Fafnir watched with a firm expression as the gate rose upward, revealing the arena completely without darkness blocking his vision.

’Here they are...’

Two other gates opened at two different parts of the arena, revealing a clown in a colourful outfit and a hat with two pointy tops, and a masked man wearing a robe as his long orange hair cascaded down his shoulders.

They were Adrian and Michael.

They walked simultaneously a few steps forward until they reached a safe distance that wasn’t too far from each other.

"Yo, Fafnir!" Michael waved happily to Fafnir: "Let’s make it a fair fight. I can’t believe I’m doing this!"

To be honest, Michael felt like he was living a dream.

In the camp, he always thought he could never be as strong or as useful as the shadow who always protected him and the others, not even close.

But here he was, about to fight Fafnir who sliced him in half just recently in their first fight.

’It’s my chance to prove myself before finally returning to my kingdom. I hope they aren’t mad.’

Fafnir ignored Michael completely, his face locking into Adrian’s with intense enmity.

He could also see Emeralda watching with a depressed expression, which meant that Ruby was alone, and Emeralda’s way of looking at Fafnir still wasn’t friendly.

’I will deal with her later.’

Although he was wearing a fake blindfold, and could actually see through any part of his body, Adrian still felt two hollow eyes staring into his soul.

But he didn’t flinch.

Instead, he looked at Michael and hissed: "Don’t get involved if you want to live and win. I’ll give up after dealing with him. I wanted to do that in the previous stage anyway, but he wasn’t included in my group unfortunately."

Michael’s jaw dropped in an instant, and he wasn’t the only one.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"HEY! I’M BETTING ALL MY MONEY ON YOU!"

"Did he just say he might give up? After everything he had done?!"

"Maybe he heard him incorrectly."

"My class name is Listener. I can confidently say you did hear him correctly."

"My class is Deaf and I confidently say it’s correct!"

The audience started shouting and arguing about what they just heard. Even the narrator was confused.

Were the rewards not enough to make him continue? Why would he willingly give up?

They couldn’t think of any logical reason!

Or... they had one... but they weren’t certain of the exact details.

"That guy is acting as if Fafnir killed his family."

"Maybe he wants to prove something."

Adrian didn’t bother himself with all the comments of the audience. There was a timer above their heads, and it had started long ago, giving them a small time before the official start of the fight.

"You..." he shifted his attention to Fafnir, raising a finger and pointing at him.

His hand was covered with what seemed to be a gauntlet, which had orange runes decorating its black metallic material.

The fingertips ended with sharp claws that seemed to be able to slice through steel, and the back of the gauntlet had three dog heads inscribed on it.

"I don’t really want to fight you. I want the other one. Bring him to me and let us end what we started, you have nothing to do with the death of my mother. I know you’re able to switch somehow."

Several people leaned forward upon hearing Adrian, clearly interested in the situation between him and Fafnir.

Even the duchess, Anas, Emilia, and Michael wanted to know.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" On the side, Greed cheered like a child watching a movie.

Fafnir rested the blade of his sword on his shoulder and wrote: "Your mother killed him several times. He survived only because of an ability he has. He was merciful to kill her quickly instead of repaying the pain he felt for so long."

Fafnir paused for a moment, hearing a cracking sound coming from Adrian, something that seemed to be breaking under pressure.

’Already furious, huh?’

Fafnir continued writing: "If you can’t even comprehend the concept of self-defence, then any conversation between us is completely meaningless. You’re completely biased toward her. Today, I’m the one fighting you, not my master."

"Additionally, you just killed someone I’m related to yesterday. It’d be a shame if I don’t take revenge. I hope you don’t give up before I behead you."

Greed added: "Your revenge too. Remember that she killed you more than she killed Dante. Killing her son would be great revenge!"

The tension made the observers extremely excited. They weren’t witnessing a normal competition anymore, but real revenge drama!

They couldn’t understand half the conversation, especially that mysterious "master", but they didn’t care anymore.

"I have to force you to switch, then." Adrian crouched like an athlete who was about to run, his hands, which were both wearing gauntlets, applied soft force to the ground.

’Something is truly wrong.’

The gauntlet and the mask made Fafnir feel uneasy. From what he remembered, Adrian was a sorcerer. The woman who was with him took care of the close fighting.

Now, Adrian looked like he was ready to charge right toward Fafnir to fight, using his hands to tear him apart.

’Maybe it’s a trick to distract me.’

Fafnir stood while holding his sword with his draconic arm to apply the maximum amount of force, his mana and spiritual energy moving rapidly through his veins to cast a spell or a technique at any moment.

"Ah... umm..." Michael looked at them left and right nervously. He felt like an outsider standing between a big conflict that he shouldn’t interfere in.

"TEN SECONDS!" The narrator snapped everyone out of their daze as the timer reached the number 10.

The seconds passed slowly. Every passing second felt like an eternity. The air was filled with excitement, interest, hatred, fury, and stress.

"Three!"

Adrian applied more force to his legs.

"Two!"

Michael held his staff firmly.

"One!"

Fafnir’s sword showed faint traces of mana.

"ZERO!"

SHADOW TECHNIQUE — SHADOWS OF FUTURE!

And without hesitation, Fafnir used the future seeing technique.

The world darkened in his vision. He could only see himself and the surrounding shadows.

"...!"

But to his surprise, the sight that was revealed wasn’t anything he could have ever expected.

In countless possibilities, Fafnir was attacked in an instant.

But the attacker wasn’t one, not even two, but three shadows!

And all of them came from the direction of Adrian!

’What the...?’

Fafnir was standing before a wall.

He couldn’t find any clear "most likely" possibility. All the possibilities were different, and all of them ended with his destruction.

’Damn!’

With nothing to do, Fafnir deactivated his technique, the world regaining its color.

Shadow Spell — Shadow Carpet!

A shadow bloomed beneath his leg, working as a medium to use Shadowstep.

BOOM–!

But at that exact moment, Adrian shot toward Fafnir with an eruption of flames.

Fast, fast, fast!

His speed was unmatchable. His figure blurred and spread intense heat to the air, showing him as a hallucination.

The spot where he had stood cracked and melted into lava.

His path left a line of molten stone.

His body singlehandedly destroyed the carpet from a distance, covered in flames that were like a second sun, forcing some observers to cover their eyes.

And within less than a second, he was already right before Fafnir.

"I warned you."

That was the last word he left before his right arm gripped Fafnir’s head.

BOOM!

Once again, Adrian kicked the ground, increasing his speed significantly like a blazing bolt.

However, this time, he wasn’t alone. His hand was still holding Fafnir’s head, dragging him like a powerless doll.

BAM!

Eventually, Adrian smashed Fafnir into the arena’s wall, the force so intense by the speed that it caused the ground to shake and sent tens of molten stones toward the observers, which were easily blocked by the barrier.

"..."

The observers looked at that sight with awe, fear, disbelief, and dropped jaws.

"He was... hiding a lot of his strength... not just a few tricks..."

Once the smoke and debris cleared, they couldn’t help but gasp.

Adrian’s robe was completely burned, revealing armor made of blazing flames that seemed to be coming from the gauntlet as a medium or an amplifier.

His hand was still in the position of holding something, yet it was only holding the air.

And right under his hand was Fafnir, his body semi-burned and his head nowhere to be seen.