Chapter 582: That's straight up cheating!

Kyle played with Bia's feathers as he listened to the old dwarf sitting beside him.

"Just curious..."

He glanced to the side as another person arrived and sat down beside him. It was Alec. The man with blue hair had wrinkled clothes and was panting heavily. Surprise flashed through his dark eyes when they met Kyle's gaze.

"You...? It's only been a few minutes? How are you back already?"

Kyle let out a chuckle.

"So, did I win the bet, huh?"

Alec sighed with a smile.

"Yeah yeah, I practically bulldozed everyone in my stage and tossed them out, but even after that, I'm second. Who do you think would be next?"

A pensive look crossed Kyle's face as he narrowed his eyes to survey the numerous floating stages ahead. Yue's stage was the closest to him, and after a moment, he found the others in the crowd as well.

His gaze briefly lingered on Nine's form. The brown-haired man wielded dual swords in both hands, courageously confronting opponents stronger than him. Kyle's gaze flickered with curiosity when he noticed Nine's injuries healing on their own.

His eyes gleamed as he focused completely on the blue glow that always enveloped Nine's skin whenever the latter sustained even the slightest injury.

'He has got a powerful healing skill...'

He looked away from Nine when the latter suddenly turned his head with a puzzled expression, likely feeling his stare. Kyle observed Regius, Mia, Carcel, and the others' fighting styles before focusing on Sinon and responding to Alec.

"I think Sinon would be next. Being a demi-human with wings, he's quicker than the rest. If he has a powerful skill, he can easily win by tossing his opponents out of the stage in one go."

Alec, who had just leaned back in his chair to catch his breath, shook his head with a dry smile at Kyle's words.

"No, not Sinon. Like you said, he's fast, but all his strong skills are water-based. So, even though he's good with them, he can't exactly flood the stage and overwhelm his opponents by drowning them in water."

Kyle was surprised by his words.

He started watching Sinon, but a mix of emotions crossed his face when Alec's words proved right. Alec held back a laugh at his expression and yelled loudly at Sinon, even though he knew the demi-human couldn't hear him from that far.

"Come on! Submerge them all!"

A speechless expression appeared on Kyle's face as he heard Alec's words.

In the meantime, Sinon, who had just started floating after defeating one of his opponents and was about to unleash his most powerful water-based skill to flood the entire stage, paused for a moment.

He narrowed his eyes when a sudden thought crossed his mind that someone was talking behind his back. However, after realizing no one was looking at him, he casually shrugged, glanced down at the battling figures below, and smirked.

"Taste the power of the ruler of skies!"

A chuckle escaped his lips as a massive wave of water, tinged with violet currents and swirling vortexes, surged behind him. The illusory figure floating beside the stage swiftly retreated, and a barrier rose to cover the stage as the water wave crashed down, submerging all those battling below.

Curses filled the air, yet Sinon remained undeterred, his eyes sparkled with a white gleam as he tightly clenched his hand. In an instant, the water filling the stage began to heat up, forming bubbles on its surface. The violet currents and swirling vortexes grew larger and more violent, slicing through everything in their path.

Those caught within the water swiftly moved away from the powerful currents and swirling vortexes. Some of the fighters quickly ditched their opponents and rushed towards the demi-human at lightning speed to deal with that jerk first. However, they were caught off guard when Sinon raised his fist. With a swift motion, he brought it down towards the bubbling water, causing it to split in half and forcefully ejecting everyone floating within off the stage.

Sinon flicked his hair with a smug look as he watched the water exiting the stage.

"Now, that's what we call a swift finale! Haha, I think I should switch my title with Nine... the sea overlord fits me better-!"

He stopped as he noticed that after the water drifted off the stage, two individuals had somehow managed to grab onto the stage in time, ensuring parts of their bodies stayed above the hovering platform, and surprisingly, both of them were women.

As the two women climbed the stage, one of them, who was from the demon race, spat out the water in her mouth with an extremely unpleasant expression. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were soaked. She glared at the flying demi-human and gritted out with pure fury.

"You bastard!"

Sinon gazed down at the demon woman and let out a dry laugh. His eyes shifted toward the other woman who was from the human race as he mumbled quietly.

