## Chapter 164 – Collusion (9)
Like ink spreading on white paper, the unease that had begun to seep into his heart grew uncontrollably. Acer rolled his eyes and looked at Lahart. What on earth was this man’s intention? Why was he showing interest in No. 25? They were both men, weren’t they? Was Lahart’s wall perhaps on that side? Of course, No. 25 was among the prettier men, but in the end, he still had a dick. There was no use for him to another man.
The various delusions that began spinning in Acer’s head eventually painted Lahart as a homosexual. Of course, such an absurd situation was unlikely to happen, but unease had a way of assigning possibility even to impossible situations.
It was Orca who woke Acer from his daze of useless thoughts. Having known him for quite some time, Orca instantly noticed Acer’s change.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Acer frowned and reacted harshly to Orca, who tapped his shoulder and spoke to him.
“Why do you need to know?”
Of course, just because they had known each other for a long time didn’t mean they were close. Orca was the type to brush off Acer’s snappiness, but to Acer, Orca was a scumbag who had kidnapped and raped his beloved.
Orca, unfazed by Acer’s harsh reaction, sneered, pointing to the arena where No. 25 had been.
“Obvious. It’s because of that guy from earlier, isn’t it?”
Acer couldn’t stand hearing No. 25 mentioned by Orca, of all people. Acer scowled, crossed his arms, and turned his head away in response. It wasn’t worth responding to, and he didn’t want to cause a big problem in a place with so many eyes watching. However, Orca didn’t know the meaning of moderation and was a vile character who enjoyed walking a tightrope on people’s nerves.
“Is it because it’s been a while? I personally want to meet him again too. I’m willing to be gentle this time, you know.”
In that instant, Acer felt the thread of reason he had barely been holding onto snap. He jumped up from his seat and headed towards Orca, and just as Orca also rose from his seat before anyone could stop them, a calm voice reached his ear.
“Both of you, stop there.”
Acer raised his voice with an incomprehensible expression.
“But this guy!”
In contrast to Acer, Orca shrugged and spoke in a nonchalant tone. It was as if he was making fun of Acer for getting so worked up and rushing at him, and the resentment that had been building up inside Acer was about to explode.
“What did I do wrong? He started it first, didn’t he?”
Acer’s face was already as red as a beet. He clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw jutted out, looking like he had a lot to say, but because Lowe had brought a finger to her lips as if telling him to be quiet, there was no other way to express his dissatisfaction.
After finally silencing Acer, Lowe continued without saying anything, staring straight into Orca’s eyes. Lowe, who had risen from her seat, slowly walked towards Orca and blew the smoke from her long pipe, which she had been holding throughout the match, into his face. Orca instinctively felt the moment he saw the wickedly shining purple eyes through the thick smoke carrying a sweet scent.
This crazy witch was planning to kill him right here. The many eyes watching around them were not a big problem for her. At the same time as recognizing this, an unknown chill ran through his body, and he could vividly feel cold sweat running down his spine. Orca was not afraid of losing and dying in a desperate fight against a strong opponent. What she truly feared was turning into a handful of ashes without even putting up any resistance.
In the end, she had no choice but to back down this time. Orca clicked her tongue once and then raised both hands to express her intention to surrender.
“Alright. My bad.”
Lowe withdrew her murderous intent and spoke again in a quiet voice.
“Orca, I’ve long noticed that you have impure intentions towards that child. The reason I’m tolerating it is because that child doesn’t want it and is the type to be saddened if someone dies because of them. So keep in mind. Your lifeline has been in that child’s hands since that day.”
Orca pouted at Lowe’s threat and sat down in her seat without saying anything. The other Demon Lords, who had no idea about the ambiguously entangled relationship between the three, could only wear bewildered expressions. Lahart, who had been watching the situation, opened his mouth in a cheerful voice, perhaps to lighten the mood.
“Alright, alright, we have no reason to interfere in what happened between the two of them, right? Let’s just watch the match.”
