The annual Aerial Competition began the next day. Ever since Eldest Princess Shea inherited Dark Moon, the event had lost much of its significance, gradually becoming a personal betting match between Princess Alice and Treasurer Joseph. But today, the arena was packed with people, thanks to a little maneuvering by Joseph. He was determined to dampen Dark Moon's morale in front of everyone.
Aldas, who had not appeared in public for a long time, showed up in the VIP section on Alice's side as one of Chen Rui's friends and supporters. His appearance prompted a flurry of discussion, most of it recalling his heroic deed during the Master Challenge Tournament, when he had poisoned the Imperial Capital's prodigy with gas. Although some time had passed, the Dark Elf master still felt his face burning with embarrassment.
This time, Chiyou Territory had sent a special representative to show how seriously it took the event. The Eldest Princess's representative was old Gauss. As the ruler, Shea naturally had her own position and dignity. Since Lord Chiyou, Zhuo Qie, had not come in person, she had no need to attend either. This indifferent response showed, to some extent, that Shea did not think much of their chances in the competition.
In fact, almost no one thought the human apprentice stood a chance. Although the Aerial Competition tested beast-taming ability rather than personal strength, humans were simply too weak. Whether he could even fly was questionable, let alone fight. The only reason the human apprentice had won last time was Master Aldas. Facing the competition alone, he had no chance at all.
As people concluded that the human apprentice was bound to lose, they also wondered why Her Highness Shea or Her Highness Alice would allow such a weak fellow to represent Dark Moon in the competition. Or had the two princesses already made other arrangements?
"Every spectator gets in for free and even receives a Purple Crystal Coin? Joseph's really willing to spend." Chen Rui sounded envious. "If only I could get all his money."
To him, money was spirit energy, money was experience, and money was power.
The last remark struck a chord with Alice. She nodded furiously. The two money-grubbers had already agreed to split the spoils afterward, and now they both had a fierce fighting spirit in their eyes.
Joseph looked satisfied at the packed arena. The demons had always worshipped strength, and now they could watch a competition and get a bargain, so naturally they had flocked here. The outcome today would surely please the Regent, who was far away in the Imperial Capital.
Once the formalities were over—the welcome speech, the opening address, and the like—Alice stepped into the center of the arena and began speaking with the help of a magical amplifier.
"Today, we have a friendly competition between Chiyou Territory and Darkmoon Territory."
Alice offered a polite opening, then planted her hands on her hips and pointed a dainty, upturned finger at Joseph in the VIP section. In unmistakably Alice-like fashion, she shouted, "Today, Treasurer Joseph represents his dad's Chiyou Territory, while Master Aldas's apprentice, Chen Rui, is the newest member of Darkmoon City and will represent us! We're going to crush them completely! As before, it'll be a best-of-three match. But we'll make a small change to the lineup: we'll send out one contestant first, and you can choose anyone you like; you'll send out your contestant in the second match; and in the third, both sides will send out their contestants at the same time. Once chosen, contestants can't be changed. You Chiyou folks—do you dare accept?"
The home crowd was fired up and shouted in unison, "Do you dare?"
The contestants? Joseph looked thoughtful. Allen came over and asked, "What now? I don't want to face Athena. Can you make sure I get matched against Chen Rui? I want to kill him with my own hands!"
"Don't worry. Everything's under control. That human is dead!" Joseph replied, his eyes glinting with contempt. "If I'm not mistaken, they'll try to play games with the lineup. They'll win the first two matches so that the human won't have to compete in the last one. So we need to make sure we win at least one of the first two. You stay back and deal with that human!"
"You always know what to do!" Allen nodded happily, his eyes still fixed on Chen Rui with a vicious glare.
Over the swelling chorus of taunts, Joseph stood up and said, "Fine. We'll follow Her Highness Alice's proposal: best of three. I have just one condition. Each contestant may compete in only one match."
Joseph's condition was meant to stop the other side from having their strongest contestant, Athena, fight all three matches. Alice agreed and shouted excitedly, "Then I declare the Aerial Competition officially open! First, let's welcome Darkmoon Territory's first contestant, Athena Wells, daughter of George Wells, the First General of the Empire!"
Athena was well known in Darkmoon City and had been the key to victory in the previous two competitions. The spectators were fired up, shouting her name.
"Be careful." Although Athena had not spoken to him since yesterday's awkward incident, Chen Rui could not help saying it.
Athena paused briefly but gave no response, walking straight onto the field. Her Beast Taming Technique and strength made her the strongest on Alice's side, so Joseph had expected her to compete first.
Joseph whispered a couple of instructions to a gaunt Servant Demon beside him. The Servant Demon nodded and went down to the field.
"Chiyou Territory's first contestant is Leo!"
The central arena was enormous. During the Master Challenge Tournament, they had used only a small section of it, but now the whole field had been cleared, leaving enough room for flying beasts to run and take off.
Both sides used Horned Wing Beasts. They rose into the air and climbed to the height indicated by the magical measuring device. The competition began. Although they were a hundred meters up, Chen Rui could still see clearly with his current eyesight, as could many demons with exceptionally keen vision.
