A Daring Gamble!

Inside a lounge at the Great Soul Arena in Barak Royal Capital.

Seven burly men in red sat cross-legged on benches, faint Soul Power glowing around their bodies.

Their defeat against Skywater Academy had not been unjustified. The Ultimate Ice Phoenix's suppressive power far surpassed that of ordinary ice-attribute Soul Masters. The seven of them were strength-type Soul Elders, and merely standing steady on the ice had been difficult, let alone fighting back.

Fortunately, their opponents had not gone for the kill. They had stopped after freezing them, and after resting and regulating their breathing for a while, most of the chill in their bodies had already dissipated.

Just as the captain rolled his stiff neck and prepared to rise, the lounge door was pushed open. A staff member hurried in, his expression somewhat strange.

"Captain, word just came in. Someone has registered for a solo challenge and specifically requested a one-against-seven match. You are the opponents."

The lounge fell silent for a moment.

Then the captain laughed.

His smile was somewhat vicious, the flesh on his face bunching together as he revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"A solo challenge? One against seven? Who has the guts?"

The staff member swallowed. "A young man wearing a conical hat. His face couldn't be seen, and he didn't look very big. At most, fourteen or fifteen."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

The captain's smile slowly faded, replaced by the gloom of someone who had just been publicly slapped in the face.

The teammates beside him rose one after another, their expressions ugly.

"A fourteen- or fifteen-year-old brat wants to fight the seven of us alone?"

One of them clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. "Who does he think he is?"

"It was one thing for those seven girls from Skywater to beat