Chapter 788: Anger

Bai Zemin did not know how the matter of races worked in Eventide World, nor did he know very well how they viewed each other. However, as in most cases, any intelligent race would in theory be considered an enemy by another intelligent race.

Why? It was very simple; resources, power, control, land, etc.

Just as humans fought each other to gain more control over a territory and thus monopolize the resources of that territory, it was only natural that humans would also fight against other races and vice versa.

When Liam entered the arena, the noisy stadium fell silent for a few seconds before several murmurs slowly began to rise up among the crowd viewing everything from the stands.

"Uh?"

"Th-Those red eyes are...."

"Demon...?"

"Why the hell is there a fucking demon here?!"

...

Just when things seemed to be about to get out of control, the sweet voice of a young girl echoed all around and gave itself to be heard very clearly in the middle of the partial silence.

"Go, Liam!"

In the resting area of the Gales Kingdom, Bai Zemin looked at Seraphina with weird eyes and couldn't help but feel that this second princess was really a strange species probably on the verge of extinction.

At least it could be said that Bai Zemin never expected a princess to scream so loudly like this without caring about her image at all.... However, that didn't mean he didn't support her decision.

Giles took a step forward and put both hands to the sides of his mouth as he shouted loudly, "Go, Liam! Show them who's in charge!"

Following in Seraphina's and Giles' footsteps, Evan, Anna, Ellis, and all the others began to shout loudly and soon their voices began to rouse the citizens of the Gales Kingdom.

"Go, Liam!"

"Future hero of Gales!"

"Liam, make sure the victory sticks with us at home!"

...

Liam's footsteps stopped and he took a moment to look at the faces of the people shouting at him. Of course, they weren't all chanting nice and good things.

"Fucking hell!"

"What are the guards doing?! Why don't they capture that vile creature once and for all?!"

"Is Gales going to let the demons take part in such an important competition?! Hey, you filthy demon! Why don't you go back to your den?!"

...

In response to the fierce shouts of the vast majority of the grandstand, the minority belonging only to Gales became enraged and quickly several people stood up with threatening expressions.

"How dare you! Have you no shame to insult a kid your children's age?!"

"Damn it, I dare to insult that damned demon and when I get the chance I will tear his head off! What can you do about it?"

"If this elder doesn't rip out a couple of your teeth today then I won't be a man anymore!"

...

Soon enough, things seemed to get out of hand as even the allied kingdoms of Gales began to curse Liam, which naturally led to an even fiercer response from the Gales Kingdom to defend their warrior.

Just at that moment, an aura overpowering everyone in the stands swept through the arena and everyone who was about to activate skills or roaring loudly turned pale, falling back on their seats as they looked in a certain direction with fear-filled eyes as they recognized the aura and pressure of a Third Order powerhouse.

90% of the people in the stands were just ordinary citizens who had barely entered the First Order at most after many years of effort, it was impossible for them to withstand the pressure of such a high-level soul evolver with such a heavy killing intent.

Standing in a higher box and overlooking the entire arena, King Philip looked at the crowd below with cold eyes. His kind and gentle smile was nowhere to be found as his voice carried across the length and breadth of the arena.

"I would like to kindly remind everyone that activation of skills is forbidden inside the arena except for the participants of the competition... You may shout praise or curses as much as you like, however, any physical aggression will not be spared and the perpetrator will be duly punished."

Shouts of praise and curses naturally could not be forbidden, otherwise it would make no sense to open the arena for the public and charge a small fee for it. However, activating skills could not only end in mass genocide but also hinder the development of the competition of kingdoms, and such a thing could not be allowed no matter what.

Taking everyone's silence as a confirmation, King Philip soon returned to his seat. However, he hadn't even rested his back against the back of the couch when the shouting and cursing resumed, causing him to be unable to help but sigh as he prayed in his heart that a talent as brilliant as Liam wouldn't break under the pressure.

"Hahaha, Philip! It seems that your kingdom's representative is not very well received even by his allies!"

King Philip looked at the person who had just laughed and a strange glint flashed in his eyes.

This person was the king of the Azure Kingdom, they had always been enemies of Gales due to the fact that in the past the Azure Kingdom often captured citizens of Gales and used them as slaves, which naturally led to the Gales Kingdom retaliating. The two kingdoms were at war for many years, and the blood of the soldiers of the enemy kingdom stained the swords of the soldiers of both sides. This was not to mention the fact that both kingdoms were affiliated with two different parent kingdoms effectively making them enemies independently.

