Chapter 481: Getting the truth

"We were on their radar since we entered this Empire. I think it's time we stop hiding and show them some things, so they don't underestimate us too much to attack us," Salazar replied calmly.

"Moreover, according to what we know, my second ability doesn't work on Milena, but other than that, it works on everyone else here. So I have a good chance to win this time unless Milena personally comes to fight me," he further continued. "I doubt she would do that."

"Don't forget, she can use the abilities of the people she turned," Caen responded. "It's quite possible that she received that mental resistance from one of the Nobles she turned. She might not take part, but that Noble might."

"So you should still stay alert," he continued. "Because it would be game over if we lose you at this point."

"Don't worry about that. I'm not dying anytime soon. That prediction gave me some ideas. I think I know how to protect myself even if Milena comes before me," he added as he raised his shirt to reveal a gun. 

"That gun... Isn't that Lucifer's gun?" Caen asked, recognizing the gun. It was the gun that was given to Lucifer by Kane in the uprising lab. 

"That's right. He gave me the gun to protect myself against Milena after that Prediction. He doesn't need it since it's mostly useless now that the sleeping bullets are useless," Salazar explained. "He gave it to me so I could use it against Milena when the time comes."

"If things come to the worse, we can trap her in the barrier momentarily and escape. But that's only the last resort. I don't think we would need to do that," he further stated, smiling. 

Heath remained amazed at the performance of Salazar. He was pretty impressed and mostly sure that Salazar was also a Warlock Council Leader. That could be why he was able to take out a Noble Lord so easily. 

It was the first time he had seen Salazar use his ability in the first place. 

After the initial shock, the citizens had also started recovering and coming out of their daze as they came to terms with what had happened. A Noble Lord was killed by a foreigner, and no one could change the truth. 

"Maybe we underestimated the foreigners a little too soon. The surrender of the last two must have been a trap to make others underestimate them. They're pretty clever!"

"That's right. I guess they aren't that weak. At least they're comparable to a Noble Lord. It looks like the tournament is going to be fun."

The initial shock soon turned to excitement as people understood the meaning of this. It meant the competition in the future was going to be even more fierce. It was a battle between the foreigners and the Nobles now, which gave them even more excitement. 

There were also those people who had betted on Foreigners being able to reach the second round. Those were the most excited at the moment since all they needed was for one foreigner to pass the first round. 

Salazar's victory in the first round had brought them to victory. The money they bet on the foreigners had doubled instantly. In fact, at this point, they were wondering why they didn't bet all their wealth on this! They would have been ten times richer now. 

Unfortunately, none of them could go back in time to bet more.

The High Lords were also lost in a conversation of their own. 

Most of them didn't understand what had happened in the battle. 

"I don't get it. Why didn't Vian move? Was he restricted by some invisible force? Or was he out to sleep? I don't understand."

"I don't think it's any of that. I think it was a form of mental restriction," Feronia exclaimed. 

"How do you know?" Another High Lord asked, curious. 

"Because I can sense such things. It was clear that Vian didn't even try to move. So it couldn't be a physical restriction. It was probably a mental one where Vian didn't know where he was," Feronia replied. 

"But he wasn't sleeping either since his heartbeat hadn't slowed down. Instead, his heart was only beating faster at that point. From what I can guess, it must be some kind of a dream that he used," she further exclaimed. 

Sirius didn't chime in and simply nodded. Arthur also found it feasible. 

Moreover, he had already seen Sirius use his powers to slow down time before. He was sure that Sirius at least had two powers— the mental restriction and the time control. 

In that case, it was evident how strong he was. Moreover, that also amused Arthur. 

'If Sirius is so strong, how strong would Lucifer have been, who was their leader? Why would someone as strong as that person run away, leaving his teammates behind. That doesn't seem to be the case as Her Majesty said,' he thought, observing Lucifer. 

'That only leaves one possibility. Either he's hiding, or he was kidnapped. But why would he hide at this point? It seems more likely that he was kidnapped,'

'For someone to kidnap Lucifer, it can't be the work of any ordinary Noble. It must have been a High Lord. And I'm most suspicious of Sirius. Lucifer exposed Sirius' powers to me. And after that, he went missing? It's just too convenient. Could it be Sirius?'

'That would explain the note Lucifer wrote as well. If Sirius was spying on him while being invisible, that note becomes explainable. The more I think about it, the more I feel like it was the work of Sirius,' he thought, glancing at Sirius. 

Sirius also felt someone glancing in his direction. He turned to his right and noticed that it was Arthur. He didn't speak anything and simply smirked before he shifted his attention back to the Arena. 

'It can only be Sirius. He seems to be the only person who is suspicious here. Ahh! Wait! Could it be that the Maid saw Sirius taking Lucifer away? Is that why she came to inform Milena about something?'

'Because when I asked her about why she was there, she said it wasn't because the guests did something. She also said that it was about something else! Could it be that she was here to talk about Sirius and what he did? That would explain it!'

'But Her Majesty said that it wasn't the reason for her arrival? She said that the Maid was there to talk about Lucifer. That directly counters what the maid told me! Is it that Her Majesty lied to me? Why? Because she knew about it?'