Many of the spectators exclaimed, criticizing the performance of the Prospects after Helena’s defeat.
“Tsk, at this rate, we will lose!”
“What are these Prospects up to lately? Have they been training? Isn’t that trick from earlier too easy to be noticed?!”
“F***, these kids have been way too peaceful for a while now! They need to be taught what real action looks like!”
Luiz shared the same sentiments as the others.
“It wasn’t like this yesterday! It was fun and both sides were on the edge! What’s with this performance now?!”
Iria’s last match against a powerful elden student put everyone on the edge. Not one of them expected that Iria would win in the end.
Luka shook his head.
“These fights are on a completely different level, Luiz. We’re only spectators. Saying is easier than experiencing it first-hand.”, he put out his perspective.
Veidora’s sneaky attack could be seen by everyone but what about Helena?
She was way too focused on dealing with the enemy in front of her that she was oblivious of the hidden threat.
Luka understood this point and would never voice out such biased opinions.
Zachariel thought that Helena was defeated way too easily.
`She had that symbol on her hand before. Why did it not go off today?`
…
“See, that silver-haired girl was just lucky.”, James sneered.
The loyalists behind him nodded as well.
William gripped his fists and cursed James for his disheartening remark.
`Just whose side are you, really? The humans or the eldens?`
These deans and instructors didn’t have a slight bit of conscience towards their human Prospect students.
`No, it’s not like they don’t have a conscience, but not against people who do not share their ideologies and fanaticism!`
William was helpless about this.
Although a few instructors and deans weren’t like these people, they were suppressed.
Emperor Marcus was domineering and brutal when it comes to loyalty.
Subjects who had malicious intents against his rule were dealt with appropriately.
Of course, there were some subjects whom he couldn’t directly deal with. However, this emperor wasn’t one to give up as well.
`His Imperial Majesty has been after Zachariel and his household for a while. Now that the entire family is dealt with, Zachariel is the only one that stands in his way.`
William has only thought of these things after a busy work the last few days.
He had been wondering the various reasons as to Emperor Marcus’s intent to deal against Zachariel.
Was it because of Supreme Elder Azzad?
His undetermined talent whom no one has heard of for millennia?
Or the favorability that the eldens and the Tower showing upon Zachariel?
Most of these were more than enough for Emperor Marcus to take down Zachariel as soon as possible.
Otherwise, his image as an undisputable ruler and the prominence of Kane in the future would be outshined by Zachariel should the latter be left alive in this world.
`Today is the day of their fight, right? If that young man wins against Prince Kane, it will set off a devastating revolution in the entire Imperium, bringing an end to the old aristocratic rule that slowly tarnished the precious empire of the humans.`
A trial-by-combat meant that only one of them would return alive.
That was why Emperor Marcus amended Kane’s punishment to this one.
It was a do-or-die plan. Either Emperor Marcus wins, or Zachariel does.
William and many other people knew this point and had the urge to help out.
However, the Royal Family was too powerful and stable for them to act against.
Thus, they depended on the auspicious revolutionary faction to stir things up before committing to help.
It was both to test the power of the revolutionary faction, and to identify which people should they choose to ally or antagonize upon.
The Summer Household had already taken the first step, to which, many of its members voiced out their displeasure to Lena’s decision.
However, with the recent protests and fights that displayed the abuse of authority by the Imperium guards, people like William grew hope in their hearts.
…
While the spectators lamented, the announcer continued.
Despite the depressing mood, his enthusiasm never wavered.
“The next fight!”
“We have… Prince Kane Cromwell from the Great Human Imperium!”
At the sound of his name, the loyalists and many spectators cheered in unison!
“Prince Kane! Prince Kane! Prince Kane!”
Their shouts were lively and full of praises to Kane.
He smirked when he heard them loud and clear.
`See that? This is how the Imperium values their beloved prince!`
His ears were filled with contempt and mockery from the past few days. He thought that people in the Imperium hated him.
