Since Amanda went with Souta, she was disqualified in the Tournament of Astros. Well, even if she stayed there her opponent was Eilish, someone who could defeat the elder of the Witch Clan.
Naturally, Eilish would defeat her. As for the second match, Alice won by default. Souta disqualified Franklin yesterday so Alice didn't have an opponent.
There's no action as the audience just watched Meina declared the winner of the first and second matches.
The third match was different. It was between Elder Guan and Doranjan and both of them were here. No one wanted to back down from the match so it would be a battle just like yesterday. The crowd was riled up when they heard the battle. After seeing the first two matches, they thought that no battle would occur today but it seems that they were wrong.
"Let's welcome both fighters!!"
Doranjan and Elder Guan entered the arena. The Great Green Dragon opened its huge majestic wings. The leader of the Feral Corps of Astros, Doranjan. An enormous pressure bore down as he released his best feram.
Elder Guan was unfazed by his opponent's show of strength. He opened his hand and a white pill appeared. It was his soul weapon, [Power Steering Pill].
He placed the white pill in his mouth and it quickly turned into energy that fused into his body. In the next moment, his strength rose sharply giving him various buffs equal to the dark-grade artifact.
Everyone was silent as they waited for Meina's signal.
"One... Two... Three... Go!! Let's start the third match!!!"
Doranjan quickly swung his huge and sharp claws. The energy within surged like a tidal wave. It felt like it was about to destroy the entire area.
This was the power of a fourth stage monster.
Elder Guan tightened his muscles as the gauntlets around his hands emitted a dim blueish light. A violent energy erupted as he threw his fist.
[Destruction Fist]!!
BANG!!
Doranjan's claws were repelled under the might of Elder Guan's attack. He was a little bit surprised as he didn't think that his opponent would go all-out from the beginning.
He turned around and swung his tail but Elder Guan easily avoided it. Then, he felt a force slam into his stomach. In the next moment, his huge body flew and crashed into the barrier.
BAM!!
Elder Guan's aura rose once again. He activated various combat arts that he learned in the past.
"You are a fourth stage so I won't hold back."
With those words, he began to launch a series of powerful attacks at his opponent. Each attack caused the entire arena to tremble and shockwaves would sweep out. If not for the barrier, the entire place would be flattened.
Suddenly, a pillar of energy shot upward and violent sparks flew in every direction. The torrent of energy stood like a pillar supporting the heaven and earth.
Elder Guan was forced to stop his attacks.
"It's here... The [Monster Orb Release]."
He narrowed his eyes and stared at the torrent of energy with burning fighting intent.
BOOM!!
"Doranjan's decision is correct. He couldn't hope to defeat a One Shackle Realm in his normal form. He's not Souta." Alice commented while watching the battle.
This should be the normal power of a fourth stage that recently evolved. Unlike Souta, who was a beast among monsters as he had high power levels the moment he evolved. Although some of his strengths could be credited to his high grade equipment which Doranjan didn't have, it was still ridiculous to possess that kind of power at the initial level.
When the torrent of energy dispersed, it revealed a huge Great Green Dragon's majestic body. It has a height of twenty meters and a length of thirty five meters. Its huge body was covered in green glossy scales and its two pairs of wings were unfurled as if covering the entire sky. There were wraps of green fur on each of its shoulders drifting on its back which was covered in black spikes.
On its muscular arm, there were golden marks like a tattoo coming from the center of its chest. Each mark was producing a dim golden glow.
This was Doranjan's release form.
"Let's start the battle once again."
Doranjan said in a deep tone. Every time he opened his mouth white mist would come out.
Rumble!
"Let me ask you something. Who are you?" Nathan asked in a serious tone. From his guess, Souta wasn't an ordinary person. It was impossible for him to know this information without sufficient background.
"William. That's my name." Souta said with a faint smile.
Nathan stared at him for a long time before he sighed. "It seems that you will not tell me anything about yourself. I can't force you. I don't want to add one more enemy to my list."
"So what are you going to do with the information that I gave to you?" Souta asked.
"First, I'll observe the Star Pavilion's action. I will move depending on their movements. If the Governor is really planning to unify the Mine Valley, then the overlord of different cities will react." Nathan said gravely. "It doesn't matter. What I want to know is what you are planning to do. The Murder Society, if you are planning to look for them. Be careful and don't ever mention my name."
"I understand. Our conversation will stay here so don't let other people know what we talked about." Souta nodded before he left.
Nathan simply stared at the door. It took him a few minutes before he returned to his senses. He glanced at the meats on the table and muttered, "That guy. Just what the hell is he? Something feels off when I'm looking at him."
"Do you want me to follow him, Boss?" One of his subordinates suggested.
"No, I'm not a sensory type but at least that man is on the same level as me." Nathan shook his head. Although he wasn't a sensory type, he could at least sense if a person was below his power level. Since he couldn't see the power of that person, that person who called himself William was on par with him.
Souta met with Franklin and Amanda. The information that they gathered was the same. It's all about the basic foundation of the Mine Valley and Star Pavilion. If they wanted to delve further into it, they had to ask those organizations that ruled a city.
"Should we visit those organizations first or head straight to Bland City?" Amanda asked.
"Let's go to Bland City. I think we will understand something after we talked to the Governor." Souta answered while rubbing his chin.
The assassin organizations in the Mine Valley should know something but they probably have little information. It's better if they knew who killed Envoy Jeoban. That way he would be able to proceed to the second quest of the Chain Quest.
"I understand." Amanda nodded lightly. Then she asked, "Are we gonna stay here or not?"
"Let's stay here for a night. We will go to Bland City tomorrow morning." Souta said in response to her question.
"Then, I'll go and rent a room for us." Amanda turned around and left.
Souta glanced at Franklina and said, "Follow her,"
Franklin nodded and left.
Souta turned around after they disappeared from his vision. He looked at his surroundings and saw a coffee shop. A smile formed on his face.
It's been a while since he visited a coffee shop.
He went inside and ordered their specialty. Although he didn't have platinum coins, he still had several gold coins in his pocket so it wasn't a problem if he ordered a high-class coffee for himself to indulge.
After waiting for a few minutes, the waiter arrived and served a cup of coffee on his table. Sniffing the aroma coming from the cup, a satisfied smile plastered on his face.
There's nothing better than having a coffee break.
Souta calculated his coins and thought that he would have a spare to visit a brothel tonight. It's been a while. He was too busy lately that he hasn't released his pent-up stress so he would go all out tonight.
'That Eilish... She didn't even let me have a go... She's too busy in her practice.'
Souta smiled to himself as he took a sip of his coffee. The taste was perfect and it fitted his taste buds. This was really his stress reliever.
'Oh, right? Saya, do you know something about that strange energy before? It felt familiar but I couldn't explain where I sensed it in the past.' He suddenly remembered the earthquake and that strange energy just now.
'That is Grid... Just like I thought, this is not a simple matter.' Saya said in a grave tone.
'Grid?! Are you for real?!' Souta opened his eyes widely.
'Although it was faint and weak, there's no doubt that it was a Grid. A whip of Grid but it contained boundless power. Ordinary people couldn't sense it and it seems that it's dissipating.' Saya explained.
'So there's one here.' Souta looked outside.
'No, not in this city nor the Mine Valley. Probably farther away. From the looks of it, it's vulnerable and a dying one.' Saya said.
