The first match of the Blood Festival's grand finale, the "Governor's Challenge," had come to an end. Though it hadn't lasted long, the battle of one against forty had been challenging and controversial from the very start.
Murphy had done Transia proud.
Especially in the final moments, when, less than five seconds after—or perhaps before—Lady Triss's enhancement took effect, the Governor had answered with a spectacular, decisive Dimensional Slash that covered an enormous area. Everyone who saw it had cried out in disbelief.
Amateurs might have thought Lord Murphy had cheated, but experts could tell a lot from that last move alone.
"You chose an Astral Guardian for yourself?"
When Murphy returned to the lounge, he unsurprisingly found Lady Shani leaning against the door. The Golden Assassin toyed with her twin braids as she regarded Murphy with an expression that said, "The young are truly formidable."
She said:
"Which astral demigod was it? I caught a glimpse of a serpentine psychic apparition, so was it a descendant of an astral dragon? 'Rain God' Liji?"
"No. Her ex-boyfriend, the one she had a scandalous affair with."
Murphy shrugged.
There was no need to hide something like this. The moment a powerful person released an Endless One's power, others could identify it by its characteristics.
"Oh, the Endless One Mannis."
Shani was clearly a well-informed vampire grand duke. She immediately picked up what she needed from Murphy's teasing reply. Her expression shifted several times before she said:
"But isn't that an evil demigod of the chaotic alignment?
How did you end up involved with such a troublesome character? And don't you know? Mannis has a terrible relationship with the other demigods. Becoming its partner means you won't receive help from any of the others in the astral realm.
You're so shrewd. How