The crowd was once again left in a state of complete and utter disbelief as they watched Zaron’s body burn to a crisp,  leaving nothing but his petrified face on the floor of the arena.

Whilst most were shocked by the results of the fight, Byrius, Fain, and Desri were shocked by something else entirely.

“You…” Fain asked as he looked up at the fairy-like woman who indifferently sat on the back of the peak-staged saint-level lion. “Who are you?”

The moment Byrius stood up to save his disciple, he was attacked by an overwhelming spiritual attack that threatened to crush his soul. If it wasn’t because the attacker pulled back at the last moment, Byrius was under no delusions; he would’ve undoubtedly lost his life there and then.

The soul attack was so fast that most of those present hadn’t sensed anything amiss; it was only the two prime saints that managed to lock on to the attacker.

For the first time since they arrived, Arianna opened her calm yet enchanting eyes as she scanned the various saint-level experts in attendance. “No saints are to intervene today!”

Her voice was just as beautiful as her appearance, but whether it was Fain, Desri, or Byrius, they all looked at her with dignified expressions.

Though it was brief, they still sensed the power of Arianna’s soul. They didn’t know how it was possible, but they knew that despite only being a mid-staged saint, the power of her soul was at least twice as strong as Desri’s – a prime-saint-level mage.

No one else understood exactly what happened, but many were able to guess a few things. After all, they had all heard Byrius’ shout and saw him stand up as if to make a move.

They also knew that Byrius was an extremely powerful saint. Despite being so far away, there’s no way he would’ve failed to stop Ace from killing his disciple… Not unless he was stopped by someone else.

Still, as everyone’s thoughts were spinning, Ace’s cold voice brought them back to reality.

“Here,” Ace said as he kicked Zaron’s bodiless head to the confused and fearful Byrius. “A gift on behalf of my master – Adrien Rohault!”

“MY SON!” Izran roared, his eyes red with rage and unwillingness as he glared at Ace. “YOU LITTLE BAS…”

Izran had only managed half a step when a blinding beam of light pierced through his head like a hot knife through butter.

“You were warned,” Arianna said softly as she gracefully retracted her outstretched index finger before closing her eyes as if she was too lazy to say any more.

“Since when was having the comprehension of a prime saint so easy?” Desri mumbled as he looked up at the enchanting woman in the skies above, ignoring the crumpling body of Zaron’s father, Izran.

Fain’s brows furrowed as he looked pensively at Arianna. First, she revealed her overwhelmingly powerful soul, and now her comprehension of the laws matched that of his own.

Even though he still felt confident in his ability to deal with her, he knew he couldn’t afford to treat her lightly.

As for Byrius, his eyes fell on the petrified decapitated head of his only disciple and his whole body tensed in rage.

Before today, there had only been one person who had caused him a setback, and that was Aiden Rohault. Still, as Aiden was a member of his generation, it wasn’t the end of the world, but this…

His inviolable dignity was being publicly provoked in a way he had never experienced before, and it was by a child, no less. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there didn’t appear to be anything he could do about it.

Just on account of the power of her soul, Byrius understood he was far from a match for the woman in the sky, but from the looks of it, even if he managed to get himself a soul-protecting artefact, the fact that her comprehension appeared to be equal to a prime saint meant that he would at best be equal to her…

Unless his fellow martial brothers took action to keep her and the peak saint-level lion at bay, it appeared that he wouldn’t be able to take revenge today.

Things had taken a very awkward turn, and sensing the growing tension between the War God’s Disciples and the group from the mysterious Yin-Yang Pavilion; there weren’t many who dared to breathe too loud.

“Don’t you think you’ve gone too far with your actions here today?” Fain asked indifferently as he looked up at the mystery woman. “You’re here as a guest in my O’Brien Empire, and yet you people have murdered two of my Empire’s powerhouses.”

After killing Izran, Arianna proceeded to close her eyes once again. Even as she was addressed by Fain, she didn’t seem to even hear him; she simply continued to sit peacefully in meditation.