What Athena had shown Chen Rui the day before were only the basic skills of aerial beast-taming. Because of the limited time and space, she had explained the combat techniques only in theory. Now that Chen Rui was seeing a real fight, he understood how dangerous it was. The sight was heart-stopping.
Without any auxiliary equipment, the two contestants controlled their Horned Wing Beasts as they wheeled, collided, and snapped at each other in the air. One mistake could send them plummeting to the ground.
Ordinary Servant Demons could usually master one branch of magic. A rare few with special gifts could control magical beasts, and Leo was clearly one of those Servant Demons with the power to tame beasts. But Athena was even better. Her Horned Wing Beast was practically part of her body, attacking Leo's mount fiercely from every angle at her command. Even when they circled past each other, she could launch an astonishing attack.
Her superb beast-taming skills had the spectators on the ground roaring with excitement, their cheers rising and falling in waves.
Only then did Chen Rui understand that Athena's two consecutive victories had not been due to her father's reputation. More importantly, she was strong in her own right. If they judged only beast-taming skills and ignored personal strength, even Joseph might not be her match.
Just as Athena had gained the upper hand, her Horned Wing Beast suddenly changed. The flying beast, which had been so fearless, became timid and reluctant. No matter how Athena shouted at it, it refused to attack. After holding out for a moment, it turned and fled. Leo's mount, on the other hand, seemed to have been pumped full of stimulants. It grew ferocious and gave chase.
Leo's mount caught up and furiously pecked and clawed at Athena's Horned Wing Beast from behind. Athena's mount could only flee with frightened cries, its courage to fight back gone. The arena fell silent all at once. Nobody had expected Athena, who had seemed certain to win, to suddenly find herself losing.
In the VIP section, old Gauss paid no attention to the Chiyou Territory envoy's excitement. His eyelids drooped even lower, but a faint glint of cold light flickered through the narrow opening.
As Athena's mount staggered in the air, barely able to hold on, she suddenly shouted and transformed into her demon form. Her red eyes flashed, and her whole body blazed with a fiery glow. The flames spread over the Horned Wing Beast beneath her without burning it, enveloping it instead. Leo's Horned Wing Beast was clearly wary of the flames and dared not approach.
Watching Leo and his mount recoil from the flames, Joseph's pupils narrowed slightly. That was the suppression of a higher rank! Could Athena really be...
When Athena withdrew the flames, the Horned Wing Beast beneath her instantly regained its courage. It wheeled around and lunged at Leo. Leo's mount abruptly lost its fighting spirit, and the tide turned in an instant. The crowd below erupted with renewed enthusiasm, shouting at the top of their lungs.
Athena was burning with rage as she directed her mount into a frenzied counterattack. Leo's Horned Wing Beast cried out repeatedly, unable to hold on, and plunged toward the ground. Just four or five meters above the ground, Leo finally lost his balance and fell. His frail body could not take the impact; both his legs broke. At least he survived.
The victorious Horned Wing Beast circled overhead as Athena's furious voice rang out: "You despicable cheat! You used magic! If I hadn't used Demon Fire to dispel the Fear Spell you cast, your shameless scheme would have succeeded!"
"He didn't just use a Fear Spell; he also cast a Bloodlust Spell on his own Horned Wing Beast!" Old Gauss's hoarse voice boomed through the magical amplifier, echoing across the arena. "There are still traces of magic on that beast."
The Fear Spell made its target panic and flee, while the Bloodlust Spell increased the caster's side's morale and combat strength.
Only then did the spectators understand why Athena's Horned Wing Beast had behaved so strangely. Outrage swept through the crowd. Alice was the first to leap up and wave her fist, shouting, "Shameless! Despicable! Vile!"
She had barely shouted a few times before Chen Rui and Jia pulled her back into her seat. After much coaxing, they finally stopped the princess, who represented the royal family, from making a further spectacle of herself. The crowd, however, had already joined in the cursing.
"Leo, you resorted to such underhanded tactics just to win. You've disgraced the Alvin Family!" Joseph appeared in front of the trembling Servant Demon in an instant. His low, sinister voice even drowned out the roar of the crowd.
Before Leo could speak, red light flared around Joseph. He made a slight squeezing motion in the air with his five fingers, and the Servant Demon's head exploded.
When the spectators saw Joseph personally execute the cheater, they cheered again. Dark Moon had won the first match. Only some people, Chen Rui among them, looked disdainful. It was obviously a brazen cover-up. Poor Leo had died for nothing.
Joseph glanced at Athena as she slowly descended. "Congratulations, Athena. So you've successfully advanced to High-Rank Demon. It seems our Greater Devil race has produced another young genius."
High-Rank Demon! Athena was only nineteen, yet she had already reached such a level. Would she break through the limits of the Greater Devils one day and become a Demon King or even a Great Devil King?
Allen looked shocked. He felt the distance between himself and Athena growing ever greater.
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