Mudu froze at first, then wild joy surged onto his face. He could not help slapping his thigh. "Brilliant! As expected of Lord Hoolay! To think you could come up with a way to hide in plain sight and directly strike the heart of the enemy! Genius. Absolutely genius!"
The other Borisin behind him also showed excited looks one after another, as if they had already seen hope of escaping safely, or even turning the tables.
Only Shirako remained quietly standing off to the side, listening to Hoolay's plan and watching the Borisin's morale instantly soar. She tilted her head ever so slightly, a faint trace of confusion flashing through her eyes.
She had the strange feeling that this bunch was not all that reliable.
"Good!" Hoolay was clearly very satisfied with everyone's reaction. He swung his arm, and though he kept his voice low, he still carried the aura of a ferocious bandit chief. "Everyone, conceal your aura, disguise yourselves properly, and come with me right now! Target—the Martial Arts Ceremony, the Martial Arena!"
At the same time, in the testing area of the Martial Arena.
The staff held jade registers and called out the contestants' names one by one.
Xiao Guang and the others, who had already completed the basic test, gathered together and curiously watched the other contestants' performances.
"Xiao Guang, how do you feel? How were your test results?" Belle gently nudged the still somewhat nervous girl beside her with her elbow.
Xiao Guang scratched her head in embarrassment. "Not... not bad, I guess... From the looks of it, they should be pretty high among the contestants. But..." She looked toward the others currently testing in the arena, her eyes filled with amazement. "Everyone else feels really amazing too. That person in heavy armor cracked