Archfiend

“So fast!” Xu Yangyi’s gaze quickly followed. In the air, a figure moved as fast as lightning. Xu Yangyi couldn’t see Savidean, only able to hear the scream of breaking wind. The falling meteors were unable to catch the lycan at all.

“Hell’s Serpent!” Dorothy’s hair rose up, and she waved her staff again. Powered by the strength of Sixth Circle magick, her fire rings silently surged thirty meters up. At the same time, the arena floor broke apart inch after inch! Endless fire became a blazing serpent that was five to six meters tall and half a meter thick. The serpent answered Dorothy’s command and came forth, spewing out a barrage of sparks into the sky.

In an instant, the sky overflowed with crimson flames. Under the cover and shadow and light, a glimpse of Savidean’s silver-white fur was finally seen. He was like a killer roaming in the dark, quiet and silent, standing at the pinnacle of confidence.

“Your Highness.” At Pale Dragon’s side, a Marquis’s face was heavy. His eyes contained a tinge of worry. “Savidean VII, he…”

“He must win.” Pale Dragon smiled without a care in the world. “He, is a true genius. The sort that is a cut above a normal genius. If iBloody Moon hadn’t suddenly demoted his rank, the championship this time would belong to the House of Corvinus.”

“I can count the number of people with his talents that I’ve seen with my fingers. Perhaps I should add Mr. X to that. A high Marquis actually defeated a Sacred Spirit. It’s a pity, though…” he sighed, “There can only be one ticket holder for the semi-final. Rather than Mr. X who were still aren’t familiar with, I believe that anyone from the House of Corvinus would choose Savidean VII. After all…”

He coolly glanced at Xu Yangyi who was in the back. “He’s a killing machine personally trained by His Majesty the Sixth.”

“I hope that Mr. X will be wise enough to give up after he sees this.”

Boom boom boom! Resounding noises fell continuously on the ear. Asteroids turned the ground into a scorched-black chasm.

In barely ten-odd minutes, the situation in the arena was raging like a wildfire.

A red figure and a white figure gave rise to explosive sparks as they interweaved. A strange assassin of the night faced off against a magician of an ancient heritage. Following the explosion a red screen of light, the two figures abruptly separated.

“Savidean VII.” In raging flames that caused the earth to boil, Dororthy’s raspy voice rang out. “Are you looking down on me?”

“There is no need for tricks. You think you can go against a Sixth Circle magician?”

“Hehe, Dorothy, how terrible of a magick array does Sixth Circle magick require? A magician’s specialty is in large-scale attack and defense. Stop boasting of yourself. A Sixth Circle magician…” Savidean’s cold laughter was heard. “It’s not like I haven’t killed one before!”

Swish! In the next second, two green dots appeared in all the fires.

“Hunting Technique.” Savidean’s voice rose up from within the endless fire. “One.”

“Den of Ten Thousand Wolves!”

Xu Yangyi mumbled to himself as he watched the fight. He remembered that Elisana seemed to have used his move against him. However, he hadn’t felt that it posed any threat to him.

Yet in the blink of an eye, he knew he was wrong. He was ridiculously wrong!

The same move in different people’s hands was an idea that flipped the sky and the earth upside down!

In the wake of Savidean’s move, all the light disappeared.

This feeling was very strange. Obviously the arena was being seared and scorched by fire, but in this second all of them lost color. Not even the light could shine into them a little bit.

“This…” Xu Yangyi took a deep breath. He might’ve been unfamiliar with other moves, but he was all too familiar with this one!

“A Realm Boundary!”

“A Realm Boundary like the Art of Arrival! He actually has one too! Is this from a magik treasure or something else?” In this Holy War, if said that he was most wary of Bloody Moon, then he was worried about Savidean VII afterwards and then Vermilion Snow last. He hadn’t expected that the strength of lycan who hadn’t exploded with its full strength yet was actually so strong.

In particular… there was a touch of silver-white to this Realm Boundary. He didn’t know what it was, but Xu Yangyi was certain that it wasn’t from Savidean himself. Still, this trace of color put Xu Yangyi on high alert.

“It’s Grand Duke-rank power.” His gaze smoldered as he watched the battle. “Looks like without experiencing it for myself, I can only watch and study. I won’t be able to figure out the reason why.”

The sky blackened. In the extreme darkness, the howls of wolves rang out, and endless motes of green light spread through the world.

“Omega!!!” At the same time, Dorothy shouted unhesitatingly. In the pitch-black Realm Boundary, a speck of light appeared.

A speck of red light.

Soon, it transformed into an inferno that touched the heavens!

WHOOSH! Murders of flaming crows flew out from within. Originally, their crimson color should’ve cut through the world, but they now vanished into the darkness, as if devoured by some unseen behemoth.

The arena was dead-quiet. Not a squeak, not a squeal, not so much as a peep. Regardless of Marquis or Count, everyone could see that neither Savidean or Dorothy were holding back whatsoever. Moves between experts were traded in the space of a thought.

No one was willing to miss this marvelous instant.

Suppressing his wanting to summon the Dream Eater again, Xu Yangyi drilled his eyes into the master stage, but his eyes were no longer able to catch the fight. All he could see were two indistinct figures.

And it was in this instant that Savideam seemed to move.

