Beast Blood Aristocrat, I Want to Fight You!

A clamor of voices filled the Central Plaza. Most of the elites from the Special Control Bureau headquarters had gathered around the perimeter, their gazes collectively drawn toward the center. Upon the raised platform stood over a dozen figures. Like a range of towering mountains, though not exceptionally tall in stature, their presence was overwhelmingly imposing—suffusing the entire area and making it almost impossible to look directly at them. Each wore a deep crimson cloak with intricate classical patterns embroidered along the edges in gold thread. They were clad in thick armor, with menacing, sharp edges protruding at the joints. Standing motionless like instruments of war, they exerted a suffocating aura. Most striking of all was a purple-haired young woman in armor standing straight in their midst with a cool, indifferent expression. Beside her loomed a large, barrel-like red robot—a genuine machine, silent and still. In front of these figures, the Statute Emissary of the Statute Hall sat in the center of the platform. Elder Song and several others were seated to his left, while an elderly man and woman sat to his right. The elderly pair wore black cloaks, their deeply contoured facial features unmistakably marking them as visitors from the Western Federation across the ocean. Yet for some reason, Director Qi of the Anomaly Investigation Bureau, seated next to Elder Song of the Special Control Bureau, wore an exceedingly dark expression. "Fuming?" Elder Song cast a glance his way. "Our foreign friends are right here. Couldn't you at least put on a smile?" "You'd better be careful..." Director Qi leaned close to Elder Song's ear and whispered in a low voice. "They call it a friendly exchange, but it's nothing short of a door-kicking challenge. These people won't be easy to handle!" "Rome was once an illustrious realm of the extraordinary in the Western Federation. Their heritage truly possesses substance—even a few fragmented legacies are more than we can parry!" "Mm." Elder Song nodded, a trace of helplessness in his expression. "What else can we do? They've come right to our doorstep looking to pick a fight. Can we really refuse to let them? Once they've had their fill of knocking us around, they'll leave on their own. Even if they sweep across all of Tinghai, the sun will still rise tomorrow, and Tinghai will still be Tinghai... This is just a private bout behind closed doors. Our little backwater hardly represents the whole Eastern Federation, so there's no shame in it, nor any need to blow it out of proportion." "After this, the people from Tianjing will naturally take care of them!" At this point, Elder Song narrowed his eyes, took a sip from his teacup, and said leisurely, "Besides... this might not be entirely a bad thing. It'll show these commissioners—who strut around all day with their noses in the air like they own the world—that there is always a mountain higher than the next." "If it can shave down their arrogance and ignite their fighting spirit, I'd say I come out ahead." Even before the match had begun, Elder Song spoke as though convinced his own side would lose—and lose disastrously. He had simply made peace with it in advance. "Heh?" Director Qi paused, caught off guard. "You old rascal, you really have something to you! That person certainly didn't choose wrong when he handed the post of Bureau Chief to you back then." "Acting Chief," Elder Song corrected, leaning back slightly. "We are all waiting for Senior Brother to return. No one else has the right to occupy the chief's seat." "Still, you need to stay on your guard." Director Qi remained uneasy, his expression darkening again. "Given the chance, these people won't pull their punches in the slightest..." "Ahem!" The Statute Emissary coughed twice, shooting a murderous glare at the two whispering beside him, signaling them to rein it in. Even with techniques concealing the exact content of their conversation, plotting so conspicuously without regard for their surroundings was going a bit too far. It risked making the local institutions appear entirely devoid of manners! Fortunately, the two Western Federation elders seated beside the Statute Emissary didn't seem to mind. They simply looked down at the upright, assembled ranks of Special Control Bureau elites, a hint of cold detachment in their sharp, deep-set eyes. "The spar may begin." A sinister, low voice spoke. The speaker was the man of the pair, his palm stroking a black cane. His slender frame was draped in a black robe. His skin was pale and clean yet carried a gloomy undertone, his sharp, hooked nose was distinctive, and the black curls on his head looked as though they hadn't been washed in a decade. His Eastern Federation standard speech was not perfectly accented, but each word was enunciated clearly, every syllable ringing out distinctly: "Naturally, as guests from afar, we shall defer to the host. The host may select anyone to step forward first." His cadenced voice paused, trailing into an affected, vaguely unsettling drawl that mimicked elegance: "Anyone at all, as many times as you