Giving Kael a careful glance, Avrin nodded. “One of the reasons I'm here is to meet the champions. I hope they won’t disappointment me.” Upon hearing Avrin's words, Kael laughed as he led Avrin through a long hall with a few turns while speaking to him.

“Master, what do you plan to do with the victors? Will you put them through an extreme training regimen or perhaps send them on an important mission? They are the creme of the crop I suppose, but us purebloods deserve some treatment as well…” Kael grew somewhat worried as his mind conjured dozens of dangerous scenarios that would be too dangerous even for him alone.

“While it could be considered a mission, it could also be considered training for the future. But don’t worry. I am currently only focusing on developing the foundations of Shaded Moon. It won’t be the most heroic of tasks, but this project can become the starting point for the future growth of Spectrals.” Seeing Kael worrying about the special treatment the tournament candidates were receiving, Avrin tried to reassure Kael. Afterall, he wasn’t leading them into a full blown war.

“Where I come from, there is an old saying: ‘We are all just cogs in a great machine.’ This can be interpreted in many ways, but depending on one’s perspective, one can say that even the smallest of cogs have a purpose. However, if too many are out of sync, then the machine will eventually break down. However I believe that with some guidance, the Spectrals can realize their greatest potentials and dreams.”

Mulling over Avrin’s words, Kael responded. “Master, that may be true for some cases, but what happens if someone becomes too powerful or...uh, becomes too big of a cog and won't fit in this machine. There won't ever be an obstacle they can't overcome, right?”

This was the first time Avrin was somewhat stunned at Kael's words. That way of thinking was indeed true, and deep in his heart, he knew there were individuals who could shake a universe with their might alone. Recalling the incidents with Orphelium and the creature lurking in the Spectral Domain, he could certainly testify to their overwhelming might.

However, this brought another set of questions to light. Questions which defined sentient races and individuals: Assuming a deeper meaning actually exists behind all things, what purpose would they serve once they outgrew the machine? What was left for them? Which path would they traverse?........ Did God really just plan all of this solely for entertainment?

“Well, I can't say for certain whether we should be jealous of such beings or pity them for living a life with no real meaning.” Avrin’s words were his true thoughts, but this also made him a little cautious. He had the potential to reach the most powerful state. However, he had been worrying so much about setting a framework for his race, so it never crossed his mind.

What would happens when he reached the end? If all his grievances were addressed and all goals were accomplished, would there be anything left for him to do in the future? What could he strive for, if a wave of a finger could flip the heavens and all of existence itself?

“Mm.” Kael murmured. He could tell by the look on Avrin's face that he was in deep thought. “That reminds me, Master...I, uhh...brought the subject of training up not just out of curiosity but…well…”

By the time he had spoken those words, he and Avrin were already in front of a large black and red door covered with intricate engravings. Before the door stood two guards, who silently turned the door’s handles and then opened the double doors to reveal several figures within a large lavish chamber with many drinks, foods and interesting oddities to keep them occupied.

As Avrin and Kael entered the room, awkward silence followed as the door closed shut behind them. “Grand Prince Kael. As always, it is an honor to meet you...” Said a middle-aged man with squinted eyes and a bowl-like haircut standing before them, adorned in a long sleeved gi with several pieces of armor attached to it.

“Grand Prince!!” The other champions and top tournament participants voiced their greetings towards him in a loud shout, giving stiff and clumsy salutes with varying styles in a rushed manner as they didn’t expect his unannounced visit. The tension could be felt through the air, and they only spared a mild glance towards Avrin as if he was of no importance. Noticing their uncaring eyes, Avrin smiled as he was most comfortable with those eyes of indifference than those of reverence. He even felt like a main character in a novel that was being underestimated. Though in this case, it was by people that could be considered his own children. This left him with a desire to laugh at the situation, but he forcibly held it in.

“Let me quickly introduce the champions of the four tournaments. While everyone else can be considered as contenders, these four have proved their own ability and earn their own place and authority in the the upcoming expedition. Marlin who won the northern tournament, Vesilia of the South, Leos of the East and Helena from the West.” Kael spoke his words carefully while glancing at Avrin.

