Villain: The Play of Destiny

The next day, when the Spectators entered the Garden of Florena, they saw that there were small wooden chests placed on the sand in the middle of the arena. Thirty-two, to be exact.

And as soon as they settled down and the Participants entered, the Master of Ceremony congratulated them for making it to the knockouts and then instructed them to choose one of the chests that were placed before them.

Most understood what these chests contained, and they carefully stepped forward to pick one for themselves, hoping for the best.

Yexuan was among the first ones to step forward, and the others stopped to allow him to make his pick.

The boy with golden highlights did not seem to care as he picked up the one closest to him, and then opened it, taking out the badge that held the number 6.

As soon as the participants saw the number he had picked, they prayed that they would not be unfortunate enough to face him in the first round.

Making it to the top sixteen was going to earn them 16 Million Neris each, and it was a sum of money that they did not want to miss.

Sadly, an Auror in the True Profound Realm, who had high hopes for himself, picked up the chest that also contained the number 6.

When the spectators watched him sigh, not worried in the least, they understood that he was going to surrender the match and not risk it.

On his part, it was indeed a wise choice.

Samrath picked up the number 15, and as the Gods would have it, it was an Auror from the Sect of Ozell who ended up picking the same number.

Once all the Matches had been drawn, the first match commenced, and every participant watched it with great interest as it was between Victor, who was in a sorry state after yesterday's battle, but was now all healed up and grinning madly at his opponent, and an Auror in the Early Stages of Spirit Profound Realm. It was an aged man in his early fifties.

"You are masking it well." The old man narrowed his eyes and commented, which made the Muscle-Head quizzically look at him.

"What?"

"Your injuries."

"Thanks!" Victor grinned again, making the old man deadpan at his reply.

Either this bulky man was a little too smart to not reveal anything, or he was really dumb by admitting that he was indeed masking his injuries and was not in the best shape.

"The first match of the Knockouts is between Victor and Kol Erasmus. The former has accumulated 21 points so far in the Trials, and the latter has accumulated 16. The winner of this match will earn 4 Points and progress to the next round." The Master of Ceremony announced and then raised his right hand. "May the better Auror win. Begin!"

Victor did not waste any time and rushed forward, coating his body in his copper Aura, and then slammed his powerful fist against the blocking arms of his opponent, forcing him several feet back.

With just a single exchange, the Old man realised that this Muscle-Head was not masking his injuries, rather, he was completely healed.

He did not get much time to remain in shock as Victor rushed at him again, and not holding anything back, the old man unleashed his Aura Soul Avatar, a grey hyena, and soon a spectacular battle commenced between the two.

Since Victor was only in the Late Stage of True Profound Realm, it was not easy for him to win against an opponent of a higher Realm.

Their battle continued for over an hour, and by that time, Keith and the girls had arrived in the King's Box and taken their seats.

"He's really pushing himself hard." Kashish smiled. "You should help him regardless of the result."

"No." He shook his head. "I will only hold my end of the promise if he holds his end. If he fails, he will have to bear the loss."

"But he's been trying so hard..." Alana too could not help but say as she witnessed Victor's unwillingness to lose.

"He's the sort of person who would only grow stronger in the face of a loss. And he is the sort of person who refuses to lose unless he's given his all." Kiara smiled. "He will win this round."

Her words surprised both Kashish and Alana, and both of them focused their eyes on the battle, waiting to see if Kiara's words would prove true.

And they did.

Victor won after he managed to outlast his opponent. He was on his knees panting heavily, and the old man was sprawled on the ground, vacantly staring at the sky and heaving, his Aura no longer covering his body.

Even before the Master of Ceremony announced the result, the audience was up on their feet, cheering heartily for the Muscle-Head who had won against all odds.

"You are one stubborn old man," Victor grumbled but then grinned as he got back up on his feet, leaving the Arena to go sit somewhere and replenish his strength.