As a saint-level expert, everyone was clear that there was no way she wouldn’t have heard Fain’s words, meaning she was purposely ignoring him. It appeared that each member of the Yin-Yang Pavilion was far more arrogant than the last.

Flashes of lightning flickered across Fain’s eyes as he forcibly suppressed his rage. Like Byrius, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been held in such blatant disregard. He was, after all, the number two expert in one of the continent’s strongest forces.

Before Fain could say or do anything further, the sound of Ace’s voice caught everyone’s attention.

“Pathetic!” Ace snorted.

“What did you say, boy?” Fain growled coldly, his temper growing more and more unstable by the second.

“I said you’re pathetic,” Ace repeated, showing absolutely no fear in front of an expert who could take his life before he could even blink. “I had already made it clear I had no interest in fighting against the students of your little college, but because he couldn’t control his ego, that idiot Zaron decided to provoke me into fighting, thinking he was stronger than me because he was almost three times my age.

So I kill him and return his head to his pathetic excuse for a master, doing to them what they had intended to do to me and my master.

And instead of attempting to stop that idiot from foolishly challenging me, both his master and father decided to try and intervene and or kill me after they found he wasn’t my match in a fair battle.

If it wasn’t for my senior taking action to protect me, I might have been the one to lose my life today – I wonder if you would’ve spoken up on my behalf had that been the case…”

As Ace said that, the members of the O’Brien Empire couldn’t help but feel feelings of shame well up inside them as they knew Ace was absolutely right with his words.

Still, it was common knowledge that history was written by the winners, and the winner would always be the one with the biggest fist, and it was rare for anyone to have a bigger fist than those of the O’Brien Empire. As such, they weren’t used to having to worry about the perception of others when they acted.

Fain didn’t know what to say in response. Even though, as far as he was concerned, he would be able to capture Ace and kill the rest of his party, by doing so, it would paint his Empire, and more specifically, his master, in a bad light.

To keep it a secret, he and his junior brothers would have to kill all the non-natives of his empire – a feat that would’ve been possible… had Desri not been there.

Whilst Fain was contemplating his next move, Ace turned his attention away from the blue-haired saint to his beast companion. “Come on, Leo; there’s nothing more for us here – let’s go!”

Seeing that, Fain racked his brain for a reason to force Ace to stay without making themselves look any worse, but nothing seemed to come to mind.

Fortunately, luck seemed to be on his side.

“Wait!” A cool and calm voice said from the middle of the audience.

Halting his return to his group to turn around, Ace saw Olivier Akerlund, the prodigy sword saint, step out from his position in the crowd.

“I know you only came here to challenge those from the College,” Olivier said as his battle intent began to surge. “But I can’t let you leave so easily after humiliating my homeland like this.

On behalf of my O’Brien Empire, I, Olivier, the head of the Akerlund Clan of the O’Brien Empire, challenge you, Gol D. Ace of the Yin-Yang Pavilion…

Unless you’re too scared to open up the challenge to the rest of the mortals of my Empire.”

Hearing that, Fain’s eyes couldn’t help but brighten. Although there was nothing he could do personally, but this worked too!

“You don’t need to try and provoke me,” Ace sneered as the boredom he had previously felt disappeared from his eyes, only to be replaced by a rising anticipation that seemed to match Olivier’s own. “If there is a mortal from your empire who’s still able to entertain me, only you would fit the description.”

“Brother…” Blumer called out, a hint of worry seeping into his voice.

Although he still felt that his brother was invincible among mortals, after seeing Ace not only defeat but also kill a warrior like Zaron, in only two moves, no less, he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel any doubts at all.

“Blumer,” Olivier replied, cutting his little brother off mid-sentence. “No matter what happens next, you are not to treat Ace or his academy as an enemy in the future.”

Blumer watched in shock as Olivier calmly made his way through the separating crowd to the ring. As the person who knew him best, how could Blumer not understand the implications of his brother’s words?

Though he didn’t come right out and say it, Olivier was essentially saying he wasn’t 100% sure of his ability to survive this one.

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Book 10: Part 7 – The Return of the Golden Sun Pirates