"Let it begin!"

  As the host's voice echoed in the arena, the onlookers held their breath as they saw one of the members of the Khan Family burst into flames. Some higher ups who had made heavy bets in the beginning even held their breath with joy thinking this was the power of a blessing of the Hiei's. But what happened next left them dumbfounded. Just like he had vanished, Noah appeared, in another burst of flames, right behind the Hiei Family members on the other side of the arena.

  "KYAA!" the female mage screamed as she was thrown down the stairs and out of the arena, at the same time as another mage roared in pain, set aflame by Noah. By the time the people of the Hiei family turned around, he had already vanished in another burst of flames, tunneling his way back to were he had come from, leaving the poor mage rolling on the ground, trying to douse off the flames.

  As Noah materialized back in his original position, half of his companions looked at him in awe, as the cries of help started ecchoing around.

  "Good job. Now let's go, people!" shrugging Michael rushed them into the arena, while making himself a mental note to check what the heck Noah had done later.

  With a grin on his face, Noah made his way through the walls, taking care not to get caught out of place. All that mattered right now was that his bet paid off nicely, and they now had to deal with two less enemies, since he was the one to put off his flames as soon as the enemy's creams could no longer be heard, meaning he was probably unconscious already.

  "Oh my god what a play from the Khan Family! Two of them are already out and it hasn't even been a single minute!" Noah grinned as he heard the narrator's voice. Inside he hoped the guy wasn't too hurt. H ealready knew he wasn't dead, since neither the familiar message saying he didn't have enough sins, nor the other one about him gaining xp had showed up. All in all, it was great.

  "Every time I think I've seen all you can do, you surprise me more. How the heck can you pull those off?" a fellow warrior struck conversation as they navigated around the walls.

  "I just do my best," Noah said, before focusing on the sound of shoes against the pavement, and turning around to parry a slash.

  His blessed dagger clinked as it parried the blade of a sword. Noah furrowed his brows, realizing this was also a blessed weapon, before even acknowledging who was the owner of it.

  "Shit! It's the Hiei guy!" the warrior shouted from behind him, making him tense up and pay more attention to the guy in front of him.

  'What shit luck……' Noah thought, as he realized he'd just come face to face with the leader of the enemy team.

  "Oh…… Pretty impressive of you to be able to stop my blade," the man said after jumping back, distancing himself from Noah and avoiding a potential counter-attack.

  "Likewise," Noah fell into position, trying to anticipate the enemy's moves. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, the cover given by the walls in this part of the arena isolated him from any support coming from the backlines.

  "Noah, there's not enough space! Fall back!" the warrior shouted, trying to face the the guy while having him cover. Noah could see him i nthe corner of his vision. But he also saw the swordsman feet, shifting as he prepared to face the warrior head on.

  "No!" Noah shouted, blocking a sudden stock from the swordsman. "He's at least B peak! You're gonna lose if you get yourself involved. Leave him to me, go help the others," he yelled over the sound of their blades clashing. Having way less range, Noah was at a great disadvantage, but this was not a fight this C blessed warrior could help him with. 'Let's beat him here, or wait for someone else to show up,' he thought, as the sword gouged concrete by his feet after he dodged an overhead slash.

  "Don't look down on me!" Hiei yelled, as his arm took an unexpected direction, pummeling Noah in the ribs,

  'Fuck!" he thought, jumping backwards to avoid taking the brunt of the blessed's force. 'This guy is stronger than I'd thought.'

  The two exchanged blows furiously, at a rate most C blessed could barely even see. The tension grew between them, as time passed, and the two threw occasional glances at the timer on the screen.

  'This is bad……' Noah thought, as he looked up to see five minutes had passed since the beginning of the fight. The arena wasn't small by any means, but he could hear the signs of battle everywhere. Yet, nobody had come to help.

  Likewise, Hiei was pressured. 'I need to get rid of him quickly,' he thought. His team was at a massive disadvantage, having lost its healer and the best long range mage in the very beginning of the match. He still didn't know how these people had done it, since when he turned back, it was already done. But after a few minutes exchanging blows, he'd come to a conclusion. The person fighting him at this very point was the one responsible for it.

  Noah distanced himself, trying to find a way to use his blessing in order to get a better foot in the fight, without showing more of his power. He had tried casting fireballs a handful of time, but the swordsman would interrupt him every time, pressuring him.

  "You think you have the leisure to look down on me?! I know you're not fighting with all you got!" Hiei yelled, as he jumped at thim, only to have his sword parried once again, making his blood boil with the frustration. He was a man who valued his swordmanship far above his own blessing, though it also helped with it. What frustrated him the most was that this guy had not shown him the trick he used in the beginning of the match, not even once. As the frustration grew, his attacks became more powerful, but more crude. And there was no way his opponent wouldn't notice that.

  Noah changed his stance, diving towards the guy and managing to cut him in the arm, after managing to dodge a slash by ducking under the blade. 'Fuck, he was completely out of balance, how did he recover?' Noah questioned himself, after his attack missed the mark. He'd tried to stab him in the chest, but only managed a small superficial cut.

  At the same time, Hiei was furious. 'How did he manage to hit me?! I'm way faster than he is!' The two's silent duel lasted for a bit, as they went back and forth, each strike taking small chips off of their weapons. The host's voice was to them but a noise in the background, as he nararated the most exciting events of the match, not these two's standstill.

  Over time, the speed of their strikes started to fall. Noah breathed heavily, struggling to match the enemy leader's speed. He felt the urge to go all out and get rid of him quickly, but he knew if he exausted his power right now, he would have massive difficulty later on. Unlike Valorwatch, he wouldn't recover instantly after the fight was over, and unlike the fortress, he couldn't just burn the bodies of his enemies to fuel his blessing. He didn't know this yet, but high above him, the leader of one of the families involved in the match had an axious conversation.

  "How the fuck is this happening!" the man in a tuxedo hit his fist hard against the table.

  "We don't know. There was no intel on the Khan Family having anyone of this caliber," the woman by his side spoke softly as she twirled a glass of wine.

  "It's your job getting this kind of information! To think they would hide someone this powerful and simply use them at random in this venue. Are they trying to mock the other families?" he spoke angrily. "It's an unspoken rule that you cannot have another B rank aside from the leader of the group. What are these people thinking?"

  "We have looked at this for a time now, but we have no records of this player from their side. He must be someone they just recruited," the woman responded absentmindedly, taking a sip of her glass, before returning the old man's stare.

  "New recruit?! Where the fuck are they going to find new recruits of this level. He's matching my grandson, who is one of our most poweful B blessed individuals. But he's using all his might in that fight. We should approach him later, and bring us to our side," the old man grinned, thinking of the possibility of strengthening his own.

  "All power? Are you growing senile?" The woman jeered.

  "What? What are you even talking, you disrespectful woman!"

  "Did you watch the same fight I did? Becase he didn't even use his teleporting power once against that boy of yours……" she shifted in her seat, crossing her legs.

  "Teleport? You mean that boy is the one responsible for the beginning of the fight?!" The old man took a swig from his glass, full of ice and an expensive aged whisky. "If he's the one who took those two off, either there's a limitation to that power, or he's just toying us…… Just who is he?" the old man thought, lifting his head from the stage and looking at the Khan family booth.

  "I think I have seem a similar power in the past," the woman said with a wicked smile. "But this kind of information comes with an extra price." she squinted as she drank the remainder of her wine, waiting for the old man's answer…… After all, she was here for business, not to entertain this old guy.