Kael words confused the champions, as they wondered why he would need to speak to this person with such respect. Suspecting that the unknown individual might be of great importance they grew cautious. All of them could only watch as they knew that the unknown person was likely related to the purebloods or the final selections.

Avrin sized them up carefully. He looked at Marlin with curiosity once more and found that apart from his attire, a symbol of a tomahawk with two wings was etched on his outfit. Vesilia wore a somewhat tight outfit that greatly improved her agility. She was the woman who emerged victorious even though she only used bow and arrows.

Avrin then looked at Leos, who had the appearance of a bloated fish. He was quite chubby which was strange to Avrin, since the Spectral conversion should have resulted in something akin to a perfect body shape. However, as odd as this Leos was, he couldn’t help but notice and look at Helena who had a strong and heavy gaze permeating from her eyes. She wore a full set of armor and had an androgynous appearance with shoulder length blonde hair, while giving off a stern and yet chivalrous aura.

They were definitely strong in their own rights, and Avrin felt they met his qualifications as worthy Spectrals. However, he could tell that they still lacked the required survival skills, training and mentality that would be instrumental for the current stage of development in Tya’shara. Skills that were required to be able to take on an antagonistic world. This was bound to happen, since they had been selected solely as a result of the tournaments. He also wondered if they would be disappointed if he told them what he intended to have them do. Regardless, first, he would test them to see their worth.

“They are only, hmm, so-so.” He raised his right hand, making a sort of gesture that showed they weren't bad but weren't really anything special. He also gave a blunt opinion to test their temperance, to see their reaction to his words.

“Huh?” The 4 of them were stunned, dumbfounded. In their minds they all had thoughts close to “-Who the hell is this guy to call us mediocre?! We struggled and won against all the other Spectrals, and he dares to call us only so-so?-”

“Uh, I see…Mmm, a shame. They really are the best we have. They definitely have the power to surprise even you…” Kael was slightly bewildered as he considered whether they screwed up somehow. However, from his experience, he knew Avrin wouldn't provoke or talk in such a way without hidden motives, so he composed himself and played along as he forced a smile. If he was right, the four will soon face a painful lesson depending on their reaction.

Hearing Kael's words, the four of them were happy for Kael’s compliments, but when they glanced at Avrin, they showed only irritation and anger. Avrin looked at Kael once more before turning to them all.

“So these bedwetting brats are more than their cover displays, you say? He…hehe, hahahaha…..” Avrin wasted no time in provoking his own kin. It was now good to teach them how fatal underestimating their opponents is before dispatching them out of Seleria.

“Haha…before playing make believe, shouldn’t you start weaning them first? Yes, how about showing your father here how much you grown? Come, all of you attack me together.”

“B-b-bedwetting Brats? Weaning?!...Y-you bastard!!... Do you know who you're dealing with?!... We are the elites of the Spectral race and the chosen ones selected to carry out the upcoming Divine mission given by the Lord Monarch!!! You have no right to patronize us!” Helena immediately spouted up with a tinge of redness coloring her face.

“You should show the respect and courtesy expected of a true noble, yet to not only disgrace yourself but others in such a way.” Unable to control herself, her dark matter particles formed a Nebula Mist that quickly surged from her body as her gaze concentrated onto Avrin.

“I alone will be the one to teach that mouth of yours a lesson.” Helena stepped forward without holding back as she extended her hand. Her Dark Space trembled for a moment before a floating object hovering inside her Dark Space trembled, and then vanished, quickly reappearing in her hands.

In her hands, a nearly 3 meter long greataxe with an ax head that was at least a full meter long and a half meter wide by itself. Despite how thin and delicate the user appeared, the great ax was enormous and emitted a heavy pressure from a glance alone, visibly demonstrating the weapon’s value as a high-class weapon infused with a very dense amount of Earth Mana. There were even myriads of decently powerful runes, glowing in sunlight yellow, for someone of her level engraved on the ax from the hilt to the ax-head’s flat sides.

