Less than ten seconds have passed since the first round's timer began counting down, but an unsealed 1st Class Demon now lies unconscious on the dueling room floor while a human stares forward with an unchanged expression.
The entirety of the trading center's uproar and cheers that started when the match began ceases.
Just like the tension before this duel began, the unease has returned...
It doesn't make any sense.
A 5th Class human defeating a 1st Class demon in one attack—and it being a mental duel.
It is common knowledge that demons are the most resilient, both in physical strength and mental fortitude, in the Upper Realm.
Unlike other races, who allow anyone capable of ascending to claim their worlds and come to the Upper Realm, demons are far different.
The only way to ascend is to join one of the 5 Great Families and use their thrones.
Demons notoriously hoard high-grade worlds and discard low-grade and drained worlds to everyone else.
The same goes for their kin—only the strongest, the top of their era in the Lower Realm, are allowed to ascend. With this being said, all demons that ascend are capable of controlling the masses with no equals in their World Classes.
What has occurred in front of everyone today is an impossible feat, and only a select few scattered among the crowd in the trading palace truly witnessed what happened.
The 1st Class Demon, Leonard, is one of these few, as he whispers under his breath, "That technique, I've only seen the family head's avatar use it. How could a human be granted access to a command like that... and with a basic-grade avatar..."
This demon is shocked, as even their Premium-Grade Avatars don't allow them to concentrate their Ether so finely, with such speed and accuracy, as he just witnessed.
A few very skilled 2nd Class beings in the crowd understand the significance of what just occurred but keep their mouths shut as they haven't seen attacks like that used in tens of thousands of years.
The rest of the lords who fill the building are oblivious, and after a few seconds of silence, they start cheering and roaring with excitement again.
"No way... the human won!"
"It must have been rigged. The Ogre Conglomeration wanted payback and set a trap!"
"These dueling rooms are inspected and maintained by the Citadel Lord—there's no way it would be rigged!"
"Then how... you don't think this demon betrayed the Citadel Lord?"
"Maybe this human is just a hidden master in a counterfeit avatar."
"Yeah, maybe that's it!"
"No way, look at the dueling room statistics—all of the visual data is here for anyone to scan. He's really a 5th Class human."
"Then what happened? Are demons not as strong as we thought?"
"Who cares? That was awesome!"
"True... to be honest, humans never come around this district. I haven't seen one in decades. Maybe they're the ones we're underestimating..."
"This might be the only time we can publicly root against the demons. Let's make the best of it..."
–
As the doors of the dueling room open, Leonard runs forward while Ember calmly walks out.
The demon yells in a controlled tone as he passes.
"You may believe you've won today, but a single lost lord in a demon family will do far more than set a single citadel on fire. You've doomed all of the humans in the Upper Realm—not only this Ogre's Conglomeration."
Ember shrugs.
"Oh, calm down. I went easy on him. Your partner should be awake in a few days..."
Relief washes over the confused demon, but the internal conflict of emotions is overwhelming.
All of his life experiences and learned knowledge with humans conflict with the reality in front of him.
Even now, the human says it held back, and there is no doubt in his mind this human is far more dangerous than any opponent he's ever faced before.
His unwavering confidence and nonchalant attitude throughout all of their interactions now make crystal-clear sense in hindsight. Even the fact that he is the new head of the organization that the Citadel Lord challenged last week didn't make any sense, but the fact that an ancient Blue Ogre outsmarted him this easily without even being in the building makes him believe there must be even more to this ruse.
If he was so wrong initially about one thing, this demon must think things through very carefully and avoid making any more wrong moves.
To save his integrity, the demon yells out inside the dueling chamber for all to hear in the center.
"I shall honor the duel. However, the Citadel Lord will be hearing of this. You've won a single petty battle, but the Demon's do not lose wars. This is what you've declared, so prepare yourselves."
He grits his teeth and picks up his partner, then turns around to leave the dueling area and find the nearest fast-travel port to get out of here before anything else goes wrong.
–
Meanwhile, thousands of worlds that were just won in the duel are added to the World Trade Palace bank, made available for transfer on any floor by sales reps; and lords nearby flock to them faster than Ember can even make his way out of the dueling room.
Thousands of pure profit Low-Quality Ether are deposited into the company account, and with tens of thousands of lords on every floor with nothing else to do but talk with those around them about the display they just saw, business talks and unrelated transactions begin taking place with a large increase in sales volume.
All of this simultaneously makes the trading center almost a month's worth of profit in a matter of minutes, while also plastering a massive ad across a large portion of the Volterra District. It silently shouts to all that the Ogre Conglomeration still has strong allies, and they're willing to fight back against the demons and do business with anyone—even humans—as long as they have something to offer.
—
While this commotion spreads throughout the district, Ember quietly makes his way through the crowds. He ignores all the random lords asking questions, and both Randel and Syl do their job walking beside him to fend off interested parties.
However, Ember doesn't even speak back to the two Red Ogres when they ask him questions.
He calmly walks through the empty hall, into the room overlooking the district he was given, and closes the doors behind him.
Once alone, a drop of crimson blood leaks from his nose.
Instantly, he pulls up his status and sends a voice transmission to Torvak, a few blocks away.
"I've begun my plan to bring the Ogre Conglomeration back to its former glory. However, it could end faster than it even started. I need that package taken out from long-term storage in the Grand Citadel as fast as possible... I've grown weaker than I thought. A Two days' wait might be cutting things close."