A towering fountain of blood gushed from the hole situated at the center of the large wide chest. It was like a whale shooting a fountain from its blowhole.
The arena was dead silent. Everyone opened their eyes wide, and many gasped while witnessing the final strike being delivered.
The last of the team representing the five nobles perished at that very moment. While the rain of blood fell on the large bear's body and the mist of blood dispersed, the ball of darkness floating in the sky descended to the ground.
The ball of darkness expanded until it exploded into a dark cloud. A woman wearing a smoke-like shadow cape walked out limping from the dispersing dark cloud.
The blood was still falling when from all sides and even corners of the arena could see the bear's body becoming brittle and crumbling from the weight of the large mass. The bear was in the process of becoming dust as it was dead.
Vincent, Ester, Mimi, and Awa looked at each other. A delightful smile appeared on their tired faces before they started laughing cheerfully. Their team was the winner of the judgment by combat.
Lilith quickly stood up. She looked at her parents. "Mother. Father. We won." She said with a beaming smile on her face and joyful tears welling in her eyes.
Lilith looked at Mirey. "Come with me to the field. You are needed to be present to receive the apology."
"But... can you go there? There will be a lot of people looking at you." Iris worriedly asked.
"Hehe. No need to worry about me." *Pat* Lilith patted her plum chest and continued, "I have trained a lot in these past few days and managed to walk alone with ten people I do not know staring at me."
"..." Iris was at a loss for words. She could not start to calculate the disparity level between ten strangers and thousands upon thousands of strangers.
"Jun Jun, let's go." Said Plow cheerfully.
Sakura placed her hand behind Mirey's back. She used her overwhelming strength to push Mirey out of her seat.
"Go with Iris, Lilith, Sofy, and Plow. I will stay here because of my race. I do not want our family to get in trouble if I am discovered." Sakura said. Even if her tone sounded like usual, her sad expression was covered by the shade of the hood.
Sofy stood up. *Whip* "Follow us or follow us bound by a professional?" She told Mirey after snapping her whip.
Mirey had no option but to accept now. She grumpily nodded while sighing as if she was being forced to do something she did not want to do.
Mirey was startled when her hand felt wet and warm. She looked down at the little blue fox she was carrying. Her cheeks puffed slightly as if she didn't want to be encouraged, yet she didn't show a frown, showing she accepted Plow's gesture.
Mirey looked at Iris, Lilith, and Sofy ahead of her. They were looking her way. Her foot moved forward, and she started following them.
The sounds of clapping after a well-earned victory were a reward. Vincent, Ester, Awa, and Mimi never thought would feel so great, so pleasant, and so energizing.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to hear all of you great people in the audience congratulate the Lionheart team for winning. Being on their side or not, they delivered a fight we will not be able to forget."
"The Lionheart family will be remembered for the performance they provided in the judgment by combat for years or even decades."
"I am also sure the great people from the audience who came to visit from different places will start to spread the news about the Lionheart family dominating five noble families. I say it is a well deserved reputation."
Vincent slowly walked over to Ester, Mimi, and Awa. "How are you girls holding up?" He asked without checking their status window. He could see they were not suffering from any fatal wounds, yet he didn't feel like reading what level of pain or level of exhaustion they were suffering from.
"I do not feel that tired. I only feel a little dizzy from using and receiving blood more than I am used to." Mimi responded.
"The bones in my legs feel fractured again, but I can feel Night helping to recover my legs quickly. " Awa responded while her legs trembled slightly.
"Do you want me to heal your legs?" Asked Vincent before stopping. He saw Awa gently shaking her head. She didn't want to use some of Vincent's precious Soul Power on her.
Vincent looked at Ester standing in between Mimi and Awa. "How about you?" He asked.
"The same old usual mana fatigue pain while feeling exhausted to remain standing." Ester responded honestly before lowering her gaze and glancing at Elsie, "However, it is not as bad as I described. My mind is on this sword I was given and not on what I am feeling."
[Yeah. My mind is on that Luciano guy right now. We need to meet him as I want answers. I do not want to miss a detail as to why he specifically approached Ester with a short sword like Elsir.]
Vincent nodded. "I hope we can have a long chat with the old mage hiding his identity."
Under his feet was a lot of dust. His eyes widened after he noticed what he and his women were standing on. The commentator announcing their victory and the clapping made him overlook the nutritious dust the large mutated familiar bear left on the ground.
A smirk appeared on his face before the dust under his foot gradually shone green.
[Ahem. I was going to tell you to store the dust for later use. I simply wanted you to have a breather.]
Kazumi didn't want to reveal she had temporarily overlooked the dust they were standing on was a one-of-a-kind product that would make Iris's happiness reach the moon.
"Hehe." Vincent chuckled at Kazumi's comment.
The light caught the attention of all the audience. Most looked curiously at what was occurring, while those who knew what Vincent was doing wondered what he appeared very eager to store.
*Rumble* *Tap, tap* Zero arrived from one side while Lupa inside the protective dome arrived from the opposite side. The winners gathered at the center of the field.