“Unique level enchanted weapon? Interesting!” Avrin smirked mockingly at the female knight. At the same time, he was indeed somewhat surprised, not at her weapon but that she could use her Dark Space to store her items of choice. He didn't think any of the new Spectrals born during the Rebirth were capable of that now.

“But I said all four of you. This room is quite large, and it should suffice for a small skirmish.” Avrin’s remark was arrogant but also strange to the four’s ears. They felt something was off as they could hear the confidence in his voice.

“-Is he a pureblood…?-” Visilia pondered carefully but quickly neglected the idea as she knew who most of the purebloods were. Although new ones recently popped up, she at least heard about them. Even the mysterious Shandian was currently in isolated training.

However, she could tell that he was not someone of low blood purity or social standing. Even if he was no Duke, she assumed he least had the potential to reach said position. The proof lays in the fact that the person before them seems to have changed into a human appearance without having purple eyes. To make matters worse, she and the other champions would not be able to exert their full abilities in such a confined space with so many spectators nearby, but at the same time they also could not back down because of said spectators

Murmurs and chatter started to spread among the room. Although the others didn’t dare to intrude into the conversation, some rooted for the fight, while others were worried about the scale of the fight. As Visilia pondered her next course of action, she and the other three champions were interrupted from their thoughts.

“Please heed his words. All of you, attack him together.” Kael's spoke with a domineering tone. As this was an order from the Grand Prince, they knew this was most likely a test and against someone they couldn't underestimate. Marlin swiftly removed 2 tomahawks, both emitting a purple static from his own Dark Space and into his hands. Visilia immediately equipped her crossbows, while Leos, the strangely bloated looking individual, took out a two meter wide circular shield as it emits an abnormal presence. Surprisingly, they had all stored these in their own Dark Space.

“Ahh, so you all know how to do it? It’s a good parlor trick, isn’t it?” Avrin joked before stepping forward and making his way towards them. With his entire upper torso still covered inside his cloak, the dark matter covering his body slightly thickened as he restrained himself significantly. He looked at them mockingly.

“Still talking rubbish!!” Helena roared as she dashed towards Avrin, raising her great axe overhead as powerful Nebula Mist quickly surged around her weapon before entering the runes and magic formations and empowering them. Strangely, her weapon’s weight suddenly increased alongside its defensive power as she swung down towards Avrin. Observing the attack while standing still, he was able to ‘see’ how her axe’s weight magically increased mid-swing.

Avrin then sensed she used a small, concentrated Phantom Pulse to propel her axe with extra force, augmenting her attack power even further and made it at least 3 times stronger than normal. Her vertical cleave can now even churn the very air itself as it swung down at Avrin’s right shoulder. Avrin however, frowned upon seeing her brutish attack.

“What a stupid and clumsy method.” Avrin swiftly sidestepped diagonally forward with his left foot and swiftly closed the distance. Instead of dodging her axe, he moved towards Helena and backhand parried Helena’s right wrist with his left hand before near instantly following up with a simple palm strike against Helena’s chin, inflicting penetrating damage by using both the momentum of the hips and body.

Not only that, he disarmed Helena’s attack and used her own momentum to further the penetrating force from under her chin, leaving her momentarily stunned from the shock rattling her brain as she was sent into the air and her weapon disarmed at the same time.

Despite his simple counter, Avrin demonstrated the difference in experience between them with his smooth, flawless movements. Continuing his assault, he then synchronized the movement of his hips and body as he spun with a tyrannical force with a simple roundhouse kick.

*Kiik*

A metallic crack resounded as the chestplate broke apart like glass with the remaining force penetrating her body, Helena could only cough out blood before smashing into the wall. “Raw strength and frontal assaults aren’t everything. Do you really think everyone is dumb enough to stay still and just take on such attacks?”

After his words, the great axe stopped spinning in the air and embedded itself into the ground to the side between Avrin and Kael, quickly silencing the room from shock. The more shrewd spectators also noticed how the axe seemed to have fallen belatedly as if it was controlled by someone’s Divine Sense despite its heavy weight. However, Avrin ignored them and gazed at the remaining three, curious of their abilities and potential.

