First Victory! Athena and the Cheater

The next day, the annual aerial competition began. Ever since Princess Shea inherited Darkmoon, the significance of this competition had faded, gradually devolving into a personal wager between the little princess Alice and the finance officer Joseph. However, the arena was packed today, a result of Joseph using a few petty tricks, as he was determined to crush the morale of Darkmoon in front of everyone.

Aldas, who had not appeared in public for a long time, appeared in the VIP box on Alice's side as a member of Chen Rui's support group, sparking a flurry of discussion. Most of it centered on his heroic feat of poisoning the Imperial Capital's genius with gas during the last Grandmaster Challenge. Although some time had passed, the Dark Elf grandmaster still felt his face burning with shame.

This time, the Darkmoon Territory had sent a special representative to show their importance, while the representative for the eldest princess was old Gauss. As a territorial lord, Shea naturally had her own status and dignity; since Lord Chiyou, Zhuo Qie, had not come in person, she had no need to attend. This indifferent attitude more or less showed that Shea did not hold high hopes for the outcome of this competition.

In fact, almost no one was optimistic about that human apprentice. Although the aerial competition was not a test of raw power but of the Beast Taming Technique, the human's strength was truly too weak. Whether he could even fly was a question, let alone engage in combat. The only reason the human apprentice had won last time was because of Grandmaster Aldas; now that he had to face it alone, there was simply no chance of winning.

While people concluded that the human apprentice was doomed to fail, they also wondered why Princess Shea or Princess Alice would allow such a weakling to represent Darkmoon in the competition. Or perhaps, had the two princesses already made arrangements?

"Every spectator who comes to watch the competition not only gets in for free but also receives a reward of one Purple Crystal Coin? Joseph is really willing to spend," Chen Rui said with envy. "If only I could get all his money."

To him, money was spirit energy, money was experience, and money was power.

The last sentence clearly resonated strongly with Alice, who nodded desperately. In the eyes of the two money-grubbers who had already agreed on how to split the spoils, a powerful fighting spirit emerged in unison.

Seeing the sea of people in the arena, Joseph showed a look of satisfaction. The Devil Race naturally revered strength, and now that there was a competition to watch and benefits to be gained, they naturally flocked to it. The result today would surely satisfy that regent far away in the Imperial Capital.

After the welcoming remarks, opening speeches, and other formalities passed, Alice walked to the center of the arena and spoke with the help of a magic amplifier.

"Today is a friendly competition between the Darkmoon Territory and the Darkmoon Territory."

Alice said a polite phrase, then put her hands on her hips, pointed a delicate fingertip at Joseph in the VIP box, and said loudly in her signature style: "Today, Finance Officer Joseph represents his father's Darkmoon Territory, while a new member of Darkmoon City, Grandmaster Aldas's apprentice Chen Rui, will represent us! We will crush them completely! The competition will follow the previous best-of-three format, but the selection process will be slightly changed. In the first round, we will send one person first, and you may arrange your candidate freely; in the second round, you send yours first, and in the third round, both sides will send their candidates simultaneously, with no last-minute changes allowed. You guys from Darkmoon, do you dare to accept the challenge?"

The home crowd was high-spirited and responded in unison: "Do you dare?"

Candidates? Joseph looked thoughtful. At this moment, Allen came over and asked: "What now? I don't want to face Athena. Can you ensure I face that Chen Rui? I want to kill him with my own hands!"

"Don't worry, everything is under my control. That human is a dead man!" Joseph cast a look of disdain and replied: "If I'm not mistaken, they must be trying to play some tricks with the selection, hoping to win the first two rounds so that the human doesn't have to fight. So we must ensure we win at least one of the first two rounds, and you will be saved for last to deal with that human!"

"You always have a plan!" Allen nodded happily, his eyes still staring fiercely at Chen Rui.

Amidst the tidal wave of provocations, Joseph stood up and said: "Fine, we will follow Princess Alice's proposal: a best-of-three format. I have only one condition: each contestant can only fight once and cannot repeat."

Joseph's proposal was to prevent the opponent from having the strongest, Athena, fight all the rounds. Alice agreed and shouted excitedly: "Then I announce that the aerial competition has officially begun! First, let us welcome the first contestant from our Darkmoon Territory, the daughter of the Empire's number one general George Wells, Athena Wells!"

Athena was a celebrity in Darkmoon City and the main force behind the victories of the previous two competitions. The audience was high-spirited, shouting her name loudly.

"Be careful." Although Athena hadn't spoken to him since the awkward incident yesterday, Chen Rui couldn't help but say a word.

Athena's figure paused slightly, but she made no response and walked straight onto the field. Athena's Beast Taming Technique and strength were the strongest on Alice's side, so her fighting in the first round was within Joseph's expectations.

Joseph gave a few instructions to a withered Servant Demon nearby. The Servant Demon nodded and walked onto the field.

"The first contestant for the Darkmoon Territory is Leo!"

The central area of the arena was very large. The last Grandmaster Challenge had only used a small portion of it, but now the field had been completely cleared, enough for the flying Magic Beasts to gain speed for takeoff.

