Chapter 22 - Academy Brawl Finally Begins

Regarding strength, Vili, as a grand space mage, almost stood at the very peak among the seven Tower Masters, and the mysteries of space spells meant Danni had no hope of eluding the master of the White Tower to successfully take Lu Hong away from the imperial capital.

“Vili, are you also afraid of this little lion?” Danni faced Vili in the sky.

Vili smiled faintly, “Why should I be?

It’s merely a half-human, half-beast hybrid.

I actually only came today to exchange a few moves with you, and I have absolutely no interest in the matters of the Lionheart royal family.”

Hybrid?

Konstantin, the Great Emperor, felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this; after all, Tukuru was his nephew—wasn’t this term also a cunning way to insult him?

“Very well, I accept your challenge, but not now.

Once I safely take Tukuru out of the imperial capital, I will come back and fight you,” said Danni, making a promise.

“Lord Vili, you mustn’t!

You promised me!” Konstantin, the Great Emperor, said hastily; if he agreed to this, truly no one in the imperial capital could stop Danni.

“Fine by me,” Vili said with a laugh, which seemed to indicate that he didn’t take Konstantin’s earlier request seriously.

“Vili!” Konstantin suppressed the rage in his heart, yet he dared not let it burst forth.

The emperor of the Holy Divine Empire almost stood at the pinnacle of power, yet there were seven individuals who could disregard imperial authority, fundamentally because they were too powerful— the strength of Third Transition warriors could not be measured by numbers.

“Thank you!” said Danni, redirecting her gaze to Konstantin but saying nothing more.

Konstantin’s face went through a series of changes, finally settling into a sigh, “You’ve won.

I can spare Tukuru’s life, but he must join the imperial army in the future and serve the empire!”

“That’s acceptable.” Being able to safely let Lu Hong move about the Sacred Empire was the best outcome, and Danni immediately accepted Konstantin’s proposal.

“Everyone disperse, I’m tired.” Seeing Danni withdraw the magic of the Forest of the World, Konstantin waved his hand, and his trusted aides retreated like the tide.

Naturally, Danni and Vili also did not linger; with Danni’s worries behind her, she would presumably find an open area to have a great battle with Vili.

“Seven towers!

Seven towers!” Enraged, Konstantin entered his sleeping palace, smashing everything around him.

“Dark Guard!” Konstantin roared.

As soon as his words fell, the Dark Guard appeared at the door of the sleeping chamber, kneeling down to listen to the emperor’s command.

“Contact the Hell Sect in secret; I need their help,” Konstantin said darkly.

“As you command!”

While the Imperial Palace was in upheaval, Konstantin managed to tightly control the impact of the incident; almost no one knew what had actually happened.

Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Lu Hong had a good night’s sleep and went with Nono the next morning to participate in this year’s professional free-for-all.

“Cough, cough!

Good morning, students!” The principal of Kains Academy stood on the viewing platform and greeted all the students.

“Good!

Applaud, applaud!” Before the students could respond, Ji Ren, the director of the academy, took the microphone and began to lead the atmosphere.

Perhaps because most students were used to such occasions, they were not at all surprised and began applauding under the director’s lead.

“Cough, cough!

Cough, cough!

That’s enough, students, I’ve already felt your enthusiasm,” the principal cleared his throat again: “For this college free-for-all, we have invited renowned personalities from all fields, and they are sitting beside me.”

Looking in the direction the principal indicated, one could only wonder: how many had actually come?

There were hundreds of people sitting on the viewing platform, each one a famous figure.

“So, I hope the students who are about to graduate will perform well and showcase the spirit of our academy!”

“Good!

Applaud, applaud!”

“Nono, isn’t this director a fool?” Lu Hong incredulously said: “He’s a classic suck-up!”

“Haha, Tukuru, you’re right; the director is the principal’s top lackey,” Nono laughed in response, but soon she became somewhat anxious: “Hey!

You rascal, are you confident about performing well in this professional free-for-all?”

“Of course!

I’m definitely going for the championship,” Lu Hong said earnestly.

“Then you be careful, don’t get hurt,” Nono said with a blush, voicing her concern in a whisper.