“Well, the room we’re in is a little small, but the battlefield waits for no one.” He then pointed at the weird looking male called Leos. “You there. Leos, was it? Your turn.”

Leo's eyelids blinked as he looked at Avrin oddly before his body began to quiver. Suddenly, dark matter surged like a torrent from his body, and grew from just over 4.6 feet tall to a stunning 8.9 feet tall. The ceiling itself was only 15 feet high, and Leos only stopped when he reached 10.3 feet in height. However, his current form was now similar to that of a catfish-like monster. He was covered with blue scales and had rows of spikes that started from his shoulders and reached down to his elbows. As he stood facing Avrin, an ominous purple glow emanated from his eyes, and the black tattoos that covered his scales pulsed as though they were corrupted veins, filled with power.

Leo's’ present form could only be described as majestic and dominating, it was as if he was jumping out of a wave made of black matter. His visage gave him the appearance of an aquatic predator, which was further augmented by the blue mist escaping from the mouth full of sharp, serrated teeth.

“A great augmentation! You’re a converted magic beast?” Avrin exclaimed with awe, somewhat impressed. His first time augmenting his form was more of an abomination than a warped humanoid creature, yet this Leos already went from looking like a bloated man fish to a metal skinned giant constantly emanating dark matter as if prepared to crush all obstacles in his path. Despite the repercussions of such a forced augmentation at his level, it was clear that Leos’ strength was rising, and his monstrous appearance was definitely traumatising to any enemy he encounter. His gnarled face along with the blue mist escaping his teeth seemingly spoke of a desire to devour all in sight.

Although unsure, Avrin recalled a dangerous aquatic species seen near the Twisting Islands. Nonetheless, before he could think more about the origins of Leos, he saw the former magical creature now converted Spectral Beast soar and maneuver elegantly as it spun and swung its tail, sending a large wave of dark matter with a blue-tinted glow at Avrin. The wave of Dark Matter grew to fill the hall, and obscured the sight of everyone within it, forcing the champions to scramble out of the hall.

“-I see. A good move for narrow spaces and also for those who rely on their sight.-” Despite not moving, Avrin showed no panic or fear, only bemusement. His Divine Sense allowed him to observe how Leos was gathering streams of the dark matter around his body into his move in a vortex-like manner. All the Dark Matter in the area was compressed into a small glowing sphere, with the blue glow only growing brighter.

Leos then faced the sky, whipped his head forward and then roared ferociously at Avrin, shooting a glowing dark matter sphere shooting at him. Whether it was the roar or the momentum of the sphere, the attack exploded, releasing an echoing sonic boom, as it shot towards Avrin

Avrin’s intention was to test the strength of the champions and to identify their weaknesses. With the hope that he could then help them improve while teaching them to use their abilities more effectively. Even so, he was still surprised in more ways than one. He had not expected one of the champions to be a demonic beast with the disposition of a mage nor to be attacked in such a manner.

Regardless, unbeknownst to most of the spectators, Avrin was already besides Leos, standing at his left. The attack missed, but Avrin could clearly observe the explosion of wind and water pressure released from that bomb-like attack. It was of such power that even the dark matter defense array around the room seemed to have activated to contain the damage, and Kael was quick to minimize the casualties and control the dark matter of the array with a seemingly water-like nature.

If someone had simply dodged the initial attack, they would still take damage from the ensuing explosion. While most of the spectators still focused on the collision point which was covered in evanescent dust clouds, Leos was concentrating on the location where he thought Avrin would still be. Avrin could see that the attack had significantly drained Leos’ mental strength and dark matter.

Nonetheless, the ferocious force of the attack had proved its power as the dust clouds cleared away. To force the Grand Prince into making a move was already a testament to the dangers of the attack. Now that the smoke cleared, even the most dimwitted would get a picture of the how dangerous the attack was by looking at the cracks and holes spread across the area despite the power of the defensive magic.