Philip did not reply right away, instead, he looked higher up.

There, seated on three golden thrones, two middle-aged men and a mature woman were watching the arena with interest. They didn't seem to care at all about what was going on nor were there any different expressions on their faces even though Liam had demon blood in his body.

These three people were the kings and queen of the three parent kingdoms of the human race of Eventide World.

They only cared about the results, nothing else. As for the process... As long as it didn't affect their own interests and those of their affiliated kingdoms too much, then it was all the same to them.

'I wonder how the other two will react when they understand Liam's true strength?' King Philip thought with some apprehension.

Then, the King of Gales looked at the King of Azure and said in an indifferent voice, "Edgar, would you mind making a bet with all the kings of all the kingdoms of the world as witnesses?"

"Mm?" The king of the Azure Kingdom immediately raised his guard. However, he couldn't back down after mocking the other side so he said in an indifferent voice, "A bet? Tell me about it."

"I heard that Crown Prince Edmund of your Azure Kingdom is 24 years old and 2 years ago completed the requirements to get into the Second Order. I also heard rumors that a young talented 25-year-old mercenary is in the Second Order and will be participating in this year's competition.... I don't know if my information is accurate?" King Philip said calmly.

The Azure Kingdom king's eyes shone with pride as he said with an arrogant smile, "That is correct. That disgusting half-demon and Princess Ellis are Second Order powerhouses, but that doesn't mean that the other kingdoms don't have their own trump cards, Philip. This year you will definitely get a surprise when you see my kingdom's lineup."

It was impossible to cover news as big as the birth of a Second Order soul evolver so young, so it was only natural that the Azure Kingdom and the other kingdoms would have a rough idea of Liam and Ellis' power. However, there was something that probably only a small handful of powers knew about; the fact that the Gales Kingdom had not 2 Second Order powers but 3!

Due to Seraphina Di Gales' weird personality and the peculiarity of her class, she would only go out to fight enemies with a fixed and trusted group of people. Therefore, the number of people who knew her power was extremely small, and even in Gales, there was no citizen who knew that their second princess was a talent not inferior to the first princess Ellis!

"When the kids of my kingdom face those of your kingdom.... To put it simply, the losing kingdom of the match will have to deliver 100,000 First Order Soul Stones, 4,000,000 Unclassified Soul Stones, 1,000 Second Order Soul Stones. In addition, the losing kingdom will also have to hand over an Epic treasure of the winner's choice. Do you dare to play with me?"

"This..."

The words of the Gales Kingdom's king immediately caused a small commotion among the other kings. Even the three watching from above became interested in what was happening.

This was no small bet at all! The Unclassified Soul Stones could be ignored, but the First Order and Second Order Soul Stones were the foundation that maintained the defenses and industry of each realm!

Such a large number... It could even cause the eventual downfall of the losing realm!

King Edgar's face turned slightly pale and the intention to immediately refuse was born in his heart. Even if he had confidence in the Azure Kingdom's lineup for this generation's competition of kingdoms, losing this bet meant that even if the kingdom that the Azure Kingdom was affiliated with managed to take the crown this time, the Azure Kingdom still wouldn't be able to recover in the 15 years of increased resources!

However, King Philip did not let him back down.

"What's wrong? An old man has the courage to speak ill of a child but when it comes to competing against another of his level he gets scared? What a king you have become, Edgar."

Hearing the small giggles around him, Edgar looked up to the highest box. His face turned white as he saw the frown on the face of King Albert, king of the parent kingdom of the Azure Kingdom. It was clear that this personal competition was no longer so personal, after all, this would also affect the reputation of the parent kingdom.

Edgar immediately found himself in a difficult situation. If he accepted and won then everything would be fine, however, if he accepted and lost... Edgar feared that the loss of vast quantities of Soul Stones and a valuable Epic treasure would not be the only thing his Azure Kingdom would lose as the parent kingdom would definitely not be happy.

However, after thinking of something he had handed over to his son Prince Edmund, Edgar gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Good! With all the kings of the entire Eventide World, I, Edgar Winfield, accept your challenge, Philip Di Gales!"

The friendly smile returned to Philip's face, and as he turned to face the arena, he muttered under his breath, "Thank you for the goodies."

