Chapter 588 Whose blood does he want?
After a long hour, Kyle paused at the opposite end of the stage as a surge of energy erupted around the silver spear in his hand. He glanced at the panting man across from him.
Carcel clicked his tongue and wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve. He was a bit annoyed that even after pushing himself to his limits to fight the man opposite him, the latter didn't even break a sweat, not to mention, his pristine white shirt remained immaculate.
"That's not fair at all... what on earth did you consume to gain such immense power in just a few years. I also underwent intense training in the Sacred Divine Land, so why is the gap between us now so vast?"
He muttered quietly under his breath and straightened his body only to speechlessly gaze at the three familiar figures clustered outside the hovering stage. They were none other than Alec, Nine, and Regius.
After their battles ended, instead of advancing to their next stages, they joined the audience upon noticing Kyle and Carcel in the middle of their duel. The illusionary figure, whose vision was obscured by the three floating figures watching Kyle and Carcel stage intently, gently tapped Nine's shoulder. However, Nine simply shrugged the figure's hand away and remarked.
"Kyle is very strong, but he's even more powerful with the spear... now I really get why Jian was scared of losing me, because if I had sparred with him, I would probably have been beaten in the end."
Alec nodded with a serious expression.
"Indeed... but I was hoping to witness Carcel land at least a single blow on Kyle. Oh well, who am I to complain."
Regius noticed Carcel's darkening expression and spoke with a slight smirk playing at the corner of his lips.
"Guys, we should just be thankful that Carcel's precious body remains unharmed even after enduring so much-!"
His words were abruptly cut off when the golden-haired man lunged towards him with his spear, sporting a fed-up expression. But he swiftly dashed in the opposite direction before the man could grab him.
Carcel huffed at the elven man's diminishing figure as he left the hovering stage boundary and glared at Alec and Nine, who fell eerily silent. On the stage, Kyle chuckled at the group and shook his head.
He watched as the illusionary figure brushed past both Nine and Alec, swiftly landing on the stage to declare him the victor after Carcel's left the stage.
Kyle's eyes flickered with a hint of a smile, but the warmth soon faded as he scanned the area and realized one of the shadow generals had vanished from his spot.
His gaze grew icy as he searched the surroundings for the man and eventually spotted Will among the people from the dark side in the audience seats, finally allowing his body to relax.
'What's he up to?'
Kyle's eyes narrowed at the man who was talking with some demons. Unfortunately, due to the energy curtain covering the dark side's area to keep them from speaking up in between Vexana's speech every time, he couldn't hear what the shadow general was discussing with the group of demons.
He tried to read the man's lips but only caught two words.
"Get... blood...? What is that bastard saying, whose blood does he want?"
Kyle tracked the man's movements with his eyes but shifted his gaze to the stage under his feet when it trembled. Not only did the hovering platform beneath him shake, but the entire Gladiator Arena quivered slightly. A tap of his foot on the stage eased the trembling, and a chilling glint passed through his intense green eyes.
"Well, whatever the dark side is plotting. Does it truly matter now? They won't be able to carry out their plans because... the real battle is finally about to commence."
Unlike him, who knew the cause of the abrupt tremor, all the powerful individuals supervising the Arena were taken aback. Quickly, every one of them, including Old Hal, vacated their positions to investigate what had caused the Arena to shake.
The audience and the fighters on the hovering stages were also disrupted by the tremor, leaving them a bit shaken. The first thought that came to their minds was that the shadow generals and the people from the dark side were trying to destroy the Arena. The crowd panicked, but under Old Hal's command, all the illusory figures quickly started to calm them down.
The two shadow generals, who were blamed for the sudden disturbance, were puzzled by the event. Ceano furrowed his brow and extended his senses to investigate the cause, but as he did so, Elizabeth who was seated in the audience, used her own power to block his senses, fearing he might harm the audience. Ceano was surprised when he detected another familiar presence in the crowd and discreetly withdrew his senses.
"I only wanted to understand why the Gladiator Arena shook, but it seems there's another powerful individual concealed in the audience, so I needn't fret."
"I hope they resolve the issue because I want the Arena to conclude peacefully for me to achieve my goal."
He was the only one who could have figured out what was wrong with the Arena since he was the strongest among them all. But he could not do it because of Elizabeth. He could have easily overpowered her, but he chose not to because he wanted the Gladiator Arena to conclude smoothly, allowing the lost treasure tomb gates to open without any problem.
The many individuals in robes with Old Hal hurriedly inspected all the structures from which they controlled the Gladiator Arena but discovered no issues. So they were confused about what had gone wrong.
At the same time, Alec and Nine, who were still hovering outside Kyle's stage after Carcel left to take a brief rest, landed beside Kyle with serious expressions to witness the sudden disturbance that rippled through the arena. Nine furrowed his brows.
"What's going on? Is it possible that the dark side has sneakily tampered with the Arena? Given their nature, I am certain they are the ones responsible for this abrupt disturbance!"
Alec concurred with Nine, but when the pair glanced at Kyle and noticed a faint smirk on his lips, a sudden premonition struck them. Alec firmly grabbed Kyle's shoulder with a deadly serious expression.
"Don't tell me you are the cause of the sudden tremor...?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow at his words.
"Why? You don't think I can be innocent? I am just a divine rank after all."
Alec's eyes flickered with bewilderment because even though the silver-haired man spoke in an innocent voice, the smirk on his lips indicated otherwise.
"You! I know you are strong, but you can't just mess with so many powerful people! You are not the only one who's going to suffer the consequences!"
There was a touch of disbelief in his voice as he couldn't understand why Kyle would endanger them all. Alec knew, just like him, all his friends want to kill the shadow generals and the people from the dark side, but with their current strength, he understood they stood no chance! Besides, causing chaos in the Gladiator Arena would surely anger the arena overseers, and who knows what they would do to Kyle once they found out he orchestrated it all!
Kyle brushed off the hand on his shoulder. He grasped the blue-haired man's point of view, but the plan was already in motion, and if all went according to his strategy, they could potentially kill both of the shadow generals present in the Arena.
"Do you really think I don't have a plan?"
Alec let out a troubled sigh.
"It's not that I doubt you; it's just that, if you're planning something, I hope nobody suffers any harm."
As Kyle and Alec locked eyes, Nine intervened to stop them. He gripped their shoulders with a serious expression.
"Stop bickering, both of you! Alec, now that Kyle has started something, we must trust him. You know he's the stronger one at the moment. Besides, only Kyle, you, and I are aware that Kyle tampered with the Arena. If we keep this to ourselves, no one else will find out."
He shifted his gaze to Kyle.
"Now you! Tell us, what are you up to before I lose my cool with you!"
Kyle gave Nine a different look this time. But even though his eyes shone with a hint of solidarity because Nine was clearly taking his side, he still roughly pushed the man's hand off his shoulder. Nine grimaced with a click of his tongue but still leaned in when Kyle started speaking.
"I placed a unique array all over the Arena. No need to stress; it won't activate just yet since it requires a bit more divine and spiritual energy. You both should discreetly alert Jian and the rest to get ready because we are all going to fight together."