The other two champions were indeed impressed but grew cautious at the display of their fellow Spectral’s power. After all, just because they were Spectrals didn’t mean they lived in harmony or that there existed an unconditional love between allpeople or subraces. Releasing such attacks despite their being in close proximity with the target could have been seen as malicious act depending on what he was thinking, but luckily, Grand Prince Kael handled the issue.

Despite this, they had also did a bit of research. Although Malvin and Helena had had time to watch Leos matches. They had not seen him use an attack with such speed and power until now, showing that his full limits were never clearly displayed.

“-Such strength...under the Grand Princes and a few archdukes, no doubt he mastery of dark matter exceeds that of most spectrals. His size also complicates things.-” Malvin couldn't help but ponder with both caution and relief swirling within his heart.

Visilia’s expression was also grim as she contemplated. “-Damn. With such limited space, I am definitely at a disadvantage. Would my arrows and crossbow bolts even manage to pierce this guy's skin? No doubt he has the durability to go with that raw power..-” She grew a little nervous. She had thought she was quite skillful among the 4, but even though she had learnt a bit about them, the last attack proved that she was not as skillful or knowledgeable as she thought she was.

As she stared at the devastated impact zone in shock and contemplation, her elven senses apparently picked up on something. She quickly whipped her head back towards Leos as shock spread across her face. “-Im-impossible….-”

Malvin saw her expression and moved his gaze in the same direction. “W-wha..” His eyes bulged upon seeing Avrin standing near Leos. At the same time, more and more of the spectators realized something even more amazing: The mysterious noble was unharmed and next to Leos.

Seeing that Avrin had appeared to his left undetected, Leos opened his mouth and released a frightening roar causing the room to rumble. At the same time, he released a surge of Dark Matter waves and whipped his tail with tremendous force. Streams of blue tinted Nebula Mist suddenly surged from within the waves and surrounded the tail as if imbuing them with more power.

Avrin instantly jumped and avoided the tail whip, but as he did, a Void Sphere was fired from Leos’ mouth towards Avrin who may have been stranded in mid-air if it were someone else. Avrin simply used Void Step to let the Void Sphere pass through. However, in response, Leos repeated this tail whip and Void Sphere combo as he tried to pressure Avrin.

Avrin was feeling a little disappointed. He could tell that Leos must have created techniques based on his racial magic, but his attacks seemed to be half-baked and failed to cover his unspoken weaknesses. The beast was just trying to forcefully oppress with a clumsy flurry based on speed and power. Because of all this, Avrin was growing more and more disappointed as he side stepped and void stepped all the random attacks. That was until Leos started absorbing the remainder of the dark matter wave into his thorns which darkening yet glowing blue.

Malvin knew right away what this attack was, and it was also Leos’ victory move to become a champion. “This room is too small, you fool!” Gritting his teeth, Malvin was clearly panicked, and everyone else seemed to be as well. Many of the other tournament participants watching were already preparing their defenses or taking cover.

Malvin looked at Kael who seemed calm with a smile on his face and then at Avrin who seemed to be fascinated by the skill. “Weird...” He suddenly became even more confused as he paid more attention to Kael's reaction and calmness. Although the Grand Prince was powerful and could likely handle the attack, his composed observation was weird to him no matter what. This was even more so as he starts to wonder who this mysterious noble was and why had he never heard of someone so powerful during the tournaments.

He wasn't sure what to think of the situation, Helena being defeated in one blow and then his great speed. “-Something’s not right. Is that fellow so certain he can win?.. Maybe he...-” It was then that it all began to click together in his mind. This wasn't really a random situation, and it all made sense now. It is just that no one could have expected for him to appear so quickly and in such a fashion.

Visilia had also understood the situation and just who Leos was about to hit. She quickly paled and felt cold shiver in contemplation about their attitudes so far, but right now, she had jumped several meters away to protect herself, and saw Malvin do the same as well.

Leos first seemed like a miniature purple sun as he finished gathering energy and reabsorbing the dark matter waves. As Avrin’s feet touched the bare floor once again, Leos hovered in the air and caused the room to become humid and suffocating. A moment later, he plummeted towards Avrin, like a shooting star, causing the air to ripple and even slightly distort.

