her cheeks. She fell on her knees and sobbed before Akash gently tapped her head and relented.

"Alright, take some rest, you are safe now. No one will touch you ever again, we will talk later."

Akash put off his questions for later and left the apartment as well. Mehak Pitafi was still on the floor, curled up in a ball, crying with no end.