The moment the battle started, I moved to the side far away from the battle. A congestion of people were battling it out in the middle, including the bald, muscular man from before. The archer that I had used my chaos ability on was also standing to the side of me, but probably for a different reason. An archer isn’t suited for close range after all. As for me, I had different reasons, why waste my power on these weaklings when they would get wiped out anyways? It’s the obvious choice to make if you actually had the least bit of strategic planning skills. But these people sure aren’t that bright, why are they just rushing towards battle if they want to win?

There were less than 10 others that did the same thing as me, but they weren’t that strong. They were actually less than average, but this chaos ability doesn’t show intelligence level. Maybe instead of strength, they have the brains instead? That would make sense, but unfortunately for them… I’m aiming to win as quickly as possible.

[25 MP used. 9975 MP Remaining.]

I activated stealth with more control than before and snuck up behind everyone except the archer guy and knocked them out with a chop to the neck. I spared the boy because I wanted him to make it to the the top 5. He deserves it, it must’ve been harsh to get to that level of power at that age, so I guess I respect him in a way. That may be my reason to spare him, but nevermind that. It doesn’t seem like anyone’s noticed my actions....

...wait.

I could feel a stare directed towards my back. I turned around and met the eye of one of the individuals sitting in the VIP section. He was a young, dark blond haired man that was sitting on a grander throne than any of the others. The moment I looked back at him, he became surprised, but he quickly averted his gaze and changed his expression. I assume that he would be the prince of this city—he’s too young to be the king but if he was just a normal noble. He should be sitting towards the back, not in front of everyone. Especially if it’s the VIP section where many distinguished individuals are seated. Why did he turn his head away? Is he nervous of someone of my status? I knew full well that he was a person of higher status yet he was averting his gaze. How interesting.

Leaving that fact aside, my attention needed to be focused on the battlefield so I shifted my line of sight. After a few minutes, the number of people still standing had dropped to 20. I saw that bald man (what’s up with my luck with bald people?) still fighting like a savage, while the archer still stood to the side. I had felt a few glances from him, but no signs of an attack so I left it alone. The crowd was cheering loudly on the sides, with their hands waving in the air and their chants resounding throughout the arena. The excitement from the crowd was making them go wild due to the anticipation. While I had been focusing on them, another 10 people had been knocked out. Now there was only me and the archer boy standing towards the side, and the bald man facing off against the other 7.

Everyone’s attention was fixated on the middle of the ring, nobody paid attention to boring contestants such as me and the brown haired boy. That was what I thought, until I got this ominous feeling behind me. Fortunately, the weapon entered the chaos aura emanating from me before it could strike so I was able to detect it and dodge accordingly. I turned around as soon as I dodged it and the first thing I noticed was the dagger. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember exactly where it was from—until I saw the owner of this weapon…

“Dochet!” I grunted, while dodging another dagger that was thrown at me.

“Oho, nice reflexes there Damon. I congratulate you on making it this far, but it’s time for you to get disqualified,” said Dochet mockingly.

We stood a few feet apart as we eyed each other, trying to gauge the power potential of the other. I won’t miss this chance again, I’ll see his power level this time for sure! I gathered the chaos energy into my eyes once again and looked at Dochet.

...157

He’s damn strong for a normal person. This hotshot could probably make it to the top of the hierarchy if he wanted to if it wasn’t for his twisted personality. A man that wouldn’t hesitate to deceive and betray, that’s the kind of person this blondie is.

“Didn’t know your personality could take a huge turn like that,” I stated while keeping my guard up.

“Well, I can’t go disappointing all my fans so I think it’s about time to dispatch of you,” Dochet replied with a calm yet serious tone. As if on cue, the crowd started cheering Dochet’s name, even the VIP seating focused their gazes of us. The Prince especially, I could feel a sharper stare from him than anyone else. Did he have a power gauging skill as well? It would make sense if he did bu—

Another dagger came at my face, but I dodged it once again. If you were wondering why I could dodge the attacks of someone powerful like Dochet, (I know I’m a lot stronger, but that doesn’t mean I won’t get hurt if I get attacked) it’s because of my chaos manipulation skill. I emit an aura of chaos energy around me, so that space is basically controlled by me. Therefore, I can move freely and anything foreign that enters is instantly registered with my brain. Looking at my opponent, it seemed like he had retrieved both of his daggers and were expertly dual wielding them in his hands while preparing for his next attack.