"Hmph!" Edgar snorted and stood up, excusing himself for a moment. He needed to have a serious conversation with the Azure Kingdom participants now that things had reached this point.

Back in the arena, Liam looked back. There, the people who had been the first to support him, those who had always fought by his side and supported him despite the blood that ran through his veins were looking at him with thumbs up.

Liam chuckled and shook his head. Ignoring the curses the majority was giving him and sticking with the kind words of those who knew him, the future hero of Gales advanced.

Arriving where the other 48 representatives waited, Liam was greeted with glares of disgust and abhorrence, but he didn't care as these people were nothing to him.

"Each representative, take a ball and step back to wait for the teams to be decided." Said casually the mage who had given the speech earlier. She didn't seem to look at Liam favorably either as except for the initial glance she avoided looking at him as much as possible.

"Heh... To think that now they even let the descendants of our worst enemies participate, I really don't know what goes through certain people's minds." Mockingly muttered a soul evolver as he passed by Liam.

When that same soul evolver returned with the small ball in his hand, what he did was to show it in Liam's face while he said with disgust: "You disgusting half-demon, you see this rune incomplete? You should pray you don't pull out the other half."

He was a Second Order potency.

Liam ignored him, he also ignored the words of the others. However, just when it was his turn and he was on his way to take one of the few remaining balls, something that filled his heart with fury caused his footsteps to stop.

"Really, the King of Gales must be out of his mind.... I don't understand how the wise King Philip allowed a woman of his kingdom to give birth to this creature? Probably some whore who didn't care if she slept with humans or demons."

Liam's body trembled with anger and he had to close his eyes tightly and grit his teeth to keep the tears from streaming down his face. His mother was no longer with him, but Liam remembered her generosity even though it had been years since her death.

Despite all the hardships she had to go through, despite being ostracized and belittled, she gave birth to the baby of a rape event.

Therefore, to Liam his mother was a sacred being who could not be touched or insulted.

Liam looked over his shoulder at the person who had just spoken. His red eyes met a pair of blue eyes, a distinctive trait of the royal family of one of the three parent kingdoms

"How dare you look at me with those foul eyes of yours, you filthy half-demon." The prince of the Zivell Kingdom, Dixon Zivell, inquired with a deep frown and clear disgust in his gaze.

The Zivell Kingdom was not the parent kingdom of Gales, it was the parent kingdom of the Azure Kingdom.

Liam said nothing, just looked at him with a flame of burning fury in his eyes. After 5 seconds, and after being called repeatedly by the mage in charge, Liam finally continued on his way.

However, he left brief but clear words behind.

"Your face and your kingdom... I have remembered them."

...

Upon returning to the rest area, Liam was greeted by the other participants representing the Gales Kingdom in this competition.

"Liam, are you okay?" asked Anna with concern as she saw the gloomy expression on the young man's usually smiling face.

Liam did not reply and instead continued to walk deeper into the rest area. As she passed by Ellis, he threw something at her which she quickly caught, and before she could say anything he had already disappeared from her range of vision.

Seraphina approached curiously, and as she looked at what the paper in her sister's hands said, a cry of surprise escaped her lips.

"Ah! We'll be facing the Zivell Kingdom in the first round of the team matches!"

"What?! A parent kingdom from the start?!"

"Holy cow! What dog shit luck we have!"

...

Everyone had pretty big reactions knowing that the first enemy of the day and of the competition would be such a powerful one. There were rumors that the prince of the Zivell Kingdom was already at the top of the Second Order despite being only 25 years old, making him a formidable foe even for the confident young people of Gales.

Bai Zemin looked towards the back of the resting area, moments later, a figure approached with slow steps.

Dragging a giant sword 2 meters long and as wide as a young teenager's body over the ground, Liam's red eyes burned as he said in a low voice, "It doesn't matter if it's the Zivell Kingdom or not, we just have to crush them all."

"Liam, you-"

"Ellis."

Liam interrupted her. If she wasn't his friend, Liam wouldn't dare disrespect her like that considering her position as the first princess of Gales, but considering how close the two of them were after all the things they'd been through, Liam believed Ellis would understand his reasons.

He looked at her with glittering eyes and his angry voice had a hint of pleading in it as he said in a relatively low voice.

"For this match... I hope no one interrupts."

Liam looked back at the arena and said through gritted teeth, "I have to crush them completely.... Until there's not a shred of pride left in their hearts!"