The Queen

Emery thought there was no way an acolyte could control all of these little creatures with their own prowess alone.

Hence, he guessed there must be something that helped the acolyte control these little creatures. He assumed there must be a leader or commander amongst them. Emery also remembered from the observation he did during his childhood days ants were basically slaves to their superior.

Therefore, based on all these deductions and information, Emery knew it was likely there was the leader type of these creatures somewhere in the arena.

As he was being cornered by the creatures earlier, Emery tried his best to locate the so-called queen. Looking at the open arena, he couldn't see anything that could be of use as a hideout for the queen. And then, it hit him.

Emery recalled the creatures were basically coming out of Molt's sleeves and seeing the clothes he wore, he realized there was more than enough space for one little creature to hide beneath it. Hence, the plan.

At that exact moment, the time when the ant queen flew away from beneath Molt's clothes, Emery quickly teleported over and caught the flying creature in his palm before it could run away.

In an instant, all the creatures that had been surrounding him stopped simultaneously.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for Emery, some of the acid fluid apparently also splashed towards the creatures around Molt, causing them to screech loudly in pain.

Molt, on the other hand, seemed to descend into panic when he saw the ant queen had been captured.

"Please, please, please... Don't hurt her... Don't hurt Letta, please!" Molt frantically said, earning him a weird gaze from Emery.

Emery was surprised to see Molt's attitude change so instantly and drastically. If the previous him could be described as a maniac, the current him looked like a worried parent. Truly a stark difference, worlds apart.

Even though Emery could see Molt gritting his teeth, probably due to the pain of his skin burning, he seemed to not be concerned about his body, but more towards the creature in Emery's hand.

"Y-You… You can do anything to me, but let her go... Wait, there's a better deal. I give up! you win. Please let her go."

Seeing Emery seemed to not believe his words, Molt swiftly turned around and shouted to the audience, "I give up! I give up!"

The moment Molt shouted his surrender, a notification immediately appeared in his mind.

[Congratulations! You have won the fourth match!]

After receiving the notification and examining it two more times, Emery surely had no more reason to hurt the little creature and let her go.

The released flying ant quickly flew towards Molt and the spiky-haired acolyte welcomed the creature into his embrace like a mother receiving her long lost child. Honestly, it was quite a weird sight.

Emery didn't know how to feel when he suddenly saw a different side of the acolyte he previously hated, a side he never expected Molt to have. It appeared there would always be a story behind everyone's actions and this acolyte's behaviour of torturing humans must have something to do with his love for his pet. Maybe...

Molt looked like he didn't seem to care he had lost the game. He gave Emery a mixed gaze and then took out two small objects that looked like the cubes he saw at Lord Izta's palace, but in the shape of a sphere. He threw the two spheres into the air and a bright light appeared, before all the ant-like creatures were sucked into the spheres.

Emery reckoned those must be the special artifacts or equipment a beast tamer used, just like the cauldron and other stuff the Apothecary Path had.

Either way, Emery had won the game. When he walked out of the arena, he felt as if his whole body was crumbling apart and about to shut down. Unfortunately, it wasn't a mere feeling, as Emery lost his footing and his body immediately hit the ground the moment he went down from the arena.

Emery's now unresponsive body was then quickly carried back to the medical facility and returned to the strange pod in haste.

Emery, who was still conscious, could only sigh inwardly, as he knew his body already broke through its limit. Now he truly needed to recuperate.

The only unfortunate things about being treated in the pod was that he was unable to watch the game. Realizing he could only stare at the ceiling, Emery quickly dived into his mind, as he began reflecting his actions on the previous fights.

Out of four matches he went through, Emery obtained one loss and three wins. Two of the wins came from his opponent surrendering to him. It didn't look like an amazing result, but a win still a win and Emery was thrilled waiting for tomorrow's last match.

Suddenly, Emery thought about his friends, who might still be fighting their fourth match, Silva and Klea. An interesting thought abruptly emerged into his mind.

Emery wondered which one between the two would have better chances to make it through the second day. Naturally, he wished both of them would succeed in their endeavor. However, Emery just couldn't help it and began to unconsciously compare the two with each other.

Therefore, he began to start a series of monologues.

"Klea has multiple elements…"

"...but Silva has her bloodline."

"Klea is very talented and her spells are amazing..."

"... but Silva is very smart, though. I am sure she has many tricks prepared for this game."

" Klea is not a pushover as well. She's tough..."

"Well, both of them are amazing girls."

"... Yeah. They are both beautiful in their own way."

"..."

"Wait, seems like I forgot some-… Why am I comparing them again...?"

Before Emery could solve this century-old question, the pod he was in suddenly made a sound and its door slowly opened. Seeing that, Emery swiftly forgot about everything earlier.

"Aahh, that's faster than I thought."

However, when the door opened, Emery didn't realize a beautiful girl was already waiting for him. It was Klea.

"Emery!" she shouted, her eyes teary.

Emery was startled and looked towards Klea with a surprised and confused gaze. When he stepped out of the pod, Klea immediately hugged him.

"Klea? What's wrong...? Did... did you lose?" Emery slowly asked, as he was unsure about the situation and Klea's sudden cry.

She immediately released the hug and stepped back, "Of course not, you silly! I won!"

"You won? Then, why are you...?"

"That's me worrying about your condition, Emery!" Klea's sad face quickly morphed into an annoyed one. "Huh! Sometimes I wonder if you are really smart or stupid!"

Receiving Klea's chiding, Emery could only scratch his head awkwardly, "Hahaha... Sorry, Klea. Hehehe..."? Emery said, even though he wasn't really sure what he was apologizing for.

"Stupid! Stupid! Huh!" Klea said with an annoyed tone. "I will call the others first. You, wait here."

Emery could only watch as Klea left the room in a hurry. Sure, he wanted to follow her, but somehow his body couldn't move properly yet. Emery then finally realized his right hand had regrown already.

It seemed the thing he was put into was really amazing. Still mesmerized by his regrown arm, Emery suddenly felt an alarm. There was something approaching him, fast.

When Emery turned around to see who it was, he suddenly was punched in the stomach and something was forced into his mouth, making him unable to shout.

Moments later, Klea returned with the others only to find Emery was already gone.