Chapter: 65. Sea of Flames (Five Thousand Words)
Hahaha…! Eating donuts and drinking chilled fruit juice while watching others fight in matches, this is truly bliss!
Seated in the VIP section, Miss Shaya kept calling the servers to bring more donuts, almost laughing like a little sun.
Hehe, actually, this happiness isn’t real happiness.
The real joy, after all, is getting to eat and drink for free!
As everyone knows, there’s nothing better than having delicious food without spending a dime. I suggest you gladiatorial arena, increase your efforts and serve more dishes.
While savoring the free delicacies, only when the cheers of the crowd erupted would Miss Shaya lift her cute little head to see who was getting beaten up.
“Tsk tsk, Xiya, look at that Lizardman, completely disregarding the rules of combat. The guy opposite him is already covering his head and fleeing, but the Lizardman is still chasing and beating him mercilessly. He clearly doesn’t understand that breaking the rules will lead to consequences. I bet he’ll get countered soon.”
“Hah… with the Lizardman’s advantage, it shouldn’t be… uh, actually, it really is.”
【Oh wow! Audience friends! The Lizardman Zoid, in pursuit, has fallen into a trap! It turns out Hachiku had already set a magic trap on the field to lure him in! Zoid took a direct hit from 【Flame Burst】 and has fallen to the ground!! The referee has stepped onto the field to check; if he cannot get up, this battle will be a victory for the Kingdom Knight Hachiku! Truly a knight of our kingdom! Smart and courageous! In comparison, the Lizardman Zoid was too reckless! What a pity!】
Hey, hey… to be fair, isn’t it a bit obvious that you, the host, are biased? Did the Lizardman eat your rice or something?!
Poor Lizardman Zoid, from the moment he stepped onto the stage, the host had already implied he looked ugly. After being outsmarted by his opponent and nearly blown to bits, he hadn’t heard a word of praise even when being carried off by the medical team.
The Kingdom Knight Hachiku, clad in shining platinum armor, raised his sword high to greet the cheers from the audience, fully showcasing the home-field advantage.
Miss Shaya didn’t think his victory was glorious; she just found the match rather appetizing.
In the subsequent matches, although Xue Fei was still somewhat absent-minded, she always managed to predict the flow of the battles accurately.
This situation made Xialet marvel.
“Impressive, Shaya! How did you know the mermaid would surrender? The match had just begun.”
“Isn’t it obvious? A mermaid is still a fish. Look, her opponent is a Fire Cat; the Fire Cat is great at fishing and adept in Flame Magic. If she doesn’t surrender, isn’t she just waiting to be cooked? It’s unlucky to draw the short straw, but remember, Xiya, if you ever encounter a Fire Cat, make sure to snatch the basket they carry. I guarantee it will be full of big fish!”
“Don’t snatch! Oh… putting that aside, I understand the racial counters, but weren’t those previous matches without any of that? Can you also judge the winner at a glance?”
“Ah? Now that you mention it… I don’t actually know. I can only say… it’s intuitive? It shouldn’t be that hard, right?”
“……”
Not… not hard? Intuition?
Xiya silently shook her head, completely unable to comprehend Xue Fei’s statement, as this was an ability beyond common sense.
Even as a Hero, she couldn’t accurately judge which side was stronger in a duel; what Xiya could do was clearly sense during her own battles who was stronger, either her or the enemy. Observing from the sidelines, she was unable to come to a definite conclusion.
For instance, during her duel with Jeffrey, Xiya could distinctly feel the dangerous signals, a “intuition” that had never appeared in her previous battles.
No wonder Xue Fei said not to confront Six Wings head-on… indeed, that made sense.
Xue Fei was able to observe with her eyes and give a judgment in advance, indicating that her battle intuition far exceeded the norm…
In simple terms, not only could she fight but she was also smart.
One could only say, as expected of Xue Fei…
“Xue Fei, you’re amazing.”
“Eek!!”
Xiya’s sudden whisper caused a chill to shoot up Xue Fei’s spine from her toes to the crown of her head!
“Shaya? What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing… nothing! Cough, don’t talk to me out of the blue! I’m watching the match!”
“But you weren’t really watching…”
“Then I’ll watch now!”
