“That settles it, then.” Nova smiled happily at Jack and Erevan, who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
They had been talking for hours about the auction that would take place in thirty days and the steps they wanted to take to accumulate wealth as quickly as possible. Even Erevan, who hailed from a higher civilization, was surprised to hear this new piece of information and didn’t want to miss out on it.
Thus, they tried to come to an agreement where all three parties would walk away happy, and after a long discussion, they finally reached one.
At least, until another voice, a fourth one, rang out in the room.
“I want my share too.”
Nova, Jack, and Erevan immediately turned their gazes to the entrance, where Slade stood calmly, not a hair out of place, his hands resting at his sides.
Jack said, “Look who’s here.”
“You’ve finally decided to come out,” Erevan said casually, though internally he was rubbing his temples. How can his timing always be so perfect at ruining things? You’ve been cooped up in your house for more than a month and now you’re coming out right after we’ve finished discussing business… it’s as if you have some sort of gift for it.
Slade ignored Jack. Instead, he glanced at Erevan for a moment, acknowledging his words, but remained silent. He didn’t feel the need to repeat himself after making his request all too clear.
Erevan was about to open his mouth when Nova beat him to it.
“You can have your share, but you need to contribute too. Otherwise, there’s no point in giving you one. What do you say?”
As always, Slade didn’t glance at Nova. Instead, he nodded slightly toward Erevan.
‘Prick.’ Nova snorted inwardly when he saw this. Every time he saw Slade, that word couldn’t help but come to mind. It was as if it were tailor made for him.
Erevan nodded back. “Since you’ve agreed, then as long as you contribute a fourth, you’ll receive a share.”
Panning his gaze across the room, he asked, “Now then, who will start?”
“Him.”
“Him.”
Two voices, along with two fingers belonging to Nova and Jack, instantly pointed toward the entrance door. Neither of them turned their heads as they both remained facing Erevan.
Erevan smiled bitterly and looked at Slade, his gaze seeming to ask whether he was fine with it or not.
Surprisingly, the latter nodded. “Pick the opponent for me.” With that, he turned around and left, stunning the other three in the room.
“Why is he being so cooperative? I thought he would put up a bit more of a fight before agreeing,” Jack muttered to himself, though it was loud enough that both Erevan and Nova heard him clearly.
“It’s better this way. Every minute we’re losing is precious time we could instead use to get Gold coins.” Nova shrugged and turned to walk toward the entrance. “I’ll take the next turn. Leave the picking to me.”
His back slowly faded from the other two’s view.
Erevan sighed, feeling as if he were about to get a headache from both Nova and Slade. Then, remembering there was still someone else to settle matters with, he turned to Jack and said, “What about you?”
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“I’ll go last,” Jack said, and left.
Smacking his lips, Erevan muttered, “Who should I choose for my opponent? At least someone with a few billion Gold coins, just to be safe.”
As he sat there alone, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and said, “Never mind. I can think about it later. For now, I should pick someone for Slade to fight.”
/////
A few hours later, a series of notifications rang in their minds.
Erevan had chosen Slade’s opponent.
[You have challenged Deria]
[Your civilization has been declared the leader civilization]
[Deria has been declared the subordinate civilization]
[You have 23 hours to decide the maximum number of warriors each civilization will be allowed to send. After the 23 hours have passed, the subordinate civilization’s choice will be revealed to you, and you will have 1 hour to decide who enters]
[The fight will take place one day from now in Arena #599.]
[Time Remaining: 23:00:00]
‘It took him longer than I expected. Unfortunately, we’ve been selected as the leader civilization.’ Nova thought as he stared at several pieces of paper in front of him. Each of them emanated a sense of sharpness that couldn’t be found just anywhere.
‘Let me see their rank.’
He quickly asked the system, and soon a message popped into his mind.
[Deria (9,601st)]
Nova’s eyebrows shot up as he exclaimed, “He went ahead and challenged a top ten thousand? He really is going all out.”
But the longer he stared at the ranking, the more he liked the idea of challenging a civilization that stood among the best in this portal.
“Since Erevan picked it for Slade, there’s a high chance he already knows how far the prick can go.” His lips curled up slightly. “I guess I can’t be too sloppy when selecting my opponent either.”
Putting those thoughts aside, he picked up one of the papers in front of him and focused on it.
“Since I can’t waste money for a month, I’ll deepen my understanding of arrays, Force, and crafting. Hopefully, it will all be worth it when the auction arrives.”
/////
A day later, while Nova was busy in his room, Slade stood in the arena with his arms behind his back, facing a middle-aged woman whose eyes were filled with mockery and anger.
She couldn’t believe that a civilization ranked so low dared to challenge hers at a time like this.
You won’t leave this arena alive to regret what you’ve done. She thought angrily.
Soon, the invisible barrier blocking the warriors from fighting was lifted.
Before the woman could rush toward him, she was stunned in place as Slade coldly said, “Surrender or die.”
“What… did you just say?” she asked, her tone filled with shock.
She waited for Slade to say something more, but nothing else came out of his mouth.
Is he mocking me? He? These ants truly have no idea what they’re doing, do they?
Her anger soon turned into rage as all she saw was a perfectly calm Slade standing still at the spot where he had been teleported. He wasn’t even making any attempt to prepare for a fight.
If she knew Slade’s character, she wouldn’t think this was out of the norm. Sadly, she didn’t.
“Impudent brat, let me teach you and your civilization a lesson you’ll never forget,” she spat through gritted teeth and dashed toward him at a speed that would’ve made Oreto snap his neck just to follow.
Slade didn’t bat an eye at the woman’s outburst and coldly watched as she rapidly approached him.
When she was just ten meters away, he finally acted.
Mouthing a few words, he lightly tapped his foot on the ground, so lightly that someone walking would have made more noise. But as soon as he did, the area within several tens of meters transformed into an icy hell.
The ground froze. The air froze. And, if one looked closely, even certain mana elements had solidified, at least partly.
If not for the woman dashing at breakneck speed toward him, one might have assumed someone had paused time.
Ice? So what? It’s just a bit of cold. How can a puny native from a puny civilization be any threat to me? The middle-aged woman thought, her speed unaffected in the slightest.
But that changed when she reached five meters from Slade.
The moment she did, it felt as if her entire being was about to freeze solid.
It was absurd.
Just a meter ago, she had felt only slightly colder, but now it was as if she would never be able to move again. What was before the five meter mark had been merely an appetizer. What was within was the full course.
Dread finally blossomed in her heart.
She gathered all her strength, intending to dash backward, but the instant her foot touched the ground, it froze and, from there, ice quickly spread upward.
With no other option, she screamed, I SURRENDER!
But the words never left her mouth, doomed to remain only in her thoughts.
A second later, Slade was teleported back to the town.
The spectators in the stands couldn’t help but have their jaws drop.
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