“Hehe, with jokers like you as famous figures at the academy, I’m sure the trash participating in the fray won’t stand a chance against me.”

“Why don’t you go die!” Nono said irritably, punching Lu Hong in the chest.

In the distance, Fidell’s eyes widened; he swore that after the fray, he was definitely going to ask Lu Hong how to pursue girls.

“Please come forward, participants!” After a bunch of rambling, it was finally time for the contestants to make their appearance.

Soon, players of each profession came forward, grouped in threes by occupation.

However, Lu Hong stood out the most, with his warrior’s badge drawing countless gazes.

“Elder Dong, am I seeing things?” one big shot on the stand asked, seriously wiping his glasses.

“No, you’re just drunk,” Elder Dong replied sternly.

“It’s the warrior profession!

After all these years, there are actually still warriors in the academy!” Numerous big shots exclaimed in surprise.

“Hey hey, I suggest we start a betting pool on how many points this warrior can score,” a gambling enthusiast said as he opened the book, drawing a crowd to place their wagers.

Most bets were for one or two matches.

“You dogs, I bet he wins them all!” At some point, an old man appeared behind them and scolded loudly.

“Damn, Xius, you’re amazing…” Before he could finish his exclamation, he saw the old man pull out a gold coin.

“Hehe!

A little bet for fun, a little bet for fun,” the old man explained calmly to the scornful glances around him.

“Psh, a warrior winning all?

Impossible,” the big shots didn’t believe it at all, so the odds for total victory were offhandedly raised to ten thousand to one by the broker.

“Ten thousand to one, huh…” the old man pondered for a moment then continued, “Then I’ll add nine more gold coins, to make it even.”

“You’re broke!” Some peers on par with Xius started cursing.

“Say that again?

Duel!

I challenge you to a duel!”

“Hehe, bet if you dare,” the big shots mocked, “Entering a grand melee with your trash profession, how ridiculous.”

“Damn it, I’m all in!” The old man, unexpectedly pulling out a thousand gold coins, threw them into the betting pool.

Hehe, no point teasing this poor sod.

The big shots, realizing the old man really didn’t have much money, lost interest in taunting him.

“Huh?

What’s going on?

Why are all the big shots gathered there?” The students, clueless, were quite puzzled.

“Cough cough cough!

Alright, the grand melee officially starts now, please, representatives of each profession come forward to draw your lots.”

“Haha, it’s weird, nowadays any Tom, Dick, or Harry thinks they can join the fray,” sneered the knight representative, seeing Lu Hong coming forward to draw.

“Yeah, I think so too,” Lu Hong nodded seriously, fully agreeing with the knight.

“Good that you understand, but sorry, you’re going to embarrass yourself early!” The knight revealed his draw—first match, against the warrior!

Lu Hong glanced at his own lot, the third match against a mage.

“Who has the first match?” the referee called out at that moment.

“Sir, it’s me,” the knight raised his hand to signal.

“Oh, against the warrior?

Then please, both the warrior contestant and knight contestant, proceed to the stage to prepare.”

The basic information for the first match appeared immediately on the magic large screen: warrior versus knight.

As the information showed up, the entire school erupted into an uproar.

Most students were unaware of Lu Hong’s existence and were wildly curious about the suddenly noted warrior profession.

“Hey hey, stop arguing, the first match between the warrior and the knight is starting,”

said the big shots as they swiftly took their seats, eagerly anticipating the upcoming fight since everyone had bet big money, and the warrior profession hadn’t shown up for ages.

“Principal, look how wise it was to let a warrior participate in the grand melee, attracting so much attention from the big shots,” the head of disciplinary action whispered to the principal.

“Mm, good work.

After the first match, go down and tell that warrior student, ‘It’s okay to lose, but don’t give up!'”

“Will do!”

Ah, having a warrior in the grand melee was a great idea, the principal was practically beaming with joy inside, having wagered a hefty sum of four hundred thousand gold coins, nearly his entire fortune.

Those big shots didn’t have inside information and speculated he might win one or two matches, but he knew the details—the level one warrior was essentially fodder.

Just thinking about doubling his money after the grand melee made the principal’s smile almost uncontrollable.