ARC SEVEN:CH-7.3

Liard of the east was brimming with its students since everyone of its scattered units across the globe were attending the festive tournament. This included the heroes entitled the twelve demon lords of the Liard and several other respected individuals outside of the academy as well.

*Rattle*

Bright magic circles were filling the stadium of the academy. Units from all over the world were teleporting inside the gigantic stadium where the tournament was held every year.

The chattering voices continued to rise, excitement and enthusiasm causing their hearts to shiver.

When they saw a group of people teleport the sound of chattering stopped for an abrupt moment. It was as if the people went mute for a split second before they resumed their talks.

"Whew. Its been a really long time since I came back. Two years felt so long." One of their companions moaned while letting out a loud yawn.

"Yo!" Lytch whacked Sorrel on his back. "Are you excited to see him after these two years?"

Ivar looked at the red haired brute walking next to him. He let out a small chuckle as he replied him. "Not really. Bother Ansel is the hero who saved. I will be forever grateful to him for saving me. However I have no intention of looking at him that way anymore." Ivar did not like Ansel but he was going to respect the feelings of the original. After all the original sorrel did love him. But he didn't so he was going to have that impression of sorrel being in love cut off from this moment.

Pffttt. Lytch couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. He have been with this guy ever since he was brought back to this camp years ago. Because of how Sorrel was always alone he have always given him company. He knew that this kid had feelings for Ansel. That guy was the only person in this enitre world who could cause Sorrel's eyes to lit up. Lytch would never forget the look sorrel had in his eyes whenever he would look at Ansel, his eyes filled with adoration and admiration.

"Really? If so that's a good thing." His reply was kinda awkward.

Kyyaaaaaa...

Suddenly the voices of the people screaming was heard.

*Shing*

Another group of people have teleported here. Amongst them was one person that stood out the most. He had porcelain white glowing skin. His eyes were a lovely shape of almond fanned by long golden lashes. His eyes were a deep shade of blue, clear and pure like the sky. His golden hair fluttering in the air as it radiated brightly under the light. One who looked at him could never unsee that face even in their dreams. That person was surrounded by people as they came swarming around him. The beautiful son of fate smiled at them as he talked with the crowd around him. He was polite, gentle, friendly and very charming. Evryone around him were melting under his warm personality.

Aouli Lumoah.

For the first time ever Ivar was truely surprised by this son of fate standing away at some distance. He was really a charming person with great looks and good personality. The vibe of that person gave him the impression of the sun itself. Moreover Ivar could sense it from here. The strength that fragile body of the golden haired boy possessed was the greatest level of power he had ever seen in any protagonist before.

In conclusion fighting that boy was going to be worth it.

However....if Aouli was already this formidable then what about the male lead of this world? Ansel was going to be a monster in this case.

Lytch caught Sorrel looking at Aouli. He sighed. This kid, he was always like this. He bent down a bit to whisper to him.

"You see." When he said this Sorrel looked at him.

"He is he and you are you. You have your own charms. I hope you will realise how nice of a person you yourself are." Ivar heard Lytch say.

"Even though you are always by yourself you are a good person so I hope ahem... you will value yourself as much as I value you."

This guy... Ivar raised his brow at him. Lytch and Hitty were such nice people. They were the type to look out after anyone no matter how distant they were. This trait of theirs reminded of Shinjiro somehow.

"Hm. I will." He murmured in a very low voice.

"You little kid." Lytch stretched his hands to ruffle Sorrel's hair but the other person leaned away from him. So instead he gave him a light jab on his back.

At this moment....

The presence of powerful individuals appearing one after another caught the attention of the crowd. Everyone became silent. The mighty presence of these twelve demon lords were no joke to the students who have always admired these heroes for their strength as well as bravery.

A group of dangerous looking people walked through the path between the students. Everyone saluted these heroes for their presence. Standing straighter than poles the crowd peeked their eyes onto their heroes.

The twelve demon lords of liard.

Ivar glanced at Ansel. He saw that the male lead's body was radiating with a powerful presence. His physical as well as power stats were exceeding Ivar's expectations. Without a doubt now Ivar was sure that the strongest being in this world was the Ansel Dellun.

The man leading the group of demon lords, the genius who caused the balance of the war to shift on the Liard's side.

For a split second the Emerald eyes of that person rested on him before it bypassed Ivar to fall on Aouli.

Ansel was the strongest son of fate Ivar had ever encountered in all these years. It seemed that this world was going to give him some new experience.

In a few minutes the tournament was ready to begin.

"Hitty." Ansel talked to his best friend through his mind.

"If you are going to ask about your dear Sorrel, he is doing fine. You don't have to worry about that kid anymore." Hitty replied to her friend before he could speak out his thoughts.

Ansel was silent for a while. "If that is so, I guess it's good." He have been worried about sorrel ever since he sent him away. That kid was the type to get hurt really easily. But Ansel was truthful when he said that he couldn't see him in that light so he didn't regret rejecting him. However he was worried so he did check on him from time to time, in secret without letting Sorrel find out about it. After all Sorrel was his responsibilty ever since the day he brought him back. But if sorrel could see him just as his elder brother it was going to be the best for both of them.

