Chapter 571: This familiar voice

Ceano sighed and joined Will. The duo sat before the demon statue and casually observed the numerous people below. Many eyes turned towards them, but the presence they emitted caused the onlookers to quickly look away.

Once the two shadow generals settled before the demon's statue, the demon, dark, and nightkin race individuals all chuckled and descended towards the numerous stages below amidst the towering walls.

The atmosphere grew heavy as dark energy filled the air. The individuals from the dark side sneered and taunted those around them with their words, but they knew they were not allowed to mess with the crowd.

The second shadow general who had brought them here had instructed them not to provoke anyone, but had also granted them the freedom to act as they pleased once the battles in the Gladiator Arena began and they stood above the stages.

The illusionary male and female figures floating around the stages all gathered around the people from the dark side when Old Hal gazed at them. He watched as the figures started handing the demon, dark, and nighkin race people nameplates.

The old man returned to his seat with a solemn face and instructed a woman to relocate all those seated beneath the demon's statue to a different place. This way, all the individuals from the dark side would sit in one single place and wouldn't secretly do something under their nose.

The woman nodded and disappeared from her spot. The air was filled with different voices, but the sickening laughter from the demons was now the loudest as they mocked every single person around them, yet refrained from physical conflict. After all, even if those they were taunting wanted to engage in combat, they couldn't do so in the presence of the illusionary figures. Also, anyone who broke the rules by starting a fight before the Arena officially began would get kicked out of the Arena.

Nine got up from his seat and started moving with the others because he was among the people seated beneath the demon's statue. He looked up at the two shadow generals, and his gaze lingered on Ceano. The familiar golden eyes similar to him and long hair... Undoubtedly, the man was the very person he had encountered on the demon's planet. He took a deep breath, remembering how close the shadow general's fingers had been to him when he narrowly escaped. If Kyle hadn't told him about that life-saving artifact, he would have been in big trouble.

"Just where is that silver-haired man? Is he going to join in or what?"

A man with ghostly pale skin and a pair of horns on his head walked past Nine, and Nine's eyes narrowed at the man's grin as the latter took the seat he had just left. The man belonged to the nightkin race.

Nine looked around and noticed more people from the dark side were filling the seats that were getting empty. His eyes narrowed, and a smirk played on his lips as all the chairs where he and the lizard race members had previously sat suddenly crumbled.

There was a collective gasp from the nightkin race individuals who had just taken the seats, only to find themselves slumping down as the sand-made chairs disintegrated. Laughter erupted from the onlookers. In an instant, the smiles on the faces of the nightkin race individuals faded as one of them realized the chairs' base had been sabotaged. He scanned the crowd with a challenging gaze.

"Who the hell did this? Step up!"

"Let's see if you even have the courage to come forward!"

Nine swiftly grabbed his hood and flung it up to cover his head, his lips mimicking the words the nightkin race individual had just spoken before he gazed back with a grin.

"Nah, I don't wanna, any problem?"

His hushed words drifted in the air, but all the lizard race members who had seen what he did with the chairs earlier stared at his head with blank expressions upon hearing his faint whisper.

Nine blinked innocently when he sensed some eyes on him and gestured towards a distant area where several empty chairs were available.

"Guys, there are some vacant seats. Let's hurry over there! What are you all doing watching the fate of some pitiful souls who were so heavy that their chairs broke?"

He shook his head with a sigh, causing everyone around him to roll their eyes at his words, and began floating toward the empty chairs. However, he paused and narrowed his eyes when he spotted a familiar figure in the distant crowd. He blinked a few times to confirm he wasn't mistaken since the man was quite far away.

A hearty laugh erupted from his mouth as he took a deep breath and shouted loudly enough for everyone around to hear.

"Jian, you bastard!"

The people around him all gave him strange looks as he yelled once more, even though Jian had already caught his voice and shifted his gaze towards him.

The man with red hair squinted in his direction, but after a few seconds, he laughed and swiftly moved away from the elves seated nearby. Yue also picked up on the voice and, upon seeing Jian leaving, she and Nox followed suit. Wesley shouted from behind the duo with an angry expression.

"Where the hell are you two going!? Stop, come back, it's dangerous!"

However, it was as if his words were drowned in the surrounding noise because the duo didn't even glance back at him.

Due to the sudden shouts, someone from another group of people, who were sitting a bit further from Nine's previous location, also caught his voice.

'This familiar voice...'

Carcel blinked. He had to rise with the others to vacate their seats as well because, according to the woman in the cream-colored robe who had just appeared in the air, only individuals from the dark side would sit beneath the demon's statue. He whipped his head back, only to see the back of the hooded man floating in the distance and spoke up.

"Is that Nine?"