They all shared one collective thought: "Quite courageous." It was an act of extreme audacity.
When Paragons spoke, no one else dared to interrupt or even click a sound.
But here was a new, young brat, daring to cut short their critical discussions.
"You may speak," Magnus said, his voice calm, before any other Paragon could voice an objection.
He wanted to assess the true nature of this young man, this anomaly who had so effortlessly captured his daughter’s attention and displayed such terrifying power.
This was an opportunity to truly understand Klaus’s character.
"Well," Klaus began, his voice clear and resonating through the arena, addressing all the Paragons equally.
"Instead of having a heated, drawn-out discussion that will inevitably lead nowhere productive, let’s just settle it with a duel.
I alone, against all the participants from the five families including those who cowardly challenged Rose and Arthur earlier. All of you can come at me together." His proposal was audacious, unheard of.
"to ensure nobody is killed let’s do it in a VR" he said, as he wanted to make sure he did not kill anyone, but this point was being seen as a step of self-preservation rather what Klaus intended it for.
"If I win," Klaus continued, his voice steady, his eyes holding a challenging glint, "and I subdue all of you, then I will be considered completely innocent in this matter.
And as compensation, the Ravenstein family would have to compensate me a single, specific demand of my choosing."
"If, by some remote chance, the participants from the five families win and manage to subdue me" Klaus stated, his tone implied impossibility,
"then all five of those families can keep five separate, specific demands from the Association and the Bennet family."
Listening to such a high-stakes, seemingly one-sided offer, the ears of the opposing Paragons immediately perked up.
Their faces, previously etched with frustration, now showed gleams of avarice.
This was an offer too good to be true, a chance to gain immense leverage.
Especially for the four families who had nothing to lose and everything to gain from such a lopsided wager.
Meanwhile, William looked at Klaus, his expression serious.
"Hey, brat," he asked silently, his voice a mental whisper that only Klaus could hear
"Are you truly confident?"
"Yes, absolutely," Klaus replied mentally, his conviction unwavering.
The proposal looked ridiculous and immature to almost everyone in the room,
they thought it was a reckless gamble from an arrogant youth.
Everyone, that is, except for a select few who recognized the true power behind Klaus’s words.
But even those who saw the absurdity of this proposal didn’t stop Klaus. They were too eager to see the confident, smug young man get publicly crushed.
The Ravenstein patriarch, his eyes gleaming with a new, dark glint, stepped forward, breaking the silence.
"I accept the deal!" he declared, his voice booming across the arena, eager to seize the opportunity.
Klaus now stood at the centre of the arena, his posture relaxed, his hands folded across his chest.
He calmly observed as all the participants from the five Legacy Families he had challenged gathered around him.
There were over fifty individuals, all young scions from the Ravenstein, Helios, Cromwell, Hawkins, and Ashford families, their faces a mix of arrogance, resentment, and a clear intent to humiliate him.
The battle was set to take place in the virtual reality environment.
The preparations were taking quite some time, as the Association’s advanced VR setup, a system completely organized and managed by William, was being meticulously calibrated.
Since only the Guardian Academy and the Hunter’s Association had access to this cutting-edge technology, the setup was complex and precise.
Every young person who entered the arena, whether it was a boy or a girl, bore a predatory glint in their eyes, eager to prove their worth and to publicly shame Klaus Bennet.
In the forefront of the mass of participants was a boy from the Cromwell family.
His name was Henry Chromewell.
He looked like a direct descendant of the main family line, carrying himself with an air of inherent superiority.
Along with him stood other heirs from the various families, their expressions mirroring Henry’s disdain.
Klaus didn’t bother to register their names; from his perspective, they were a collective mob, equivalent to insignificant ants, not individuals worthy of his attention.
The young man, Henry Chromewell, surveyed Klaus with a sneer.
"I was enough to crush this ant to the ground" he stated, his voice loud, intended to carry across the bounds of VR and reach the viewers.
"We didn’t need everyone here. What a waste of our time." His comment hung in the open air, a clear insult directed at Klaus, who remained impassive.
Klaus simply looked at the sword in his hand, Lost Echo, examining its perfectly black blade as if lost in thought, completely ignoring Henry’s remark.
Looking at him being so overtly ignored, the other heirs in the mob began to hurl their curses.
Their voices rose in a cacophony of insults. "Coward!" one shouted. "Arrogant fool!" another yelled.
Soon, the whole group of almost fifty-plus people joined in the verbal assault, their voices rising in volume, creating a deafening wave of vitriol.
Some even cursed his seven generations, their anger flared uncontrolled. The entire environment became restless and filled with animosity.
Klaus looked at them, his red eyes calm and unwavering. He made no direct eye contact with anyone.
Then, without bothering to address any specific individual among the shouting mob, he simply stated, his voice clear and resonant, "Chihuahua."
"Huh?" Henry Chromewell paused his tirade, a frown of confusion on his face.
He exchanged a bewildered glance with the youth beside him. "What is ’chihuahua’?"
The other young man just murmured something unintelligible, clearly as confused as Henry, causing Henry’s frown to deepen.
A few moments passed as the information, or lack thereof, settled in.
Then, with a sudden flash of insight, some of the more well-read youths in the mob understood the implied humiliation.
A chihuahua was a tiny, yappy, aggressive, yet ultimately harmless, dog. The realization that they had just been compared to such a creature, dismissed as insignificant pests, made their faces contort with even more intense fury.
The curses intensified, becoming a unified roar of pure rage, until all the preparations were complete, and the host,
the Blackwood official, finally raised his voice, signalling the start of the battle.
The moment the signal was given, the mob of participants surged forward, rushing towards Klaus.
Their collective mana flared, creating a wave of mixed elemental energy.
Klaus looked at them, observing their disorganized charge.
He knew he could virtually kill every single one of them with a few precise slashes of his sword, effortlessly, like carving butter.
But as a Dragon Heir, his profound pride did not allow him to waste physical effort on "ants" unless it was to achieve a specific goal or prove a point with maximum impact.
This was an opportunity. "Eat this, bitches," he muttered, his voice low, a chilling sound of contempt.
He then activated Blazing Meteor (S). The activation consumed a significant amount of mana, a deliberate choice, as he intended to ensure that they would remember the sheer horror of this moment for a lifetime.
He had also manifested the meteor at quite a considerable height above the arena, ensuring it would create a devastating impact as it gained immense energy due to gravitational acceleration.
A colossal, blazing orb of fire, easily the size of a large building, began to form high in the virtual atmosphere above the arena. It pulsed with searing heat, invisible to everyone currently.
Under one minute, it would descend.