However, things weren’t as exactly he thought they were.
`What about now, father?! Still not having faith in your son?`
He glanced in the northern direction, only disappointing himself after seeing Emperor Marcus stare at the platform indifferently.
…
`This isn’t how things are supposed to happen.`, Emperor Marcus narrowed his eyes.
Kane and Thessalia’s papers should’ve been disposed of somewhere not inside the box that the announcer was holding with his hand.
`Who the hell altered my plan?!`
With the recent advancements that Kane achieved during the past few days, he knew that his son would be able to contend against Thessalia and even win if Kane wouldn’t act stupidly during their match.
He planned to show that his son was more noteworthy than Thessalia.
Should Zachariel choose to avoid his son and pick Thessalia instead, that would elevate his son’s prestige and make Zachariel look like a coward in front of the public.
Now, because of what happened, there was a possibility that the other elden Prospect would be chosen and not Thessalia.
The awaiting match wouldn’t come and everyone wouldn’t be able to judge which of the two were more powerful than the other.
On the other hand, even if Thessalia was chosen as Kane’s match and won it, the impact wouldn’t be as effective as if they were at the last match instead.
If anyone could hear his thoughts, they would sneer at Emperor Marcus for being too demanding.
His perfectionistic behavior was almost unmatched in the world.
…
Kane was oblivious of his father’s thoughts.
`Giving me the cold shoulder huh?! He thinks he could keep that throne to himself for a few more hundred years?!`
He strutted towards the platform below with rage in his eyes.
“Next! We have…”
Everyone held their breaths, hoping that it would be the princess of the Great Elden Conglomerate, Thessalia Valoris.
The announcer widened his eyes before a fervent shout went out of his mouth.
“Princess Thessalia Valoris from the Great Elden Conglomerate!”
Everyone became euphoric, particularly Emperor Marcus.
“Defeat her this time, Prince Kane!”
“Thessalia, don’t waver and defeat that human prince once again!”
The people of different races voiced out their cheers for their respective prince and princess.
“Princess, I congratulate you in advance for your win.”, Veidora, who was now a child, bowed over Thessalia.
“Go ahead, my rival. Let’s see how you fare well this time around.”, Al’dous challenged her.
Thessalia snorted and ignored him.
Raffila was grumpy after waking up. She was the only one in this group who lost to a human Prospect during this event.
She stood up and paid her respects as well, “Princess, win over them with absolute dominance and style. This lower one wishes you the best.”
Thessalia coldly nodded.
She turned around and looked at her father from the distance.
`Father, I swore to you I’m better, and this match will show you that!`.
The two royal children approached the platform filled with pride and ridicule against the other, coupled with their anger and hope of recognition towards their paternal parents.
…
`I thought they were going to be the last one. What’s going on?!`, Zachariel mused this peculiar occurrence.
If anything, the last fight should’ve been set up between Kane and Thessalia, the most interesting match during this skirmish event.
`So it’s Jeremias against Althea, I guess?`, he hadn’t seen the angel in the coliseum after darting his eyes around the area.
On the other hand, he noticed that there were no senior Prospects in the venue today.
`Weird. Were they sent out on the battlefield or in a mission?`
It was a sound reason. Otherwise, they would’ve gone to the coliseum and spectated this event.
His eyes darted around again and realized that most of the people here were mercenaries, mages, some other people, or freshmen students from the Great Schools or other schools.
`Strange. Something’s not right here.`
His thoughts were interrupted when someone nudged him on the sides.
“What are you spacing out for?! The match is about to begin!”, Luiz reminded him.
He wanted Zachariel to observe the two fighting against one another so that the latter could come up with his plan on who to fight and how to fight them.
…
Kane wore a royal golden and white mage robe.
Imprinted on its back was a golden helmet with large golden wings extending from its base.
It was the insignia of the Great Human Imperium.
