Throughout the arena, dozens of fights were taking place amongst the participants who had joined the trial. By now, over twenty fighters had been eliminated, either by knocking out of the arena, or by incapacitation.
After eliminating her opponent, Iris did the opposite of what was expected of her. After exchanging some words with John, she jumped out of the arena to return to her seat. Her actions surprised all, as they had expected her to fight for the central pedestal.
However, Iris knew better than to attempt such a thing for several reasons. The first was that she was not strong enough to claim the platform in the center and win the round. While she was incredibly quick and had poison daggers, that would not be enough to overwhelm someone like Alderen. In the face of someone as strong as Alderen, all she would be able to do is run.
Secondly, she had only joined the fight to defeat the crass youth that had insulted both her and John. With that successfully accomplished, she retired from the arena, as she knew that as long as John was in the trial, any hope of victory was impossible.
As she returned to her seat next to the other Heavenly Lightning Sect youths, Iris was greeted with warm smiles, while the youths looked at her in a new light.
"Good job in there," Hareu said to Iris.
"Thanks," Iris replied with a cheerful smile.
"Why did you leave though? Don't you have any interest in trying to win the round? Although such a thing is impossible with Alderen sitting there, it's still a good opportunity to gain combat experience," Hareu asked.
"There's no point in trying to win with him in the arena," Iris replied calmly as her eyes locked onto John's back.
"I understand," Hareu replied with a defeated tone. "I too thought I was strong until I entered these lands and encountered someone like Alderen. All we can do is wait until he leaves, and hope someone else as freakish as him doesn't show up."
"You're not wrong. That Alderen is incredibly strong. I could tell that much just by being close to him," Iris replied, her eyes remaining on the arena below. "But I wasn't talking about Alderen."
"You're not talking about Alderen?" Hareu asked with slight confusion in his voice. "Then who are you talking about? Did you see someone else that's as strong as Alderen while you were down there?"
"Just be quiet and watch," Iris replied as a small smile appeared on her face. "A good show is about to start."
On the arena below, John calmly began to approach Alderen, whose calm gaze stared back. Alderen was the only opponent worthy of John's attention, and also sat on the central pedestal that John desired to claim.
John's calm gaze turned into a frown as he felt someone appear behind them. They had appeared silently, and seemed to be skilled in stealth and assassination arts. If not for his incredible senses, he would have not noticed their presence in time. A sharp blade appeared in the stealthy assailant's hands as it thrust towards John's back. While the attack would not be lethal for him if it landed, it would most definitely take him out of this fight and take some time to heal.
"It seems as though my previous display was not deterrent enough," John sighed as lightning nodes suddenly appeared in the air around him.
"Shit!"
A cry from behind him echoed out at the appearance of the lightning nodes, which unleashed a barrage of lightning attacks at the assailant.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The barrage of lightning beams slammed into the arena platform as they were narrowly dodged by the stealthy assailant, who seemed to specialize in both stealth and speed. John frowned as he noticed his opponent dodge the attacks, as he had been hoping to eliminate them in one fell swoop. He turned around to look at his opponent, who had put some distance between themselves.
It was a young female youth, who had long brown hair and hazel eyes. Her face was quite attractive, but her sharp features made her look icy and cold. She wore pitch black clothes, which would blend into the night unseen.
'She's clearly from some sort of power that specializes in stealth arts. Now that she's been exposed, she's as good as useless though,' John mused before a frown once again appeared on his face.
"Don't look down on me, asshole!" a cry of anger from behind John boomed out, while a great hammer slammed down onto John, its might augmented by a powerful battle art.
"Tch!" John clicked his tongue as he dodged to the side, narrowly dodging the hammer that slammed against the arena with great force. After dodging the attack, John's gaze shifted to the youth who had attacked him who was a familiar opponent.
The youth's robes were charred from lightning damage, while his body was bloodied and charred slightly as well. It was the youth he had beaten before, who had seemingly regained consciousness and sought revenge against John.
"I already beat you before, why would you try your luck against me again?" John asked.
"I was holding back due to your low cultivation, as I didn't want to kill you," the youth replied with agitation and anger in his voice. Clearly he felt embarrassed from losing to someone as weak cultivation wise as John. "I won't be making the same mistake twice. You're going to pay for embarrassing me like that."
John's calm gaze lingered on the youth for a moment, before it shifted to the side to observe the girl who specialized in stealth. She had been moving to get into his blind spot, hoping to take advantage of his distraction.
After observing the situation, John sighed once more and shook his head in disapproval.
"You know, I was only going to fight with Alderen and leave the rest of the fight's to take place amongst yourselves, but it seems as though many of you will be a hindrance to such a plan," John spoke up, his voice loud enough for all in the arena to hear. "I've changed my mind. I'll be eliminating each and every one of you, so that I may fight Alderen without any disturbances."
Silence descended upon the arena and the stands above as everyone fell into a stunned silence upon hearing John's words. After a few seconds of silence, a cacophony of laughter erupted amongst the other youths, as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Hahaha, did you hear that? The boy thinks he's strong enough to fight against all of us," one of the fighters boomed out in laughter.
"Haha, that display of his earlier must have gone to his head, and now he thinks he can handle us all with that meager cultivation of his," another replied with great amusement.
Similar conversations broke out amongst those in the arena and stands with great amusement. However, the amusing conversations quickly ceased as they all felt an incredible aura explode upon the arena, stunning them all into shocked silence.
Their eyes locked onto John, who stood there with a calm expression on his face. The aura of his body radiated absolute might, as if he could crush a mountain with a single fist, while a hundred lightning nodes danced around him in the air. Lightning of incredible power cackled in the air around him, making him look like a lightning god. Those who felt the might of the lightning shivered in fright, as they could tell each strike had the power to cause them great harm.
They had no idea how a Meridian Forging youth could erupt with such power, but there was no denying what they were feeling at the moment. In the stands, the Heavenly Lightning Sect group looked on with mouths agape, while the small smile on Iris's face returned.
"Finally, the show's about to start," Iris said with expectant enthusiasm.
John's calm yet cold gaze stared at the other fighters in the arena, pausing on those who had just insulted him.
"Shall we get started then?"