“Just stop your futile attack,” I said. “It’s pointless, you’ll be better off not attacking me if you really want to win this.”

“What a funny joke!” Dochet laughed, but then his tone became more forceful. “I’ll be the one winning this, not you. So just give up.” The bloodthirstiness radiating off of this man filled my senses, it was like he was aiming to kill—not knock unconscious.

I could practically feel the whole arena’s attention on me and the blond man now, but I couldn’t focus on that useless detail right now because of my opponent. Out of nowhere, Dochet sprang forward with his sharp daggers and started his assault. I dodged his attacks pretty easily, but I could tell that if I was a regular person and got hit, I would probably be knocked out instantly. But I wasn’t about to let myself be slashed at without counterattacking. I pulled my fist back as I moved from side to side, avoiding the daggers and I looked for an opening.

The opportunity came when I dodged out of the dagger’s reach and Dochet stumbled a little bit. I threw my Absolute Strength reinforced punch towards his head, but my opponent wasn’t that unskilled. Unlike me, who wasn’t trained in fighting at all, Dochet must’ve trained ruthlessly for years. So I wasn’t surprised when he blocked my punch with both his daggers. Still, a skill that was meant to rival a kingdom couldn’t be blocked easily by one measly person. He may have avoided a fatal injury, but the blow was still powerful enough to knock him off his feet. He landed on the ground a few dozen feet backwards, sliding right up against the wall crowded full with spectators.

That wasn’t that hard. One punch ended it, but to be honest. Surviving a punch that I didn’t hold back on is a pretty good feat, hope he isn’t vengeful after. I’d hate to be injured because someone wants revenge. It happens all the time in those light novels, but I hope I’m smart enough that I won’t allow that to happen. When I tuned my senses back to the battlefield, I heard a loud mixture of boos and cheers. I’m pretty sure the males were all happy that Dochet was defeated, but the females were no doubt mad that their idol had been knocked out so easily. But the reactions from the crowd wasn’t what I was trying to pay attention to.

My eyes were pointed at the VIP section, and I sure was satisfied with the scene. Everyone’s favourite must’ve been that blond man, so the sheer sight of him being knocked out by a simple punch would seem impossible. But they didn’t know it was from a punch. The whole arena would have only saw Dochet being thrown against the wall. During the fight, I had took an extra precaution to make sure my powers weren’t found out, because I needed to make sure no one knew about my strength. If someone did, I would have an eye kept on me everywhere I went and that would not lead to a successful dethroning.

Right when I landed my punch, I had distorted the air around us using chaos energy, so instead of everyone seeing a punch. They just saw Dochet being knocked back by an unseen force, making it seem like it wasn’t because of me. I had thought it was pretty clever, and my idea had been right on target. The nobles all had baffled expressions, except for one person. Expectedly, it was the Prince who had been eyeing me this entire time. I’ll have to get rid of him later, any suspicion pointed towards me needs to be erased if my plan was to succeed.

I walked to the spot that I had been standing in before the fight, and stood there motionlessly again. The roaring from the crowd eventually died down, but that didn’t stop a few girls from throwing stuff at me. It was manageable, but at points a bit humiliating. Nevermind that, I was looking forward to how this battle royale would end—specifically, who the 5 winners were. Fortunately, the bald shirtless guy took care of the remaining contenders pretty quickly. He ended up on a pile of bodies with his hands motioning for applause. I think he even flexed his muscles a bit, but I looked away at that awful sight the moment he started doing it.

I don’t know how or why, but there were only 4 people left standing. Me, the bald dude, the archer, and another thin man standing in the shade just like me. With my enhanced vision, I could see the referee’s mouth start to move, but then an unexpected event took place.

Dochet, who I thought had been knocked out stood up as if he didn’t have a single scratch mark on him.