Inside a large caldera, twenty-five people were standing side by side. Their backs ramrod straight and their heads held

The mana channel was one of electrifying intensity. You could almost feel the pressure being exerted.

On the field, two members of the Dragon Council stood. Erebus and Massath were the ‘referees’ of the match.

Since the battle royale tended (always) to get too violent to the point where the participants lives were in danger, they were there to regulate any danger.

A lot of competitors would actually try to kill each other in this match. Even with two members of the Dragon Council watching extremely closely, they thought they could get away with it.

Erebus had been chosen as a referee because Rolut thought it was the perfect opportunity to put him to work.

The announcer was also standing in the caldera, behind Erebus and Greur of course.

He was a tall and skinny man with extremely spiky hair. He wore annoyingly sunglasses over his eyes.

“Ehm~” the announcer started. “In less than a minute, the battle royale will be starting! Is everybody ready?”

The crowd thundered in response.

“Then, competitors to your spots!”

All of the members of the battle royale spread out as they were told to earlier.

“3,2,1, begin!” the announcer shouted when they were all in their proper places.

Almost instantly, they all released magic that would be equivalent to King ranked.

Superb, to achieve such power within seconds. The dragons truly put the other races to shame.

Everyone had opted to use magic, seeing as close combat wouldn’t be as efficient in reducing the numbers within the three hour time limit.

Erebus and Massath raised a barrier in front of themselves to block the debris that came from the colliding powers.

In the battle royale, it was expected that you go all out. If you didn’t, well, it’d just be boring to watch.

The announcer was practically bursting at the seams as he explained everything that was going on. How he was able to see everything from his position was a mystery to the world.

“Fia has currently engaged the ice mage Misr! Two ice magic specialists going at it! Amazing, they’re absolutely amazing! What do you think, Lord Erebus?”

Erebus made a complicated expression. Why was he getting involved in this? He wasn’t a commentator... Well, they had warned him about this.

“Their magic is rough still. The timing could be planned better and they’re wasting energy on casting grand-looking magic when, in reality, it’s just simple spells,” Erebus answered monotonously, his voice was amplified by the announcer’s magic.

The crowd grew silent.

“Uh...” The announcer was unsure how to bounce back.

What a mood-killer.

Was this Erebus’ ultimate technique?

“What he meant was that even though they’re still immature, their magic is still rather impressive,” Greur laughed, sending a glare at Erebus.

Damn fool! Learn how to read the atmosphere.

“O-oh! Of course! Their magic even manages to impress members of the Dragon Council!”

The audience once again went wild.

A crash was avoided!

The announcer made the mental decision not to ask for Erebus’ input anymore. That would be a dangerous situation.

Fia, upon hearing Erebus’ critique, was embarrassed. She was being showy on purpose, but for him to call it out like that. Ah! Her face was turning red.

How dare he embarrass her...

Fia raged silently as she continued to battle her opponent.

Erebus watched the battle without paying much attention, there was about an hour left. But everything seemed bleak to him. He honestly could care less now...

Ah, he really wished someone would go out of control so that he could have some fun. Rolut told him he wasn’t allowed to kill them, but making them permanently unable to fight was completely fine, right?

Right?

As long as they were alive.

Erebus grinned viciously. That’s right, children. Let the bloodlust take control, I’m so bored... haha.

Greur conspicuously kicked Erebus in the side. Erebus was currently sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and head resting on his hand. Erebus tilted over slightly when Greur kicked him.

“Stand up,” Greur whispered. No matter how boring Erebus thought it was, it wasn’t like he could just sit there on the ground! He was tarnishing the Dragon Council’s pristine reputation.

“Eh~ no way, I’m barely managing to stay awake. No way am I going to stand up.”

Greur smiled tightly. “Get the hell up before I destroy all the precious books in your cave.”

With record-setting speed, Erebus was back up on his feet.

No.

Azure had already eaten his beloved mana stones so many years again. Now his books were in danger?

What was this abuse he was receiving?

“Look, it’s starting already.” Greur pointed to Lucas who was fighting a black-haired woman. “I can feel their killing intent from here.”

He was right. The two were undoubtedly aiming to kill each other, the magic was no longer being restrained in its strength.

The bloodlust that resided deep within the dragons had awoken upon the extremely intense fighting.

For some reason, during the battle royale, the killing intent they had would always come out. They had managed to keep it reigned for the other days, but on the royale, the concentration always broke.

Dragons were competitive, greedy, and battle-oriented.

The three didn’t blend very well, especially when this was the final battle and only one would win the grand prizes.

Sure, there was third and second place, but the rewards were of a much smaller scale that wasn’t nearly enticing as first.

So, when the opponents they were fighting grew tougher, they became blinded by this greed.

This was it.

They had to win now or else they would lose anything. With a mindset like that, they quickly lost their control.

Greur sighed. “I’ll let you handle it.” Erebus was practically shaking with excitement.

Finally! It had taken them long enough.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Erebus smirked, he bent down into a runners position, ready to bolt through all of the fighting going on between the others.

“Lucas and Urith have violated the rules of the Tournament! They are attacking each other with killing intent. Lord Erebus will be dealing with them,” the announcer told everyone.

Erebus pushed off from the ground, a sonic boom was created and a depression had formed from where his feet had been.

The other contestants leaped out of the way of the blur that was Erebus, he had crossed the diameter of the caldera in a matter of seconds. If they were to get hit by an object moving at that speed, the results would be disastrous.

As much as they’d like to see Erebus’ skill, they still had to fight in order to win!

Erebus leaped into the air, creating another depression in the earth. Erebus grabbed Urith by the leg and threw her into the ground. When her body collided with the solid earth, a sizeable crater was formed inside the caldera.

The woman hacked up blood and rolled onto her side, clutching her body in agony.

Painful.

Everything hurt, her ears were ringing and she had double vision. Her head had hit the ground extremely hard. She was sure a couple bones had broken, too...

That being said, it had snapped her out of her blind fury.

Lucas was next. The air mage recklessly attacked Erebus, who dodged his attacks. A smirk still engraved on his face.

Erebus used his own air magic to propel himself forward and grabbed Lucas’ face with his hand. The two flew downwards after gliding in the air for a couple meters.

“Don’t worry, you won’t die,” Erebus reassured Lucas, tightening his grip on the man’s face.

The two began to fall towards ground. Erebus slammed Lucas’ head into the ground, creating another crater.

Lucas was knocked out upon impact.

Erebus stood up and dusted his clothing off. Perhaps he shouldn’t have taken them by surprise, the result was rather boring.

He sighed and made his way back over towards Greur, only a little less than an hour left in this hellhole.