like." The smile on the Statute Emissary's face stiffened slightly. Elder Song remained expressionless, sitting still as a wooden carving, his gaze merely lowering a fraction. Everyone understood what he meant: they were welcome to stage a gauntlet, throwing challenger after challenger against them. The visitors were prepared to take on all comers. "Arrogance practically leaking from their pores!" Director Qi of the Anomaly Investigation Bureau snorted. "They didn't come with good intentions!" As he made his declaration, the Western Federation representative with the black cane had leaned directly into the microphone on the table. Amplified through the speakers, his voice rolled across the wide plaza, plunging the entire area into dead silence. Then, like an erupting kettle, the crowd exploded in disbelief, fury, and indignant shock. "What did he say? Did I hear that right?" "Preposterous!" "What right does this foreigner have to be so cocky?" "This is the era of the Federation! This is the Eastern Federation, not two hundred years ago!" Ignoring the uproar below, the male representative on the platform turned toward the disciplined ranks of cloaked youths standing behind him. "Who goes first?" "I will!" A young man looking barely in his early twenties stepped forward. He had thick black hair, an imposing presence, and a haughty, ferocious glint in his eyes as he looked down at the crowd below. Yet no sooner had he spoken than someone else voiced an objection. "You've already fought against both the Statute Hall and the Anomaly Investigation Bureau. Isn't it my turn to show my face?" said a handsome youth whose armor shone noticeably brighter than the rest. "No, let me," a burly man rumbled in an honest, simple tone. With curly red hair, coarse features, and an unkempt appearance, he resembled a wild beast. "I recently mastered a new secret technique and was looking for a live body to test it on." "Let me!" "Get out of here, I'm taking this one!" The youths vied with one another, their words brimming with an unspeakable confidence, as though stepping onto the field guaranteed absolute victory. They paid no heed to the commissioners hailed as elites below; it was as if they were picking prey over whom they held the power of life and death. The two Western Federation elders in their seats remained silent, indulging the youths' haughtiness. The Statute Emissary glanced at Elder Song and Director Qi, finding both of their expressions considerably grimmer. As for the crowd below... These were all elites of the Special Control Bureau. Having advanced far along their respective extraordinary pathways, their senses were sharp; there was no way they could have missed the argument on the platform. Being treated like sheep waiting for slaughter caused the proud commissioners' faces to darken with outrage. Fury flared in their hearts. Every one of them burned to step up, rubbing their palms in eager anticipation. In the end, after the man with the cane designated a name, the one stepping out first to represent the Fog Capital delegation was the burly, simple-looking man. *Boom!* A massive figure leaped down from the high platform. The man landed bare-footed, his hair wild and disheveled. As the air detonated with a thunderous crack, he unleashed a beast-like, ferocious aura. A series of sharp pops, like roasting beans, erupted throughout his entire frame as his body stretched into an oppressive height of over two meters. His gaze carried a heart-stopping pressure laced with bizarre excitement. Looking around at the crowd, he let out a thick, seemingly honest roar: "Who's next?" The people ringing the plaza felt a chill in their hearts, experiencing an unsettling weight the moment their eyes met his. "Watch out, this guy is the real deal!" "He's formidable! At least a Level 5 high-level Extraordinary! Don't underestimate him!" Even as the crowd murmured, the beast-like man growled impatiently, "Who dares fight me?! In this vast Special Control Bureau, is there not a single person who dares step forward?!" Right then, a man in a trench coat stepped out from the crowd, two combat sabers sheathed at his waist and a silver metal case in hand. *Who is that?* Many turned to look. Without question, this person had to be someone of remarkable standing, confident in victory to volunteer to represent the Bureau in this vital opening clash. "Qi Tianming!" someone gasped, recognizing his identity and calling out his name. "P8 Senior Commissioner, commissioned as a Captain, leader of the Swordbearer elite squad! He broke through to become a Level 5 high-level Extraordinary five years ago and is a prime Titled seed nurtured by the Bureau!" Several looked invigorated, while others exhaled in relief. "We haven't seen him in five years. Captain Qi must be nearing promotion to a Level 6 Titled, right?" This man was truly qualified to represent the Special Control Bureau. At least within the realm of Level 5, he almost swept through his peers, boasting top-five dominance within the Bureau. Even when compared with the other top contenders, only a direct clash could determine who was stronger. Qi Tianming stepped into the plaza as the metal case in his hand, engraved with a chained cross, began to hum and vibrate. *Clack! Clack!