Chapter 227: Blood Pillar!

"Oh shit!" An Awakened with light blue hair gasped as the masked boy, who had a streak of white in his hair, appeared in the middle of the battlefield—right between the temporary Awakened faction and the Cromwell and Armstrong factions.

Everyone immediately tensed as Hendrix appeared out of thin air. The giant, spherical, blood-red pattern also came to an abrupt stop. Her fingers, which had been outstretched, trembled slightly, her face pale.

"Damn it, he just has to show up now of all times!" one Awakened cursed under his breath, clenching his weapon so tightly that his knuckles looked ready to pop out from his skin.

The Awakened present in the valley all shared one thing in common: fear of the white-haired boy, who scanned the surroundings as if searching for someone. Hendrix had visited every town in the western region and humiliated everyone present, giving them a form of trauma—hence their hesitance.

"What should we do?! Crap! I hate the way my body reacts around this kid!" one boy shouted. "How can he be so intimidating without doing anything?"

The Armstrong siblings wore complicated expressions. On one hand, they were grateful that Hendrix's arrival had brought the fight to a temporary halt, giving them a brief respite. But they were also frustrated that, once again, Hendrix had stolen the spotlight without even trying.

"Where is he?" Hendrix asked in a low, measured tone that reverberated through the area, loud enough for everyone to hear. His gaze fixed on the Cromwell barony, making it clear they were the ones he was addressing. This caused a wave of whispers to sweep through the ranks of the Awakened.

"Phew, it seems the Cromwells are his targets for now. But who is he looking for?"

"How the heck do you expect me to know?"

"The one he's looking for isn't here."

At that moment, a voice rang out. Everyone's attention snapped toward the source—a blonde-haired girl who had somehow managed to calm her nerves. Her eyes flashed sharply as she added, "He's looking for Nox."

"The one rumored to be the second strongest? Did he finally show up?"

"It seems so," the blonde girl nodded.

"But why Nox?" whispered one of the Awakened, wiping the sweat from his brow. "What did he do to attract Hendrix's attention?"

"There's a personal grudge between those two," the blonde girl answered as the blood-red pattern began glowing faintly once more.

"Should we run, then?" one girl asked, her eyes filled with uncertainty. Since Hendrix wasn't after them for now, the best option seemed to be to retreat, regroup, and take him down later.

The others nodded in agreement, with some already making preparations to leave.

However, the blonde girl spoke again, her eyes gleaming with confidence. "Or we could just take all of them out."

"Huh? Take Hendrix out?" one of them gasped.

Because of Hendrix's overwhelming strength, no one had even considered eliminating him. The memory of the beatings they'd endured from him was still fresh in their minds. Sёarᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

As she said this, someone from the Cromwell faction stepped forward to confront Hendrix.

"Nox isn't here... because you ugly siblings took him away. But fret not, I'm more than enough to deal with you!" Nyx declared as her sword hummed with life, radiating a blinding light.

The Armstrong siblings shifted uncomfortably, sweating bullets beneath their armor at her words. If Hendrix realized they were trying to steal the spotlight from him... their scalps tingled with fear, unwilling to imagine what he might do.

Fortunately, their youngest brother's gaze remained fixed on the Cromwells, so he didn't notice the large beads of sweat on their foreheads.

"It's been five years since we last saw each other. I hope you won't disappoint me," Hendrix stated, hiding a grin beneath his mask. He had originally planned to "accidentally" kill Nox and Nyx during the tournament as revenge for what their mother had done to him five years ago. But since no one could truly die in this mysterious realm, he decided on a different approach.

He intended to make the twins suffer maximum pain before finishing them off. After winning the tournament, he'd have more than enough time to deal with the Cromwells.

As Nyx stepped forward to confront Hendrix, the rest of her teammates also moved up, their eyes gleaming with eagerness.

'Just one slam of my shield, and I can take him down,' Rab thought, his bloodshot eyes wide with excitement, saliva almost dripping from his mouth. This was it! This was the reason he'd trained non-stop for the past year—it all led to this moment!

However, before he could act...

"Stand back!" Nyx ordered, noticing her teammates' actions. "I want to fight him alone."

"B-but..." Rab protested, clenching his fists as tears pooled in his eyes. "I want to fight him too! I want to pay him back for everything he did to me and the others!"

"I know... but," Nyx took a deep breath and stated calmly, "let me be selfish just this once. After that humiliation five years ago, my pride was wounded. It took me so much effort to raise my head again after that encounter... but even now, it's just a facade I use to hide my true feelings." Nyx's voice trembled slightly.

All the grueling training she'd endured over the past five years resurfaced in her mind, and her eyes burned with intense determination.

"This fight is personal." The glow from her sword skyrocketed. "I need to face him myself, Rab. If I don't, that wound will never heal."

Rab stared at Nyx with a complicated expression. He sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "For a moment, I forgot that you and Nox suffered the most at this bastard's hands... If anyone deserves to make him suffer, it's you two."

After saying this, he stepped back to join Wendy and Cole. "Just don't lose, Nyx... This fight isn't just for you—it's for everyone he humiliated that day."

"I don't intend to." Nyx turned back to Hendrix, the glow radiating from her sword intensifying and wrapping it in a holy aura.

"Five years." Hendrix's voice dripped with mockery. "I wonder—have you truly grown stronger, or is this just another hollow attempt to redeem your pride?"

Nyx's eyes flashed with defiance as she tightened her grip on her sword and stepped forward.

Hendrix's eyes gleamed with malevolence beneath his mask. "Good. Show me how much pain you can bear—huh?"

BOOOOM!

Suddenly, a blinding pillar of blood shot out from the swirling runic pattern. The giant, blood-red pillar—over ten meters wide—towered above them, surging toward Nyx and Hendrix like an attack unleashed by a powerful god to end the world.

"The arrogance!" the blonde girl sneered, her voice filled with rage. "You bastards are so full of yourselves that you fail to acknowledge our presence? What do you take us for—mere background characters?! Well, this background character will be the end of you both!"

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Thanks to all those who support supreme BeastTamer with their valuable Golden tickets and power stones, gifts and comments, I really approaciate. It gives me motivation to write more chapters...oh the writer block is still there but more bearable now.