CHAPTER 194: PROUD

The silence was so complete it seemed the arena itself had forgotten how to breathe.

Which was broken by...

The clapping sound echoed from the highest floor.

Leon looked at the girl lying unconscious in the distance. He had controlled his strength perfectly, but he didn’t take into account that his body seemed to be a lot more different than before.

He still remembered the message from the system, which told him about how his race had changed after the crazy transformation that happened when he touched the golden clone made out of the weird energy of himself, inscribed with ancient symbols.

Leon had left in a hurry without checking his status, because he knew he was late for the festival.

His eyes darted to the upper floor where he saw Seraphine clapping for him, and he couldn’t help but show a warm smile at her pure support.

And then he looked at the announcer with scrutiny.

Is this man trying to make me responsible for taking her life?

Leon raised an eyebrow. Someone get this guy a script before he short-circuits.

He cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem!"

"Shouldn’t you—"

His voice was cut short as the announcer came to his senses. Never in his history of hosting had he seen such a one-sided victory, especially when this white-haired, strange man had been considered a topper of the academy.

But not anymore, as she had been eliminated in her first match.

"THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS LEON, OUR NEW DARK HORSE!"

The silence of the audience broke with this announcement. People’s lungs filled up to the brim with air, and with that very air, they chanted his name.

"LEON!"

"LEON!"

"LEON!"

They had forgotten all the support they once had for Emily, the Queen of Deceit. They were here for blood-pumping fights between Awakeners, and he had given them just that.

Only the name of the victor was chanted in the arena as always. The defeated would be forgotten.

He had not cheated. Yes, he was arrogant, but it didn’t matter. When he gave them a victory, they would chant for him all day.

Leon felt the switch was too quick, as if he were an older man with a lot of money.

If he hadn’t won—which was impossible—they would have mocked him instead.

But he didn’t care for all that when his primary motive for being here was to settle his scores. Turning his face, his mystical eyes locked with Malveric and the Crown Prince at the same time.

They flinched under his gaze, which made him feel delighted.

This is just the start. You guys have much more to face later on.

After giving the verdict of the match, the announcer, who was also the referee, quickly arrived at Emily’s body, seeing her condition up close.

He quickly called out to the medics specially hired from the Church of Life.

"Medics, quickly, take her away!"

The four priestesses, cloaked in white with green patterns and shiny outlines, quickly took her into emergency care for healing.

Leon felt the glares from the priestesses of the church as they carried Emily. He only whistled an imaginary tune and avoided their eyes.

He hadn’t meant to hurt her that much—it had just happened...

His match was over. His legs bent slightly as he launched himself to the first floor of the circular arena, then onto the second.

Wind rushed past his ears as he leapt upward, the stone beneath his feet groaning from the pressure of his launch. His boots cracked a thin layer of dust on impact with the next platform, leaving behind faint fractures like spiderwebs in the marble. Gasps trailed behind him, each floor more stunned than the last.

The cheers from that floor reached another level when he landed there.

But once he landed on the third floor, the nobles only held their silence.

Some looked excited, some angry, and a few disgusted. Most of it was negative attention, but no one voiced their thoughts or offered any support.

A lady’s ornate fan slipped from her trembling fingers, clattering against polished marble. A viscount clutched his wine glass so tightly it cracked, red liquid dripping like blood onto his velvet sleeves. Murmurs buzzed between the rows like a swarm of hornets, only silenced when Leon’s eyes scanned their seats.

Ah, nobles. So full of pride, so empty of courage.

He guessed silent politics were at play among these nobles.

But when he matched some of their gazes, they shrank back in fear.

For now, he kept calm. But the Causality farming would start after killing the Duke’s son and pulling aggro from the kingdom. He would see how many of them actually stood up.

There was the Crown Prince, too. His turn would come right after Malverick. Leon had already given him a significant threat openly, and it was his duty to see it through.

With one last jump, he arrived at the fifth floor.

He walked straight to Seraphine, ignoring the constant stares he got as he walked.

I could have easily jumped directly to the top... I’m not sure if their arena will hold until the festival ends. I already created two small craters. They don’t seem to have any magical equipment to fix them... I don’t want the fights postponed because of me before I face the one opponent I want.

Once he reached closer to his seat, his face was greeted by softness. He buried his face deeper in her chest and ruffled his hair with excitement.

He didn’t resist and gave in to the temptation. For so long, he had pretended to resist, but now he could do as much as he wanted without any care.

He inhaled her sweet scent of lavender and let his face enjoy the softness.

Hmm... so good.

Seraphine wasn’t just thrilled because he won the battle. She was already fully confident of his victory. What worried her was the fact that Leon was gullible. She felt too lucky to have him.

She knew he wanted a harem, which was another matter altogether, one she didn’t find a problem with in her beliefs.

Right now, it was about something else.

If he had gone easy on her opponent and won without beating her up, she would have been upset.

However, when she saw him kick Emily like a broken kite, she was having the time of her life. She was proud of him for not going easy on her just because she was a woman. He had even exceeded her expectations—he almost accidentally killed her.

The brutality—she loved it.

If one died, then so be it. All the participants had already signed a contract acknowledging the risk of death in battle.

It was still frowned upon when one student killed another for satisfaction, but it didn’t break the rules.

So her Leon had done nothing wrong.

"Hehe, good job," Seraphine softly said.

"Hmm."

Also, he had become even stronger than before—not by a little but by a lot.

He hasn’t used his mana once during everything so far... My Leon really is a monster.

The crowd had their mouths hung open. Even as the following contestants were introduced, whispers spread across the arena. At first, only a few noticed, but soon the sight created a wave.

They guessed the Leon guy from before must have had connections to higher nobles, likely a knight, since he had no surname.

But the sight in front of them—the infamous cold and ruthless commander hugging the same Leon as if it was the most natural thing in the world—shocked them profoundly.

Leon, sitting in his chair, made Seraphine sit comfortably on his lap.

For the entire next match, the arena was filled with gossip. Only the people on the ground floor were cheering and treating the game as usual, as they weren’t in a position to see the sight of the century up there.

People below only felt the arena was much quieter.