Elanev saw his younger brother wink at him when he arrived at the scene.
That confidence, that grace, that…arrogance.
Unlike the typical kind of arrogance that would p.i.s.s anyone off, this was one which naturally belonged to a King who disdained all those who were dared to challenge him.
"ARRGH-"
Before Elanev could notice anything else, a man appeared from the forest a few feet away from him and bounded in the King"s direction without a thought.
Fighters were typically hot-blooded folk, and few were capable of taking such an insult, added to the many colorful ones uttered by the King when he had thrown out his challenge, while lying down.
This Fighter, in particular, was wearing a vest of sorts with many pockets sewn into it.
He had a long mane of hair which flew behind him when he leaped toward the King, and in the air, he skillfully took out 2 trinkets which enlarged into weapons.
They were circular, and their edges glinted in the sun. Seeing this, anyone would be able to understand that they were the sharpest of blades.
In the middle of the circle was a handle, and as each weapon sprung forth on the activation of the trinket, a peculiar sound rang in the air, as if the blades couldn"t wait to taste blood.
Elanev calmly leaned against a tree and got some respite as he watched the scene.
There were very few Fighters whom he respected, and his younger brother was one of them.
Yet, the attacker didn"t seem to be a pushover.
The two circular blades he first enlarged were thrown to the sides, and he enlarged two more which he pointed at the King.
As for those he threw, they flew for a little while and took a u-turn in the air before beginning their approach on the King from his sides.
The amount of skill required to pull of something like this in such a short amount of time was definitely nothing to be scoffed at.
Yet…the King made it seem as if it was something that could be accomplished by a child.
By this time, more than 50 people had appeared on the edges of the clearing, and they all witnessed the way the King handled the Fighter who was famously known as the "Whirling Blade".
Just as the four blades- 2 in the hands of the Fighter, and 2 flying through the air were about to cut the King into 4 pieces, he stretched out his hands and simply…flicked the edges of the blades using his thumbs.
Often, a tiny push was enough to change the direction of a rolling boulder. The same thing was put on display here, as the tiniest alteration in the forces acting on the circular blades caused them to change their direction…and head straight toward their master.
The Fighter couldn"t believe what he was seeing. It had taken him a year to learn this move! Yet this guy had countered it in barely a second?
Maybe he would have been alright with that considering that this was someone who was supposed to have defeated a Champion while he was a Warrior and was also quite skilled in his Fighter path…but why the f*ck did he have a bored expression while he was doing it?!
Hey, is my attack not "interesting" enough for you?!
With infinite amounts of frustration clouding the Fighter"s mind, he did the only thing he could do: changing the direction he was pointing his own blades at, he prepared to save himself.
Yet…at the last moment, the sunlight suddenly stopped s.h.i.+ning on his forehead.
The reason behind that…was that a hammer had, at some point, materialized right above his head, and it dropped down with a "thunk", knocking him out instantly and making him drop to the ground.
The 4 blades clunked to the ground, and the Fighter"s collar was skilfully caught by the King at the last moment.
As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he casually flung the man behind him, adding him to his throne.
Catching the hammer that was falling to the ground at the last moment before it pa.s.sed out of his reach, the King returned it to its trinket form and relaxed once again, before eyeing all those present, as if wanting to see who the next challenger would be.
Unlike the poor fighter who had been turned into a human building block, the spectators had managed to see what had happened.
At the perfect moment, the King had flung the hammer trinket into the air and activated it, timing it so that it would drop on the Fighter"s head when he wanted it to.
As for how he had managed to counter that attack so smoothly, no one could understand the reason.
The only way they could think of was that the blades weren"t as fast for the King as they had looked to them. But no one could possibly slow down time like that, right?
The final result was that one of the strongest Fighters in the Battle had been knocked out with one move while the King hadn"t even moved an inch from his throne, which left everyone watching in a dazed state as they wondered whether they could have fared any better.
Elanev"s sn.i.g.g.e.r brought them back to their senses, but no one stepped forward to take up the open challenge reflected once again in the smug smile on the King"s face, which was back in full glory.
Shooting a look of derision at all of them, the King took out the loudspeaker trinket that he had just used.
Partic.i.p.ants were allowed to bring in any trinkets they wished, but Elanev could guess that this was probably the first time that anyone had used that rule to bring a loudspeaker trinket with them.
And from the way the King"s eyes s.h.i.+ned, it looked like he was ready to put the trinket to full use.
…
Ace had just regrouped with his twin brother, and the two of them had been about to look for their last twin.
Born and brought up together, they had always had secret codes among themselves. Hence, even though they were thrown off here by the disabling of the locater trinkets, they could find themselves by heading in a pre-agreed direction and looking for signs that would be left behind on the trees.
Ace, Jasper, and Xander.
