Chapter 303: The Weak Ones Are Gone—Now the Monsters Fight!

Brynessa’s warrior had killed his opponent before the man could even surrender.

"First victory goes to the Infernal Choir."

Peiro’s voice announced the result.

Yet Luke’s side wasn’t focused on Peiro or the fallen warrior.

Their attention was on the victor.

His eyes had turned a deep crimson, the whites of them filled with blood vessels, while portions of his skin had darkened until they resembled the flesh of a demon.

"Was that Demonic Berserk?"

The words escaped from several people.

They knew the danger of demonic corruption.

Demon Whispers were infamous for brainwashing people and corrupting them through Demonic Mana, gradually influencing their minds until they began displaying increasingly beast-like behavior.

One of the results could be a berserk state that granted a short-term increase in strength.

While in that state, the corrupted individual no longer cared about injuries or even death.

Everything was reduced to a single purpose.

"To be useful to their master."

Estelle whispered those words, her expression becoming ugly.

The result of the first battle had already made their situation worse than before.

Zeyr shook his head.

"Be more careful from now on, all of you. Surrender the moment you feel that something is wrong."

His expression was serious as he continued.

"Those demonic-corrupted warriors can even choose to self-destruct their cores as a final attack."

His gaze moved toward the center arena.

"If they do that, the casualties on our side could increase considerably."

Hearing his warning, the remaining Sunborn warriors and mages nodded.

Another warrior then stepped forward and jumped down from the spectator seat.

Just like the previous fighter, he was immediately appeared to the center of the arena.

The earlier demonic warrior was still standing there and with bloodshot eyes waiting for the next prey.

"Fight."

Peiro gave the command almost nonchalantly.

He clearly wasn’t interested in battles of this level.

After all, during his time, he had witnessed gods themselves fighting within this arena, so watching ordinary warriors clash was naturally nothing particularly impressive to him.

Still, his gaze briefly shifted toward Luke.

A faint light of curiosity flashed through his eyes.

’Would he be the one?’

The thought surfaced briefly.

But after considering it, Peiro merely shrugged it off and returned his attention to the battle.

When the time came, he would know whether Luke was truly the one or not.

What Peiro failed to notice was that another consciousness was watching him.

A consciousness belonging to a being whose level of existence was entirely different from that of ordinary spirits, and one that even Peiro couldn’t constantly perceive.

Sevaroth, sitting quietly on Luke’s shoulder, stared directly at Peiro.

"Peiro has already sensed and identified your affinities."

The moment Sevaroth spoke, Luke’s body gave a slight involuntary flinch.

He immediately controlled his reaction, however, and made sure not to give Selene any reason to notice that something was wrong.

After confirming that everything around him remained normal, Luke asked inwardly, his voice carrying a trace of concern.

’Is this a problem?’

Sevaroth shook his head.

"No."

Then he added,

"It seems he wants the anomaly to come here."

Luke remained silent.

Sevaroth continued,

"And you may not be the first anomaly who has come here."

Those words immediately reminded Luke of the system quest description he had received earlier.

[Their web was created long before you arrived.]

[You were not the only one who discovered their scheme.]

[You merely stepped into a position they had already prepared.]

Another set of lines followed.

[Those beings have already woven their web far deeper than she can imagine.]

[Every possibility and variable.]

[Even the beings that should never have been discovered...]

[They were already within their calculations.]

Luke’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’So this is what it meant by prepared.’

He remembered the first clue he had received regarding the Origin Fragment.

The system had already implied that he wasn’t the first person who had attempted to find it.

’Another Hero of Light?’

The possibility entered his mind.

’Or perhaps the Saintess again?’

Unfortunately, there was no way for him to know yet.

He could only wait.

Unless he entered that ancient temple himself, he wasn’t going to find the answer.

"Second Round, Sunborn Kingdom won."

Peiro’s announcement pulled Luke’s attention back toward the arena.

The Sunborn warrior had managed to defeat the demonic warrior, but rather than continuing the fight, he had chosen to surrender once he had secured the victory.

From there, the battles continued.

One after another, warriors and mages from both sides stepped into the arena, fought, and either defeated their opponents or surrendered when continuing became too dangerous.

The exchange continued until the number of victories on both sides finally became equal.

"Twenty-five victories for the Infernal Choir and twenty-five victories for the Sunborn Kingdom."

Peiro announced the result in his usual calm voice.

Estelle and the others, however, didn’t look relieved.

Quite the opposite.

"So many of them are still left."

Estelle looked toward the opposing side.

Twenty-five demonic warriors were still standing there, each of them ready to enter the arena when their turn came.

Their own side had already paid a heavy price to reach the same score.

Despite taking precautions, ten Platinum Knights had lost their lives, while two mages had also been killed.

The difference in strategy between the two sides was becoming increasingly obvious.

The Infernal Choir had used twenty-five warriors so far, and every single one had fought until death.

Not one of them had surrendered.

Their side, however, had already used fifty warriors and mages to achieve the same number of victories.

The numerical cost was becoming difficult to ignore.

Isaria noticed Estelle’s troubled expression and gently patted her back.

It did little to improve Estelle’s mood.

Even if they somehow managed to survive these ruins, she knew their kingdom would still suffer another major setback.

The loss of so many powerful warriors could eventually result in a serious shortage of B-rank beings within the Sunborn Kingdom.

And that would affect much more than this single battle.

That thought made Estelle even more worried.

Luke also noticed her expression and couldn’t help feeling bad for her.

However, he knew he couldn’t simply step into the arena at the beginning.

They still had no idea whether the Infernal Choir had prepared some hidden method of killing their stronger combatants, perhaps through a suicide attack or another form of sacrifice.

Until they understood what else the enemy had prepared, sending one of their strongest fighters into the arena without knowing the risks would be reckless.

That was also why none of the higher-quality combatants on either side had entered the arena yet.

But it seemed that time had finally come.

"Arwen, Lirael."

Zeyr turned toward the two of them.

"Which of you will go first?"

All the lower-ranked warriors had already been used, so it was finally time for the stronger representatives to take their turns.

Among the remaining representatives from Empyrean Academy, Arwen and Lirael were the weakest.

Zeyr didn’t mention Isaria and Estelle.

And he certainly didn’t mention Luke.

The expressions of Arwen and Lirael changed slightly, and a hint of anger appeared on their faces.

Neither of them liked the idea of being sent into the arena first while the those remained safely behind.

Still, after exchanging a brief glance, they nodded.

At least they were allowed to surrender once the situation became too dangerous.

They didn’t have to fight until death.