-Patliputra, Stadium-

The extremely negative reception of the crowd overwhelmed the ordinary princess, and her body retreated into itself in a defensive position.

'Her weakened psyche isn't going to help her much in the fight,' Alex remarked as he observed the two opponents, and more specifically, the prince.

Ayush was still smiling and exchanging waves with the enthusiastic crowd.

The host cleared his throat to attract the attention of the crowd back, and then he exclaimed, "Start!"

Everyone immediately focused on the arena.

Ayush and the princess stood still in their position and stared at each other.

Then, a miraculous phenomenon took place.

The prince smiled at his opponent and gently asked, "Would you mind giving up?"

The crowd was taken aback by this question. The imperial descendants took this contest very seriously, and yet, this prince nonchalantly asked his opponent to forfeit from the competition.

The following events were even stranger.

The princess stared listlessly at Ayush, and put her hand up, "I give up!"

Alex and Ashoka both frowned.

The crowd was completely silent and akin to a drop of water in a quiet place, the host awkwardly announced the prince's victory.

Ashoka turned to Alex, and he whispered, "He's the person you spoke to me about?"

"Yes, what do you think?"

"While I can't say that it's unfair, considering it is simply one of his abilities, but his dealings with the Asuras will only bring him trouble, and I don't think I can afford to place the puppet of this malevolent Asura clan on the throne."

"Fair," Alex nodded and folded his arms.

Astonishment was still present among the spectators, and they only recovered and cheered when the host announced an exciting match.

"Disciple of Lord Indra, Ranya, against Prince Sai!"

The volume of the cheers took on a new high, as these two were both prominent imperials.

The two entered the stadium, and the strange appearance of the prince puzzled the crowd.

He had a strange brown armor that covered his entire body, and Alex recognized the material as rubber.

'Why would he wear rubber armor?' Confusion also occupied Alex's facial expressions.

Then, insight suddenly hit him.

'Rubber can't conduct lightning bolts, rendering her ability useless...!' Alex found that to be a smart choice.

Although the armor was likely uncomfortable and stiff, it essentially made him immune to the princess' greatest known ability.

The host spoke some jokes to lighten up the atmosphere and excite the spectators.

"Start!"

Ranya looked at the prince's rubber armor, and then at the Vajra in her hand.

The prince exclaimed, "What now, princess? What can you do to me?"

The princess stared at him, and then she snickered quite loudly.

Her Vajra moved in a circular pattern, and the wind started rotating around her.

*Whoosh*

Soon enough, a small tornado the height of an average human male sharply spun around her.

The tornado swiftly followed the prince, who couldn't move fast enough to dodge it.

It cast him up and down into the air, but it didn't seem to do him any harm.

Confusion spread amongst the spectators, who didn't understand what the princess was trying to do.

She looked completely still, yet, to the eyes of a god, like Alex, the subtle movements of her Vajra didn't escape him.

Suddenly, an extremely small white-ish flame hovered in the air.

The flame was slowly moving in the direction of the tornado, and no mortal would be able to distinguish under the bright afternoon sun.

However, Alex's eyes widened, and he glared at the princess.

Ashoka also stood up urgently, but Alex placed his hand on the other's wrist, and said, "Ashoka, sit down, I'll intervene!"

He immediately ran down the stairs of the stadium and grabbed Prometheus from Aadityapal.

Alex then turned the weapon into its base form, the heavy spear hammer.

For the entire duration of his climb down into the stadium, he kept his very attention on the princess.

Thoughts swiftly streamed through his brain.

'She's doing it on purpose, isn't she?!'

'Does she want to kill him!?'

The reason for this urgency was his observation of her deadly plan.

The white-ish flame was clearly not an ordinary one, and he could feel the heat it potentially emanated from here.

If the strange flame came into contact with the tornado, the wind maelstrom would instantly engulf into a flaming tornado.

At the temperatures of the flaming tornado, the rubber armor on the man would instantly melt and all of the extremely hot rubber would stick to his entire body.

'In the best-case scenario, he gets fourth-degree burns all over his body and remains paralyzed for the rest of his life...'

Alex gulped as another realization came through to him.

'Worst-case scenario....he dies.'

There was no way he wasn't going to intervene.

Alex was instantly down in the arena, and he charged in the direction of the hovering flame, and cut it down into a thousand sparks, that all extinguished into nothingness.

Ranya was staring at him very strangely.

The entire venue was silent.

Alex entered into the eye of the tornado, and with a few swift movements, the deadly spinning whirlpool dissipated, and the rubber man was on the ground.

Alex turned to Ranya, and exclaimed, "Haven't you heard? He gave up earlier and you still attacked him."

Both the prince and Ranya were confused by his false statement.

The prince puzzlingly replied, "I did?!"

'Co-operate with me here, you would have died otherwise,' Alex facepalmed mentally and glared at the prince, and hoped the latter would get the signal.

A god's eye contact was fearsome, and the prince stuttered and said, "Y-yes! I g-gave up!"

"Heard him? He gave up," Alex stated, facing the princess.

'Thank god,' Alex thanked himself internally.

Ranya didn't seem to accept this, but Alex simply said, "What are you waiting for? Leave the arena."

The princess glared at him, and then she left.

*Drip*

Amidst the unusual silence, a drop of water resonated audibly throughout the venue.

The host coughed, and said, "Victory goes to.....Princess Ranya!"