Xiya surely didn’t understand the power of her words.
But as the victim, Xue Fei would never forget that phrase!
Eek… last night! Every time the “battle” reached a peak, Xiya would lean close to her ear and lightly breathe those words, “Xue Fei is amazing.”
Leading to now every time she heard that phrase, Xue Fei would instinctively curl up to protect herself.
Strong battle intuition? So what?
If the battle were on a big white bed, even the invincible Xue Fei would feel a shiver. Last night, she knew she couldn’t win against this imposing opponent who had pounced on her!
Was that a kind of battle intuition too?
“Xue Fei, what exactly are you…”
“Ah ah ah no more of that topic…! Eat donuts!”
“Uh…?!”
Silly Xue Fei could always make a decisive strike using the donuts at critical moments.
Xiya struggled to swallow the donut stuffed into her mouth, just about to say something.
—But the announcer’s suddenly elevated tone completely drowned out all the sounds in the arena.
【Here they come…! The most heavyweight contestant tonight, let’s welcome the glorious Second Prince of the Aulus Kingdom, Lord Mi Erhe, with applause!!】
No matter whether it was sincere applause or not.
As soon as this name echoed, the ordinary people quickly clapped their hands together vigorously.
The nobility’s authority is absolute; at such times, self-consciously applauding isn’t out of respect for the royal family, but a wise consideration for their own lives.
Those nobles in the front rows were even more exaggerated, not only clapping but standing up with forced smiles, applauding so hard they seemed ready to clap their hands off, behavior typical among nobility in any country.
As the cheering, whether genuine or not, rang out, the Second Prince strolled in from the eastern passage.
Dressed in a golden robe and fitted trousers with gold trims, a long sword at his waist, dark hair, straight posture, he confidently smiled and waved to the audience.
Neither Xue Fei nor Xiya clapped.
After all, Miss Shaya’s hands were occupied with donuts, leaving no spare time for such trivial matters.
Meanwhile, Xiya was busy poking her forehead, telling her to eat less. How could they just finish discussing that topic and then start binge-eating?
Both were slow to realize when they finally looked up to see this “heavyweight figure” appear.
“Hah… can a prince also participate in the gladiatorial matches? That’s quite casual, huh?”
“This… seems to be His Highness the Second Prince, the second brother of Princess Livra.”
“Is he quite confident in his own strength? Or is he just as playful as Livra? Typically, the royal family doesn’t engage in such activities, right?”
“Well, how should I put this… uh, if I remember correctly, the Second Prince seems to only be at Third Stage. Princess Livra is also Third Stage, but she might even be stronger than the Second Prince.”
“Can’t even defeat Livra?! Isn’t this just asking for a beating?!”
“Well, who knows… hmmm, Xue Fei, you’ll see for yourself later, I guarantee your eyes will be opened.”
“Then I must take a look.”
Xue Fei eagerly widened her eyes to “broaden her horizons,” after all, it was all about taking the initiative.
And in the western passage appeared the prince’s opponent.
This person looked familiar.
Isn’t this the Kingdom Knight Hachiku who had just used underhanded tricks to take down the poor Lizardman?
“It seems we’ve already reached the second round,” Xiya gently tapped Xue Fei’s shoulder and explained, “Participants from the royal family or special guests have direct qualification for the second round, so he could draw the opponent who passed the first round, but… whether it’s ‘drawn’ or not is hard to say.”
Just as she finished speaking, the referee had already announced the start of the match.
The Second Prince Mi Erhe elegantly drew his sword and advanced step by step toward Knight Hachiku.
Hachiku, appearing fearful and uneasy, raised his large sword to resist the prince’s blade, retreating step by painful step.
Having just battled with the Lizardman, although Hachiku fought and retreated, this time it was evidently different; he had no strategy at all and was purely in a suppressed state, taking hits while occasionally countering, which Mi Erhe easily countered.
Apart from the front-row nobles who were continually cheering…
The ordinary spectators were puzzled and murmured among themselves.
“Hachiku’s performance this round is terrible… could he be hiding something like he did against the Lizardman?!”