He stood proud and aloof. A hint of arrogance could be seen on his finely sculpted face.
Thessalia, on the other side, wore a purple mage robe. Even though the royal wear wasn’t present, one could still feel her aura of a royal bloodline from afar.
Her long slender hands carefully waved in the air. She was murmuring something inaudible to Kane.
Her cunning eyes observed him with great caution. Who knows what was on her mind when she heard that he was her match today?
“Hmph, you might’ve beaten me last time, but today, the results will be different!”, Kane pointed his right index finger at Thessalia.
The elden girl snorted and readied.
The announcer didn’t ask if they were ready this time.
Their facial expressions already told everything the people wanted to know.
“This will be an exciting match between the two royal families of the Great Human Imperium and the Great Elden Conglomerate!”
“Let the match, begin!”
Bang!
“Wind Swallow!”
Kane sent out an attack.
“Reflective Shield!”
Thessalia defended herself and sent it back.
Kane waved his hands and dispersed his wind swallow.
He then gathered wind mana essence that surrounded Thessalia in a circular pattern.
`Whirlwind Cut!`
Then, sharp wind waves flew towards her at great speed.
She used one of her hands to defend with reflective shield and the other to cast a spell.
`Ring of Fire!`
A large ring made of fire formed that overlapped the wind currents surrounding Thessalia.
She controlled it perfectly such that the ring didn’t shrink and remained in place.
The hot temperature dispersed the surging winds.
Thessalia waved her hands and finally shrink the fire ring into a small disk. She contained the explosive power within and sent it out.
Kane snorted, raising his right hand.
“Dark shield!”
A curtain of dark mana essence formed in front of him.
Kane could feel the increase of his power when he absorbed that attack.
Humans jumped in happiness seeing their prince block Thessalia’s attack.
“Can’t you be more powerful than that, elden?!”
“Hahaha!”
Their mockery drew ire from the elden Prospects.
“Princess, you can do it! You’re powerful than they think!”, Veidora shouted.
Kane withdrew his dark shield and gathered lightning mana essence, surrounding his right fist with lightning cracks.
`Lightning Strike!`
Together with the fire mana essence he absorbed earlier, the lightning strike carried a hint of fire mana essence.
`Lightning mana essence?!`
Thunder rumbled above Thessalia.
She lifted her head and felt the danger of his incoming attack.
She quickly clasped both of her hands and faced her palms outwards.
`Reflective Shield!`
Kane pulled his hand down.
At the same time, a thick lightning bolt crashed from above.
Bang!
Thessalia grunted and lost the strength from her hands.
`How… powerful!`
The lightning strike went through her shield, severely numbing her hands.
She noticed that her hands became hot with a burnt odor emanating from them.
Kane didn’t let it end there.
He suddenly gathered his hands in front of his chest, `Elemental Clone! Lightning Variant!`
Lightning mana essence erupted from his body and flew away.
It had a humanoid figure similar to Kane.
William abruptly stood up from his seat, “Isn’t that-!”
“Elemental Clone?!”
The eldens were shocked as well.
It was a highly advanced spell that requires one to gather a humungous amount of mana essence in order to conjure an elemental clone of oneself.
For Kane to be able to form a single clone, they could imagine how vast his pool of mana essence was.
Moreover, it was lightning mana essence, one of the most difficult essences to be gathered, stored, and controlled.
A mana essence cultivator needed to have precise mana control before the clone could be formed. Otherwise, the gathered mana essence would disperse and the failure would result in accidents ranging from severe injury, crippling of cultivation, or even death.
The formed clones could either be ordered to act or act by themselves with the primary intent of attacking enemies.
The most downside part of this spell was that the clones have a short lifespan.
The accumulated mana essence used to form them would gradually disperse over time. This effect would hasten depending on the frequency and quality of their attacks, or in how they act.
However, that amount of time that these clones would exist was more than enough to finish battles like the one below the platform right now.