"Oh, it appears the battle isn't over yet..."

He swiftly turned his head towards the illusionary figure outside the stage.

"Woah, hold up! Weren't they supposed to be eliminated? I mean, more than half of their bodies were off the stage!"

The illusionary figure shot him a passive look and shook their head, signaling that the two women weren't eliminated since they were still holding onto the stage.

"That's straight up cheating!!"

Sinon leaped in the air as the demon woman lunged at him with her sharp nails. His expression turned serious as he maintained his balance mid-air.

"Alright, it's time for me to end this! I can't be the last one, can I? I still remember the bet I made with my friends!"

A mace appeared in his hand as he pointed the blunt end towards the two women who were now hovering in front of him, ready to take him out. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly at the human.

"What? Now you gonna side with a demon? What if she kills you later?"

Hesitation flickered in the human's eyes, but she shook her head and chose to deal with the demi-human alongside the demon first. She planned to handle the demon later since she believed she was stronger.

Sinon let out a sigh, leaped forward, and engaged the two opponents in battle. In the audience, Carcel also joined Kyle and Alec. The golden-haired man's eyebrow twitched when the other two didn't even ask about his well-being and just showed him their three figures, indicating he was third.

After Carcel, it was Nine who returned to the audience seat with a tired expression. Kyle glanced at the faint blue light on his exposed skin and, even though he wanted to ask about the man's healing skill, he refrained because he understood that, just like him, Nine would prefer to keep some of his powerful skills concealed.

"You are good at physical combat."

Nine chuckled and rolled up his sleeve with a self-assured look.

"Absolutely! It's because I have trained tirelessly day and night under an old lizard! If my body isn't tough as steel by now, then I don't deserve to curse that old lizard. Now that you have witnessed my awesomeness, how about a one-on-one match? It's been so long since we have tested each other's skills in a friendly spar."

Kyle arched a brow, but before he could consent to a friendly spar, Jian, who had just arrived at the scene, abruptly shouted.

"Wait!"

All gazes shifted to the red-haired man, who hastened towards Nine and whispered in his ear with a grave expression.

"Bro, not physical combat... I have seen what you haven't. Please think it over. I truly don't want to lose you."

Alec and Carcel, who were just about to follow Nine's footsteps because they also wanted to spar with Kyle to assess how strong the silver-haired man had become, fell silent upon hearing Jian's words. Nine lifted his head and looked at Kyle. He understood, after observing Jian's intense expression, that the red-haired man had witnessed Kyle's physical combat.

"Kyle, I believe we shouldn't spar with each other. As friends, we should unite to battle enemies, not each other, right?"

He hushed his voice.

"Anyhow... I was curious, what are your strength and agility stats? It's fine if you prefer not to disclose. Absolutely fine."

Alec, Carcel, and Jian's ears perked up at Nine's inquiry, all fixing their eyes on the silver-haired man. Even Zron showed some interest as the old dwarf leaned in to listen to Kyle, who looked back at them with an amused expression. Bia shifted on Kyle's lap and gazed at everyone with a smile dancing in her eyes.

-"How about I spill the beans?"

After grabbing everyone's attention, she cleared her throat and shot a quick look back at Nine, who had narrowly avoided a serious thrashing because if he had a friendly spar with Kyle, he might have lost an arm or two, even if Kyle used only ten percent of his strength.

The phoenix wanted to speak out loud, but upon recalling the many eyes fixated on the silver-haired human at that moment, she communicated directly into Nine's mind.

-'His strength is at the late stage of transcendent rank, and his agility just broke through to the supreme rank.'

Nine's eyes widened a bit, and he let out a disbelieving laugh.

"No way, tell me you are lying!?"

Alec and the others, who had just witnessed the interaction between the phoenix and the brown-haired man, swiftly turned their attention to Nine, who took a deep breath and communicated directly into their minds because Bia had warned him that the shadow generals were monitoring Kyle.

Alec released a breath and patted Jian's shoulder, who was shocked after Nine informed him about Kyle's strength and agility stats. As Jian looked at the blue-haired man, the latter shot him a grateful look; otherwise, not only he but all of them would have been in big trouble just for wanting a friendly spar.