In the colosseum where yellow sand danced in the air, the appearance of the seven-mber Royal Guard, led by Li Qingping and Rose, caused the sprawling circular spectator stands to instantly be drowned in a boiling cacophony of voices.
At that very mont, in the exclusive royal viewing gallery, Queen Mother Caliliana and the Third Prince Cizer sat side by side.
The two were conversing in hushed tones.
"Cizer, did you say you want to have an exhibition match with your Second Brother?"
Caliliana tilted her head, raising a hand to brush aside Cizer's snow-white bangs and gently caressing his pale forehead.
"Yes," Cizer nodded. "Queen Mother, didn't First Brother and Second Brother have an exhibition match before? The crowd's reaction was excellent back then. Since the atmosphere at this celebration is so vibrant, I thought we could recreate a scene like that."
He paused. "To let everyone enjoy themselves even more."
Hearing this, Caliliana's fingers halted slightly, a trace of surprise flickering across her features.
In her eyes, this gentle-natured and physically frail third son of hers had never initiated such a request.
Even up to this very day, many inhabitants of the Whale's Garden had never even seen Cizer's face. After so many years, this was his first public appearance in the eyes of the commoners.
Before this, because Cizer was frail and sickly, the King had never let him step out of the Floating City, let alone allowed him to accompany his two older brothers to attend the Sumr Celebration.
Yet this very child was suddenly proposing to compete against his Second Brother in front of the entire nation?
No, given Cosimo's serious and unyielding personality, how could he possibly show rcy in the arena? Even if the mbers of the Royal Guard would be watching over them, Cizer still ran the risk of getting hurt.
Thinking of this, Caliliana hesitated to speak. "Cizer..."
"I am serious, Queen Mother. Please do not worry about ," Cizer said softly. "It is rare for Father King to be away. Let
be willful just this once."
Caliliana fell silent for a mont. "Then I will ask on your behalf later. For now, focus on the matches. This is your first ti watching, after all. Take a good look at our Royal Guard."
"Of course. In the past, I could only stay in the Floating City, leaning over the rooftop to watch you all from afar," Cizer remarked with a self-deprecating tone.
Beside the two of them, the First Prince Lorenzo rubbed his deep-set eye sockets and asked casually:
"Who is fighting whom in today's first exhibition match?"
"The Captain and the Vice-Captain," Cosimo replied indifferently, resting his cheek against his fist. "It's the annual tradition."
While the two spoke, Rose and Li Qingping had already taken their positions on opposite sides of the colosseum. The rest of the Royal Guard mbers stood watch in one corner of the arena.
Yellow sand billowed around them as their eyes t.
Rose's sea-blue long hair and white robes fluttered gracefully amidst the dusty wind. She lowered her head slightly, her gaze as piercing and cold as ice.
Li Qingping maintained a serene expression, both hands tucked into the pockets of his suit, the updo braid on top of his head swaying gently.
At the exact sa ti, the two crushed the Cards in their hands, which were engraved with Orange Light Patterns.
First, a deafening dragon's roar echoed out, followed imdiately by an overwhelming blast of a ship's whistle.
Two colossal Phantoms materialized on opposite sides of the colosseum, standing face to face and dominating the expansive grounds.
Li Qingping's figure was enveloped within a gigantic dragon Phantom. The Red Dragon crouched on the ground, its brow ridges dipping slightly as its wrinkled snout exhaled a curtain of flas.
Rose's figure was shrouded in the Phantom of a cruise liner. The hull of the Titanic crashed through waves of air, rumbling forward amid the blaring whistle.
The cheers erupting from the circular spectator stands were like a tsunami and mountain collapse, loud enough to drown out the entire world.
To avoid catching the audience in the crossfire, Rose and Li Qingping exercised great restraint.
They knew full well that this was just an exhibition match where the performative aspect was paramount. Thus, they rely allowed the Phantoms of their two Generational Anomalies to clash symbolically once.
Russet Dragon Flas and an Azure Torrent swept from opposite sides of the colosseum toward the center simultaneously. A frenzied tide of white steam rocketed into the sky, obscuring half the firmant.
A russet shower of fire, bursting forth from the dragon's Inverse Scale, poured heavily onto the earth.
The entire world seed to be rapidly heating up, but the suffocating wave of heat was instantly diluted by freezing water vapor.
All was silent in the spectator stands, followed by an eruption of deafening applause. Before the audience's cheers could subside, the two Phantoms in the colosseum quietly faded away, and Li Qingping and Rose stepped off the field.
