347 Tell Me, Arrogant Weakling. Would You Like To Try Dying Once? [Part 2]
Everyone in the coliseum watched with bated breath as Lux's Dragon Claw slashed the bottle mid-air.
Emperor Andreas and Aron who were watching the Trial from the VIP seat also didn't expect this sudden turn of events.
'As expected, he isn't someone simple,' Emperor Andreas thought. 'Too bad it is futile.'
As if confirming his thoughts, the bottle, which received Lux's full powered attack, didn't break, and only crashed on the ground with a resounding thud.
The Ranker who saw everything that happened, immediately threw a punch in Lux's direction, sending a shockwave attack that sent the Half-Elf flying towards the other side of the arena. Naturally, he held back because he was strictly ordered to not kill the Half-Elf, or he would risk having their entire bloodline erased from the world.
The audience watching the battle was confused by the sudden turn of events. They were already expecting the bottle to break after receiving Lux's attacks, but it didn't, which made them wonder what had happened.
"I used my ability to coat the bottle with my aura to prevent it from breaking," the Ranker said as he looked at Lux with contempt. "Nice try, kid, but you will not pass this trial so easily."
Of course, this wasn't the truth. Although there were Rankers who were able to pass their Auras to certain objects to strengthen or empower them, the Ranker fighting Lux didn't have that ability.
His statement might have made the audience understand why the bottle didn't break. However, it didn't sit well with them.
"Booooooo!" Cai booed at the Ranker. "You cheater! What's the point of this trial if you do something like that!"
Keane was also disappointed and started booing.
Soon, more boos came from the audience, with some of them even cursing the Ranker for his shamelessness.
"You're already a Ranker, yet you're still bullying a child?! Shame on you!"
"Are you really a Ranker? Why are you going so far as to cheat? You make me sick!"
"Your name is Mason, right? I looked up to you in the past, but now, I feel ashamed of even treating you as my role model. You cheater!"
""Cheater!""
""Cheater!""
""Cheater!""
The crowd went wild as they chanted together. They came to watch a good show, so seeing Mason's disappointing performance riled them up. Because of this, all of them started to show their discontent by shouting and cursing at the Ranker who was gripping the bottle tightly in his hands.
The nobles who were in charge of the event started to panic because they weren't aware of Lux's abilities. All they knew was that he was a Necromancer, but they also didn't fully research the abilities of his Summoned Creatures.
"Oh, dear. I wonder how they will wrap this up?" Emperor Andreas chuckled.
"Sir, wouldn't it be a good idea to intervene?" Aron asked.
Emperor Andreas shook his head. "I came here in secret, Aron. I'm just here to watch, and not do anything. Whatever happens, it will be the nobles who will take the brunt of the populace's dissatisfaction."
"Such a roundabout way of doing things," Aron commented.
"That is politics." Emperor Andreas shrugged. "They have enjoyed too much freedom as of late, and I need a good reason to punish them. This is a good opportunity to do that, and it is about time for them to be brought down a peg. However, I have a feeling that things are going to get ugly from this point onwards. Aron, make sure the Half-Elf doesn't die. I don't want to start a war before I find the key that I am looking for."
"Understood, Your Majesty." Aron bowed.
—----
Lux spat out a mouthful of blood before propping himself up from the ground. Even with his strong body constitution, the Ranker's attack still managed to break three of his ribs and injure some of his internal organs.
Mason was a C-Ranker. He was as strong as Lux's grandma, Vera. Even if he held back, his attack was simply too powerful for Apostles to receive straight on.
If it were an ordinary Grade A Apostle that got hit by such an attack, they would have suffered more damage, or in the worst case scenario, die.
"My bad," Mason chuckled as he placed the bottle on the ground, shrugging off the boos that were coming from the audience. "I shouldn't have done that. Let's try again, shall we? This time, I promise that I won't use my Aura to shield the bottle from attacks. Since I dampened the mood, how about I make up for it? Healers, please heal our outstanding challenger. We will continue the Trial after he is healed."
The clerics hurriedly rushed to Lux's side and started to heal his injuries. They were in cahoots with the High-Ranking nobles who had organized the event, and they were also paid an adequate sum to ignore Lux's injuries.
However, the current situation didn't give them that leeway, so they did their supposed jobs and patched the Half-Elf properly until all of his injuries were recovered.
"Well then, now that you are healed, let's start Round 2," Mason said. "This time, I will not use my hands to fight you. This is enough of a handicap for cheating earlier, right?"
Lux who had already seen through Mason's farce laughed out loud. Earlier he thought that the bottle was just an ordinary bottle, so he didn't put much attention to it.
However, after failing to break it, he used his Appraisal Skill which was tied up to the Elysium Compendium in order to appraise the bottle. The description he saw made him so angry.
