32 Noble

This sudden unexpected result shocked the crowd into silence. In the higher boxes of the arena, the royals and even the king of Dracherus himself leaned in. They were clearly extremely interested in this result. One noble in particular, seated next to the king, shouted out,

"Impossible! No member of the junior generation could have done that to a disciple of my Nero Sect! This competitor must be some elder in disguise, seize him and show me his face!"

Instantly, several elders of the Nero Sect began to stream down through the air at high speed. However, elders of other sects, who were enjoying the show, quickly flew up and blocked them.

"Elders of the Nero Sect, it is not in the tournament rules that competitors must show their faces, and the only rule was that disciples cannot be killed! As you can see, your disciple is still alive and with the right doctor, will no doubt make a full recovery"

They pointed to the disciple still lodged in the wall spitting stream after stream of blood out. The faces of the Nero Sect elders reddened and their anger reached the Heavens but they couldn't deny that to intervene with the tournament was not justified.

"We elders of the Marde and Desert Tribe suggest you go back to your seats and stop disrupting this tournament!" Gnashing their teeth, the elders had no choice but to return empty-handed, though they stared daggers at the cowled figure who stood innocently on the arena. The commentator glanced nervously at the king, unsure of what to do, but the other Nero Sect disciple had already ascended to the stage.

"You ****ing freak! I don't know what special items or trick you used, but you had better not dare use it again in front of me, Narsier! All the elders of my Nero Sect are now watching closely, don't even think you can get away with it again under their eyes!" Instantly, the Nero Sect's legs and fists turned black and bulged with veins. The crowd quietly started to whisper again.

"Amazing, Narsier is said to have condensed his Second Heart a full year ago! His mastery over the darkness element truly exceeds his brothers by leaps and bounds, and though this cowled man is strong, there is no way he dares to use any trickery now that everyone is watching!" Approving shouts rang out and suddenly the tournament was back in full swing. Dashing in, Narsier began to unleash the dizzying flurry of high speed, high impact attacks. Whenever he missed and hit the ground, his kicks would gouge huge holes and his fists would make loud pops with displaced air, even when there was no impact. The cowled figure backed away and blocked, displaying incredible defense. There was no attempt at attack at all. The crowd roared ever louder and the faces of the Nero Sect elders were gradually beginning to grin again. They began to signal to Narsier. Unbeknownst to everyone else, this signal mean't that they had given him permission to kill this competitor! They would handle the backlash. Narsier, noticing, quickly intensified his attacks. However, Lineir noticed something strange.

This whole time, the cowled figure appeared to have been staring at Narsier while evading. Lineir was directly behind Narsier, but when Narsier shifted to the side, the cowled figure's gaze did not move to follow Narsier. Rather it remained fixed ahead under the dark hood, staring directly at Lineir! An intense shiver ran through Lineir and in a split second, he was chilled as he noticed a slender finger slip out from the sleeve and point to him... beckoning. With the other hand, while still looking at Lineir, the cowled figure shot out a fist which flowed like the wind and Narsier was blasted into the wall, even harder than the first disciple had been. He didn't even spit out streams of blood, he could only limply hang there and let it dribble out of the sides of his mouth as if his mouth itself was crying red.

The crowd was once again stunned into silence. Nobody moved, even the Nero Sect elders were silent. They couldn't understand that their strongest inner disciple, who was the favorite to win this tournament, and the mythical core, and would become the centerpiece of their alliance with the royal house, would be eliminated so easily. The commentator was staring at the king, but the king was frowning, as was the noble who had shouted out earlier. The king motioned to go on, and so the commentator pointed at Lineir,

"Alright, you are the last challenger! The one to win this fight takes the tournament, ascend now!" Lineir looked up as the cowled figure still just stood there innocently. The Nero Sect elders waited with clenched teeth... they would settle this after the tournament, it was too public right now. Mei encouraged Lineir,

"Kiddo, don't worry, this cowled figure is strange indeed, but he did not kill anyone. The risk is worth the reward, remember I'll give you something good if you can win the core. Go!" Lineir slowly ascended, but he felt intense unease. That person had been interested in Lineir since the beginning, and he couldn't help but feel a familiar presence which terrified him. Shrugging, he headed up and took a stance,

"I don't know what I did to offend you, but let our fists do the talking!" Like lightning, he rushed in at incredible speed to test the waters. The cowled figure for the first time moved in to attack.

"Don't lie to me!" Before Lineir could do anything, with unfathomable speed, a thin hand reached out and clenched his throat, plucking him out of the air. As it happened, Lineir unconsciously reacted and flailed an elbow out. The cowled figure immediately tightened the hold on Lineir's neck, and jerked to the side to avoid the blow. The edge caught the trailing hood however, and it slid down to reveal a face. The noble face peered under Lineir's hood and sniffed.

"I told you I knew your scent!"

At the same time, the king, nobles, and crowd all erupted into a frenzy. "What the hell is the princess doing in the tournament!"