These three were lauded as the Warriors with the most potential among all others in the Fortress of Unyielding Might.
Although there were other Warriors who were also in the top tier, they stood out the most, and they were the goal that all others tried to reach.
Only, with the advent of this King and his friend…Ace and Jasper found that position threatened.
In the back of their minds, they kept trying to tell themselves that there was no way that two n.o.bodies from the Central Continent would be able to eclipse them, who had been born with the highest body potential possible in a sect where each and every resource they wished was placed at their feet without them even asking for it.
They had been groomed to be great. They had been groomed to take over the Fortress, and take it to new heights among the Big 4.
Yet…these two had come, possessing the Inheritance that gave them the right to treat the Sect like their backyard.
Both of them hated it, and they had meant to end their journey during the Legacy Battle anyway.
So when they had seen the King make himself public enemy number one, they had been smiling the hardest inwardly.
As for their brother Xander…he was an oddity.
He didn"t care about positions. Or fame. Or anything else, in fact.
All he wanted to do was reach the peak. And he would never let anyone stop him from doing that.
He had only come to the announcement on the orders of their father, the strongest Champion in the Sect.
And although he seldom said it, what he felt for his other two brothers was apparent.
He felt that they were fools, and they felt the same about him.
"This is going to…"
Ace had opened his mouth to remark about how the plan to end the King would be difficult.
Yet…he had no option but to stop when a voice thundered out of a location east of them.
"LISTEN UP…"
By the end of the statement, both Ace and Jasper had furious expressions on their faces, but smiles soon replaced them as they realized that the King"s c.o.c.kiness might soon lead to his downfall.
Setting off in that direction, they ran as fast as they could, but along their journey, they once again had to fume with rage as the King"s voice resumed.
"LET ME TELL YOU A STORY. THE FORTRESS IS FILLED WITH WEAKLINGS. AND THEY ALL p.i.s.sED THEIR PANTS INSTEAD OF FACING ONE MAN. THE END! LOOK OUT, FOLKS, OR YOU MIGHT STEP IN THOSE PUDDLES! I"M WAITING RIGHT HERE, YOU #(@)$^*…"
As curses continued to rain down on them, Ace and Jasper gritted their teeth and tried to run even faster.
Soon, they were greeted by a strange sight.
A group of people were right in front of them, but all of them had their eyes fixed on something, as if they were seeing their worst nightmares.
Ace and Jasper had to force their way through, and when they did, they, too, understood why everyone was so silent.
The King of Lanthanor sitting on his throne of humans was just so iconic that it would give pause to anyone.
By now, it had swelled to contain over 30 Fighters, and it seemed like the King was looking forward to adding more.
Looking around, Ace and Jasper found the leader of the "Unnamed".
Walking to him, they began a silent conversation.
"Why aren"t you attacking? You"re the strongest among those here."
They were genuinely curious, as this man wasn"t known for his caution.
The response they got was weird.
"You know the three called "Whirling Blade", "Heaven-Piercing Spear" and "h.e.l.lcharge"?"
Frowning, Ace replied, "Of course. They"re a few steps below us. We can defeat them easily."
"But can you do it without standing up and barely taking 3 seconds for each of them?"
"…"
Ace and Jasper knew that that would be very, very difficult.
Yet, they weren"t willing to admit defeat so easily.
"Yes, if we practice. This doesn"t mean he can beat us."
In response, the leader of the Unnamed turned around and said, "Yes, but I can"t guarantee that I can beat him, either. I am not willing to take that risk. Are you?"
Only silence was heard from the two strongest Warriors of the Sect.
Yes, they couldn"t guarantee it.
Yet, it didn"t look like the man was done.
"The most worrying thing is that he hasn"t even exposed his main Fighter Inheritance. He"s been using the weak points of his enemies, and…hammers. Lots and lots of hammers. But he hasn"t been forced to expose his main moves yet."
Finally, the two were convinced.
If any one else in the Sect saw them now, they would definitely wonder whether they were seeing the same people who were supposed to be the most honorable in the entire Fortress.
With cunning smiles, both Ace and Jasper spoke together.
"Swarm him. He called it upon himself."
This made a smile appear on the man they were talking to, too.
"I was waiting for that. Let"s do it."
Nodding, Ace walked out of the shadow of the tree under which he and the other two had been skilfully hiding so that the others wouldn"t know that they had arrived.
In a booming voice, Ace announced, "Fellow Sect Members! Enough of this farce! He has clearly rigged that throne somehow! Honor is only for those who are worthy! And he has lost his honor when he dared to say all those things about us! If we still sit back now, we will be a disgrace to our ancestors! To arms! He challenged the Fortress, so let him get the Fortress! Attack!"
