Villain: The Play of Destiny

Chapter 564

"No."

The answer stunned the Elysian Princess, who, for a moment, did not know what to say.

"Why? I am strong! It will be fun." She tried to convince her, but the dark-eyed Eldeilyon shook her head.

"You are not strong, and I don’t want to fight."

"I..."

"Ladies." Markos audibly sighed as he interjected, and Ilsa, realising that they were supposed to commence a very serious meeting, apologetically bowed to the Yellow Enforcer before sitting down again.

Their interaction, and Markos’ reaction to it, had a lot of people wearing amused smiles or chuckling, and the Enforcer gave them a minute to compose themselves and pay attention.

"We all know why we have come to this accursed land, so I am not going to talk about it. However, given that there are so many people here, a war over the Key will likely result in a lot of deaths." The silver-eyed man said, and a lot of people nodded their heads in agreement.

"So, what do you propose?" The Overlord of the Orayen Family asked, wearing a smile on his lips.

"I am sure we all already know that as well." Markos smiled back at him and then glanced around the table. "Almost all of you have brought people under the age of two decades with you. I wonder why?" He chuckled.

"A tournament between the youngsters to win the Key with their abilities is better than an all-out war where people will lose their lives." Harren, the Team Leader of the Solarian Empire, lightly said, and his words made the people from the Crystal City furrow their brows.

Now that they were calmer, they looked at the youngsters at the Solarian Camp. Yes, the Solarians would never put them in danger by initiating a blood feud with other forces in this place.

Someone was indeed trying to pit them against each other and had already accomplished their task of eliminating Ameer Ziad.

"Yes." The Yellow Enforcer nodded his head. "Every faction will choose two youngsters from their side to take part in the Battle. It will be a battle of strength, and I will intervene before any life is lost." He assured them. "As for those of you who have no youngsters with you, you will stay out. The Key is not yours."

Those who were about to object to his words turned quiet when the powerful Factions at the table turned to look their way.

Holding any objections to what the Yellow Enforcer was proposing meant that they would end up making an enemy out of all of them. And they would likely be marked as warmongers who had come here simply to kill people.

"Can we call people over?" Someone asked and sighed in relief when Markos nodded his head.

"We will start with the tournament the day after tomorrow. You can call people over to participate in it before it commences. Only registered participants will be able to take part in it. No late entries. Each faction will be represented by their two best prodigies."

"Thank you." The old man gratefully said and then leaned back in his seat, having no worries now.

"Why only two participants?" Amos, who was frowning over what Markos was proposing, asked. "You want to keep it short?"

"Yes." The Yellow Enforcer nodded his head. "We also have to find a way to get the Key out of that Barrier, and..." He stopped and turned to look in Keith’s direction, who curiously looked back at him. "Lady Maria called me yesterday and asked me not to make a decision without consulting with you, Lord Argus. You also managed to tear into that Barrier earlier today, and you said something that has us all curious."

All eyes at the table turned to look towards him, some for an answer and some in surprise.

Those who were not present there when he tore into the Barrier were truly shocked that he had managed such a feat. They had all tested it and knew that the Barrier was something that even a few Martial Overlords would have a hard time getting past.

Keith stayed silent for a while, and then slowly stood up from his seat.

"Let’s talk in private." He said and then looked towards the Sword Doctor, Harren Solaris, Kyzen Orayen, Zarion Nemerus, and the other people who were leading their Teams.

Balon too wanted to stand up when he saw the others following Keith to the side but remained seated because he had not been asked. Then again, even though he was the Team Leader, they were in a foreign land, and their Enforcer was not here yet.

Everyone at the table curiously watched as the group covered themselves in a Veil, preventing anyone from eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You did not call the two Clan Leaders." Amos immediately spoke up, narrowing his eyes at Keith, trying to make sense of what was going on here.

"I suggest that we send back our youngsters if we don’t want them to die in this land." He said something that froze them, and Markos furrowed his brows. "However, if they have already consumed any food or drink that was offered by the members of the two Clans since arriving here, I am afraid they are already cursed. As soon as they leave this place, the curse will start feeding on their lives."

