Chapter 352 - Behind the scenes

It was the fifth day of the Grand Mage's tournament. The last Quarter-final match was about to begin. The excitement of the first match was slowly cooling down, the reason for this was because the second and third match wasn't as exciting as the spectacle of the first match. 

Everyone thought that the tournament was becoming something they couldn't understand. When the geniuses were first introduced the audience members were excited. These geniuses were the best of the best even among all the other participants in the past century. 

In fact in the Grand Mage's tournament geniuses of this level were only seen once every two decades, but now eight of them appeared all at the same time. Who among the audience members wouldn't feel excited when knowing this. It was like they were about to witness history in the making. 

Everyone was expecting to see marvelous sights of spells flying around. They did get such a show on the first round, but the subsequent rounds left them feeling disappointed. They were no longer expecting too much for this upcoming match. Not even the fact that they get to see the beautiful maiden from the temple of Justice could reignite their excitement.

...

Henrietta who tried to meet with Valdel the other day was looking a bit disappointed as well. When she visited the inn Valdel and his companions were staying at he and his companions were nowhere to be found. So she returned to her place feeling a bit frustrated. 

Both the audience members and the emcee were looking rather melancholic that the atmosphere of the Grand Mage's tournament was becoming rather weird. 

Still, Henrietta was a professional so she wouldn't let her personal feelings interfere too much with her work. She quickly got in the mood and started to introduce the two contestants. 

"Heya everyone today is going to be a treat, in one corner we've got the beautiful priestess of the Temple of Justice. She with her heart of Justice has graced us today with her presence, the holy maiden NATASHA!"

Hearing her name being called Natasha walked onto the stage. Even though the audience members weren't as thrilled as before, when they saw her intoxicating charm they started to cheer unconsciously. 

"Now for her opponent-" Henrietta wasn't able to finish what she was going to say as someone suddenly appeared beside her. The person whispered something in Henrietta's ear. The more Henrietta heard the deeper her frown became. After listening to the report Henrietta couldn't help but sigh. 

'Maybe this year's tournament is cursed.' Henrietta sighed again before clearing her throat. She looked at Natasha who was standing on the ring waiting for her opponent. 

"Due to some complications, Artifice is unable to fight and has been disqualified from the tournament. So the winner of this round is NATASHA!" 

Everyone including Natasha was dumbfounded by the announcement. 

...

While everyone was at the arena, in the Grand Mage's tower bodies of half-demons were littered all over the floor. Amon was standing in front of Nero trying to protect him. On the other hand, Nero was looking at the assailant with a confused look on his face.

"I thought we had a deal?! You said that if I did everything you ordered you would bring back the golden age of demons! You said that you would grant me power equal to Kretos's power in his peak!" Nero shouted at the man standing before him. The man smiled at Nero and then chuckled. 

"I did not lie when I said I would bring back the golden age of demons. Once all my brethren escape that prison and kill that hero, then the world will once again be ruled by chaos and fear. The golden age of the primordial demons will return. As for power equaling Kretos at his peak, the peak you speak of is when he was dead. So once you die you'll have the same power as him which is nothing at all." 

Nero looked at the primordial demon Nyarlom who was using the form of a middle-aged human male. Nero knew that the primordial demon would do something like this so he had set up a lot of countermeasures, but all of that was for nothing. Nyarlom had seen through all of his plans and now he was about to die by his hands. 

Nero regretted that he had listened to a primordial demon's tempting words, if he had continued on with just the half-demons that were with him they could've achieved his dream. It would've taken longer, but he wouldn't be in this kind of situation. 

'I got greedy and this is the result...' As Nero was feeling a tinge of hopelessness, Amon who was in front of him spoke. 

"This isn't over yet! Nero, head to that bartender's place, I'm sure he could protect you for the time being. I can hold this guy back for about a minute or two, so you better run now." 

Nero looked at Amon's back with a blank look on his face. "Even if I escape there's nothing more I can do..." 

"What the f*ck are you talking about?! Are you telling me this is it?! Did our dream of making the demon race strong again mean nothing to you!? If you're a real demon then you won't care about anything else, and just do everything you can to gain what you desire!" 

When Nero heard what Amon said his lifeless eyes started to shine again. He stood up and gathered every last bit of his resolve. 

"You better not die on me, Amon. You need to be there when our dream comes to fruition." Amon didn't bother turning around and smiled. 

"Who do you think I am? I am the descendent of the mighty demon general Namor, this is not where I will fall!" Hearing Amon's response Nero nodded his head and started running. Nyarlom didn't bother giving chase since no matter how far Nero runs he could easily find him.

"You really are different from us primordial demons. Showing camaraderie and empathy, it makes me sick that you guys have the audacity to call your race demons. True demons should be spreading wonderful chaos throughout the world. Making others tremble in fear and frolicking in everyone else's misery. That is what a true demon should do." 

"Blah, blah, blah, stop your yapping and come at me already." Amon turned into his true form and charged at the primordial demon.