Imdiately after, Kuki Sakuya and Ryan from the Royal Guard took the stage. As the tide of steam dissipated, their figures were revealed to the gaze of thousands.
Kuki Sakuya sported a buzz cut dyed cyan and wore eerie makeup, his pitch-black lips particularly striking.
He stepped forward and crushed the Card in his hand.
An Orange Light Pattern flashed briefly before Spirit God Phantoms, led by Orochi, manifested in mid-air. Tengu, Yuki-onna, Kappa, and other Little Ghouls made their successive appearances on the sandy ground. The mythological entities beat gongs and drums. Amidst drumbeats that sounded like falling thunder, the Phantoms of hundreds of Evil Ghouls surged forward one after another like a tidal wave.
The earthquake-like commotion swept outward, engulfing the arena and causing the heartbeat of every spectator to gradually sync with its rhythm.
Directly opposite him, Ryan—with his long black hair and thick sideburns—tightened his grip on the Sword in the Stone.
The blade radiated a dazzling golden brilliance. His white robes flapped wildly, and the sand beneath his feet temporarily defied gravity, sweeping upward as a golden Gravity Field instantly enveloped his body.
He struck in an instant, the Sword in the Stone cleaving an arc of light through the air that seed to reach the end of the world. Thousands of Spirit Gods shrieked in unison before being reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.
A mont later, only the colossal shadow of Orochi remained standing, its eight serpentine heads roaring wildly at the sky.
Another overwhelming wave of applause broke out.
The final pair to enter the arena was Louis and Dijerie from the Royal Guard.
Louis pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and scratched his curly brown hair. Chuckling awkwardly, he crushed the Card in his hand.
An Orange Light Pattern streaked past, and the magnificent Phantom of the Tower of Babel tore out of the ground, planting itself in the center of the colosseum. The top of the tower pierced the heavens, towering like a giant trying to reach the sky.
At the sa ti, Dijerie, directly across from him, crushed the "Tunguska Explosion" Card in his hand. He furrowed his scarred brow, and his afro spiked high, as if transforming into needles aid at the sky.
Then, an extraterrestrial teorite trailing a crimson tail of light descended from the heavens, plumting directly toward the massive Tower of Babel. As the teorite crashed down, sparks and fire splattered everywhere.
The entire world dimd for a second, leaving only a blinding flash of volatile firelight.
Amidst the roar, the tower, which stood hundreds of ters tall, trembled violently. Thousands of cracks spiderwebbed across it, and the very ground of the colosseum quaked. The searing heat of the teorite scorched the earth, carving out deep, magma-filled craters.
A mont later, a fierce gust of wind carrying yellow sand blew through, and both the teorite and the towering structure vanished completely.
Without a sound, the seven mbers of the Royal Guard gathered at the center of the arena. They stood calmly on the cratered, ravaged ground and bowed slightly to the spectator stands.
Despite there being precedents in previous years, the audience remained completely silent.
The spectators were absolutely dumbfounded. It was only after a mont that they belatedly began to applaud. With this, the Royal Guard's exhibition matches ca to an end.
It wasn't that they didn't want to fight seriously; rather, fighting seriously would be truly world-shattering. Not a single spectator in the colosseum would likely survive.
'What a bunch of monsters...' Yakubaru thought. 'I bet so of them have already touched the threshold of the Calamity-Tier, right? We're in for a tough battle next.'
If the power of Generational Anomalies was already at this level, he found it hard to imagine what terrifying heights a Mythic-tier Anomaly would reach when fully unleashed.
Thinking of this, Sun Changkong's face flashed through Yakubaru's mind. That red-haired Little Brat probably had no idea what kind of world-shattering potential lay hidden within her.
He sighed. The re thought of potentially making an enemy of Sun Changkong in the future made his scalp tingle with dread.
Shaking his head to reel in his thoughts, Yakubaru softly asked, "Aren't there seven people in the Royal Guard? Why didn't the last one participate?"
Cizer clearly had no interest in watching the matches. Not even the spectacular displays before him could stir any emotion on his face.
He asked, "Queen Mother... is Keaojiena not going to participate?"
As he spoke, he lowered his gaze, looking at the only mber of the Royal Guard who hadn't showcased her strength in the arena.
Keaojiena had short hair tied into two small buns on top of her head. She hugged her shoulders and rubbed her dark circles, looking as if she might fall asleep at any second.
