Selina knew that it would be hard for Roel to go on the offense on this battlefield, so she deduced that Roel would employ defensive mechanisms right away. So, she devised a countermeasure to that beforehand.

  “Grar!”


  She let loose a deafening beast roar that echoed loudly in the dark forest.

  Through the domineering aura of a saint beast, she forced the demonic beasts into submission. She swiftly organized the frenzied demonic beasts into an army and sent them charging at Roel’s defenses.

  After all was done, she quietly hid in the shadows, patiently biding her time for Roel to expose an opening.

  “T-that is…”


  “That woman is able to control demonic beasts?”


  “This is insane! The match is already set then!”


  In the colosseum, the crowd was awed by the image of Selina commanding an army of over a hundred demonic beasts. Excited cheers and shocked gasps could be heard all over the spectator stand. Even the distinguished guests sitting at the VIP stand were stunned too.

  “It’s no wonder why she’s known as the prodigy of the Bess House. Who could have thought that she could exert dominance over so many demonic beasts within such a short period of time?”


  “That young lad from the Ascart House is in trouble.”


  Most of the judges thought that Roel was in a highly disadvantageous position here.

  On the highest seat of the VIP stand, Antonio watched the fight between Roel and Selina with a brilliant gleam in his eyes. The comments made by those sitting beneath him brought a faint smile to his lips, and he remarked.

  “You’ll be surprised.”


  …


  Roel could tell that Selina was already onto him even without opening his eyes. The furious roars of the demonic beasts and the siege on Peytra’s rock dome told him as much.

  Knowing that he was surrounded by a huge number of demonic beasts, he ordered the Nine-headed Serpent to scatter its venom. A cacophony of miserable cries ensued.

  Roel eyed the frenzied beasts all around with a frown, but he decided not to make a move in the end. As a result, the duel seemed to have reduced to a fight between beasts. The Nine-headed Serpent kept scattering its venom around while the demonic beasts tried their best to withstand the venom and charge ahead.

  It looked like both sides were equally matched, but the scales were slowly tipping toward one side.

  When the aerial demonic beasts made a move too, the Nine-headed Dragon Serpent found itself unable to ward off all of its enemies anymore. Roel was left with no choice but to make a move.

  Pale yellow glow shone from his body, and it was swiftly followed by an outburst of aura from the Queen of Saint Beasts. It compelled all of the surrounding demonic beasts to halt their charge out of fear.

  However, this was also the opportunity Selina was waiting for.

  She knew that sending a horde of demonic beasts was meaningless against someone who was contracted with the Queen of Saint Beasts. From the start, her goal wasn’t to bring Roel down through this. It was merely a distraction to create an opening for her to strike.

  The poor visibility in this forest meant that the only way for Roel to sense Selina’s presence was through sensing her mana pulsations, which she was bound to emanate if she attempted an attack.

  However, it just so happened that Selina shared a similar aura to Peytra due to them coming from a common origin. Roel opted for the less efficient way of having the Nine-headed Serpent spray its venom because he knew that Peytra’s aura would conceal Selina’s mana pulsation, making it hard for him to sense her.

  That was why she went through the additional trouble of heaping demonic beasts on Roel, forcing him to utilize Peytra’s power.

  The moment Peytra released her aura, Selina channeled her bloodline to its full prowess, resulting in an explosion of strength within her. Pushing her body to its very limits, she covered the hundred-meter distance between them within moments, appearing in the aerial space right above Roel.

  She furiously swung her blade downward with overwhelming mana channeled into it, determined to end the battle in a single blow.

  In order to protect Roel, the Nine-headed Serpent quickly charged backward, only to be sliced right through. Its venomous blood splattered all over Selina, inflicting excruciating pain on her. The durability of her substitution magic tool was also reduced by a third.

  Nevertheless, Selina ignored all of these distractions through her sheer willpower. Her eyes were focused on a single target.

  Her body descended like a comet, slicing through another two more serpent heads along the way. She was like a warrior charging through an army of soldiers to claim the head of their commander.

  It was also at this point that Roel seemed to finally sense the threat approaching him and raised his head.

  It’s my victory!

  The surprised look of the black-haired man beneath her blade convinced Selina that victory was within her grasp. Yet, what happened next completely caught her off guard.