The next match started after a few minutes, but it did not prove as exciting as the first one. The third, fourth, and fifth matches were better, but disappointment hit the audience again when, as expected, the Auror who was up against Yexuan, forfeited the match.

By the time the clock hit noon time, twelve of the sixteen matches had been completed, and so, Rebecca gave the green light to delay the lunch break until the end of the last 32 Matches.

The audience had already noticed Keith sitting in the King's Box, and most of them were already aware of his identity by now, all thanks to the Mourntale Family, who were acting as one of the Hosts and had joined several factions at dinner in the past few days.

To the wise men, learning that the Mourntale were linked to two Inheritors of Gods, was enough of a reason to decide to never take the wrong side, and in just a matter of a few days, the Eastern Faction had been isolated.

Today, not a single Auror belonging to the Eastern Faction of Magic City remained in the Trials. And sadly, all of their participants had lost their lives.

Except for the Hazenborne, the other three were not even present in the audience today, and the Hazenborne were only there as they wished to earn some goodwill from Rebecca and Keith as they had realised that in case a war occurred, the Mourntale were bound to make it through and likely win. Whereas their survival looked bleak now.

They were growing quite desperate as Mourntale, Ravenstein, and even the Glasisius were refusing to meet them, showing no interest in arbitration, and it had only solidified their fear that the war would prove to be their end.

The only way out that they saw was to earn some goodwill from the two Mortal Gods, and today, they planned on approaching the Mourntale again with a better offer.

Funnily enough, the Ozell had asked to speak to Keith last night as well. It was an attempt to gauge how close Keith was to Samrath, and if he would interfere in their conflict.

Though he did not meet them, he did tell them that he had no concern for their personal matters, and today, the faces of the members of the Sect of Ozell did not bear any worries.

They had been quite anxious when they learned that he had gone to their Sect to inquire about Sunaina's whereabouts, but now, after learning that it was not anything personal and was just an attempt to make someone owe him, they were immensely relieved.

Their faces, however, did grow solemn when the fifteenth match started, and they watched Samrath attack their comrade relentlessly, not really endangering his life, but giving him a beating that he would remember for the rest of his life.

Despite them both being in the Early Stages of Spirit Profound Realm, the difference in their combat proficiency was just too great. Samrath managed to end it without even needing to utilise his Aura Soul Avatar.

And he made sure to look the Head of the Sect of Ozell in his eyes before he left the Arena, conveying to him that he would make them answer in the same manner.

A blatant attempt to undermine and threaten them, but they too knew that they could not blame the young man.

It was clear to both sides that the other did not have Sunaina with them, yet there was no room for conciliation. It was now a matter of retribution for one and a matter of pride and honour for the other, and neither of them was going to back down.

At a quarter to two in the afternoon, the final match of the Round of 32 ended, and an hour-long lunch break was announced, after which, the Round of 16 was going to start as new draws took place.

When Keith and the girls left the King's Box, Kashish, who was keeping a question finally voiced it.

"Why is he still here?"

"Who?" Amira curiously looked at her.

"Yexuan." She said, making Alana frown. "Is he interested in the two Aura Stones as well?"

"Why do you think he isn't?" Keith smiled at her and asked.

"I am not sure, but I don't think it is worth the risk. The longer he stays in the Trials, the more enemies he will earn. And since he came here to earn their favour, which is not possible anymore, shouldn't he have taken his leave?" She glanced at Alana, not counting what happened between them, which was also reason enough for him to wisely step back.

"Well, maybe something else has caught his attention." He shrugged. "Or maybe he really is interested in the two Aura Stones. After all, he has a good chance of winning the Trials."

He, of course, knew why Yexuan was still in the Trials. It was a matter of pride for him, and he did not want to appear cowardly and back off. He also wanted to gather some more intel on Samrath before targeting him.

Yexuan was snooping around the location where Samrath was staying last night. Unfortunately for him, his every move was being observed by Keith now.