"Thanks Hitty for looking out for that kid." She heard him speak. She shook her head helplessly. If he was this worried in the first place he should have looked after Sorrel by himself. Why bother changing guardians for a while? Although she knew that Ansel might have had his reasons for doing so she couldn't help but feel that he should have been the one to care for Sorrel.

After this they cut off their telepathy.

Ansel and the rest of the higher ups were seated up on VIP rooms. They were seated on the upper floor of the stadium so they could have a better view of the battle that is to unfold on the stadium.

His eyes lingered on the two kids he had taken in.

Aouli Lumoah.

And.

Sorrel Inaha.

Given the present circumstances the face off of these two boys was going to be inevitable. They were the top contenders of this tournament.

"You are worried about your two boys?" A woman seated next to Ansel spoke to him. She had huge bosom, her skin on the chest exposed by her clothing. She had a bewitching face the type that would make a man uncomfortable just with a single glance.

"Those two you took in are the two rising stars of the academy right now. Everyone is interested in knowing who is stronger." She added speaking in a seductive voice.

"Senk is right. Its going to be the first time they are going to face off in an official match. They will end up battling for the crown this year." Another man dressed in black remarked following the woman called Senk.

Tsk. Senk clicked her tongue. "Yourk, stop copying me everytime. This is the reason why you are stuck below me in number three."

"I wasn't copying you." Yourk retaliated. "Just stating the obvious."

The number two and number three started to wrestle with each other. Everytime they were together these two were bound to get into bitter fights like this.

"....." They weren't wrong. Ansel thought to himself. It was indeed the first time Aouli and Sorrel were going to face off each other officially. He was also interested in knowing how much Sorrel have progressed in these two years. Ansel was already aware of Aouli's strength but watching him fight against Sorrel was going to be interesting.

What he and the rest of the people didn't expect was for the boy called Sorrel to shake up the stadium just with a few matches.

BOOOM!

The crashing sound of the opponent's body slamming against the wall as he lost consciousness made the crowd silent for a few seconds.

All it took was a kick for the white haired boy to end the battle.

"Khheeeuukk....aaaugghhhh.!" Hitty was wide eyed. She was as speechless as she could be, her eyeballs were about to roll off her sockets. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. When did Sorrel get so strong? For the boy to thwart his opponents with just one kick, without using his magic, Surely she must have underestimated this boy as she have never seen him at his highest potential.

Ivar concealed his magic essence. For the battles that he was going to fight right now he was going to use Sorrel's powers not his. Moreover he was going to press his strength onto his opponents based on their level of strength.

For the weak he was going to use a kick. For the strong he was going to go with a punch. And for the extreme he was going to go all out.

In the initial rounds all he used were kicks and punches to knock out his opponents. The level of his contenders were rising gradually but he never thought that he would be facing the red haired guy standing before him.

"Yo." Lytch spoke. He flashed him a smile as he declared. "I won't be going easy on you so I hope you will do the same."

Ivar stared at him. Lytch was stronger than those he have fought in the previous rounds. For this red haired guy how many punches or kicks were going to be enough to take him down?

Ivar's lips curled up to form a magnificent smile.

Don't blame me later for being merciless. He thought to himself as he sprinted forward.

He is fast.

Lytch thought to himself. Just as he was about to activate his magic into the magic circle something unexpected happened. The magic circle he had summoned was shattered to pieces under a crushing power punching through it. The punch fell forward aiming for Lytch's face. He barely dodged the fist thrusting towards him. It was at that moment he felt it. The tremendous strength resting in that single punch. It grazed past his right cheek, crushing the ground that was behind him. The momentum of that single punch was so strong that it drilled into his cheek, causing him to bruise on the right side of his face. From the corner of his eyes he saw that the ground have shattered to small debris, drilling a rift that cut into it.

"Come forth Lion." Lytch chanted bringing out his weapon. It was a gigantic hammer engrossed with his magic essence. Fire. The head of the red hammer was flickering with scorching blue flames. Lytch made his move. He jumped up, diving down at him opponent from a high elevation.

Ivar didn't dodge the rod of flames falling down on him. He raised his leg and kicked them upward. The friction of his high kick repelled the blue flames diving down at him. He then dashed upwards, Clenching his fist tightly he bared his hands with Sorrel's magic and punched against the head of the blazing hammer.

BOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!

The sky behind exploded violently, causing the clouds around to split into rows of white, as if they had been manipulated to split apart from each other.

Ivar slammed down his fist onto his opponent causing the other person to bang heavily against the ground below.

The onlookers saw the body of a person hitting the floor with a loud sound. The area where he fell was in shambles, a hollow dent drilling into the floor.

Everyone almost dropped their jaws.

Ivar flew down beside his opponent. He let out a blooming smile as he helped Lytch get up.

"I went easy on you because I don't want to hurt a precious friend."

Cough. Cough. Lytch coughed out a mouthful of blood as he took Sorrel's hand. He couldn't help but frown because of the pain. God knew how he was so thankful. Taking the handkerchief being offered to him he sighed with relief.

"Sorrel I am so glad you went easy on me." If not he was bound to end up with severe injures.

With a bright smile, "Sure."

Sorrel's wish to grow stronger, Ivar was going to give it his all to satisfy this wish of his.