Victor gritted his teeth as he found himself at the losing end when it came to sheer strength. It upset him a lot, but in his mind, he recalled the words Amelia had said to him the other day. 

She had strictly warned him to not continue the battle if Yexuan targeted him, and he had promised that he would retreat. 

However, now that Keith had given him a task and told him that if he made it to the Top 8, he would be rewarded with greater strength, Victor hesitated. 

He swiftly glanced around the arena, taking a quick guess at how many people remained. Sadly, he was very bad at math, and he had no time to count carefully.

However, his instincts told him that it would take some time for the numbers to shrink down to 32, so, he could not surrender right now. 

Taking a short breath, he crossed his arms and shielded another monstrous punch that was sent his way. And though it only stung a little, Victor was already very apprehensive about the enemy. 

It had to be noted that given his Esper Powers, he had a very high tolerance to pain, and having practised One-Fold Heart Pulse and then Two-Fold Heart Pulse, where his body was broken down into unimaginable pain, his tolerance for it had substantially improved. Therefore, feeling these stings right now gave him a sound idea of how incredibly powerful this young man was. 

But his strength could still be handled, the real issue was his speed and agility, which was clearly much greater than his own. 

Taking hits over and over again, he finally started feeling the drain of Aura that resulted because of his constant use of his Esper Powers, and his heart grew a little restless. 

"Still too many..." He cursed as he took another glance around, and his opponent frowned when he heard those words. 

"So you want to stall for time?" Yexuan saw through his intentions and glanced around as well. 

His eyes dangerously narrowed when he saw a certain young man taking out one Auror after another without much effort, and at a speed that would only require a few more minutes before the Battle was brought to a stop. 

"Damn you!" He cursed as well, and feeling his rage bubble up, he crazily started pummelling his fists and kicks on Victor, who found himself hard-pressed to resist the assault. 

Yexuan's heart grew colder when he realised that the man was a lot stronger than he had anticipated. And despite his best efforts, he was failing to land any grievous injury on his body. What made him angrier was the stubbornness in Victor's eyes as he bore all the pain, and did not care about the blood that leaked out of his mouth due to the internal injuries. 

For some reason, he felt like he was on the other end of the spectrum this time, and Victor was a righteous man who was determined to not fall to an evil being such as him. 

It reminded him of the countless battles he fought in his life over thousands of years, and how it was only his determination that helped him reach the Immortal Sovereign Realm. 

But then he remembered how this very man he was beating up was able to surpass that Realm whereas he failed despite all his efforts. 

How cruel the Laws were. How blind they were to bless an evil man over him, who had all his life fought for righteousness. All because he was not special enough to have been born blessed and neither was lucky enough to have gotten his hands on something like the Divine Dragon's Heart's Blood earlier in his life. 

However, the more he beat his enemy and saw his defence grow weaker, the more he calmed down. 

He was lucky. 

Yexuan knew very well that he possessed something that even the Evil God did not possess. A treasure that even the mightiest of Gods envied, the Steele of Time & Space. 

And he knew that it was now only a matter of time, and since he had already ingested the Blood, this time, the Divine Laws would not reject him the Godhood. 

This time, he could save everyone he had lost. His love, his friends, and his comrades. This time, he would not let the Light be devoured by the Darkness. 

For a very brief moment, his eyes drifted to the King's Box, searching for a certain emerald-eyed girl. And he found her absent today. 

Yexuan did not understand how the Sacred Architect was on the side of the Evil God. And not only was she on his side, but she was also his wife.

It was only because of her that their Faction managed to survive, and she was one of the main Pillars who stood their ground against Keith. 

But then his mind buzzed as he remembered that of all the wars they fought, she never took part in them. She just supported their forces but never faced Keith by herself. 

His heart sank once again as he felt sure that they had all been fooled. All of them, their entire Faction, were nothing but Pawns on a chessboard.

He felt extremely anxious and agitated at the thought, and this distraction resulted in him receiving a very solid punch on his face, which nearly broke his Aura Defence, and sent him flying to the side all due to the force that was put behind it. 

"Ahahaha...." He heard Victor laugh heartily, and then he watched the tall and bulky man savagely wipe off the blood from his mouth. "Did that sting, Goldy?" He mockingly asked. 

It would be a lie to say that it did not sting. It did jolt him, even if he had come out unscathed. But the sting was actually on his pride. 

Yexuan kept his cool this time, but his eyes grew grin. 

In his heart, he prayed that what he was thinking was not the truth and that something would happen that would drive Amelia and Keith apart and turn them into enemies. 

Perhaps, she would realise how evil he was, and she would finally choose to go against him to stop him. 

But it was akin to clutching onto the last straws as his better mind and instincts were telling him that it was just his wishful thinking. 

"I will show you what truly stings, Metal-Head." He gritted his teeth and lunged at Victor, conjuring up a draconic Aura Claw, enforcing it heavily with his Aura, all ready to give the man scars that would cut deep and might forever stay on him. 

He could not kill this man today, but, at least, he could give him something to remember this day. 

A Dragon wouldn't be a Dragon if he just bore a hit to his pride by a mere Dog. 

Victor's eyes widened when he heard the bells of crisis in his mind, but not even for a moment was he scared. He had permission to use the life-saving Rune on his body that Lady Amelia had inscribed on him. But he was a little reluctant to utilise it as he felt like it would be cheating. 

Gritting his teeth, he braced himself for pain, enforcing his defence with all his Aura, and got ready to utilise the Runic Shield. 

However, the attack never landed on him. 

The moment the claw was about to reach him, a young man appeared in front of him and kicked it, changing its trajectory, and then he roughly pushed him aside. 

"Recover." The very kind you man lightly said. "We will take him on together." 

Victor was a little surprised that someone had come to his rescue, and he remembered who this young man was. 

It was Samrath Arya, who had been brought to the Mourntale Estate by his Shadow Guards in an unconscious state and Lady Rebecca had checked on him. 

"Okay." He did not refuse the help and glanced around, taking a sigh of relief as he found that a lot of the Aurors had been eliminated. 

He still did not count them, but he was sure that soon the battle would come to a stop. 

"I told you that those who jump into other people's battles never have a good end!" Yexuan angrily looked at Samrath. 

"And I told you that it is hard for me to tolerate men like you." Samrath lightly said, bolstering his Aura Defence, and then rushed forward to engage the young man in a heated battle. 

Yexuan was shocked to see that his opponent was much stronger than the last time. The progress was simply astounding, but then his greed flared as he deduced that it was probably thanks to the mysterious treasure that this young man possessed. 

Though he seemed to be a very kind young man, his sacrifice was necessary for the greater good. He was now ever more determined to grab that treasure at all costs. 

'Dragons do not give up on the treasures they take a fancy to.' Yexuan told himself. 'In this life, I am not a Dog, but a Dragon. And I shall live as a Dragon!' 

Had Keith heard his musings, he would have been very amused. 

This silly Mortal thought a little too highly of himself, completely oblivious that his actions and his greed for the Fragment of the Book of Life had already been anticipated by his enemy who was designing his death...