Remembering what was currently at stake, Merida pulled the waistbands of her panties back up and stood up properly to face Orion. She asked, "Shall we begin, then?"
"Wait," Orion immediately interjected, stopping Merida as she attempted to draw her sword from her waist.
"What is it?" Merida asked, a frown creasing her face. She thought that something was amiss, or perhaps he was reconsidering.
"Since you are here, I might as well see if anyone else is interested in challenging me and settle this once and for all," Orion stated, leaving Merida bewildered.
He turned to face the assembled guests. "Are there any other clan heirs who would like to challenge me to a battle?" Orion asked, his voice ringing out clearly as he scanned the crowd. "If anyone wishes to, step onto the stage and present your offer before we begin. This will be the last challenge I will accept."
Moments ago, he had faced off against the Gemheart Clan Heir, delivering a crushing defeat. Then, the second young heiress of the Luminaris Clan had stepped forward and faced a similar fate. Now, the eldest heir of the Luminaris Clan stepped forward, challenging him to yet another duel. Orion contemplated the situation.
It seemed like challengers were lining up one after the other, eager to test their strength against him. Before they could all take their turns, he decided to scan the crowd, wondering if there were any others bold enough to join the fray and face him all at once.
"Outrageous! Is he saying what I think he is saying?"
"Isn't it obvious that he plans to face them all at once?"
The guests began to voice their dissatisfaction with Orion's words, and even the other heirs furrowed their brows in unison. They couldn't simply dismiss Orion's words and pretend as though none of this had ever happened.
However, they were caught in a dilemma. On one hand, they couldn't ignore the disruption, but on the other hand, they had already witnessed his incredible strength and the potent power of his lightning ability.
It appeared to surpass even the second Luminaris Clan heiress's abilities, leaving some of them reluctant to challenge him, which made them stay back in their seats.
"He's really strong," Garnex muttered to himself as he observed Orion confidently waiting for them to join him on the stage or keep their challenges to themselves.
"TCH! This is annoying," Garnex clicked his tongue in frustration once more.
He knew he couldn't step onto the stage, despite his confidence in his abilities. After witnessing Orion's domination of the other two clan heirs, who were considerably stronger and more powerful than him, he chose to stand his ground and concede victory to the foreigner.
After all, there were still other matters he needed to attend to.
"BOOOM!"
"BOOOM!"
The collective gasps of the guests below him resonated as two distinct loud sounds suddenly exploded on the stage, grabbing Ganex's attention. His eyes widened upon recognizing the figures responsible.
'Humph! It seems I'm the only one who currently has these thoughts. Well, I better enjoy the show since it's come to this,' he thought, settling in comfortably to watch the unfolding spectacle as murmurs spread throughout the audience.
"It's Aeryn and Conrad Prismaflow! The Prismaflow Clan's twin heirs!"
"GASP!" A collective gasp of surprise rippled through the guests as they noticed the dark cyan glow enveloping the twins.
"Crystal... Crystal Radiant Rank!" an elderly man from one of the city's prominent families stuttered out as he rose from his seat, accompanied by a few others who were equally shocked by the unfolding scene.
"Tier 1 Crystal Radiant Rank!! The Prismaflow twins have reached the Crystal Radiant Rank!" Another unknown figure from a different section of the amphitheatre leapt to his feet, his hands trembling as he surveyed the scene before him.
They could accept that the young heirs were each above the Crystal Initiate rank; after all, they were all born into major families, which meant they had the aptitude and resources to excel at a young age.
They could even accept that these young heirs had exceeded their expectations, becoming high-tier Crystal Rank Adepts.
However, to accept that some of them had already surpassed that rank and had ascended to the Crystal Radiant Rank...
Ridiculous! They could swear upon their forefathers that it was absurd!
Merida observed the twins who had made an extravagant entrance onto the stage and couldn't help but snort at their display of power.
She already knew their rank by the dark cyan glow emanating from their bodies. Deciding to reveal her own rank, since it didn't seem to matter to the foreigner who wanted to fight all of them at once, she took a deep breath and channelled her magical energy.
Releasing it from her body, she let it surge and envelop her. Her magical energy transformed into a dark cyan glow that clashed with the twins' aura, as if trying to suppress and dominate their radiance. But eventually, the energies reached a standoff, neither overpowering nor yielding to one another.
All three auras spread across the stage, emanating a tremendous amount of magical pressure solely from their presence.
"...."
"...Tier two Crystal Radiant Rank!" An older woman from the Quatzwraith clan, who had also stood up in shock with the rest at the beginning, muttered in amazement before she collapsed back into her seat.
Her legs went weak as she witnessed the sight of a twenty-three-year-old at Tier Two Crystal Radiant Rank. She was astonished because even the young heirs of the Quartzwraith Clan were only at Tier Two Crystal Adept Rank, which was impressive enough to consider them geniuses.
But as she observed the three young heirs on the stage, she had to admit that they were geniuses among geniuses—talented monsters, to say the least!
At least now, she and everyone around her seated in the grand amphitheatre understood that if the clan heirs' battle had taken place, then Merida Luminous would have come out as the first in the rankings, followed by the Prismaflow twins in second and third place.
The fourth spot would have been given to Maya Luminous, followed by Zephyrion Gemheart in fifth place. The sixth position and the rest of the lower rankings would have been shared among the other clan heirs.