“Is His Highness the Second Prince really that strong? This level of strength must at least be that of a Fifth Stage warrior; even he can suppress a Kingdom Knight, and Hachiku is Sixth Stage…”
“I doubt it; it’s clearly Hachiku throwing the match! He must have taken money, then just fought…”
“Shh!! What are you saying? Do you want to die?!”
Amidst the tide of speculation from the crowd, on the field, the Second Prince Mi Erhe had already positioned his sword’s tip against the throat of the seated Hachiku.
Hachiku, in a panic, raised both hands to signal his surrender.
At that moment, the referee’s judgment echoed loudly throughout the venue!
【It is the Second Prince’s victory…! His Highness has successfully entered the semifinals. Let’s congratulate His Highness, he is magnificent!!】
The nobles led the commoners in applause.
The Second Prince nonchalantly sheathed his sword, flipping the bangs of his dark hair before waving once more to the audience, then turned and walked off the match stage without looking back.
As everything concluded, Xiya lightly sighed and glanced at Xue Fei, who was still “broadening her horizons.”
“Well… do you understand now?”
“Buying victories, I see, but that knight is quite committed, he acted convincingly. Haha…! Look how he’s leaving! Crawling out of there! It’s killing me!”
Xue Fei was indeed broadening her horizons, as she felt she wasn’t just watching a match.
The actions of both sides in this battle made her feel like she was watching a performance of primates, hilariously absurd.
Xiya thoroughly agreed with her.
“Hmm… matches in the gladiatorial arena can occasionally be disappointing… If the royal or noble offspring want to accrue prestige, winning in this arena is a shortcut, after all, it’s an excellent stage to showcase strength to the crowds. They achieve this by financially or politically coercing their opponents to facilitate their path to so-called glory.”
“Do they think those commoners are fools? Do they really believe in such fake matches?”
“The information the commoners have is still too limited; they can only discern win or lose. Moreover, Xue Fei, you saw it too—earlier, that knight acted well enough to fool many eyes. Most importantly… even if someone can see through it, they wouldn’t dare to speak up.”
“Now I understand. So the majority believes he is strong, leading the public to turn the false into true. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Ha, got it.”
“Xue Fei, are you plotting something again?”
“Don’t worry~ I’m a law-abiding citizen! I won’t disrupt the peace!”
Xiya looked at Xue Fei’s mischievous face with her hands covering her mouth and knew she must have thought of some bizarre idea again.
However, Xiya wouldn’t tell her to keep her thoughts to herself. After all, she fully respected Xue Fei’s freedom.
Moreover, Xiya also felt that the Second Prince’s behavior was unreasonable.
“Is it already time for the semifinals?”
Xue Fei unexpectedly set up a small dining table in front of her.
An array of delicious food was laid out, indicating she had finally fully entered the mode of watching the matches.
“Xiya, Xiya, who’s fighting in the next round? Is the Fire Cat coming?”
“Why are you so fixated on the Fire Cat…”
“A master fisherman, worthy of respect. Sometimes I wonder, if I gathered a group of Fire Cats to compete in a fishing match with the Demon Race, I could intentionally join the competition on the other side of the river. The big fish, out of their instinctive fear, would all swim over to me from the Fire Cats’ side! Wouldn’t I become rich? I could catch as many as I want!”
“That won’t work.”
“Why not?! That’s obviously a brilliant idea!”
Still asking why?
Because I believe that big fish, fearing the superiority of the Fire Cats, would be even more terrified of you, the one who can uproot the lake.
Fish fear the Fire Cats instinctively, but they fear you visibly, much more straightforward.
As the two chatted about these nonsensical topics, the host had already begun announcing the next matchups with a sound amplification magic stone.
You wouldn’t believe it; just as Xue Fei casually said, the contestant coming out this round really was from the Fire Cat race!
【This round will be interesting…! From the right passage, the warrior of the Fire Cat race who easily defeated her opponent in the first round, Lilina!】
Appearing from the right passage, the characteristics of the Fire Cat race were unmistakable.
The graceful, cat-like strides of the girl, with a pair of fiery cat ears on her head and a similarly fiery yet temperatureless tail flowing behind her, moved so silently.
They are masters at fishing, as well as powerful in fire-type magic.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t carrying any fish today.
【From the left passage…! Audience friends, are you ready?! The mysterious strong contestant makes their entrance now!!】
Mysterious strong contestant?