Not even a moment after Ace"s speech was done, shouts echoed in the ranks of those present, which were from a few Fighters he had placed before the Battle to take the clue and support him, no matter what he said.
Everyone was waiting for this anyway. So, telling themselves that the strongest Warrior was definitely right, 200 Fighters sprang forth at once, targeting the Throne in the middle.
This sudden turn of events startled even the watching Heroes, who gasped with shock. Some, though, remarked that he was getting his just dues as it was dumb to be so c.o.c.ky.
Ace got a broad smile on his lips when he saw a small look of panic flash across the King"s face.
It looked like he had been right: the man had been expecting that there would be honorable fights, so he must surely be shocked due to the sudden charge by 200 Warriors.
No matter how powerful he was, no one could defend against this.
Yet, it didn"t look like he was ready to go down without a fight.
"YOU F*CKING HYPOCRITES! I KNEW THAT THESE WERE YOUR TRUE COLORS ALL ALONG! YOU"RE MORE LOWLY THAN A BEGGAR WHO STEALS FROM THOSE WHO TAKE PITY ON HIM! YOU-"
His indignant shouts were cut off as he was suddenly subject to over 50 fists aimed straight at his body.
BOOM!
No one knew how he did it, but all of the Warriors who reached him first were blown back, as if a shockwave had erupted all around him.
This finally made Ace pause, and wonder if the King had used magic.
However, the smile returned to his face when he remembered that anyone doing so would instantly be teleported out. Besides, it looked like this was a move that had a cost, as blood had begun to ooze from the corner of the King"s mouth.
He was also wheezing, yet the majesty still hadn"t left him.
Even though a tiny voice inside his head said that this was impressive, Ace just shrugged and pushed those in front of him. He had taken care to be in the back, so that he could aim to finish off the King.
This resulted in a domino effect of the Fighters jumping forth again, and even those who had been blown away got up, as it looked like they weren"t injured much.
This finally allowed Ace to relax. Yes, no matter how formidable he was, this was something that no one could defend against.
Boom! Thud!
The King kept attacking those around him with a vengeance, but he was like a s.h.i.+p that had already taken catastrophic damage. It was sinking, and nothing could be done to save it.
He kept taking attacks, and he also started to cough up blood. There was no more time for cheeky remarks, as it was possible that he would die if he even tried anything like that.
Soon, the King looked like he was on his last legs. Although his eyes still blazed brightly, his punches had lost their power.
"Halt!"
Noticing this, Ace shouted this, causing the Fighters to retreat.
Satisfaction filled most of their faces, as it just felt so good to see that c.o.c.ky King in this state- where his clothes were torn, and his entire body was filled with cuts and bruises.
It looked like he couldn"t even stand, as he took a few steps back and coincidentally leaned his back against the throne that he had built.
Ace walked forward with a short blade in his hands to deal the finis.h.i.+ng blow.
However, this made a smile appear on the King"s face, which infuriated those watching to no end.
Even on his deathbed, he wasn"t ready to leave behind his pride and ask to be spared?
If it weren"t for his actions before, they might have felt that this was actually admirable.
Alas, it was too late.
Hefting the blade, Ace walked forward and pulled his hand back to plunge it into the King, aiming to end this quickly. He wasn"t dumb enough to give some speech now and give the King an opportunity to run away.
However…he stopped his sword mid-swing as a strong sense of danger made the hairs all over his body stand up at once.
"ROAAAAAARRRR!"
This happened to all the others standing too, and as multiple roars were heard from multiple locations all around them, they realized what the source was.
The Champions…had entered the battlefield.
"Mark my words, each and every one of you. This isn"t over."
SHWIP!
Realizing his mistake, Ace was just about to resume his actions, but by the time he turned to the King again, the man had already disappeared by activating the teleportation trinket given to him.
For a moment, Ace was frustrated. He had missed the perfect opportunity.
However, they had at least taken their revenge. For the King, the Legacy Battle had ended, so his bold claims of "winning" it could later be used to taunt him endlessly.
Time was tight. So, turning around, Ace immediately shouted, "The King has gotten what he deserved! Now, the Battle has begun! Everyone, be careful, and good luck!"
No more words needed to be said. Like a flock of deer being targeted by a tiger, all of the Warriors split apart into different directions and ran away frantically.
A few seconds later, only the pile of bodies that had been there from the start was left.
While the roars still echoed in the distance, a man completely wrapped from head to toe appeared out of a shadow he had been hiding in and calmly headed to this pile.
As he did so, a body extracted itself from it and took his outstretched hand to get up.
"What was it you wrote in that note? "When all eyes are on you, it is better to make them think that you no longer need to be in their sight." Right?"
With a smile, Daneel got up and dusted off his clothes before saying, "Exactly. Now, let"s begin the real plan. Oh, this so isn"t over."