* The lid sprang open on its own. Countless fine metal fragments spun, converged, and assembled in midair with blistering speed, leaving clusters of afterimages behind. The dense mechanical clicks sounded like thousands of gears meshing and turning simultaneously. A sleek, silver-white suit of armor wrapped snugly around Qi Tianming from head to toe. A prismatic crystal at his chest, glowing with faint blue radiance, rotated slowly to continuously feed incredible kinetic energy through the entire suit. Behind his back, six metal wing-blades thin as cicada wings spread into a fan, their edges gleaming with razor-sharp cold light. —He looked like a heavenly warrior descended from above! With a sharp ring, the twin sabers slid from their sheaths at his waist. Each blade shimmered with ghostly blue radiance, drawing on the energy core in his armor to augment their thrust, appearing entirely unified with the mechanical frame. "Special Control Bureau, P8 Senior Commissioner, Captain of the Swordbearers, Qi Tianming!" Blue light flickered in his visor, and Qi Tianming's voice carried a metallic resonance as it emerged from beneath the faceplate: "Please instruct me!" "Eighth Seat under my Lord, Wulfrick!" The beast-like man had long grown impatient. "Come!" *Boom!* A massive clash erupted across the plaza. Dust billowed, the ground trembled as if shaking to its foundations, and the reinforced tiles fractured segment by segment beneath the shockwaves. Qi Tianming's figure moved like a specter. As the six silver light trails detached from his back, ghostly blue flames burst simultaneously from his rear thrusters, waist thrusters, and elbow joints. Arm thrusters, waist thrusters, leg thrusters... all ignited, unleashing full power! Twin blades swept through the air. The silver-white figure, trailing blue fire, shot across the plaza like a beam of light, dazzling the onlookers with blinding speed. Wulfrick countered the incoming silver-white flashes with heavy punches, his beast-like roars sending ripples through the air. Their movements were breathtakingly fast. The spectators couldn't make out the specifics of the exchange; all they could see were streak after streak of silver and blue light sweeping across the air like a meteor shower. The very sky seemed to change color, the ferocity of their collisions leaving onlookers pale. "I have long heard that the Mech Walker pathway, created by modeling after the fragmented Machinist pathway, is a celebrated masterpiece among modern standardized pathways." The elderly woman seated beside the Statute Emissary spoke softly, the wrinkles on her face adding an air of nobility. A tabby cat rested lazily on her shoulder. "Seeing it today, it is indeed remarkable." Though she praised the Mech Walker pathway profusely, her words grated harshly on Elder Song and the others. With their discerning eyes, they could clearly tell that the beast-like Wulfrick stood his ground, waiting for his moment while remaining steadfast against every change. Qi Tianming, though darting continuously and carving streak after streak of bloody lacerations across Wulfrick's frame, had failed to breach the core defense of his opponent! If this continued, the outcome would be dire. Sure enough. "Roar!" "Kill!" Wulfrick suddenly threw his head back and bellowed—a sound like a wolf's howl, a lion's roar, an elephant's trumpeting, and a wild bull's bellow combined. *Crash...* His eyes blazed with a crimson, bloodthirsty gleam. A sound like boiling water surged within him, and his knotted muscles turned an angry, terrifying red. One punch locked onto Qi Tianming's position, followed by a clawing tear, and then a brutal pull-and-push from both hands— As he moved, faint phantoms of ten thousand beasts rampaging and tearing into each other in mortal combat flashed behind him. Qi Tianming was hurled backward violently, skipping across the ground like a flat stone skipping over water, bouncing four times before coming to a halt. The energy core at his chest had been crushed, a gaping hole ripped through his armor. Through the mangled wound, one could faintly glimpse the heart within and cracked, interlaced bones. "What was that just now?" someone cried out. "Tianming!" Elder Song rose abruptly from his seat. "Roar—" Wulfrick's eyes were blood-red. Looking as though he intended to pursue and finish the job, the bloodlust in his gaze was entirely unmasked. Yet in the next instant— A suffocating pressure crashed down from above. The blood in Wulfrick's veins seemed to freeze solid. Snapping to his senses, he glanced toward the high platform and found Elder Song's murderous gaze locked squarely on him. "Wulfrick, that is enough. You have already won," the black-cloaked male representative said flatly. With a gentle wave of his black cane, an invisible field brushed through the air, dispersing the pressure Elder Song had exerted. *Hum...