At Lahart’s words, the noisy space instantly quieted down. Acer plopped back down in his seat and didn’t even glance in Orca’s direction. However, there were two people who wouldn’t lightly dismiss this incident, which would end as just a brief commotion. One was Jane, who was quite perceptive, and the other was Lahart, who had been showing interest in No. 25 since earlier.
He quietly stared at the waiting room where No. 25 had disappeared, then wore a smile that was impossible to decipher. No one in that place could discern the true meaning hidden behind that smile.
●
“I’m tired….”
It wasn’t a good feeling to cause harm to others. Why on earth were people so enthusiastic about this kind of thing? It felt like he was going to go crazy. No. 25 buried his face between his knees and repeatedly let out deep sighs.
It was difficult to live up to the expectations of those around him. If it weren’t for Acer, Charlotte, and Lowe, he wouldn’t have bothered participating in this tournament. Still, it wasn’t all bad. In the past, people would give him meaningful looks just because he was a man, but after showing two overwhelming victories, there were no students who needlessly talked to him. There were only young students who occasionally came to him, saying they were his fans.
‘That reminds me….’
Saruk wasn’t visible this time. Wasn’t it about time for the match to end? No. 25 was starting to get bored of just sitting in the waiting room, killing time, and got up from his seat with the intention of watching other people’s matches.
As soon as he stepped out of the waiting room, a thunderous roar hit his ears. When he was directly on stage, he couldn’t even imagine this level of cheering because of a certain amount of tension. No. 25 sat down in a suitable empty seat and looked at each of the matches that were still in progress.
All four arenas, including the one where No. 25 had competed, already had other participants on them. No. 25 glanced in that direction once, then began to look for Saruk. If it was a man with such distinct features, it would be stranger not to find him here.
After a little time had passed, No. 25 found Saruk, covered in blood and sweat, glaring at his opponent. The opponent was a woman much shorter than Saruk, but she looked much more relaxed. Saruk was panting heavily, looking like he was about to collapse at any moment, to the point where the promise to meet above was meaningless.
Of course, he had no choice but to cheer for his friend, but realistically, he looked to be in a very difficult situation. His legs were trembling, and the hand holding his weapon looked like it was about to lose strength at any moment.
No. 25 clasped his hands together and desperately prayed that Saruk would win safely. If Saruk came up, he would have to fight him, but he didn’t want him to lose in a place like this even more.
The moment No. 25 clasped his hands together and closed his eyes tightly, a gray aura began to flow through the axe-spear that Saruk was holding. Saruk was also quite taken aback when he saw his weapon suddenly begin to shine.
“This is definitely….”
Saruk turned his head to check on No. 25 in the audience and wore a subtle expression. The opponent, who had found a gap in Saruk’s attention while he was briefly checking the audience, frowned and rushed straight at him. Perhaps she thought it was disrespectful to her opponent.
For now, Saruk turned his gaze away from No. 25 and looked forward again, as he had an opponent rushing at him. He gripped his weapon tightly in his hand and swung it upwards, thinking it was his last strike, which brought about an unexpected result. It was a situation that no one in that place had expected.
The familiar, but much smaller, crackling sound shone from the tip of Saruk’s blade.
Saruk’s weapon, containing a faint aura of lightning, lightly cut through the opponent’s shield and split her armor as it was. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but the blood flowing between the torn skin clearly showed who the winner of this match was.
The opponent, who had been consistently overwhelmed and had collapsed after being struck by Saruk, wore an incredulous expression and said in a resentful tone.
“Were you… hiding your strength? Where on earth did you get this….”
Everyone in that place thought that the goddess of fortune had smiled upon Saruk, but the seven Demon Lords sitting in the VIP seats thought differently. Each of them wore an astonished expression.
Even Lahart stood up from his seat and showed a violent reaction for the first time.
“That is….”
Lahart, who had been about to say something, sat back down and regained his composure, then spoke to the Demon Lords.
“You all saw it, right? The power he just showed isn’t the participant’s own.”
No one readily answered Lahart’s words.
Something that had never happened in the past few hundred years.
Someone with the qualifications of a new Demon Lord had appeared in this place.
