Chapter 273 Chapter 273 – Henry VS. Tiara
"Team Leader, I challenge you to a duel tomorrow, do you dare accept?" Alaric grinned at him.
"I dare accept, but do you dare fight and go all out?" Ken smiled when he understood Alaric's intentions.
The man obsessed about loyalty wouldn't truly challenge his team leader; Alaric meant to give up and let Ken take the first place. Ken might have to accept some challenges from unsatisfied competitors, but overall, it'd still be faster than fighting all the way to the top himself.
"Haha, Team Leader, you saw right through me. I don't dare fight, I saw some of your strength in the secret realm. We can do a mock battle to show your strength so others will be reluctant to challenge you afterward."
"Fine, let's register it tomorrow at the Hall of Glory," Ken agreed and turned to leave. It was evening now, and he did not want to go now, perhaps a habit from his former world where shops and businesses were closed at night.
"Hey, Team Leader, do you need me to show you around to find a house for rent?"
"It's all right, Tiara already got me a house and I'm satisfied with it."
'Tiara again!' Alaric growled internally when he realized the woman probably rented the house he told her about, but he couldn't say anything without sounding petty or eager for recognition.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter too much since you'd get the accommodation for the first-rank disciple tomorrow anyway," Alaric chose to just downplay her contribution instead.
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"Hey, did you hear about the fight for first place in our age group? Alaric Sonora challenged a newcomer who is not even ranked."
"Yes, but that's the least ridiculous part about it. I saw him, and he can't be older than 14 years old!"
"It's even more than that, they know each other from before. What if Alaric plans on letting him win and forcing everyone to let that kid keep the spot for free resources?"
"The sect would never allow it, I don't think we need to worry about it. Apparently, that kid is called Ken Sue and he is the Devil's Heir from the war between the Divine Sword Sect and the Four Seasons Sect. I heard he massacred his enemies without any effort, so maybe he is strong enough to get first place without any faulty play."
"But it's not everything, I heard also Tiara Glacier challenged a new unranked disciple that came with Ken Sue, he is older though, probably past his 30."
"Oh, here's Ken Sue! Alaric and Tiara also follow him. Who's the bald dude?"
"He's the one that Tiara challenged, I thought he was over 50 when I saw him for the first time. Poor guy, I wonder if he needs medicine above the sixth grade to cure his balding."
Everyone from that age group gossiped about the topic as Ken and his group passed through the road leading to the arena. The four ignored the onlookers since it was normal to be interested in an event like the fights of the top inner disciples.
"They're quite rude," Alaric commented when he heard the last remark.
Ken did the introductions between the group members earlier. While Tiara and Henry got along well as they both liked quiet, Alaric needed someone to contain his need for talking.
"As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse," Henry replied with words of wisdom.
"Henry, why are you bald?" Alaric asked in curiosity.
"It's from strengthening the body using Demonic Qi," Ken explained on the monk's behalf.
"So the baldness is from being a demon, not being a monk! But wait, Team Leader, didn't you say you plan to let us train under his Demonic Qi?"
"I did," Ken told the team earlier on their way to the arena that they were going to a training session together to strengthen their bodies under Henry's Demonic Qi.
"I don't want to be bald!" Alaric said worriedly. Ken was not sure if he should be surprised, but Tiara also had a concerned expression.
"I agree, I won't participate if it includes balding," she said. It was one of the first time her opinion aligned with Alaric's.
"Strength is more important than hair, but don't worry, you will not lose any hair. We won't change our constitution the same way as Demonic Qi cultivators."
Demonic cultivators were different from evil cultivators – the first title was reserved exclusively for those who cultivated Demonic Qi, be they good or evil people, while the latter title belonged to those who harmed others for their selfish benefit and did not follow the righteous moral code, regardless of the specific type of Qi they cultivated.
"Okay then," Alaric and Tiara agreed and the four made it to the arena. Henry was 38 years old, so he was in the same age bracket as them.
