Everyone was stunned to see Michael fighting twenty-four participants at the same time. Since they decided to gang up on him, Michael didn't feel bad about using APD to lessen the pain and heal any internal wounds.

  After using the armored youngster as a pole for a couple of minutes, Michael lifted him up, deciding to use the youngster as a weapon. He swung the armored youngster in a circle, pushing the participants off balance.

  "It's time for some elimination" finally Michael got some distance from the participants. He said to himself, wiping off the blood from the corner of his mouth. Of course, he received several blows from the youngster. After all, twenty-four adrenaline-rushed youngsters ganged upon him from all directions.

  Several youngsters tried to pick themselves up from the ground while some remained, thinking whether to use this moment to eliminate unsuspecting participants or not.

  Either way, Michael had some time as he walked towards the armored youngster who was lying on the ground trying to rip off the leather shirt that tied his arms.

  "Arrghhh, you bastard!" seeing Michael walking towards him, the armored youngster frantically wiggled to get himself out of the bind.

  "Next time, pick the easy way"

  Like the youngster was weighing nothing, Michael easily lifted him by the gap between the youngster's chin and chest.

  Puch!

  "Argh"

  Puch!

  Puch!

  Puch!

  Puch!

  Puch!

  Diana felt her sister squeezing her hand looking at Ghost brutally beating the armor-wearing youngster. The big screens broadcasted the bloodied face of the younger and the blood oozing out of the youngster's face. His face turned into a bloody pulp of mess. Emelda couldn't get herself to look at the big screens. Even Ethan was shocked by the brutality Ghost was exhibiting. He never expected to be so brutal. Unlike Diana, he never saw his son go on a bloodthirsty rampage. What stunned Ethan more was the expressionless face of Ghost. He didn't even flinch when beating the life out of the youngster.

  "Coordinators please hurry before he kills that poor boy" James Hall reminded the coordinators who were floating above the battle stage.

  The participants who were witnessing Michael's brutality felt a chill running through their spines. For a moment, they just remained still waiting for the coordinators to stop Ghost.

  Thud!

  However before the coordinators could come to him, Michael threw the half-dead body of the youngster into a trio of participants who were watching the scene standing near the stage's edge.

  Thanks to Michael's hellish weight training with Gaya every evening, he had enough strength to throw the body with enough force to send the trio of unlucky participants staring at the scene.

  "Such force, there's four elimination including a possible KO by death," Ishihara said,

  Ethan saw Ghost's bloodied face revealing a devilish smile. Some of the girls on the stage took several steps back in fear as the other participants decided it's better to fight others and eliminate them quickly before Ghost gets his hands on them and beats them to death.

  "Let's dance, '' Michael snickered. He wanted to instill fear in everyone who is about to fight him in the tournament. By the looks of the youngsters in front of him, he had done a good job. But unlucky for others, this was just the beginning of Michael's brutality.

  ***********************************************

  Gaya and Vedora finally left the woods after killing the Three-Headed crow. Due to the thick forest and Gaya's speed, they didn't bump into any more fire demons or beasts such as Glass Wraiths and Three-Headed Crows. After the surprising show of power, Ayag and the other two heads fell asleep. They were peacefully sleeping in Gaya's side bag while she was running through the forest. After an hour of nonstop running, she eventually found herself in a chilling and quiet valley. The hills on either side were decadent with green foliage and new-sprung buds. The place was silent, not the calming one but an eerie one. The white fog covering the valley added an extra layer of creepiness to the valley.

  "Aaaaaw, where are we?" Ayag asked, yawning and craning her head out of Gaya's bag.

  "Whoa, this place gives me creeps. There are probably some fire demons or something hiding here" Sarba said.

  "We are still at the edge of Fire Realm, the deeper we go, the more dangers we face" Gaya explained as Sarba nodded his head in agreement.

  After having spent some time here, Vedora understood how dangerous this place was. Since their arrival, they had bumped into three strange creatures; the Fire Demon, the GlassWraith, and the Three-Headed Black Crow. They might even bump into weirder and rarer creatures soon. But, no matter how incredible the demons and devils were, Vedora wouldn't feel shocked anymore.

