"What in the hell happened!?" Alan stood up from his seat with an agitated expression.
Just now, he was completely sure that the young man who refused his offer was going to lose. Everything seemed to indicate that.
However, in the end, he won.
Moreover, Alan did not even understand how he did that.
It was such a sudden reversal that he was unable to control his emotions for an instant.
The emperor, the empress, and Dina looked at him strangely. Alan noticed a hint of suspicion in their eyes.
He quickly took a deep breath and calmed down. It was not a good idea to reveal that he poisoned one of the contestants.
Mainly because his mother seemed to see that young man in a favorable light.
"… I'm just curious. It seemed like he was going to lose."
"Mm. I also thought the same." The emperor nodded. "Actually, even I am a bit surprised. That last attack… If I'm not wrong, it was a kind of counter. He used his enemy's attack against him."
"That is…"
"That is very amazing right?" The empress asked curiously.
"Yes." The emperor nodded. "The control and mastery he has over martial arts must be amazing. A shame, he could have won the tournament if his next opponent was not Louis. Plus, he seems very tired, I'm not sure how much strength he can show in his next battle."
The empress nodded with a complicated expression.
She was a bit happy that Clark would be unable to marry Dina. But at the same time, she did not want to see her lover lose.
On the other hand, Dina was currently doing her best to hide her anxiousness.
Dina knew that Clark was Claus, and she knew he was very strong. In fact, she thought he could be around the twelfth layer or maybe stronger.
However, her brother had never told her exactly how strong he was.
And judging by the battles he just fought, it seemed like he was having trouble just defeating a ninth-layer practitioner.
Thus, although her logical side was telling her that her brother should be stronger, her emotional side could not help but turn anxious seeing the current situation.
"By the way, what is the background of the young man?" The emperor suddenly asked. "Is he a commoner?"
An expression of hesitation appeared on the empress's face. She looked at the panting Clark in the stage before finally sighing.
"… He is one of my subordinates."
"Huh?"
The emperor, Alan, and Dina looked at the empress in surprise.
"Your subordinate?"
"Is he your subordinate, mother?"
The emperor and Alan asked one after another.
The empress smiled and nodded. "Yes, half my subordinate actually. He also has ties to the church. You probably already heard about him, husband. He is the leader behind scenes of the Red Skull Gang."
The emperor was startled. He then recalled the reports about the Red Skull Gang he had read and finally nodded.
"I see. I did not know you have ties to the Red Skull Gang, though."
"… I do. But keep it a secret. He is helping me with some things that can't come to light."
The emperor nodded slightly and did not insist. It was not strange for people like them to have that kind of subordinates.
However, Alan's expression was a bit more troubled. He had poisoned his mother's subordinate.
Soon, though, he stopped worrying about that. In the end, Clark was just a subordinate. At most, he would apologize to him later.
None of them saw the strange expression that appeared on Dina's face.
"… This brother of mine."
Dina shook her head with an exasperated expression. Looking towards the stage, she put on a proud smile.
Hah, that slut was fooled by my brother and she did not even notice.
I wonder how she will react when she learns of her subordinate's true identity.
Fortunately, Dina did not know about the true relationship between the empress and Claus, otherwise, she would have died of astonishment and speechlessness.
At the same time, she would have cursed her brother's womanizing ways.
…
Louis watched how the red-haired young man left the stage after defeating his opponent.
"… Such a shame." He clicked his tongue.
As a tenth-layer swordsman and the student of a beyond twelfth-layer practitioner, Louis was very confident in his abilities. He was confident he would not lose against anyone else of his age.
Due to that reason, he was never afraid of the red-haired young man.
Quite the opposite, he was rather excited when he met him.
Only by defeating such a genius, such a strong opponent, he could show his superiority.
Unfortunately, it seemed like he was not going to have that opportunity.
He could see that, although the red-haired young man won, he was already spent. He probably could not show even ten percent of his battle prowess.
"I guess I will just defeat him quickly then."
With a sigh, Louis went up the stage to fight his next battle.
In front of him, an eighth-layer young man appeared.
Louis looked at him apathetically and unsheathed his sword.
"Let's do it fast."
With these words, he unleashed his sword intent.
Less than thirty seconds later, his opponent lay on the ground bleeding profusely.
…
"Mr. Bloed, it's time for the last battle." A servant approached me and informed me with a respectful look.
After Louis's battle, we were given half an hour to rest, so I was currently 'resting' in the waiting room.
Now that the half an hour ended, it's time for the next battle.
"Alright. I'm going." I said with a nod.
However, the servant did not leave the room immediately.
"Do you need anything else?"
The servant looked at me and hesitated slightly.
"... Are you alright? Do you think you can win?"
I could not help but chuckle when I heard that.
It looks like the servant is worried about me.
Could it be that he bet on me or something like that?
"You don't need to worry," I said with a soft chuckle. "I will definitively win."
Leaving these words behind, I left the waiting room and walked towards the stage.
There, Louis was already waiting for me with an ice-cold expression.
Let's end this play then.