"Bodyguards? Who is your leader?" Elodie asked with clenched teeth.
"Young Master Sue," Miles answered plainly.
"Young Master Sue! Which one?!" She quickly got up and retreated. She was just bullying them to show superiority, but she felt none of that when facing someone from the Sue Family.
"Ken Sue. He's quite famous lately, he took over the first rank of the 18 to 24 age group," Miles answered. Now that he realized the mayor's plan to bite the arrogant woman back, he regained his confidence.
"Him? I will give Young Master Sue face and keep this seat for him for his achievements in battle," Elodie said with a straight face and backed off to her previous seat. On one hand, she wanted to give face to the direct Sue family member, but on the other hand, he was weaker than her, so she also wanted to save face for herself.
"Haha, Sister Elodie, aren't you just too scared of the Sue clan? You were so overbearing a moment ago," Dustin laughed at her, the 'sister' title sounds mocking as he spat it. He despised her and the Aspis clan. He felt offended that the likes of them saw his Glacier clan as equal. Even if his clan fell from grace, he'd never agree to treat them as his equals.
"Dustin, don't go too far!" She spat out back. She would not be goaded into a fight with a Sue clan member by a man with fragile pride; if Dustin wants a fight, she'd give it to him.
"Or you do what? Want to fight it out?"
"Esteemed guests, let's keep our Qi for the beasts outside. Why not compete over who brings down more fifth-rank beasts?" The mayor hurried to defuse the situation and direct their aggressiveness to healthier channels.
"Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, Young Master Sue can't join us in the competition with his lower stage," Dustin said half mockingly.
"It can't be helped, he is still nine years old, I'm sure he will be able to compete with you in a few years, Young Master."
Miles turned too confident now, teasing the man directly and saying Ken would catch up with him in a few years. After all, Dustin and Elodie were both over 70 years old.
'A dog borrows his master's power!'
Everyone thought to themselves when they heard Miles dare talk down to a member of an elite clan.
----------
Ken worked the whole break, even going as far as eating while working to avoid wasting time. As a cultivator that spent some months in the wild, he did not have any qualms about eating outside without fancy tableware.
Although it depleted his Qi, it used his Runic Qi which he did not use for fighting. With the help of a fifth-rank Qi Absorption pill, he managed to renew enough of his Qi reserves for the upcoming battle.
"Young Master Ken, thank you for your service to the city. You should rest now before the battle; even if your Runic Qi is not over yet, it strains your mind," the mayor said in concern.
'Hmph, I come from a world where people fuel their brains on coffee alone,' Ken thought to himself, but outwardly, he only smiled and nodded.
"You're right, I will give my mind some rest before the battle," Ken said and walked over to the group. "Who are they?" he asked curiously when he saw 10 new faces.
"Hello, Young Master Sue, I'm Dustin Glacier. Nice to make your acquaintance. This is my team…" Dustin continued to introduce his team of 1 female and 3 male disciples. All of them wore robes of the Glacier clan, but according to their group dynamics, Ken assumed they came from branch families in the clan.
"Hello, I'm Elodie Aspis, and this is my team…" A voluptuous woman with yellow eyes and light brown hair stepped forward and introduced herself right after, along with her subordinates. Her group's robes had the embroidery of a snake, and again, Ken guessed the other four came from weaker families in the same clan.
"I'm Ken Sue, pleased to work together with you," Ken said plainly and turned to sit down and rest. He did not care about them nor had any reason to nurture a relationship with them, so he preferred resting his mind properly before the fight instead of socializing.
His team stood by his side silently, letting the time pass. Soon, the ground began to shake again, a signal of the incoming wave of beasts.
"If the number of beasts is going to double again, we are expecting 60,000 beasts this time. Be efficient and prioritize killing more over the course of time over killing many at once and losing the ability to continue fighting!" Steven shouted.
This time, anyone under the fourth stage remained on the walls, as there were too many fourth-rank beasts in the final wave. They all loaded their bows, crossbows, and net throwers.
During the break, the guards collected all the bolts, arrows, and nets that were still whole, and everything was ready for the next round.
"Don't engage!" The mayor shouted, mainly to prevent the eager rich kids from rushing forward because of their competition.
The beasts galloped toward them, an unending river of animals of all types, a mixed mess that would never stand side by side naturally in any other context that is not a beast tide.
"Formation masters, activate the first trap!" Steven shouted, his voice booming in the open space.
Hearing the command, the four masters who worked on repairing formations earlier channeled their Runic Qi into a formation connected to another far in the distance. It worked in two steps – first, oil floated up from underground, and second, the oil was ignited, sending tall flames to burn the creatures above.
Hundreds of beasts screamed in pain as the blazing fire ate their flesh, leaving nothing but charred bones behind. The oil was extracted from the fat of fifth-rank beasts, making the fire lethal to the weaker beasts.
A stag bellowed in the distance and water Qi condensed in the air, sending torrents of water, putting down the fire at once.
"Next!"
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com