"You dare?!"
The asshole shouted at me as his mana sizzled out, and a dense feeling of darkness soon filled my surroundings from his very mana, which spoke of the depth of the night.
'A unique mana signature and innate blessing,' I thought as I quickly looked at my system which told me all that I needed to know about the guy in front of me, his interesting specialties that were only known to him or the one he trusted.
"You will handle this?" Ralph whispered into my ear, to which I nodded my head. Seeing so, he took on the bystander position just like the other two beside the asshole, the entire oppressive mana soon filling me, trying to fill my mind with negative thoughts. I took it like a champ, smiling as I let out a bit of my mana, its innate purity easily pushing away the oppressive might.
My action caught the eyes of everyone, as the asshole in question narrowed his eyes, and the sizzling mana from him was pulled back. 'So he's not all dumb, I mused in my thoughts as the asshole soon spoke.
"My name is Renardo, a disciple of the pillar of Darkness and a candidate for the position of the 12 apostles. I am 19 years old," he said, turning quiet and seemingly waiting for me to speak. A moment of silence lingered between us after which I spoke.
"Rex, 18 years old, and more handsome than you.."
Silence followed my words as Renardo's expression turned angry, the mana around him being thick and strong, indicating that his base is extremely well built and powerful. His dark eyes seemed to get darker as he spoke, pointing his hand at me.
"I, Renardo, challenge you to a duel of the holy war!"
His words resonated around the room, and I could see a simple blooming on the faces of the two people that stood beside Renardo. It looked like this challenge was some big deal or they were just smiling at the fact that this guy would beat me black and blue.
"The duel of holy war puts the line of reputation and power on the table, it even affects the organization the two challengers represent," Ralph spoke, replenishing the memory that I already knew. After all, this was something that I was aiming for. A sly grin started to lift up on my face as I looked at my first stepping stone, the one that would cement my position as the top prodigy in the entire world.
Talent? Bloodline? Innate ability? Blessing of a God? Supreme Body? Supreme sensitivity to Mana? None of that matters in front of me. No one ever knows the depth of my true power, and I have yet to go full-on in battle. The amount of things that I have accumulated within me is something that no one will ever be able to guess or understand.
'Should I kill him, master?' Farah suddenly asked with a seething tone. I could feel the murderous desire in her tone.
'No, I have something more planned for him. You just enjoy the show, I responded as my focus stayed on Renardo.
"I accept," I spoke, cementing my agreement to the duel.
"Good! Then follow me!" Renardo spoke as he started to lead the way. The two beside him still weren't saying anything.
'It looks like we pissed them off real bad, I remarked as we walked out of the large hallways where my group and I had arrived. Leaving the hall, Ralph, the two guards, and I soon walked into a vast and enormous long hallway. Renardo walked with pride as he started to speak.
"This is just a small part of the entire place. We span an entire
world!" Hearing this, I wasn't surprised as the entirety of the War Council exists in an independent world space. It's large and perfect enough to hold and grow several powerful people while keeping the peace of the world. In fact, there are other such powers out there - true supreme experts hiding in this world living away, trying their best to break into the fabled realm of the Gods.
But then again, they don't feel like much to me when two churches stand behind me. Their presence is more than enough to make these hungry wolves into docile sheep. No matter how arrogant or powerful they grow, they know that the churches are never to be messed with. The churches themselves hold immense power, something that I came to learn and accept.
We kept on walking through the hallway, soon starting to meet more people moving around. Each of them had their own badges and their marks indicating their position within this war council. I looked at all of them with interest, as they all looked at my group with dislike.
'It looks like a lot of face slapping will be required,' I thought to myself. It's not like I wasn't planning on it. In fact, arriving late and creating the issue would only push forth the plans I had in mind for these organizations.
'A terrifying force, I concluded as I sensed all the people that kept moving around here. All of them had an above-average level of power, each of them enough to gain a standard position within the outside world. Yet here they were just at the bottom of the barrel. The intriguing thing here was the fact that, like the outside, I could still feel the division among the different species - a subtle layer of difference among each other that's hard to ignore, something which I improved tremendously during the Realm attack.
"We are here!" Renardo spoke, breaking me out of my thoughts as we walked through a huge door that looked dark and countering. But the moment we walked through it, the space tore around me, and the next moment, I opened my eyes, I was in a huge battleground with Renardo standing opposite to me.
"Show us blood!"
"Teach those arrogant fools a lesson!"
"Make'em bleed!"
"Yeah! Beat him up!" the shouts of the audience filled my ears causing me to turn to look at them. My gaze turned 360 as I saw thousands of different people seated up high on a floating platform, their powerful gaze locked on me, desiring to see me bleed.
"They planned this," I thought with a smile. It's impossible for such a group of people to be gathered so fast unless such a shenanigan was planned beforehand. It just simply translates to the fact that they were already planning on whopping the ass of any member from the Darknight using any reason possible.
'It's better for me like this....
'Master, shall I kill them all?' Farah asked me once again, seeking my permission to kill them all.
'No, my little Farah, let me teach you how to deal with arrogant powered assholes. Don't blink,' I replied.
'Yes, master,' Farah complied, keeping her anger in check.
"Are you afraid?" Renardo asked with a chilling smile as he stood before me.
"Nope, just thinking that this place sucks," I said, making Renardo frown.
"Then you shall soon feel terror like no other," he spoke in a creepy tone, making me wince a little.
I had encountered many of his kind during my travels when I didn't use my noble status. I had dealt with enough trash talk for a lifetime. It had even made me question how those protagonists lived with it. Just as I was starting to forget about Renardo's trash talk, a figure appeared between us. It was the same man who was with Renardo.
"I shall now speak the rules," he spoke, and the entire stadium turned silent.
"The battle shall only end when one of the fighters is unable to continue. No surrender and no cries shall be accepted," he announced.
Liking the rules, I smiled. The man, now the referee, turned to look at me, to which I nodded my head, saying, "No problem." Renardo also nodded his head in agreement.
The man stood between the two of us and said, "Begin!" As he spoke, he disappeared, leaving the two of us alone. Renardo smiled, and his dark mana sizzled out, a unique one I had seen on a human. He started to chuckle as he spoke, "I am going to enjoy-"
Before he could finish his sentence, I appeared in front of him and punched him hard in the face with my fist. My enhanced memory saw the slow-motion view of his cheeks rippling along with teeth flying away as his body flew, crashing through the ground that seemed endless. Funny enough, the ground wasn't hurt.
A stunning silence filled the place, but it didn't last for long as a humongous pressure released from the ground where Renardo lay. Half the side I hit looking bloated while the 'skies' above me turned dark, a poison-like atmosphere filling around him.
'Huh...a durable punching bag,' I thought looking at the standing Renardo.
