This should not have happened, nor could it be allowed to.
He had to make it temporarily disappear from the public eye. For the Holy Church!
Dark stepped onto the dueling platform and suddenly sensed an inexplicable hostility. Slightly surprised, he looked toward the Archbishop and nearly blurted out, "Do I have some grudge against you?"
Fortunately, he had enough self-restraint not to actually say it. Otherwise, even if there had been no grudge, there would be one now.
In recent days, Dark's spiritual power had continued to break through, and he discovered that he could more easily pick up on the emotions of those around him.
If those emotions were directed at him, they became even clearer.
He knew that some experienced warriors could achieve "hostility perception."
But the emotions he could sense went far beyond mere "hostility."
"It seems His Eminence the Archbishop doesn't like me." Dark chuckled inwardly and let it go.
What did it matter if someone he did not know disliked him? Such complicated thoughts were meaningless and would only become an obstacle to giving his all in the duel.
"Both contestants, take your positions and prepare to deploy the duel field," the referee instructed.
Dark and Lance began summoning their duel fields and activating their "Life Cards" at the same time.
Waves of light swelled in the air before fading away, leaving behind a ring-shaped field that emitted only a faint white glow.
The upper ranks of the Holy Church watching this duel all wore solemn expressions.
The Holy Church had sent many "seed" contestants to this World Cup. Yet among those seed contestants, only another Archbishop, Abagon Moriere, had enjoyed a smooth run.
The rest of the seed contestants, such as Laurien, had all been eliminated.
Although the "Bloody Saintess," Hailey St. Meredith,