Lyrian sat up, helped by Alten to not fall down on his back as Jackson from the White Knights healed him. While looking at Jackson's intense expression, he also surveyed the entire arena.
A boy wearing all white clothes, with long white hair and an arrogant attitude on his face approached him and his group. It was Kedward, of course. To the side, the elders and council members of the Magma Dwellers spoke amongst themselves, words that Lyrian could hear clearly.
He decided to nickname them "Old Bags" and "Young Bags" for the sake of simplicity. The old bags being the elders, and the young bags being the new council members of the Magma Dweller government or whatever. It's not like he knew, it was just what he figured.
Around him were hundreds upon thousands of Magma Dwellers, animal figures made of magma and black stone. Some strong, others weaker, but altogether, as dangerous as any creature Lyrain could face.
Finally, there were the examinees, which included Silvus and Spade. Lyrian observed all of this to prepare himself for what was coming up. It was a final climax, one which he felt like he had gone through an uncountable amount of times by now, but nonetheless, all of those false climaxes made this one seem even greater.
All of those climaxes were nothing but efforts piled into one objective, which was that golden-tiered core. Now, he had to exact his final moves perfectly.
As Kedward neared, Lyrain knew that he didn't want to be annoyed or distracted by the kid. With a hint of bloodlust in his eyes, Lyrain was moments away from ordering Leon to slice the boy up into pieces.
"Ked!"
Spade's voice suddenly called from afar, stopping the kid in his tracks as he looked back to see Spade's slightly serious face.
"Don't be foolish."
Spade spoke with a piercing look in his eyes, having sensed Lyrian's killing intent. Kedward immediately retorted, seeing his point of view as being logical.
"Look at him." He said, pointing his head towards Lyrain.
Spade didn't pause either, following up directly.
"Look at him? Look at them."
Spade said, almost exhausted by his teammate's stupidity as he gestured towards Lyrian's teammates.
Looking at them, Kedward realized that Leon, Alten, and even Rylan had their weapons in hand, ready to use. For a moment, Ked was surprised by quite a dangerous killing intent, coming from none other than Leon himself.
He tsked in slight frustration before backing away.
"Whatever..."
He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
At that moment, the red glow around Lyrian suddenly disappeared, as Jackson's exhausted body fell onto the ground. Lyrian promptly got up, feeling brand new. He checked his arms and legs, moving them around and also looking at them. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
They felt undamaged and looked the same.
"Make sure he's okay."
Lyrian said to Alten, who crouched over next to Jackson before opening his closed eyelids. Seeing the boy's face, Alten could tell that he had fully exerted himself and was going to be unconscious for quite a while longer.
'What should I do now? Confront the old and young bags? No... they are already trying to summon the yang creature anyways... I shouldn't disrupt them.'
"Hey! What the hell are you talking about, summoning the Bringer of Light!?"
A voice suddenly sounded from the crowd of examinees. Lyrian quickly looked over to see that it was Uis that had spoken.
'Why is he...'
Lyrian hadn't expected the boy to be so outright and foolish. Before, he preached going with smart options, but this by no means was going with the intelligent route.
"Do you truly think you can summon a god here!? You, creatures with no grace nor power!?"
Uis seemed serious, throwing Lyrian off slightly.
'Where is he going with this...'
Uis continued as attention quickly spanned over to him. The old and young bags looked at him with angered and offended looks on their faces.
"Don't be foolish! If you want a king, I will grant you a king! We, the human race, are the closest allies of god! We are the ones whose royals and high nobles have been blessed by advanced blood!"
Uis sounded as though he believed his own words, as the old bags replied with an angry voice.
"What nonsense do you speak!?"
Uis did not yield, continuing further.
"We humans are of the highest of grace! Even you should know this! If even a race like yours has a government, do you not have track records of history!? We are the most profound in magic, the most graceful and beautiful. We are blessed by the gods, and if you listen to our qualms, the gods will listen to yours as well!"
With this, quiet murmurs started to spread through the crowd of Magma Dwellers, who made sense of the boy's words.
"The Bringer of Light only visited your race by chance, so don't even try to call him. Instead, listen to us, and your creed will have another chance to fight once again!"
Hearing this, Lyrian's perplexity grew into frustration. Looking over at the stupid old and young bags, even they seemed to be getting convinced by those words.
'Why do they have to be so stupid!?'
Lyrian angrily thought to himself.
"False! What he's saying is false!"
He suddenly shouted, stepping forward as everyone stared at him. Uis, his eyes wide open in shock and his face turning pale suddenly yelled.
"What the fuck are you doing!? Shut your mouth!"
Even the examinees, who thought they were going to be able to leave after all this time, grew concerned expressions.
"Humans aren't the most graceful, nor are they the most beautiful! They aren't blessed the most by the gods, nor do they wield more magic than other races. All those titles belong to the Elven species!"
With these words, Uis was devastated, along with the rest of the examinees. The crowd of Magma Dwellers resounded a gasp of awe, and the old and young bags also felt as though they had come to a realization that the second boy was telling the truth.
"You are right! Boy! The summoning preparations shall now begin!"
One of the old bags said, as all five of the Magma Dwellers in the middle of the arena were enveloped in a teal light, and suddenly disappeared.