"How are you feeling, Tyr?" Tilda asked as soon as Kyran appeared.
Kyran only responded with a slight smile.
They understood at once that his condition was worse than they expected. Initially, they thought his pale complexion was only because he used up most of his magic energy. Upon closer inspection, they noticed the beads of sweat dripping on the side of his face and the back of his neck. His lips were also chapped which was understandable given how he was trapped inside a wall of flames for more than twenty minutes.
There were no visible injuries on Kyran, but that did not mean he was not injured. He might have suffered internal injuries.
Rake took out a bottle of water and handed it to Kyran, who replied with a "Thanks," in a cracked voice.
The effect of a Spirit's flames was different than flames summoned by humans, thus, Rake decided to hand Kyran water first, instead of a healing potion. If they were not careful, Kyran's condition might worsen rather than get better from a possible negative reaction of an ingredient in the potion from a Spirit's flames.
After that, he offered Kyran a hand, but the latter only raised a hand and shook his head before going to the bench by himself.
Styx looked at the other side and noticed Lev was also not doing well.
He was currently surrounded by his fellow participants and the woman, who transferred with him from team one to team two, was waving her arms animatedly and pointer a finger at Lev or the other three members.
The Montgomeray Family were all wearing masks, making it hard to read their expressions, but Styx only needed to check their body movements to get a good grasp of what they were feeling or even discussing.
From the way the woman was moving her hands, it appeared she was instructing the other three on something, while also reprimanding Lev. The latter Styx guessed from Lev's clenched fists and lowered head.
Styx only had a rough idea of why the woman was angry. It might be because of Lev's recklessness, or for failing to win against Kyran?
No. Maybe it was not about winning against Kyran but something else.
Turning his attention to Kyran who was now sitting on the bench with his eyes closed and arms across his chest, Styx wondered what happened between them.
However, the male announcer chose that moment to speak, breaking Styx's train of thought.
"The third match of the Solo Competition, will continue in five minutes. Due to the rules of the competition, with both participants unable to continue with the challenge, both teams will have to choose a new player."
As soon as he said his piece, the array above the arena lit up and began to repair the damage to the stage. Because the damage was greater than when the Fire Golem destroyed the arena's floor, the repairs would take at least five minutes.
"And? Who's going next?" Deo asked while looking at Styx.
Currently, all four with the exception of Rake were seated on the bench.
"Hm," Styx furrowed his brows and looked at the other side once more. "There is a good chance the next up on their line up is that woman over there."
He jerked his head toward the woman who still appeared to be instructing the other three.
"Are you sure? She looked as if she is telling the others what they have to do because one of them will go next," Tilda disagreed with a slight shake of her head.
"Humph," Styx snoted and crossed his arms. "If you don't believe me, then go up next and see for yourself."
Deo, Rake shot Tilda a look, as if to say 'You know this is coming, why did you even ask?'
They had known Styx for years and knew he did not like it when others found faults in his judgment.
Tilda only shrugged in reply. In the first place, she was not finding fault in what Styx had said but was genuinely asking a question.
Hearing this exchange made Kyran open his eyes and look at them.
Truth be told, he was not exhausted. But in order to keep up with appearances, he had to pretend to be one. It was part of his agreement with Lev.
In any case, this was not the time to let Styx and the rest waste their time arguing who would go next.
Kyran cleared his throat.
Styx and the rest looked at him at once. It was not that they unconsciously view Kyran as their leader because to them Styx was the only one they would accept as their leader. However, because of Kyran's exploits, they now view him as one of them and respect his words.
"Leader Styx is right," Kyran told them while looking over the Montgomeray's side. His voice still sounded a little cracked, which was not an act. But it was not only because he was exposed to extreme heat, but because he had been talking non-stop after beating the hell out of Lev inside the flames.
Still, Kyran did not stumble on his words as he speak because he believed doing so might sound unnatural. He continued, "And... if we want to end this in one go, its best to have Leader Styx fight next."
"Why—?" Tilda started but abruptly stopped noticing how talking was taking a lot of effort on Kyran's end. "No, you don't have to explain. I sense that woman's hiding something— call it a woman's instinct. Even if I go up there and aim to whittle down her stamina, she may already be anticipating that and have a countermeasure in place."
Rake nodded in agreement, "Compared with the Lumley Family who are interested only in getting revenge on Tyr, and the Courtenay Family who are trying to act as docile as possible, the Montgomeray Family are taking this competition seriously. I will not be surprised if they have a detailed plan in place to deal with us."
"Alas, we are at a isadvantage because they have information about us, while we have nothing on them," Deo also voiced his thoughts.
Kyran nodded, "That's why it is better to let Leader Styx go now."
He looked at them before adding, "And given how that woman has been giving out instructions to those three, there is a good chance, she is expecting Leader Styx to go next."
Tilda raised her brows in realization, "Oh! Then this means, those three may be one of those family members, right?"
Deo frowned slightly. "'One of those family members?'" He repeated in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"She meant, those family members who are only filling in to complete the required number of participants," Rake answered with a derisive smile. "They may be taking this competition seriously, but it seems they are not taking us—the Conclave seriously."
Styx shrugged, "I bet those f*ckers considered only Tyr and me as real threats and not you three."
"Is that right?" Tilda growled as her furrowed brows merge further. Clearly, she did not like the sound of that.
Deo on the other hand simply shrugged and said, "Then it is good for us, right? They can look down on us all they want. What matters in the end, is the result."
"Ho~, you say some nice things every now and then, Deo," Rake teased.
"Shut up."
Styx and Tilda laughed at their exchange while Kyran suppressed a smile.
At least, the tension Deo, Rake, and Tilda were feeling a few seconds ago had now lessened.
"Alright," Styx said after a few seconds, slapping both his hands on his knees before standing. "Just as Tyr said, our best choice is me."
He looked at Deo and Tilda before adding, "You two wanna have a go? If yes, I'll forfeit the last match to give you chance to come on stage."
The implication in his words was noticed by Deo and Tilda at once.
"Oi, Styx. You bastard. What are you trying to say, huh?"
"What do you mean 'last match'? Are you saying one of us is not enough to deal with the last player?"
Deo and Tilda growled at the same time.
Styx only burst out in laughter. He ignored their complaints and headed to the arena.
The male announcer noticed Styx's approach, so he turned his attention to the Montgomeray side and asked, "Montgomeray Family, have you decided on your next player?"
The woman named Zuri, who seemed to have only finished instructing the other three, turned to face the announcer. She said, "Yes. I'll go next."
As she said this, she caught sight of Styx at the other side of the arena. A wry smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Just as they expected, Styx was their next player.
One might say the two of them were the worse possible match-up.
Zuri was an Elementer, while Styx was an Abjurer. One had a powerful magic offense, while the other had a powerful magic defense.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