Avrin’s eye twitched in response. Although it seemed like an air ripple, the area was becoming colder and not hotter. He could also tell due to having gained divinity: Although this Spectral Beast’s level was too not high at the mid master level, he likely had a little understanding in controlling space which Avrin had noticed. Otherwise, the beast in front of him has done this without fully being aware which would be even more amazing.

“Honestly, are you a bigger idiot or a dumber idiot than the girl before you? Even if you lack battle experience as a sentient being or are trapped in a close space, you are clearly some kind of mage type, yet you are clumsily fighting with raw power. You should stop playing warrior and learn to fight properly.” Avrin declared as various spheres appeared in mass one after another.

During the flurry of attacks earlier, Avrin noticed that the scales of this opponent lacked defensive ability against physical and penetration attacks. It was also obvious that Leos doesn’t specialize in melee combat. Despite all this, Leos must have thought to use the limitation of space in his advantage.

“Creating a giant wave to obstruct vision without realizing that your own vision is affected as well, using the limitation of space and such a giant size to give greater physical and mental pressure…… you seem to be brilliant and stupid at the same time….. However..” A smile soon started spreading across Avrin’s face before raising his left hand and pushing forward in the direction of the incoming Leos.

“You're going to have a very good future! Right now, you're my favourite. Hahaha.” He couldn’t help but laugh in his excited. However, despite looking like a simple gesture of pushing his hand forward, Leos immediately experienced a Phantom Pulse assaulting his body and slowing down.

The Phantom Pulse wasn’t too powerful or damaging, but it did succeed in restraining his movements. After all, Avrin was a powerful entity equivalent who has reached a level where he can crush Elder Deities and can face off against even Ancient Deities. HIs experience in combat and war is also something completely different from anyone here, and he has always made use of his dark matter ability to get so far.

Even when holding back, his abilities and experience with dark matter was nothing to sneeze at… as everyone would soon find out. The ripples in space were soon suppressed by an even bigger ripple in space that seemed to glow, like the rising sun. This seemed to stun Leos as he appeared both distracted. Dark matter particles started glowing and floating through the air. The number of spheres increased rapidly and completely surrounded Leos, emitting sparks of electricity and causing a instinctively fear to awake him from his stupor.

“Void Shards!” Grasping a fist and twisting it, the Void Crystals flashed with a purple brilliance and released a deafening roar as though lightning had pierced the heavens with righteous fury. A moment later both Avrin and Leos were swallowed up within the ensuing explosion, along with the yells and the screams of the occupants who soon after were blinded by the light from the explosion which filled entire room.

The explosion had visibly cracked the defensive barrier while activating the secondary and tertiary layers of the defensive magic arrays with traces of dark matter. Avrin noticed this, and his expression flickered oddly for a brief second. Soon afterwards, the explosion pierced through the ceiling, shooting forward up into the sky in a brilliant pillar of light, alerting those who were near the Grand Prince’s residence and making those who had natural affinity or some basic understanding of space to tremble in fear and awe. It was as though the space around the light was twisting and trembling before spreading a wave of energy across the skies.

Even if all of the most gifted Spectrals were not within Kael’s residence at the time, there was no doubt that all their attention was now focused in that direction. Many fell into a trance as a foreign yet familiar sensation slowly took hold of their mind. At the same time, the majority of others were stupefied at the sight of the sunlight disappearing and the skies being enveloped by a shifting darkness.

It was only when the twisted beam had pierced through the atmosphere and was absorbed by the planetary barrier that it dissipated, allowing the skies and the surrounding space to heal and return to normal. Back within the chamber, the situation had turned odd as everyone was silent, the only sounds being the groans of the occupants and the crumbling debris from the destroyed walls and the pierced ceiling.

As everyone slowly regained their sight and hearing, Leos was already back into his human form but was bleeding profusely with countless wounds and void shards protruding from his body, that gave him the appearance of a bleeding porcupine. A shield was placed in front of him, showing that he likely used it in the last minute to protect his head from the fatal wounds. He glanced at his missing arm and then looked up at the ceiling. “-For there to be a hole in the ceiling but not damage elsewhere….-”

He quickly realized that his opponent had not only used such a powerful attack but had also manipulated the power from the explosion to minimize casualties. The mysterious noble also had enough control of space and gravity to rightfully consider their resistance to be child's play. “-If I didn’t revert to human form at the last second, would I…… No, for someone to be this power!!-” He quickly snapped his head back to Avrin.