  Her blade passed right through Roel without the slightest resistance. What she had just sliced wasn’t Roel but a mere mirage of him. A white-haired woman stood next to the mirage, looking at her with a merry smile.

  A series of loud rumbles echoed from the ground, and a crimson skeleton giant instantaneously manifested around the real Roel. Like a demonic god that had risen from the abyss, he charged forth and hurled his massive fist toward Selina.

  “Sh*t!”


  Selina knew right away that she had fallen into Roel’s trap, but it was too late for her to retreat. The combined assault from the witch and the Nine-headed Serpent had already sealed off all paths of retreat.

  Knowing that it was a do-or-die situation, Selina’s eyes hardened tenaciously as she directed her blade toward Roel, intending to face him straight-on.

  “I haven’t lost yet!”


  With a furious roar, Selina infused all of her mana into her blade, cloaking it with a dark aura as dense as storm clouds. She pushed her bloodline to its very limit, enhancing her physical prowess to the highest possible level. Vaguely, one could hear the roars of ancient beasts coming from her body.

  On the other hand, Grandar’s fist crackled with crimson lightning. Roel gazed at Selina with golden eyes that gleamed like candlelight in the darkness.

  It was a head-to-head clash. Both forces collided with astounding momentum, producing shockwaves that rattled the entire dungeon. The surroundings were devoured by blinding light and deafening noises.

  Boom!

  Dawn descended upon the Forest of Eternal Night. The nocturnal animals cried in agony at the sudden onslaught of light, and the spectators in the colosseum gasped in shock.

  Thick clouds of dust veiled the surroundings, disallowing others from determining the result of that epic clash. The crowd anxiously waited for the outcome.

  The night breeze swept away the cloud of dust, revealing a collapsed orange-haired woman on the ground. Standing beside her was an uninjured black-haired man, though his substitution magic tool was already on the verge of shattering.

  “Is this for real?”


  “Lord Brother won!”


  An uproar broke out in the spectator stand. Alicia cheered happily at the outcome.

  The referee quickly confirmed the situation before finally announcing his verdict through the projection.

  《Victor: Roel Ascart》


  “Wooooo!”


  The crowd finally recovered from the astounding clash and cheered in agitation. The applause was thunderous. The distinguished guests coming from various countries began excitedly discussing the fight with one another. At the highest level of the VIP stand, Antonio was still smiling as per usual.

  Meanwhile, in the Forest of Eternal Night, Roel looked at the collapsed woman before him and asked for her thoughts.

  “Are you satisfied?”


  “… Satisfied? Haa, you really are a monster. I’m guessing that the final clash only happened because you allowed it to?”


  “Mm. There were safer ways for me to deal with you after you have fallen into my trap, but I thought that you would be able to accept the result much better if I defeated you in a frontal clash. At least you wouldn’t have any regrets that way,” replied Roel with a calm tone.

  Selina laughed upon hearing those words.

  She was first outwitted in terms of battle plan before being utterly crushed in a clash of strength. She was supposed to have the advantage in this battle, yet she ended up experiencing such a thorough defeat. Yet, for some reason, she didn’t feel averse to it.

  She assessed her own body and noticed that her Saint Beast Bloodline had entered a rare lull period after her earlier outburst. She was devoid of strength now, but her heart managed to find composure.

  “I feel like I’ve just stuffed myself. I don’t feel like fighting anymore.”


  “Those words sound odd coming from you. Did you experience any epiphany during our clash?”


  “Yeah, somewhat.”


  That instant before her substitution magic tool was destroyed, Selina felt like she had managed to grab hold of something important, though it had happened too fast for her to really determine what it was.

  Before she could check on it, light suddenly shrouded both of their bodies. When the light receded, the two of them found themselves back in the colosseum.

  They were immediately welcomed by deafening applause and loud cheering from the excited crowd. Several medics quickly marched in and transferred Selina onto a stretcher.

  In accordance with the rules, Roel had to undergo a quick medical check too.

  He exhaled deeply, relieved that it was all finally over. He could hear the crowd chanting his name, so he reciprocated by waving at them. It further hyped up the crowd. Students from Saint Freya Academy enthusiastically roared at him, and the members of the Bluerose Faction passionately waved their faction flag.

  I’ve managed to fulfill the promise.

  With such a thought in mind, Roel glanced at Selina and smiled. Unexpectedly, he suddenly received a notification from the System at this moment.