Elder Ruso fainted on the spot upon being subjected to the fearsome guardian beast. With bubbles around his mouth, his eyes rolled up. One mere hiss from the gigantic black serpent that almost covered half of the assembly area, Elder Ruso’s last thoughts before he lost consciousness was his life flashing before him. On the other hand, Elder Minron became pale but he did not lose consciousness in front of the jaws of death. Closing his eyes, he felt the hot breath and smelled the stench of blood and gore from the Black Serpent’s mouth. Clenching his fists, Elder Minron opened his eyes—though he dared not look into the Black Serpent’s eyes. “Lo-Lord Black S-Serpent, I am your loyal subject, Minron. Please listen to our humble request.” The gigantic snake slithered its way toward Elder Minron. The closer it got to the elder, the paler the old man had become. He had to hide his trembling fists under his garbs. Elder Minron immediately knelt, his head touching the wooden floor. “The Tri
Wearing their traditional warrior garbs of woven materials and silk, the proud nomads of the Olrock Tribe of the west stopped in their tracks at the sight of Cielo—in a suit—and Velicia—in a dress while seated in a wheelchair. Their darker tone stood out, creating a fiercer look compared to Cielo and Velicia.“I thought no kids can watch the battles?” asked the woman beside the bulky man at the center. She leaned forward, showing off her cleavage. “Little girl, tell your big brother to take you to the mall instead of coming here, alright? Your presence here sullies the image of the Trials of Eights.”Without the presence of the guards, they indeed looked like some lost boy and fragile girl.A lanky man chimed in. “You both looked familiar though. Are you perhaps the children of the competitors from the Free Cities?”With raised brows, the woman linked her arm around the unmoving and silent man at the center. “Makes sense.” She observed Cielo and Velicia. “I did not know that the Free
The lanky Olrock man staggered from the turbulent energy that slammed his body. Even after the fact that they were the farthest from such a monster and that they were not the receiving end of the command, his body almost followed suit with the folks from the Free Cities.Aside from Alamin of the Olrock Tribe, Senya of the Roxas Tribe and the blonde man from the Hiperia Tribe beside Senya, all the other warriors of the three tribes were either moaning or fighting off their nausea.Senya wiped the sweat from her chin. “That young lad is the real deal.” She shifted her attention to the smiling blonde man beside her. “Right, Xerxes?”“Wait for that little lady to make a move. According to my sources, she is the strongest one among us. Next to her is that young boy.” Xerxes shook his head. “Really. The powers of the guardian beasts are incomparable to us mere mortals.”“Guardian beasts?” Alamin piped in. Though he did not care about information and intel sources, the raw strength he felt f
As soon as the airship left, women in their skimpy clothes—practically displaying their cleavage and ass—pushed together a gigantic digital television. On its screen were the words ‘Trials of Eights’. Upon the arrival of the women with headbands of cats and bunnies, the men from the free cities whistled and cheered.The host clan’s patriarch, Ren Regalia, spoke. “Before I begin the preliminary draw, let me request the help of my grandson in operating this colossal tech machine.”Alfred Satova chuckled. “We know, Ren. Besides, the God’s Eyes of Young Master Cielo can verify anything, eliminating any possibility of doubts among us.”Miranda Roxas, clad in her blue armor, nodded. “What a dashing name for a beast’s skill.” Though her tone was friendly, her eyes were mocking Ren Regalia.As the chieftain of the tribe that honored the goddess of the sea who hunted sacred beasts, like the beasts of the hidden families, Miranda Roxas detested people who were tied to any beast much more than t
Unlike the opening ceremony, Cielo was sporting the traditional garbs of the Regalia Clan—a samurai hakama of pure black. Though he was not sporting any samurai right now, the dagger under his hakama was enough, and of course, Rito. The moment he stepped down from the car, what the people, who were waiting to see the warriors for the Trials of Eights, saw first was the pair of geta sandals—a complete contrast to the sparkling black shoes he had worn yesterday.With every step he made to the entrance of the arena, the sound of the wooden sandals resonated amid the clicking of cameras and rainfall of questions.Cielo was midway to the entrance when a Lamborghini arrived right after the Volvo drove away. Turning back to see Velicia in a pastel dress, he did not have some second thoughts and went straight to her.Smiling down at her as a way of greeting, he asked for permission. “May I?”Like always, Velicia nodded.-“You entered the entrance twice together? Are the two clans merging?”-“
“—ready? And fight!”The crowd of warriors seated on the surrounding bleachers erupted when Shuha took the lead in the offensive. Without moving from his spot, Cielo remained standing—as if he was openly welcoming Shuha’s attack.For Shuha, who had seen many types of beasts in the wild, he could not help but frown at his opponent’s response. Shuha openly jumped in front of Cielo. He jumped high enough to make Cielo squint his eyes as Shuha’s silhouette covered the blazing sun hovering over them, only to appear behind Cielo in a blink of an eye.Eyes yet to gleam blue, Cielo nodded his head as he glanced behind him. Meeting the eyes of Shuha, he smiled. “For a man who is only a year older than me, you are quite good. If you met me a few months back, I would definitely lose.”Before Shuha’s deadly fish destroy his head to bits, Cielo had already dodged to his right and jumped a few meters from the frowning Shuha.“Fight me.” Shuha stretched his arms and neck.Cielo finally moved his han
“Stop staring.” For the nth time, Velicia said these words. This time, it was laced with shyness from Cielo’s blatant staring. “You know that I can’t eat straight if someone is staring at me as if I have grown a tail.” “Well, will you grow a tail?” Like an eager child who was served a toy for the first time, Cielo’s black eyes gleamed with excitement. Not minding the fact that they were in the deserted restaurant located in the lobby of the arena, Cielo’s voice raised a pitch higher than usual. Raising her brows, Velicia asked back. “Did you also grow a tail when you finally merged with the Black Serpent?” Cielo’s shoulders slumped after getting the answer to his question. Upon seeing Cielo’s puppy-dog expression, Velicia could not help but continue. “Well, if you keep on watching my following matches, or when you are lucky enough to meet me in the finals, maybe I will show you my 70% merging body with my guardian beast.” “Merging body? Is it the same with merged cores? Rito did
Sweat splashed in sync as he slashed the air with his wooden sword. With his black-and-white hakama, Cielo spent his night practicing kendo to calm his chaotic emotions and turbulent mind. “Are you calm now? There are blisters on your palms from your nonstop swaying of that damn wooden stick.” Rito, who was in his young boy form, remained slumped at the corner of the dojo while eating seafood pizza. “Raella still managed to enter the family register like the original timeline.” Rito burped. “So what? Jun Regalia is not the successor anymore, you are.” “It also means that Cael will be joining the clan anytime soon. That sly son of a bitch will start his devious schemes right after entering the household.” Cielo stopped midway from hitting the air with a clean strike as if he remembered something vital. “No. Maybe, the plan had long started way before he entered the household and even Raella is only a pawn—his eyes and ears—in his game.” “Then that man is indeed dangerous.” Cielo