The lightning variant moved around Thessalia’s back and casted lightning strikes on its own.
Together, they pounded Thessalia with consecutive lightning strikes.
`How about this, you damn elden bitch!`
Kane had received his grandfather’s gift from him. A few sets of magic spell books and cultivation materials greatly enhanced his cultivation speed and overall power.
Now, he saw the fruit of his hard work during the past few days.
He felt overwhelming confidence that he would win this match. With that, the intensity of his attacks increased.
Thessalia helplessly defended against the incessant lightning strikes.
`I can’t… hold on!`
The elden Prospects gripped the handlebars in fear that Thessalia might lose this fight.
`This isn’t you, Thessalia. What is going on?!`, Al’dous narrowed his eyes.
He knew that Thessalia had a way around this predicament. However, the elden girl seemed to have lost the courage and wanted it to end in her defeat.
That was when Raffila noticed a strange aura enveloping Thessalia with her golden eyes.
`What’s with this creepy aura? Why do I feel like it’s overtaking Thessalia’s consciousness without her realizing?`
Jean felt the same thing as well.
`I felt this aura from before! When the announcer shouted the fighters of this match earlier!`
He gulped in fear, knowing that someone was controlling the flow of this day’s events.
“Jean, is something the matter?”, Scarlet noticed his anxious expression.
“No… nothing.”, Jean thought it was best to stay silent for now.
He didn’t know why it happened and who was behind it. Keeping his mouth shut might save his life for the better.
…
Kane smirked at Thessalia’s distraught figure.
`You like to cower under your shield, huh?!`
He gathered water mana essence and spouted a column of water beneath Thessalia’s feet.
`Water Spout!`
The sudden gush of water hit Thessalia’s chin.
Her focus wavered, losing her defense and directly receiving Kane’s lightning strikes.
“Ah!”, she howled in pain.
Her body was electrocuted, convulsing as the lightning swarmed over.
Thessalia slumped to the ground.
The smell of burnt marks wafted around.
Kane’s lightning variant stopped attacking. Specks of lightning flashed for a while before it dissipated away.
Everyone had their mouths opened wide.
Emperor Marcus was impressed.
“Do you see this, Dean William? It doesn’t matter whether our other Prospects lose. Prince Kane’s result is the only thing that matters.”, James argued.
“Look at that, their princess wasn’t even able to fight back!”, Josef added.
Now that the situation was on their side, their arrogance soared high.
William didn’t pay any heed to this nonsense.
`It’s good that he won. At least we still have a chance of winning this event.`, he thought.
…
“That was a fantastic match, everyone! Our winner for this round is Prince Kane Cromwell from the Great Human Imperium!”
“Prince Kane! Prince Kane! Prince Kane!”
The cheers resounded again.
Kane bathed over all the glory of winning against Thessalia.
`Ah, what a wonderful feeling. I wonder if I could have another chance this day again.`
He opened his eyes and remembered his upcoming match with Zachariel.
`Oh, I still have that one other. Well, he’s still locked below the Imperium Dungeon? How could this fight go anyway?`
He shook his head and smirked.
`It doesn’t matter, Kane. Regardless of whether he wants to fight me or not, I will still win in the end.`
He proudly walked back to his seat while the Imperium guards gently carried Thessalia away from the platform.
Kane did not need further mockery.
The result of the match was more than enough to slap the faces of the elden Prospects for being too arrogant.
“Your Highness, Thalanil, your daughter…”, Elder Gorfo worried.
Thalanil simply waved his hands, dismissing his concerns.
“Don’t worry about my girl, Elder Gorfo. She can handle her own business. Moreover, it’s her fault for being too careless.”, he sighed.
`Something wrong happened with Thessalia during the match. Her personality differed from the usual.`
He didn’t know if it was because of his obsession over Zachariel that she felt inferior in her heart, or was it another factor that led to this defeat.