"What's so funny?" Mason asked. "Do you think that my handicap is not enough? How about I only use one leg to fight you? How about it?"
Lux looked at the Ranker with contempt as he pointed at the bottle on the ground.
"How about this? Go and break that bottle yourself," Lux sneered. "If you are unable to break it within ten seconds I win."
"What nonsense are you talking about, Half-Elf?" Mason asked. "Did the healers perhaps fail to heal your head? Did you receive some brain injuries?"
"I'll count from one to ten," Lux stated. "If you still haven't broken that bottle after I've counted to ten, I win. Everyone, please bear witness to this challenge. If the Ranker fails to break the bottle after I finished counting, that means that it is impossible to break it. From the start, this whole Trial is a farce!"
The audience was still doubtful of Lux's words, but once again, Cai shouted from the audience.
"Okay! I agree to this condition!" Cai shouted. "If that Ranker isn't able to break that bottle after I count to ten, this means that this Trial is rigged! Everyone count with me! I didn't pay the entrance fee to watch a farce! One! Two!"
"Three!"
"Four!" freewebnov el.com
Soon the audience joined in the counting making Mason grit his teeth in frustration.
""Five!""
""Six!""
""Seven!""
Suddenly, Mason made his move. Instead of breaking the bottle, he appeared right in front of Lux and punched his chest, which sent the Half-Elf crashing towards the barrier of the Coliseum.
The audience who saw this scene cried out in shock as the Half-Elf collapsed on the ground coughing blood.
"You think you're so smart, aren't you?" Mason said as he stepped on Lux's hand, slowly applying pressure on it until his bones started to break, making the Half-Elf scream in pain. "Boy, I don't care about your squabbles with the nobles, but there is one thing that you shouldn't do and that is to never annoy someone stronger than you."
After breaking Lux's right hand, Mason stomped on his left hand as well, making the Half-Elf cry out in pain.
"I was told not to kill you, but that doesn't mean that I can't cut off a limb or two, right?" Mason laughed as he took out a sword from his storage ring.
Aron, who was standing beside Emperor Andreas, glanced at the man sitting beside him. He was waiting for the Emperor's orders to stop Mason from cutting off Lux's limbs, but the Emperor didn't give that order. freewebno(v)el.com
Instead, Emperor Andreas smiled and said.
"We can always reattach an arm or a leg," Emperor Andreas stated. "It will be best if I appear at the last minute to save the Half-Elf. That way, the people's hearts will be moved and that boy will be indebted to me as well."
Aron sighed in his heart, but he no longer said anything. He simply watched and readied himself to protect the Half-Elf just in case Mason aimed to take his life, instead of a limb from the red-headed teenager's body.
Mason spat on the Half-Elf before raising the sword in his hand. "If you want someone to blame, blame yourself for being weak!"
The Ranker then slashed to cut off Lux's right arm in order to teach the Half-Elf a lesson. He knew that his reputation would take a blow for harming a junior, but he was prepared to take the infamy.
As a Ranker of the Empire, the Emperor wouldn't punish him too harshly and might just send him to the outskirts of the Empire in order to help expand the territories. He could return after a few years when the people had forgotten what he had done and, by then, everything would be back to normal.
In front of everyone, an arm fell on the ground, and blood sprayed in the air.
A scream of pain reverberated in the surroundings as Mason pressed his left hand over the stump on his right, where his right arm used to be.
Hovering behind Lux, a black coffin which radiated a crimson glow could be seen. The cover of its lid was open slightly, and a silvery thread could be seen coming from inside it.
Soon, the coffin's cover slowly opened, revealing a silver-haired lady, who seemed to be in her late twenties.
Her blue eyes, which were as clear as the sky, looked at the screaming Ranker coldly as she stepped out from the coffin.
Without even saying anything, she raised her index finger, and a silvery thread appeared from it.
A moment later, another scream of pain was heard as Mason's left arm was cut off from his body. Now that both of his arms were cut off, the blood that sprayed out of the stumps of his arms dyed the ground red.
"If you want someone to blame, then blame yourself for being weak," Vera said in a voice that was colder than ice. "Tell me, arrogant weakling. Would you like to try 13:39
dying once?"
Vera, who loved Lux more than anyone in the world, looked at the Ranker in front of her with the intention to kill.
In truth, her transformation inside the coffin was still unfinished.
But, after sensing that her grandson's life was in danger, she had forcefully awakened from her slumber and attacked Mason.
The arrogant Ranker backed away in fear and pain as he looked at the silver-haired beauty, whose eyes were filled with killing intent, making him regret accepting the bribes of the nobles to hurt the Half-Elf, whose Grandma had now appeared to avenge him.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