Amidst the rising waves of discussion, a figure wrapped in a black cloak, with a slightly heavy step yet full of aura, slowly walked out from the left passage.
Judging by the figure outlined in the cloak, it should be a girl beneath.
Why would that be…
Because the cloak can hide her face—but it cannot hide the slight bulge in front!
This person stood steadily opposite the Fire Cat warrior, her fingers gripping the edge of the cloak showing signs of loosening.
The Fire Cat girl, upon hearing the referee say this was today’s special strong contestant, not only didn’t feel fear but instead, her fingertips glimmered, conjuring claws glowing with icy light, revealing her inherently combative nature with a menacing smile and sharp teeth.
The time for the hunt was upon them…
The Fire Cat clan awaited her to secure victory, proving they weren’t just about catching fish…!
The battle was about to begin.
The cloak used for concealment finally fluttered away with the arena’s wind, revealing the figure beneath…
It made every audience member rise in astonishment!
A pair of sharp horns, a scarlet robe.
A tail as powerful as an iron whip, and a pair of blazing red wings spread wide.
A tall figure with a beauty matching her fiery flowing hair, and a menacing smile that completely overshadowed the Fire Cat race.
“Fire… Fire Dragon Clan…?”
“Isn’t this a High-Level Race? Why are they participating in this match?!”
“No… is it really safe here? Should we seek refuge?!”
No wonder they reacted this way.
Xue Fei wrapped her arms in front of herself, nodding in thought.
High-Level Races have always been an unattainable existence for the human race, shrouded in mystery.
For instance, in this arena, the girl from the Fire Dragon Clan…
It’s not to say that all High-Level races are strong; their groups also have levels of power.
The reason they are considered High-Level is that the upper tier of their strongest members have a higher ceiling for power, thus possessing more clout in the world.
Additionally, due to their innate gifts, they are generally not weak.
The Fire Dragon present seems not to be a weakling either…
Xue Fei squinted one eye.
At the same time, Xiya, through observation, finally stated her deduction.
“Ninth Stage strength… should be close to the Tenth Stage, coming to participate in this kind of match… I guess, the Fire Cat is doomed.”
“Ah… this poor little Fire Cat…”
When the Fire Cat clan saw the Fire Dragon clan standing opposite them, they naturally froze for a moment.
However, the Fire Cat does not concede easily; they will not yield to overwhelming pressure!
Even though the overwhelming heat aura surrounded the Fire Dragon clan, the Fire Cat warrior Lilina still relied on her agility to move quickly around her, attempting to disrupt the opponent’s line of sight and judgment, looking for an opportunity to launch an attack!
However…
Sometimes, speed does not solve everything.
The Fire Dragon girl stood firmly, not moving at all.
Even her golden dragon pupils didn’t track the Fire Cat’s figure.
What she needed to do to win was simply this…
And it was enough…
【Dragon Destruction Inferno.】
“Eh?”
The Fire Cat, in the midst of dashing forward, suddenly found a wall of flames barring her path.
The Fire Cat, proficient in fire magic, attempted to withstand the flames and rush through, but feeling the outrageous heat, she chose to dodge.
Dodge upwards…?
Looking up, the fiery curtain surged to the top barrier of the gladiatorial arena, making it impossible to pass from above.
Hmph… High-Level race, you still underestimated our Fire Cat clan’s agility.
The opportunity has come.
The Fire Cat thought all she needed to do was leap to the safety zone using the flames as a springboard and circle around to attack the Fire Dragon clan, taking advantage of the magical vacuum after she cast her spell, landing a decisive blow.
Yet in the instant the Fire Cat hastily set her winning strategy…
Behind her, an equally intense heat made itself known.
Not just behind her.
Above, below, there was the same heat.
Eh…?
No way to escape.
Perhaps the Fire Cat thought the Fire Dragon was using a tracking-type magic that enveloped her entire area.
However… it was merely the sound of flames muffling the audience’s gasps.
From the spectators’ perspective…
—The entire area enveloped by the magic barrier of the gladiatorial arena had already turned into a sea of flames reminiscent of hell.
Like the breath of a colossal dragon devouring the heavens and the earth, terrifying beyond measure.