* Wulfrick gave an embarrassed smirk. His body shrank back amid pops like roasting beans, returning to his simple, burly guise. Ignoring the near-dead Qi Tianming and the spectators glaring at him as if they wanted to swallow him whole, he bounded back onto the high platform. Elder Song turned around, his tone frigid: "That was an elite of our Special Control Bureau! He has achieved countless merits protecting Tinghai and its people. You reduced him to this state just like that?" As medical personnel rushed in from below to carry away the faintly breathing Qi Tianming, Elder Song stared at the two Western Federation representatives and questioned them coldly, "He did not perish in the Reflected Ruin Realm, nor on the battlefield, nor at the hands of anomalies—yet he nearly died by your hands!" "Is this kind of conduct permissible?!" Knowing in advance that these people wouldn't pull their punches was one thing. Having it happen right before his eyes—watching one of his own boys battered into such a wretched state—left Elder Song furious. Faced with Elder Song's confrontational tone, the male representative frowned. "Clashes inevitably entail scrapes. Does your Special Control Bureau's training lack a casualty quota? Extraordinary duels are not performances, and secret techniques are not flashy dances; they are arts meant for killing!" "If you cannot bear to strike to kill even during routine training and sparring, how do you expect to survive on a vicious battlefield?" He continued stiffly, "A greenhouse does not cultivate true blossoms. Back where we train, people die unnatural deaths every single day." "...Yet dying on a training ground is vastly preferable to dying in the Reflected Ruin Realm, falling on the battlefield, or being corrupted into monsters that turn against our own kind." Cruel as the words were, they left the Statute Emissary, Elder Song, and the others pale. It was hard to imagine what kind of environment Fog Capital possessed to foster such an outlook. By comparison, Tinghai seemed as gentle and nurturing as a kindergarten. "Besides, our people have simply never cultivated the habit of holding back." The male Western Federation representative glanced toward the simple-looking youth surrounded by his companions and said, "There is no harm in letting you know: this child walks the Beast Blood Aristocrat pathway, a subordinate pathway to the Heavenly Mandate pathway that our Prince excavated from the ruins of an ancient Roman colosseum in the Reflected Ruin Realm." "As you know, subordinate pathways cannot be generalized alongside ordinary pathways. What's more, this child is exceptionally gifted—he actually comprehended the true meaning of 'Beast' within that colosseum, allowing it to complement his pathway perfectly." "To some degree, a Beast Blood Aristocrat who grasps the true meaning of 'Beast' can already reproduce a fraction of a Heavenly Mandate pathway's bearing." "After all, the Adventurers of the Heavenly Mandate pathway were once known as Gladiators back in the day, and the opponents they used to hone themselves were none other than fierce beasts!" A jolt went through the hearts of the Statute Emissary and his peers. *No wonder.* They were well-versed in lore, and preparing for the Fog Capital exchange had led them to study the history of the Adventurer pathway, where they had encountered the name Beast Blood Aristocrat. This was a pathway that had once stood as a rival against a Heavenly Mandate pathway! Back then, the Beast Blood Aristocrats had flourished, contending against the Roman Empire for an extended period, until Rome finally wiped them out following a prolonged war. The pathway itself was subsequently converted into a subordinate pathway of the Adventurer pathway, thoroughly reworked and restrained from head to toe. Yet now, in the modern world where Adventurers were virtually extinct? A Beast Blood Aristocrat who had comprehended the true meaning of "Beast" was scarcely weaker than a genuine Mandate Bearer. Above all, this pathway specialized intensely in combat! It was notoriously bloodthirsty and difficult to handle! The ancient Roman colosseum was anything but a gentle place for Extraordinaries. No wonder Qi Tianming had been no match. This Wulfrick was likely capable of going toe-to-toe with non-combat-focused Level 6 Titled Extraordinaries... "If your Bureau possesses any Mandate Bearers, you had best send them out," the male representative added. "I know it is impossible that you gentlemen have no prized disciples. We came with sincerity for a friendly exchange, so we hope your Bureau will not hold back. Even if our people are beaten to death, it will merely mean our own skills were lacking." "Otherwise, to save time, I suggest... we split into four pairs and proceed simultaneously." It was undisguised contempt, yet they held the standing to back it up. "Wulfrick is merely the Eighth Seat under my Prince, and he is far from reaching his full growth," the male representative said. "Looking across all peers of his generation in Fog Capital, he wouldn't even make the top three hundred. He is barely adequate within the Level 5 tier—hardly an accomplished figure." Whether it was Elder Song and his peers or the Special Control Bureau elites listening from below, everyone's