Chapter 518 What Is It Now?!

(A/N: Bonus Chapter).

The horrendous, chilling and shiver-inducing lightshow caused a deafening silence.

Over the unblemished platform's surface, Tallo stood looking over the remnants of flames that had completely devoured any traces of his opponent.

The fire reflected in his eyes showed how indifferent he was to killing Nekst. In fact, indifferent could be considered a form of respect. Tallo showed nothing of the sort. It was as if he was looking at a distant void that invoked nothing but, well... nothing.

A flash of green surrounded his figure and in the next instance, he disappeared from the stage and appeared in his seat within the tent.

The contenders very well expected such an outcome – one where someone would die.

The witnesses however, had not.

At least a great number of them.

Some covered their mouths while turning pale. The clarity towards the events happening within the platform served to make some of them nervous as the picture of a man being torn apart by the force of condensed fireballs and then burnt to a crisp as he was completely oblivious to his demise was... cruel.

Fortunately, the atmosphere within the stadium was returned to cheer by the men and sparse number of women who enjoyed the gore, not at all off put by the death!

"YEAAAAAH! GIVE US MORE!"

"MORE! MORE! MORE!"

There was usually a multiplicative effect, or rather a contagious spread of emotion and when a lot of people were gathered in the same place. It didn't take long for those who were pro death to cast a favourable air over those who had mixed feelings over the current incident.

The liveliness returned to the stadium thereafter, Guissepo floating down to a lower altitude with a grin.

Within the tents...

"Brutal..." Skullius said.

Now that seemed a bit more like a Mage's style.

He, along with the other contenders had started to figure out what exactly had happened and it was pretty unsettling to think that there was an opponent like this in their mist.

One who had not shown much of his cards.

That onslaught of fireballs only seemed conservatively powerful because it was contained by a sturdy infrastructure inlaid with runes but Skullius could tell, the fire power released from that attack rivalled the output he had felt from the Grand Flame Bringer's greatsword, the Cross Pyre, a Legendary object.

An even more terrifying notion was that Tallo wasn't even trying to fight seriously with those fireballs.

If he used his Genuine Incarnation...

'There are still things about the Master Stage that I'm yet to understand. Regardless of how powerful I am, I'm still at the Advancement Stage. In terms of raw physical power, there are many that far exceed me and in terms of techniques, there are too many unknowns as well,' Skullius thought.

A quick look with his guidance field had showed him that both Tallo and Nekst had stats somewhat higher than his especially in certain specialty related aspects – Skullius was an abnormality after all, post Luminant Seed infusion – but there were others among the contenders that blew this difference out of the water for various reasons.

Over the platform, Guissepo stood.

"Your hearts should have been prepared my dear, extravagant audience. The strong do with the weak what they will. It is nature. You're not expected to celebrate it, but do not feign extravagant pity and empathy for someone who made the choice to enter the ring. Lives are traded through choice and this, is the stage for such transactions," Guissepo said with a cunning glint in his eye.

"If your hearts are feeble, close your eyes but the thrill will pass you by. This is just the extravagant beginning!"

Guissepo snapped his fingers, a sound akin to breaking glass smothering the ears of everyone present.

"The next opponents await their turn!"

Two silver flashes of light assaulted the eyes of contenders and witnesses alike, two figures quickly taking their place in the next moment.

Skullius focused his discoloured gaze.

A figure he hadn't been expecting was in for the next round.

As the two stood with a significant distance between them, their information was revealed, the more knowledgeable witnesses and contenders eagerly anticipating this one.

---

Name : Vali Kinn

Stage : Second Phase Master

Core : Blue

Family : Kinn

--

Name : Rudric Piyece

Stage : First Phase Master

Core : Blue

Family : Piyece

---

Like Nekst, the male contender to appear on the platform cursed under his breath as he saw who his opponent was. His muscular figure twitched a bit and he couldn't decide what he was going to do.

His eyes failed to show sturdy determination when he saw the voluptuous figure of his opponent as well as what she wore, which added to his complicated emotion.

No!

He had to fight still.

He had a reputation to uphold as the first son born to the Piyece Family!

Opposite him stood Vali Kinn. Her long navy blue hair had been tied into a French braid, at its end which was directly above her ass, a glossy golden artefact with a ball and hook, like a scorpion's tail.

She wore a royal battle dress that was made out of a scaly but flexible fabric, on the shoulders, metallic golden pads in the form of elegant spikes. The dress had an opening over Vali's abdomen, revealing her bare unblemished skin around soft abs and a cute belly button.

The fact that this long sleeved battle dress reached just above her knees made everyone wonder if this was really a good outfit for combat, but those who knew this woman well understood that whatever Vali wore didn't replace her combat prowess one bit. Despite her dressing told, she wasn't the type to deceive her opponent with her body. That was just an unconscious side effect.

Rudric took a deep breath.

He saw Vali take a stance – her open palms stretched before her torso, one before the other - a simple smile etched on her face as her relaxed eyes gazed into his.

Vali didn't intimidate him consciously. She hadn't even layered herself with mana but Rudric already felt like he was hard pressed between a rock and a hard place over how to respond.

Guissepo floated up, signalling for the match to begin.

Tp!

There was an absurdly fast dash that denied the idea of an after-image, making the act of tracing it almost impossible.

Rudric, who had been about to assume a stance was petrified when he found his wrists already in Vali's powerful grip, her pulchritudinous form standing an inch before him!

...!

A sweet fragrance and a weakening smile assaulted this man from the Piyece Family and for a moment, he forgot that he was facing an enemy and not a girl to bed.

As that moment passed, he quickly tore himself out his reverie, thinking himself to be halfway towards death already because of this lapse.

"Let's have a small chat~."

To his surprise, death was on vacation today.

Outside the platform, everyone was appalled by the absence of the expected hostility.

Why was there no clash of powers again?!

What now?!

The last fight had ended anticlimactically too.

This one couldn't possibly end the same way, right?

As everyone observed, Vali whispered something into Rudric's ear. For a second, the man was lost in his fantasies from this one action of Vali's but then, his face turned pale, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets!

He was beyond shocked by what he heard. So much so that he slowly turned his head to face this woman, temporarily made immune to her charm by her words.

Vali smiled and dashed away, created distance between herself and Rudric.

The man began to sweat, almost hyperventilating as he cast his gaze towards Vali who met it one last time, winked, and then raised her hand.

"I surrender," she declared.