Chapter 160
“That was so easy...” Theta was exiting the coliseum, having just finished his match. He was all smiles while humming.
“That monkey Australo was content with just becoming a Master and gave up right away… For the next match, the last member of Group A is…” After a short silence, Theta smiled venomously. “Joshua Sanders? It seems that we’re finally going to meet.”
Honestly, Theta wasn’t actually interested in the Masters’ Battle.
He simply got into a fight with Tower Master Ian when the latter discovered his abilities. However, Theta wouldn’t have accepted Tower Master Ian’s order if there weren’t anything interesting here.
“I’m a specialist in escaping.” Theta’s smile widened. What would they do if he decided to run away to some remote idyll? Would Tower Master Ian come after him? Would Grandpa Ian come after him?
While he was deep in his thoughts, an individual who piqued his interest popped up in his mind. The individual in question was Joshua Sanders of the Avalon Empire—a future Star of Igrant.
“Skills can also be considered a part of one’s, but I’m more interested in how he—Code Zero—acquired the power of Bronto.”
Theta was certain that Joshua had Bronto, and the possibility made him very curious. Not every human could handle a Primordial Stone, especially Bronto. Bronto was so powerful it could turn your hands into charcoal, and the other stones were no different.
“His Highness Ulabis managed to assimilate Magma without succumbing to the horrors of hellfire because of his innate constitution and his training. Obviously, the fact that he was already on the brink of becoming a Master helped in the assimilation process…” Theta trailed off. His eyes were gleaming as he continued. “Joshua Sanders was just ten years old when he stole Bronto. He’s widely acclaimed as a monster—yes, but he was just comparable to a C-Class Knight at the time. How did he assimilate Bronto without dying?”
Theta received no answer. He stomped around and continued his train of thought.
In the first place, how did Joshua even know about Bronto?
Theta had heard the rumors about how Bronto was discovered in the Black Monster Forest. The Black Monster Forest was a treacherous region filled with monsters, but a child actually managed to enter the region and survive on his own?
“Perhaps there’s something strange about the Primordial Stones only Joshua Sanders knows.” Theta’s eyes gleamed with a peculiar light.
Theta wanted the Primordial Stone Stormwind. Unfortunately, Theta wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to find documented clues about Stormwind, not to mention finding it, and it was all because of Joshua Sanders.
“I’m looking forward to our battle, Joshua Sanders.”
Theta revealed a bright smile and vanished, leaving only a few words in his wake.
***
It was just past noon, but the coliseum of Reinhardt was already silent. The stillness was eerie, but none of the audience members wanted to leave because they were still dizzy with delight and disbelief after the fight that had just concluded.
“The Seven Mages of the Magic Tower—they really are the real deal. Astello didn’t stand a chance, and he’s one of the strongest people in Terra!”
“I heard that Storm is the youngest of the Seven Mages. With the performance he showed us, I don’t even know what to expect from the other six!”
“I think the Seven Mages of the Magic Tower are now the Six Mages of the Magic Tower Haven’t you heard of the rumors about Thunder’s passing many years ago?”
“That’s obviously nonsense. The Seven Mages are monsters, so it would take a monster among monsters to deal with them. Tell me, is there someone like that?”
“Well… that’s all I’ve heard. I don’t think we can be sure about it.”
“Anyway, it was fantastic. It was way more enjoyable than watching knights duke it out.”
The crowd buzzed with a plethora of hot takes. Joshua’s lips remained silent while he pondered. He turned to the side and saw the exquisite side profile of Iceline. Her beautiful lips were still parted, and it was obvious that she was still in shock.
“You must have been quite astonished.”
Twitch.
Iceline immediately awakened from her stupor upon hearing Joshua's voice.
“He was such a monster. I’ve never seen anything like him. The way he allocated his mana, his comprehension of magic, and his ability to adapt were all flawless. I’ve met quite a few geniuses myself, but…” Iceline sighed and muttered wryly, “It seems that there really is a sky above the sky.”