expressions froze, a bone-chilling cold washing over them. A warrior as terrifyingly fierce as Wulfrick was merely the Eighth Seat under some prince? He couldn't even make the top three hundred among his peers? In other words, he was truly nothing more than... A subordinate, a retainer, a servant. Then what did that make them—the elites who normally took immense pride in their status within the Bureau? What were they by comparison?! Was this truly the measure of "Fog Capital"—a metropolis ranked among the top five in the Western Federation and top ten in the entire world? "I agree we should split into four pairs!" The handsome youth stepped forward. "I've been itching to show my skills!" "Who dares fight me?" The thick-haired young man also strode forward. "Preferably a Mandate Bearer. Don't bother if you're weak." As he spoke, his aura unfurled. He was actually a Titled Extraordinary! His words were staggeringly boastful and his pressure terrifying, though none could tell which Heavenly Mandate pathway he walked. Yet judging by his confident demeanor, it was very likely a Heavenly Mandate pathway... Like hunters dividing up hunting grounds at a game competition, they squabbled over who would fight next, treating the Special Control Bureau members as if they were nonexistent. Yet every single person standing below felt a bone-deep chill beneath their burning fury. The gap. Everyone felt the presence of that gap. It stemmed from the deep foundation between cities, and even more from the intrinsic limits of extraordinary pathways—something personal effort alone could never bridge. Yet to Elder Song's gratification, and to the surprise of both Director Qi and the Statute Emissary— Not a single person from the Special Control Bureau backed down. Not one. "I'll go!" "I volunteer to fight!" Though knowing full well they might face mortal peril, they scrambled to step forward. The Special Control Bureau had always operated under military-style management, with officers holding military ranks. In the military, you could lose! You could die! But you could never claim you were not up to the task! Daring to fight, fearless of sacrifice—those lacking such resolve had no place in the Bureau. Even someone like Major Luo had never shown an ugly side in the face of death... The stronger they were, the more proactively they stepped forward. Figure after figure bounded onto the plaza, and battle after battle broke out. *Boom!* *Bang! Bang! Bang!* Level 4 fought Level 4, Level 5 dueled Level 5, and Level 6 clashed with Level 6. On the Level 4 battlefield: The handsome youth drew his knightly longsword, took a forward stride, twisted in midair, and four beautiful golden phantoms manifested around him, surging forward along the blade's path. Each phantom carried an irresistible, crushing momentum. The Level 4 elite from the Bureau only had time to raise his arms in a block before being smashed backward by the four phantoms, crashing heavily into the crowd. "Next?" With a flourish of his sword, the handsome youth smiled and asked. On the Level 5 battlefield: The fully armored knight from Fog Capital fought barehanded, each punch landing with immense force and dull sonic booms. The Bureau's Level 5 commissioner wielded a short sword, weaving a web of light that struck precisely at the gaps in his opponent's leverage, forcing him on the defensive. The two traded blows back and forth, locked in an even contest that drew many eyes. However, the knight's armor was an extraordinary set; piercing its defense alone was a daunting challenge. By the twenty-seventh exchange, the short sword finally penetrated the knight's chest armor, piercing the initial defense. Yet in that very moment, the knight drove a fist into the commissioner's chest, sending him staggering backward as he coughed up blood. "Is that enough?" The barehanded fighter pulled back his fist and asked quietly. With Wulfrick's earlier excess and Elder Song's anger fresh in mind, the Western Federation youths were no fools; they exercised some restraint and refrained from pressing the attack to inflict lethal harm. The Level 5 commissioner's face shifted between pale and flushed before he spat out another mouthful of blood and slumped dejectedly to the ground. "I lose." His voice was so soft it was barely audible even to himself. On the Level 6 Titled battlefield, the combat was the most spectacular. Radiance surged and divine domains clashed. The two combatants moved as they traded blows, reducing more than half the plaza to rubble. *Boom boom boom boom boom!