His words exploded in their minds, nearly making them go blank, and they all watched in horror as Keith created the map of this land with magic and then highlighted a web-like Formation that was hidden deep in the ground, with the Key to the Prison Realm as its epicentre.

"The Life-Leeching Formation, coupled with a Soul-Lock Barrier and a Blood Refinement Formation..." Keith calmly explained to them exactly what was going on there. "All the members of the two Clans I have seen so far are cursed and have become puppets. I am positive that as soon as the Barrier opens, they will commit suicide or attack us to feed their and our lives and blood to the Formation and start the ritual. And once the ritual starts, the Soul-Locking Formation will take effect, and even if you are not cursed, you will not be able to leave this land. However, people can still enter the Formation. It only does not allow you to leave it."

"We should..."

"It’s not that simple." Keith cut off the lady who was about to propose that they call for reinforcements.

"The more the souls, the stronger the Formations." Markos narrowed his eyes as he stared at the map that was created out of Light by Keith.

Even in this dire situation, he could not help but be impressed by how detailed everything was. And he also understood the level of skill required to create such a thing.

"Yes." The Eldeilyon nodded to his words.

"The rats are alarmed." Kyzen suddenly said, and they noticed that the Clan Leaders of the two Clans, who were sitting at the table, were exchanging glances.

"We should keep playing the game and meet later to discuss things in detail." Zarion proposed, and they all nodded their heads.

However, there was still one question that needed to be answered.

"You said there was something inside that red pillar." It was the old man who was leading the forces of the Vulcan Kingdom.

"Yes. And I am afraid what is happening here is not the work of a Mortal. Someone inside the Prison Realm is behind all of this. The Key is real, but it is bait, possibly cursed as well."

"We need Curse Breakers, Sealing Masters, Healers, and people in and above the 7th Martial Realm as our reinforcements." Harren frowned and then looked at Markos since he was the one with the most authority over any Faction here.

"I will contact Aventine, and I will also talk to the people who plan to call their youngsters for the tournament." The Yellow Enforcer said.

"The tournament is going ahead?"

"We need time." Markos sighed.

"We don’t have time. The Barrier will open in less than two days." Keith informed them, tensing them up again, and since every one of them had experience with Secret Realms and the kinds of dangers that awaited there, they knew that the thing or things coming out of that Red Pillar would be strong enough to gather lives and blood for the ritual.

"So, this was your riddle." Ziar Ciria laughed as he recalled the riddle Keith had given to Amos, and the Sword Doctor furrowed his brows.

"We are the flies, the two Clans are the hornets, and the one behind the Formations is the spider. The drop of honey is the Key. This place is cold. And the flame is our death?" He looked at Keith, who smiled at him.

"Flame is also a symbol of life and hope, Lord Amos."

"And it’s hidden in the open." He frowned. "It’s you. The flame is you."

"Congratulations!" He laughed. "But we are not having any duels tonight."

"We will have one after we are done dealing with this mess." The Madman grinned, and the people around him chuckled.

"Why do you want to bully a young man, Amos? You can always ask me for a duel." Kyzen Orayen looked at his old acquaintance, and the Sword Doctor did not seem too excited about the proposal.

"I will deal with you later, Old Man."

"I am younger than you..."

Keith was quite amused as he watched the two start teasing each other, and when the Veil was removed, everyone was confused by their smiles and the way they were chatting with each other.

The people thought that whatever was being discussed was something very serious, but now it did not seem to be the case.

This also relaxed the two Patriarchs of the Ancient Clans, who immediately asked Markos what the discussion was about.

"We discussed the rules and regulations, and we have agreed to call over some more Judges from Aventine. I will send letters to all of you in the morning with the details of the Tournament." He said and then turned to look towards the people from Arcadia Archonos.

"All of you, since your Enforcer is not here, we need to talk about whether you will be allowed to participate or not."

Balon frowned at his words, and it was the same for everyone else.

"Let’s head back to the camp. We will discuss it there." He said and signalled to his people from Aventine to get up as well. "Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy your evening."

Markos wished them well and then left, leading the people from the two Academies out of the Pavilion.

"Please excuse us. We need to plan things as well." Harren Solaris said and then left with his people next.

One by one, all of the Factions took their leave, and Keith and Minami silently left the place as well.