“...” Joshua grimaced upon hearing that. As far as he could remember, he and Iceline were both extraordinary geniuses capable of dominating other people. As such, he couldn’t help but think that if he had lived just a bit longer, then he would have seen Iceline achieve more.
“Well…” Joshua looked stiff as he muttered.
“Look,” said Iceline.
“What?” Joshua stared at Iceline.
Upon noticing Joshua’s gaze, Iceline continued.
“He exhausted his opponent into surrendering. Slowly weakening his opponent like that instead of taking his opponent out in one fell swoop only works if he has an advantage in at least two areas. The last time I saw Force Mage Astello, he had just become a Class 6 Mage while Theta is already—”
“A Class 6 Master Mage?” Joshua concluded.
Iceline nodded and continued. “He’s already a Master Mage, but if he doesn’t give up his chance to become the Champion of the Masters’ Battle, then you will eventually encounter him. Actually, he’s your next opponent.”
Iceline seemed unfazed, despite the incredible meaning behind all this. Being recognized as a Master Mage in the Continental Magic Battle was dramatically different from being recognized as a Master Mage in the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle.
The majority of the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle participants were knights, and they had always been looking at mages in a bad light. The judges were Master knights as well, so they had a tendency to ignore the feats of mages, which was why they didn’t recognize Astello as a Master even though Astello could easily become one in the Continental Magic Battle.
However, the fact that they recognized Theta as a Master meant that Theta’s overwhelming power intimidated them.
‘Thetapirion Whitesocks…’?Joshua inwardly muttered and smiled.
They called him the Storm Mage, but the abilities Theta had shown in the arena today seemed lacking compared to his moniker. As such, Joshua was looking forward to their match.
‘It’s a great opportunity to fight a Star.’
Joshua would definitely learn a lot in a match against the first human Archmage. In addition, Asmodeus’ contractor, Lich Heinz, was apparently a monster in the form of a Class 8 Mage and was deeply connected with Evergrant con Aswald as well as with the Imperial Family of Avalon.
Joshua turned back to Iceline, who was still deep in thought.
Her rate of development was far superior to any other mage Joshua was familiar with, so it would be fantastic if she could take on Evergrant and if Joshua somehow managed to manipulate Thetapirion into dealing with Heinz…
However, Joshua eventually shook his head. The people he was thinking of dealing with were formidable foes, and there was no way he would be able to deal with them using such cheap tricks.
Moreover, there was no way Joshua would manipulate other people into becoming his borrowed knives when they weren’t even involved in the matter, which was Joshua’s revenge.
‘I have to be wary of Kaiser’s closest allies as well, but for now…’’
“Uwaaah!”
Joshua’s train of thought was interrupted by the loud yelling of the crowd.
“Your Highness! Your Highness! Your Highness!”
“Your Highness Ulabis! Fighting! You’re the hope of us, non-imperials!”
“You have to win! Knight of Red Flame!”
The noises were particularly loud on the western side of the huge coliseum, where Ulabis was coming from. Soon afterward, a huge uproar could be heard from the eastern side of the massive coliseum.
“He’s huge!”
“Prove to us that you’re not the Second Mercenary for nothing, Akshuller!”
“I'm with you, Akshuller! If you dare to lose, then don’t even try to go home!”
“Don’t lose to that punk, Ulabis!”
The roars of the men on the eastern side were particularly loud.
“Ahem.” The scene astonished Joshua so much that he unknowingly gulped a mouthful of his own saliva. He shifted his attention to the vast arena and saw two men walking toward each other.
On the other side was a young man with ruby-like eyes, while on the other side was a large-framed man whose muscles looked like they were subtly twitching even from a distance. The man’s physique was so huge he looked like a towering boulder.
“It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“You already know me.”
“What, we can’t greet each other anymore?” Akshuler smiled bitterly and raised his fists, showing his Abudaham’s Knuckles to the crowd.
Ulabis unsheathed his sword, which spat a tongue of red flame.
The crowd instantly went quiet.
“...”
Ulabis and Akshuler stared and studied each other for quite a while.
Eventually, an ear-splitting, sky-rending roar reverberated, and the most anticipated match of the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle finally started.
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