After his intervention, Alex walked his way back to the highest platform in the seating area.

Thousands of eyes were upon him, and he attracted a lot of attention, but that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, as they avoided a catastrophe.

Ashoka smiled, "You did the right thing, Alex, I would not have expected her to reach that level of apathy and cruelty,"

The ex-emperor clenched his fists on his lap and  sighed, "With the pressure I'm getting from Lord Indra and Chandra, it will be hard to refuse them the throne if they emerge victorious throughout all of the competition."

"If it comes down to it, I could speak to them," Alex confidently replied.

Ashoka laughed in response.

Upon seeing that Ashoka and Alex were acquainted, the gossiping wore off and the action-packed afternoon was back on track.

"Next is....

The host ignited the excitement of the crowd and loudly announced the next competitors.

"Black horse, Prince Aadityapal, against the Ever-Charismatic, Prince Ayush!"

'What a match-up....' Alex felt nervous at the prospects of the fight.

"Master," He suddenly heard Aadityapal's voice.

The prince was breathing heavily, and his eyes glowed with willpower.

"Aadit, fight well, but don't be rash," The prince's excitement and confidence were a good thing, but he shouldn't let himself get carried by his emotions, in Alex's opinion.

Aadityapal nodded and the ball in his hand turned into the longsword he trained so hard with.

"Oh, and use Prometheus well!" Alex had a bad premonition about this fight, but he didn't voice out his concerns and instead simply encouraged his disciple.

The prince turned his back towards Alex and confidently went down to the arena.

Aadityapal had won a few fights before, and the spectators admired his fair and efficient fighting style a lot, so he gained some popularity among them.

However, Prince Ayush always received extensive attention from them, and the cheers that the former received drowned under Ayush's incredible charisma.

Prince Ayush didn't have a weapon, whereas Aadityapal wielded the longsword around.

When the host asked him if he was well-prepared, the charismatic prince indifferently waved his hand and replied, "I'll be fine, it will be quick anyways."

Aadityapal gritted his teeth when he heard this provocation, hence Alex facepalmed when he saw that his disciple was easily falling for the opponent's mental intimidation tactics.

He established a Link connection with Aadityapal, and said telepathically, "Remember what I told you, Aadit, do not get carried by your emotions."

The prince was alarmed at the telepathy, but he looked at Alex and then nodded.

After that, Ayush kept provoking Aadityapal, yet, the latter didn't bat an eye this time.

The host exclaimed, "Start!"

"Give up! You'll never be Emperor!" Ayush sneered.

His opponent didn't give him any time to speak more, as he charged at him with the blunt edge of Prometheus ready to end the battle.

Surprisingly, Ayush was quite fast, and he swiftly dodged the sword swings.

"You thought you could ascend from the lowest of the low to the throne because some foreign shaman took you in?" Ayush mocked the prince as they kept dancing around the battlefield.

Aadityapal's gaze was dark and enigmatic, and his sword didn't halt at any of his opponent's daunts.

The two continued until they were surrounded by two high walls of the arena.

Ayush didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was pushed to a corner, and a worrying glint passed through his eyes.

Aadityapal saw a sudden bright reflection coming from Ayush's pockets.

*Slash*

A swift and small silver dagger made his way to the longsword-wielding prince.

Fortunately, the latter dodged at the very last moment, and performed a backflip, taking distance from Ayush.

'Hermes' training didn't go to waste...' Alex sighed in relief.

Then, Ayush burst out into a bout of maniacal laughter.

Aadityapal was confused by this change in attitude.

However, Alex's eyes widened, and he almost jumped into the stadium.

Under a shadow cast by the wall on his side, Ayush's eyes turned a bloody red. Alex perceived a red smoke rising from the prince's body, and his physique underwent very quick, yet subtle changes.

His body turned slightly more muscular, and his height increased, while a terrifying tattoo appeared under the sleeves of his shirt.

A red-inked, three-headed demon-like monster with twirling horns and each head faced a particular direction.

After this transformation, Ayush faced Aadityapal, and he said, "Wouldn't you give up now?"

His red eyes interlocked with Aadityapal's brown irises, and the latter stood still, but he was trying to shake his head very hard.

With that strange controlling gaze in effect, Ayush charged at the still opponent, and his dagger moved at a much faster speed than before.

*Slash*

A bloody slit appeared on Aadityapal's shoulders, and his brown clothes turned an ugly garnet color.

"Will you give up now?" Ayush asked once again.

He faced Aadityapal, and the two maintained eye contact.

The latter was shaking profusely, and he seemed to be trying to regain control of his body, but a telepathic voice suddenly resounded in his head, "It's his eyes and words, Aadit! Don't look at him, and don't listen!"

Alex didn't want to use Link at first, but he detected that Ayush had killing intent towards his disciple, and when it came to that, his honor was of trivial importance.

"Thank you, Master!"

Alex expected Aadityapal to be more careful, but his next actions made him facepalm.

The prince closed his eyes and plugged his ears closed using a piece of fabric from his clothes.

To avoid the strange powers of his opponent, he sacrificed two of his senses and put himself in a vulnerable position.

The only effective way to detect his opponent's movement was through vibrations and wind speed.

Ayush frowned, and charged at Aadityapal.

Unexpectedly, he was good at dodging attacks, as he felt both the oscillations from his opponent's steps on the ground and the wind from his sprints.

Twisting his body in a strange way, the dagger cut through thin air.

However, Ayush didn't halt his attack, and instead targeted Aadit's abdomen immediately.

*Slash*

A bloody slit appeared on the prince's torso and tore off his clothes, revealing his muscular but bloody abdomen.

Aadityapal started laughing.

Ayush didn't know what the other was laughing about until he felt a cold sensation on his waist, and looked down.

Prometheus was impaled on his waist, and black blood spilled down the sword.

Ayush made a backflip and looked at his wound.

He murmured under his breath, 'It's going to heal quickly anyways...let's get this over with.'