It was already dark when Lilia and the rest returned.

Serra and Aies were waiting for them.

"You're back."

They greeted them.

"Did you gather any information from them?"

Serra asked.

"Not much. But judging from the captain's expression, the information may truly be valid. He seemed to have expected us and anticipated our course of action."

Lilia replied.

"Did you actually see the rest of their team members?"

Serra asked surprised.

"We did not."

Luisa replied.

"Hm... Then we'd better prepare ourselves. If the information is truly false, then we'll have to fight while holding our trump cards back. We'll return to our first plan and initiate a challenge again on the final week."

Serra said.

"That's the correct course of action. There's not much to do left but we can't relax our guard. Let's eat first though. I'm excited for tomorrow!"

Seileen cut in between them.

"Sure. I've already prepared our dinner. Aies and I were still eating when you three returned."

Serra casually replied.

"Good. Then the food must still be hot."

Seileen spoke happily.

The trio joined them for dinner and they began to chat about today's events.

"Hm... The taste of the food is better than usual."

Luisa commented.

"True... It's better than before. What's the difference?"

Seileen asked.

"Oh. That's easy. Serra found some rather rare ingredients and spices this afternoon and bought them."

Aies answered.

"Oh? You have an impressive repertoire."

Lilia praised.

"Haha... The ingredients are rather similar to the ones found in my hometown so I went ahead and bought them."

Serra happily replied.

"Oh? Your hometown?"

Lilia and Luisa were interested in this.

They failed to find any mention of where Serra originated from after all.

"Well... My hometown suffered a calamity and was destroyed. It's being rebuilt right now but it'll take a bit more time to repair it."

Serra said.

"I see... Sorry to hear that."

Lilia replied in understanding.

Perhaps that's why we failed to discover anything... It's a ruined town undergoing repairs...

"Since it's being repaired, why don't you take us there to go sight seeing someday?"

Aies spoke.

"Hm? I don't mind but it's a rather far away place..."

Serra said.

"Really? That's alright! We'll head over even if it's mountains and seas apart!"

Aies spoke excitedly without thinking.

Serra smiled wryly.

"Well... I guess I'll escort you guys there but keep it a secret about how we head over and where it is though."

It's literally worlds apart, my dear...

Serra thought to himself.

The others agreed to join as well.

They're interested where the place is.

They soon finished their meal and headed to their rooms.

As soon as Serra headed back into his room, he began contemplating the discussion back then.

"Hm... Given my status, I can't really disregard my promise. I guess I'll reveal my true identity in the future when we head out of this city."

He thought to himself.

"Perhaps I'll even bring along Ren along with us to see my hometown."

There should be no problems with a short visit.

Ren is the pillar of this world.

A mental pillar of support that deters chaos and evil.

So long as Ren, a powerful cultivator who lived for countless years exist, that pressure will weight upon those who seek to sow chaos on this world.

Though there are many righteous sects and organizations that help keep the peace and slay villains, they're merely small time characters. Only someone with a presence as immense as Ren could peace truly be kept.

Before dragons, snakes and rats are merely creatures that could only submit or die before him.

Only true dragons such as mighty sects could contend with it.

After all, while ants could kill an elephant with enough numbers, they can never reach the dragons that soar the sky. It's how sharks can't kill tigers on land. It's simply a matter of being dimensions apart.

"Only a short visit then. This world is indeed peaceful and quite stable but there are some troublesome factors and ambitious warlords hoping to build kingdoms and empires of their own. It's only with the presence of an absolute deterrence would they ensure they don't go too far out of line."

After thinking some more, Serra decided to take all four girls and Ren on a short visit to his world.

It was the morning of a new day.

Lilia and her team were already rested and prepared to do battle.

"Is everyone ready?"

She asked them.

They all nodded.

No more words was necessary.

"Well then... Let's go take them down!"

She spoke out.

And thus, they all headed towards the arena.

.......................................................................

Within an hour, they reached the arena.

"It's pretty crowded."

Aies commented.

"That's natural. Although all the battles between the various teams would attract a lot of spectators, it's the top 10 teams who could truly bring out an entire crowd."

Seileen casually spoke.

"True. Battles involving the top 10 are the most eye-catching of them all and determine who can truly stand out on top."

Luisa added.

"I suppose we should be proud of ourselves to have reached this far. It's an honor."