  This was Fire Realm. To any human cultivator, this place was just a deadly hell. It was a place of brutality, life-threatening scenarios, darkness, bloodshed, and slaughter, and in order to keep one's life here, the person could only rely on his own strength. Without incredible strength, the place could kill the person at any time.

  Gaya looked at the sky to see the dark clouds filling the sky.

  "It'll be dark soon, we need to find a safe place to stay the night" Gaya walked forward while looking around the hills to find a cave.

  "So are you gonna talk about this awesome one's awesome powers or not?" Ayag's voice was filled with pride and superiority.

  "We will after we find a cave and I breakthrough to the Core Strengthening stage" Sarba's eyes went wide in surprise hearing Gaya. Compare to Ayag, Sarba knew more about cultivation and this world because while Ayag sleeps, Sarba would stay awake reading books or talking to Nightmare.

  He didn't know how much Cain knew because Cain was not a very talkative being like Ayag.

  The Fusion stage cultivator's femur Michael brought from the Nether realm still had some energy left. Gaya planned to absorb it completely to break through to the Core Strengthening stage. Until coming here, she wanted to wait, strengthening her foundation before breaking through. However, her situation changed. She had to break through if she wanted to survive this place. Coupled with her battle experience, Michael's arrows, and her Core Strengthening stage cultivation, she could easily kill any Core Strengthening stage beasts under level 4. To kill anything between level 4 and level 7 would require a plan and strategy but it wouldn't be impossible. Although she wouldn't be able to kill anything above level 7, she would be able to escape with a few minor wounds.

  "Damn it! Where do you have to steal my thunder?" Ayag bite Gaya's forearm,

  "We'll talk about your newfound powers, I promise"

  Gaya promised with a serious expression.

  "There" Suddenly Sarba raised his voice as Gaya looked up in the hill to her right side to see a cave. Gaya made her way to the cave with a few leaps using her Arch energy.

  Standing at the mouth of the cave, Gaya conjured an orb of fire to light the cave. The cave was neither too deep nor wide. Although the ground seemed wet and the roof had a purplish moth covering, the cave was clean and didn't seem to have anything living in it. Still, Gaya closed her eyes, spreading her perception around the cave just to make sure nothing was inside.

  "It's safe," Gaya said to Vedora before walking into the cave.

  "Jade shield" after entering the cave, she turned back, casting a spell. Soon, a translucent shield covered the entrance.

  "Unless it's a Core Strengthening stage beast, nothing can come in. I'll wake up in seven hours" Gaya placed the side bag with Vedora in it aside her before retrieving the Fusion stage femur from her space ring. The bone still had its glimmer but not as bright as when Michael gave her the first time.

  "Don't fight with your brothers" Gaya flicked Ayag in the head before closing her eyes.

  "Wait till I fully comprehend my powers" Aya growled as Sarba chuckled.

  ******************************

  After almost five hours, Gaya had leisurely absorbed 90% of the remaining energy in the femur, her energy had increased by a lot and she was on the verge of breaking through to the Core Strengthening stage. Because of the energy fluctuations around her, some unwanted guests started to come towards the cave.

  Roar!

  Load roars came from not far away. The thundering roars sounded out throughout the entire valley. After a few long moments, two massive creatures appeared not far away from the cave, they were two gigantic panthers. Each of them had a bot between 12 to 15 meters tall, which made them look like a small hill. Their looks and the Arch energy they radiated would frighten most people within a snap of time

  Both panthers looked identical, gray stone fragments could be seen all over their bodies. On top of their heads, there was a long stone horn that glowed dimly. The eyes of these panthers were the same color as their stone, but they carried a fierce look.

  "Fuck, something's coming in our direction"

  Ayag cursed out silently. Vedora had no idea about the Twin Greystone panthers, beasts like these were rare to the outside world. This was not the case in ancient places like Fire Realm.

  Twin demon beasts like Greystone panthers were incredibly vicious, their minds were linked, and once they entered a fight, they could achieve absolute perfect teamwork. The perfect team was not something that should be taken lightly because with their teamwork, the Greystone panthers could hunt down bigger, meaner, and more powerful beasts than them.

  Roar!

  Despite the darkness, the panthers were able to see the cave in the hills.

  As soon as their eyes fell on the cave, they immediately started to walk towards the cave while roaring fiercely.

  *******************************

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