While his stage would be oppressed down to the peak of the fourth stage when fighting against Tiara, they already agreed in advance to let him win. Alaric already informed the two newcomers about the different mechanics of the rankings and arenas here compared to their previous sect.
"Battle for the second rank, Henry Karras versus Tiara Glacier!"
There were many more spectators compared to regular battles; everyone was excited to watch Tiara. Not only it was always worth watching a better someone fight for inspiration and enlightenment, but Tiara always moved gracefully in a way that fascinated males and females alike.
In fact, word spread after her first battle, and many young teen girls have come to her battles ever since. They'd later try to imitate her moves and implement them in their training, but somehow it only caused them to waste movements and achieve worse results than before. Hence, she had a loyal audience.
Tiara did not rush into battle. She knew that Henry was capable if Ken recruited him, so she fought carefully. Even if she had to lose in the end, they were fighting seriously first. It didn't take her long to recognize her mistake.
"Mmmmm"
The monk levitated in the air while sitting cross-legged, and he brought his palm up to his chest with a bead necklace between the thumb and the index finger. A few palms appeared in front of him and were shot at her.
Tiara immediately felt a sense of danger and knew she messed up. The whole floor froze up as she began to slide on it, speeding up to a nauseating level. By rotating and zigzagging, she managed to dodge most of the palms, except for the last one that was placed with the intention of blocking her last escape route.
She swung down her sword to meet with the palm, somewhat confident of her own strength. However, that single palm was much heavier than she expected, and she was thrown a few steps back.
She did not lose her focus because of the setback; she somewhat expected the monk's strength to be monstrous as it was one of the main traits of Demonic Qi cultivators. Coupled with his access to Ken's pills, she should've known that his raw strength would be superior to hers.
"Owwww!" The crowd sighed in disappointment as the beautiful dance Tiara performed on the ice platform was stopped by the last palm.
'Ice Birds,' Tiara pointed her saber forward, and many birds made of ice were formed. Their beaks were a sharp mix of Ice Qi and Saber Qi, and the danger they posed on their target stood in contrast with their adorable artistic shape.
*Ding!* The noise rang in the arena as if someone slammed a huge bell, and an ethereal bell covered Henry from all sides. The birds all crashed into it, producing weaker rings as they turned into ice dust before melting.
"Hmm, Henry loses a lot of his abilities by being repressed to the fourth stage," Ken commented while he watched the duel with Alaric.
Ken knew Henry's inheritance since he created it himself, and the monk had many techniques that affected the mind like the one that caused bliss. Normally he'd combine them with other skills that caused actual damage, but now he could only execute one technique at a time.
"He seems plenty strong to me," Alaric replied as he watched how easily the monk stopped his opponent's attacks.
Tiara used that chance to close the distance between them, and she was soon face to face in front of the blindfolded monk. Knowing that he couldn't just cower behind the bell all day, Henry canceled it and stood up, ready to face his opponent head-on.
One would think he was in trouble without a weapon, but he did not seem concerned. His arms glowed in black as he met the saber with a punch, and a *cling* sound echoed like two metals met each other.
Tiara, unfamiliar with Demonic Qi cultivators, thought at first that the monk was acting recklessly, but now her arms took a shockwave as if a normal human tried to slash a boulder.
Henry did not give her time to manage her surprise and jumped forward with a wide swing of his fist, forcing the woman to lean backward and do her best to disengage, but to no avail.
Somehow, the ice princess's elegant movements seemed truly wasteful for the first time since she appeared in the arena.
Every time she conjured a barrier of Ice Qi, Henry blasted his way straight in with brute force, and her dance now seemed weird and out of place in the middle of a fight.
The fight did not take long, and soon Tiara could not handle the successive heavy blows anymore. She was thrown on her back from an uppercut and admitted defeat.
"Winner, Henry Karras!"
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