“I-it can’t…” Although his hand gestures and techniques seemed simple as well as a little strange, Leos knew that only one person could be this powerful. His entire body trembled with fear as the remaining stamina and dark matter started to leave him. He shrivelled up and paled a bit before glancing at his arm again, circulating Nebula Mist to try and restore it. He also noted how the various external and internal injuries around his body were quickly trying to repair themselves, causing him to be temporarily immobilized.

“That was superb!” Avrin was quite impressed by what he seen. As he withdrew his hand, he realized how there were truly competent Spectral other than the pure bloods. “-If more of these Spectrals appear and grow, I won't have to worry about a weak hierarchy or chain of command.-”

Avrin could definitely see why these champions would have such pride in their strength, and why they had been suggested by Kael. However, while strength was important, they seemed to lack a sense of teamwork and unity. Not to mention, they especially lack proficiency in essential spatial techniques and certain dark matter abilities, which would spell the difference between life and death in the future.

“-Now, how should I do this?-” He would obviously have to rearrange and form proper teams, since they lacked the proper discipline to bring out the best in each other. The fact that they attacked separately against someone who was obviously stronger than them was best proof of all. Even if the martial artist and knight was restrained by some form of chivalry, the archer and beast weren’t, and Leos even disregarded others with some of his attacks.

“Well, what about you two?” As the dust was still settling, Avrin already turned to face Marlin and Vesilia with evident excitement in his voice. However, a melody of fear and impending crisis was the only thing heard by all those present. Leos soon fainted, and the last two champions felt their heartbeats accelerating as sweat drenched their backs. All the other spectators could only step back and bring forth Shadow Walls and other defenses as they stared in fear at that seemingly malicious smile plastered on Avrin’s face.

***

Meanwhile, sitting before a blazing campfire, a lone figure sat on a log, bathed in the light of two moon that hovered elegantly in the sky above her with a translucent glow. Covered in a black cloak with a hood over her head, the individual couldn’t hide her young, feminine body underneath. Her hands gave the impression of white snow crafted from purest of crystals. When looking towards the lower half of the face not covered by the hood, traces of a white hair tinted a soft blue spilled onto the front of her shoulders.

While one might mistake it for an ornament made from blue silver or even mithril itself, the smooth flow of the hair and the feminine braid on the left side proved otherwise. Adding to the impression that a great beauty lay beneath the cloak.

Nonetheless, only the most courageous of men or greatest of fools would dare approach this mysterious young woman. Although glances of her figure speak of a great beauty, she had a terrifyingly sinister aura. Even if her were to be ignored, the bodies and blood trails in the distance could not. This painted a surreal scene of a cloaked beauty seated under the seemingly peaceful night while surrounded by death.

“I know you’re there, so come out now……or else.” The girl spoke with a voice akin to a melody of bells and choirs but permeated with a cold and murderous intent. This caused another cloaked (but taller) figure to emerge from trees to the left of her.

From hands and the lower half of the figure’s face exposed, the other individual seemed to also be female. As the silver-haired woman glanced briefly to the side, she noticed the dagger within the other party’s hand and her tense movement, making her lips curve a small smile.

“Ha...hahahahahahaha. Very well. Child of the cursed bloodline, what hath thou come to seek of me?” The presence generated by the girl of silver hair grew even stronger and more ominous despite her shorter and almost childish height, shaking the surrounding air.

“........kuh” The other figure clenched her fist and tightened the grip on her dagger as her body stiffened under the ominous presence and the trembling surroundings. “So it was true after all…… To think you were freed…”

The cloaked figure seemed to gathered her resolve as she walked forward and stood straight as she stopped some distance away from the shorter figure.

“.... Premera Augustus Walteria, what desires do you now hold in your newfound freedom?”