"Keaojiena's Anomaly is rather special; it is not suitable for public exhibitions," Caliliana explained.
"Is it because the 'Bermuda Triangle' would sweep the audience into it as well?" Cizer asked.
"Yes."
During the pause in their chat, Yakubaru lowered his voice within the Crystal Ball and softly urged, "Cizer, Cizer, quickly ask your Queen Mother where the Legendary Whale will land next."
"Why?" Cizer replied in a low voice.
"It's important, trust ," Yakubaru pressed. "Shasha is a noble among sharks. Do you understand what it ans to be a noble?"
'If you don't find out the location, how am I supposed to invite a wolf into the house and sche with a tiger?' he thought.
Cizer fell silent for a mont. "Queen Mother, didn't you say you would send
away from the Whale's Garden on August 1st? Which city will the Legendary Whale land in by then?"
"Bergen, in Norway," Caliliana answered gently. "It is a place with beautiful scenery. After you go ashore, have Li Qingping take you on a tour around the city."
"I understand," Cizer nodded.
Bergen, Norway?
Yakubaru etched the na of the place into his mory. He didn't think the Queen would lie to Cizer; rather, there was simply no need to.
Unless Cizer accidentally leaked this information to the humans outside the Garden World, what could possibly go wrong?
But the Queen would never have imagined that this inconspicuous Norbe Shark would be the one to pass on this crucial intel, thereby turning the Garden World upside down with earth-shattering changes.
In the midst of the dead silence, Cizer slowly stood up, bypassed Caliliana, and walked toward the Second Prince, Cosimo.
Cosimo, resting his cheek on his fist, slowly raised his eyes.
"What is it, Third Brother?" he asked.
"Did you receive my letter?" Cizer inquired.
"Letter?" Cosimo remained expressionless. "What letter?"
Cizer froze slightly. His cyan pupils contracted into vertical slits as his fingers clenched into tight fists, trembling faintly.
He stayed silent for a while before saying, "Then what about Ikar? Why were you unwilling to talk to
before executing him?"
He paused and added in a low voice, "Even if... it was just to let
know."
"Because it was unnecessary. He violated the rules, so he had to die," Cosimo replied. "Although Common-tier Anomaly Fragnts are not as powerful as Generational ones, they are still extrely important strategic resources. He stole a full six Common-tier Anomalies. Do you have any idea what that ans? Third Brother."
He paused briefly, then mocked coldly, "The strangest part is that these Anomalies vanished into thin air, and Ikar was your Butler. I am truly curious... I wonder if anything might be found in your bedroom."
'You'd find Shasha!' Yakubaru rolled over inside the Crystal Ball, replying silently.
Cizer kept his head bowed. A mont later, a hint of a relieved smile surfaced on his lips. "Is that so."
He slowly turned his head to look at Lorenzo. "And First Brother, what about you?"
Lorenzo rested his hands on top of each other and smiled. "Third Brother, if there's anything on your mind, just say it to my face. Isn't writing letters a bit too distant for a family?"
"Did you not receive it either?"
"I have too many letters to deal with every day. My apologies, it must have slipped through the cracks," Lorenzo answered.
Cizer fell silent, his cyan eyes obscured by his snow-white hair.
"Is there anything else?" Cosimo paused. "If you are bored, you can return to your bedroom and help
search to see if the fragnts Ikar stole are hidden there."
'The fragnts are hidden in Shasha's belly. Why don't you co into Shasha's belly and look for them yourself?' Yakubaru thought.
"I still have sothing to say," Cizer said softly.
"Spit it out. We still have to go on stage with Queen Mother to give a speech later," Cosimo said impatiently.
"Second Brother, let's have an exhibition match. Everyone's spirits are so high..." Cizer paused, suddenly dropping his voice. "To end it now would be quite boring, don't you think?"
"An exhibition match?" Cosimo frowned. "You and ?"
"That's right."
Cizer lifted his head, staring motionless at Cosimo. His cyan eyes were so cold they seed capable of freezing the air.
Lorenzo suddenly laughed, patting Cosimo's shoulder. "Just humor Third Brother and play with him for a bit."
Cosimo was silent for a mont, his face twitching slightly. "Fine. Then let's have an exhibition match."
'You can do it, Cizer! Bring out the sa ferocity I had when I beat up Su Zimai!' Yakubaru silently cheered him on.
Reviews
All reviews (0)