Xu Yangyi didn’t see how Savidean had moved, but after a black figure flashed from its original position, the ground exploded with five deep gorges. It was as if a terrible claw had descended from the sky. In the next moment, a sonorous boom rang out, and the blazing hell answered and broke!

Light and heat vanished in a flash. Immediately, everyone took a deep breath. The Counts were even more dumbfounded.

Because Savidean… already had his claw wrapped around Dorothy’s throat.

“Not extreme speed…” Xu Yangyi gravely studied the black-and-white-furred lycan. “That… was spatial tearing!”

“He didn’t use extreme speed to catch her—he went and directly erased the space between the two of them!”

“Is this also the power of a Grand Duke? Or his bloodline elysial bestowment?”

“I concede.” Dorothy admitted defeat without fooling around. As the battle ended, Savidean’s name brightened on the left side of the competition’s tree diagram.

The arena was calm. There wasn’t the slightest bluster. In this moment, silence was the best worship.

“AWOO!!!” Savidean suddenly turned to the House of Corvinus’s section and let loose a nearly tangible howl. The clothes of numerous Counts rippled continuously and loudly rippled. Afterwards, all of them were left flushed face. If wasn’t because the silent tranquility right now was too serene, they would all be itching to scream and shout, but their statuses were too low.

“His Highness is encouraging us!”

“No, this is a declaration of victory! His Highness is definitely going to be number for this Holy War!”

“Even if Bloody Moon demoted to a quasi Grand Duke, he’s still not His Highness’s match!”

“His Highness deserves to be the top figure under the quasi Grand Duke rank!”

Xu Yangyi listened to the whispers. Only he knew that this howl wasn’t for the House of Corvinus, and moreover not some encouragement.

This… was a show of force.

A show of force to him!

No one spoke. Everyone clearly reckoned the power of the candidate from one of the two superpowers of the West. Lifting the heavy as if it were light, an enormous body walked through the burning world, only looking for a chance to shoot the enemy dead. When taking action, Savidean was decisive and ruthless, without being mired in muddy waters. His battle experience was rich, and his power was strong. Although he only made a single move, it was enough to pull all the families on guard.

Moreover, the opponent wasn’t some push over. Dorothy was a possessor of Sixth Circle magick and a descendent of the Black Witches. This was enough to make her name ring through the West.

If she hadn’t met Savidean VII.

“If I’m not wrong, your greatest opponent will perhaps be him.” In the House of Dracul’s section, an old and kind voice suddenly rang out in the black-cloaked Vermilion Snow’s ears. “If not because of him, This Grand Duke wouldn’t have agreed to let Bloody Moon enter the Holy Coffin, fall to quasi Grand Duke, and receive the will of an Inheritor of the Vampiric Realm. The education of that old goat Savidean is indeed quite good.”

“Do you have the confidence, my child? Since I turned you myself, I hope not to gain a disappointing answer.”

Vermilion Snow solemnly gazed at the Arena. After ages, he said softly, “Junior thinks that not even the entire House of Dracul knows of my history. But you know, sire. In the West, there is no matter that can be hidden from a Grand Duke.”

“Naturally, my child. To slaughter thousands for the throne of Grand Duke, tsk tsk… if it weren’t because of this, I wouldn’t have taken serious note of you,” the old voice leisurely laughed. “It seems that my foresight is quite accurate, isn’t it?”

Vermilion Snow’s face was unseen in her blac cloak. She eventually said, “Please believe in Junior.”

“Since I recovered to my stage of then, I have the confidence that I have no enemies at all within the quasi rank. In other words…” Her voice was penetrated by a never-before-had self-confidence. “In this Holy War, I am the strongest.”

“Very good.”

The voice rang out no further, and Vermilion Snow wordlessly glanced at Xu Yangyi. Originally, she didn’t believe that the demon slayer could possibly stand in front of her, but the Scarlet Grand Duke himself had reminded her and uncovered the everlasting wound in her heart that she was unwilling to speak of.

Who had forced her to run far away to the West?

Who had made her flee for her life with a Qi Condensation cultivation?

“If not for the Animus Armament’s support, you wouldn’t be able to stand before This Palace. As such, I really did look upon you too highly. You can only be my prey. Who allows you to die by the hand of another?”

“I wholeheartedly wish you a smooth journey. I will make you see how powerful I was in that year! My strength was such that these western dregs absolutely could not have reached it!”

“And only one such as myself is worthy of the Animus Armament. Not a maggot like you!”

“Don’t disappoint me.” Her head was deeply buried into her cloak. “Otherwise, not even whipping your corpse will be enough to sate my heart’s hatred.” [1]

After the second fight ended, it was a break period. Xu Yangyi’s gaze quietly drifted to the Elves’s section. Very soon, he met Stanford’s understanding eyes.

“Mr. X.” The other’s voice floated over a few seconds later. “Is there something the matter, sir?”

“You have to get the Sacred Sword to me faster.” Xu Yangyi said and intently watched Savidean VII come back to the House of Corvinus’s cheers.

Silent for a few seconds, Stanford said in a low voice, “Is it because of the fight just now?”

Xu Yangyi didn’t confirm or deny.

“Mr. X, forgive me for being frank, but even in America, Savidean VII ranks among the three strongest quasi Grand Dukes. The odds of you winning over him…”

“Is almost zero.”

1. So in ancient times, whipping corpses was considered a way to humiliate the dead ever further.