Lilia spoke with emotion.

"Come now. We might as well win it now, shouldn't we? I mean, it would be a shame if we didn't."

Seileen happily said while nudging Lilia's back.

"Hey!"

Lilia pouted.

"Hahaha!"

Seileen merely laughed it off.

"Be more serious, you two."

Lilia sternly called them out.

"It appears our opponents are ready."

Serra said as he gazed ahead of the arena.

In the enemy team, there were only five people.

"That's the captain."

Lilia noted as she saw a familiar figure within the enemy ranks.

The stern young man waved towards them.

"Hm? Is there something he wants to say?"

Seileen also saw.

"I'll listen to what he has to say."

After thinking about it for a moment, Lilia decided to go.

"Is there something you need?"

Lilia asked.

"We just want to discuss terms with you."

Lilia raised an eyebrow to that.

"Terms?"

He went straight to the point.

"For the match... we lack suitable members to do battle. Therefore, we will only have three battles. If you win two of them, you win."

He proposed.

"You don't have enough members to host the remaining battles?"

She asked.

The man nodded.

"Yes. So, will you agree?"

Lilia nodded swiftly.

This battle was an easy win if that's the case.

"We understand. We'll fight you with everything we've got for this battle."

Lilia spoke on behalf of her team.

As the captain, she has that right.

The two nodded and exchanged a handshake.

Lilia headed back to her team.

She explained what happened.

"In that case, we should send out our strongest fighter from the start and end it in one battle to save both teams time and effort."

Luisa assented.

"I agree! Let Luisa go."

"True! Senior Sister Luisa is the strongest among us. Let her go!"

"Yes! Let's settle this fast!"

The team agreed.

"Very well. I'll go."

Luisa spoke out.

"For the next two battles, Seileen and Serra shall go. For the third battle, Lilia shall go."

It was a reasonable verdict. Seileen possesses skill and speed while Serra can support her and provide defence.

Lilia was the strongest after Luisa so she was next.

The rest didn't have any complaints about the roster and Luisa ascended the stage.

Against her, the opposing team sent out a tall and lanky young man carrying two daggers with chains attached.

"You are... If I recall, you're the one who started the battle with the 9th team?"

Luisa asked curiously.

The man nodded bitterly.

"Yep. What a fool I was. Lucky I'm still up and at it. But I've still got scars to show."

He replied bluntly.

"I see. I have nothing to say to you. Let's start."

Luisa had no interest in a fool who dragged his team down because of his own lust.

The man let out a weak laughter.

The referee soon came and gave out the signal to do battle.

The moment the signal was released, the lanky youth threw out his daggers with chains attached towards Luisa.

Their tips glowing red.

Gazing at those daggers seriously, Luisa treated them as a threat and dodged to the left.

Noticing her movement, he retracted his daggers swiftly and they returned to him immediately.

He sent out red sword-lights towards the direction where Luisa was headed to.

As soon as the sword-lights reached near her, they were repelled by a pink barrier.

Luisa charged towards the lanky youth immediately as they were repelled.

Watching her cautiously, he hurriedly retracted his daggers once more and grasped them in a manner where he can stab the enemy and charged forward with his daggers raised high.

Luisa waved her fan and swung it towards him.

A blue light headed towards him.

He jumped up.

Luisa's eyes shone.

The blue light suddenly reversed and flew towards him.

Shocked, he covered himself with his arms to block the attack.

"Argh!"

He let out a muffled cry as the blue light exploded and blood splattered on the ground.

The lanky youth looked at her miserably as he spat out blood.

Not missing a beat Luisa charged out towards him while unleashing a familiar blue light towards him.

Wary of the swordlights she could control, he sent out his own swordlights to counter them.

Despite suffering injuries, his combat ability wasn't affected.

Soon, Luisa reached him.

Her blue fan reached him with its bladed tips.

The youth countered her with his own blades and the two engaged in close combat.

However, Luisa was superior to him.

Soon, cuts appeared on his body as Luisa gained momentum.

Raising her leg, she kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying.

She unleashed a barrage of blue lights towards him which exploded dealing him severe injuries as he miserably flew out.

Luisa chased him.

Then, she jumped and stomped on his body.

She drew her fan and lunged it towards him just stopping by his neck.

The man laughed.

"I admit defeat."

He called out weakly.