Both sides used Horned Wing Beasts. They soared into the air, and after flying to the height indicated by the magic ruler, the competition began. Although it was a hundred meters in the air, with Chen Rui's current eyesight, he could see it very clearly, as could many Devil Race members with extraordinary vision.

The basic aerial beast-taming skills Athena had shown Chen Rui yesterday were just the basics. Due to conditions and time constraints, combat had only been introduced in theory. Now that Chen Rui saw real combat, he realized the danger involved, and it felt heart-stopping.

Without any auxiliary equipment, both sides controlled their Horned Wing Beasts, beginning intense maneuvers, collisions, and biting in the air. If one were careless, they would plummet.

Ordinary Servant Demons could generally master single-element magic, and a few talented ones possessed the ability to control Magic Beasts. Leo was clearly this type of Servant Demon with beast-taming power. However, Athena was even more excellent; that Horned Wing Beast was like a part of her own body, able to launch fierce attacks on the Servant Demon's mount from any angle she desired, even launching incredible strikes while circling and passing by.

This superb Beast Taming Technique made the audience on the ground boil with excitement, and cheers rose one after another.

Only then did Chen Rui realize that Athena's ability to win for two consecutive years was not just because of her father's reputation, but primarily because of her own strength. If one were to judge solely by beast-taming skills without considering raw strength, even Joseph might not be her match.

Just as Athena had the upper hand, the Horned Wing Beast she was riding suddenly changed. The once-brave flying Magic Beast became timid, and no matter how Athena scolded it, it dared not launch another attack. After persisting for a moment, it actually turned and fled. Conversely, Leo's beast became as if it had been injected with stimulants, becoming incredibly fierce and chasing closely behind.

Leo's mount caught up, crazily pecking and biting Athena's Horned Wing Beast from behind. Athena's beast could only scream and flee, losing even the courage to counterattack. The cheers in the arena suddenly died down; no one had expected that Athena, who had been poised for victory, would suddenly show such signs of defeat.

In the VIP box, old Gauss ignored the excited appearance of the Darkmoon Territory envoy. His eyelids drooped even lower, but a sliver of cold light flashed through the gaps.

Seeing Athena's mount teetering and unable to hold on any longer, Athena suddenly let out a loud shout and abruptly activated her Demon form transformation. Her red pupils flashed, and her whole body ignited with a flame-like radiance. This flame fell onto the Horned Wing Beast beneath her, but it did not burn; instead, it enveloped the beast. Leo's Horned Wing Beast behind them was very wary of the flames and dared not approach for a moment.

Below, Joseph watched Leo and his beast's fear of the flames, his pupils slightly contracting: This is a suppression of rank! Could it be that Athena...

When Athena withdrew the flames, the Horned Wing Beast beneath her instantly regained its courage. With a spin, it turned and lunged at Leo. Leo's mount suddenly lost all fighting spirit, and the situation reversed instantly. The passion below immediately returned, and people shouted loudly.

Athena appeared furious, directing her Horned Wing Beast to launch a berserk counterattack. Leo's beast screamed repeatedly, unable to hold on, and plummeted. Leo was unable to maintain his balance as he neared the ground and fell from a height of four or five meters. His frail body could not withstand it, and both leg bones broke instantly, though he managed to save his life.

The victorious Horned Wing Beast circled in the air, and Athena's angry voice came down: "Despicable guy, you actually used magic to cheat! If I hadn't used Demon Fire to dispel the Fear Spell you cast, this shameless conspiracy would have succeeded!"

"It wasn't just a Fear Spell; he also cast a Bloodlust Spell on his own Horned Wing Beast!" old Gauss's hoarse voice echoed throughout the arena via the magic amplifier. "There are still residual magic fluctuations on that beast."

The Fear Spell could cause the target to become afraid and flee, while the Bloodlust Spell was a magic that enhanced the user's fighting spirit and combat power.

The audience finally understood why Athena's beast had acted so abnormally just now. The crowd was instantly incensed, and Alice was the first to jump up and shout, waving her arms: "Shameless! Despicable! Filthy!"

Before she could shout much more, she had already been pulled back to her seat by Chen Rui and Jia. After much persuasion, they managed to stop the princess representing the royal family from continuing to lose her composure, but the audience had already begun to curse along with her.

"Leo, you actually used such unscrupulous means for victory, losing all the face of our Alvin Family!" Joseph's figure appeared instantly before the trembling Servant Demon, his low, sinister tone drowning out the cheers of the entire arena.

Before Leo could speak, a brilliant red light erupted from Joseph's body. He pinched his fingers slightly in the air, and the Servant Demon's head exploded instantly.

When the audience saw Joseph personally execute the cheater and that Darkmoon had successfully won the first round, they cheered again. Only a few people, including Chen Rui, showed looks of disdain: this was clearly a naked attempt to silence a witness. Poor Leo, he died quite unjustly.

Joseph glanced at the slowly descending Athena and said: "Congratulations, Athena. It turns out you have successfully advanced to a High-Rank Demon. It seems our Greater Devil race has produced another young genius."

High-Rank Demon! Athena, at nineteen, had actually reached this level. Would she break the upper limit of the Greater Devils in the future and become a Devil King or a Great Devil King?

Allen looked shocked, feeling that the distance between himself and Athena was growing ever wider.