* After over a hundred exchanges, the thick-haired man gave a long cry, his hair flying wildly. Unfurling an unknown secret technique, golden light swirled in his palms as he sent his Bureau opponent hurtling across the air. "Who! Else!" the thick-haired man shouted, arms spread wide in triumph. No one answered. Level 4 had lost, Level 5 had lost, and Level 6 had lost as well. In the blink of an eye, ten matches had concluded, and the Special Control Bureau had suffered a crushing defeat. A terrible silence hung over the perimeter of the plaza. The ten youths of the Fog Capital delegation stood like ten immovable mountains amidst the wreckage of the devastated plaza, suffocating the entire Special Control Bureau under their weight. "If only one of those ten—or nine—were here..." "They're all guarding critical strongholds, unable to get away! Otherwise, how could it come to this!" someone muttered in desperate resentment. "The true elites are out holding their own ground, while we left at headquarters are just the unremarkable ones... What is there to be proud of in beating us?!" More and more people recalled that the true anchors of the Bureau were the branch directors of the top ten bases among the thirty-six distribution bases! Each had been personally trained by the previous Bureau Chief, and not a single elite at headquarters could forget that the previous chief was a top-tier powerhouse who had once held all of Tinghai beneath his sway. A Mandate Bearer! Thus, many believed that among his personal disciples—those ten branch directors—there were bound to be those whose fate and talent aligned with his Heavenly Mandate pathway, perhaps even multiple Mandate Bearers. Moreover, all of them were super-powerhouses who were at least Level 6 Titled Extraordinaries! Apart from Base No. 9 being destroyed, the other nine were all alive and well, serving as the anchors that intimidated all of Tinghai. Had even one of them been present, how could these Fog Capital visitors run rampant? They could have fought them to a standstill at the very least! Yet... they were not here. Every top-ranked base guarded critical secrets, and with Tinghai currently in turmoil, they were all the more unable to pull away. "Hm? Branch directors?" Hearing the murmurs below, the thick-haired Level 6 man raised a brow and waved his hand with swagger. "Then let them come!" "—And fight me!" Arrogance—the man's arrogance was on full display in this moment. Yet arrogance backed by strength ceased to be mere bluster; it became confidence. The Bureau members could find no words to refute him. The entire Special Control Bureau had been suppressed by ten youths until they could barely breathe... Such was the disparity. The gap was too vast, so vast it bordered on despair. A heavy lump formed in everyone's chest. Commissioners who had still wanted to test their mettle quietly abandoned the thought. The best fighters among them had already fallen on the plaza. Even if they went up now, what difference would it make? On the high platform, Elder Song let out a low sigh and turned his head away, unable to watch. Director Qi had closed his eyes at some point to feign sleep, leaving only the Statute Emissary seated beside the two Western Federation representatives, his expression growing increasingly rigid. "I only just warmed up, and it's already over?" The handsome youth sheathed his sword with a pout. "Ended even faster than at the Anomaly Investigation Bureau... boring." The beast-like red-haired man scratched his head in mock bewilderment, tilting his head to ask the crowd below, "Special Control Bureau, is this all you've got?" Seeing that his bravado had drawn no new challengers, the thick-haired Level 6 man let his expression cool once more. "It seems that will be all for today." He cast a dismissive glance over the crowd below, then looked toward the senior officials of the Special Control Bureau at the edge of the plaza. "I had heard Tinghai was a land of remarkable spirits and talents," he said flatly. "Seeing it today..." He cut his words short, leaving the rest unsaid. Yet everyone understood the unspoken conclusion: *Seeing it today, it amounts to nothing more than this!* Silence. A dead, suffocating silence. Around the plaza, people clenched their fists until their knuckles cracked. Yet no one moved. Because the ten towering mountains on the platform were an obstacle they simply could not overcome. Strength was the sole foundation of one's voice. Calling this a dark hour could hardly capture the mood of the Special Control Bureau members. This day would undoubtedly remain an indelible humiliation for the rest of their lives. Yet. Right at that moment— "Excuse me, make way, make way..." An untimely voice drifted from behind the crowd. First came a masked Gem Witch jogging up to the edge of the plaza. Behind her dragged a youth in loose pajamas and slippers, sporting massive dark circles under his eyes and dangling a fried dough stick from his mouth like an absentminded schoolgirl clutching toast on her morning dash. He was being hauled along by Gem Witch ahead of him. "How's the fight going? What are those people standing up there for?" "...Why is it so quiet?" Standing on the fringe of the crowd, the newly arrived Gem Witch and Bai Zhou had yet to grasp the situation. "It can't be over already, can it?" Bai Zhou mumbled around his dough stick, peering toward the central plaza from the edge of the dense crowd. Gem Witch smacked her forehead. "It's all your fault, Bai Zhou! You just had to finish that bowl of spicy soup!" "What's the rush? Let's take a look." The two were murmuring very softly, but the plaza happened to be eerily quiet and stiflingly tense. Their arrival stood out like a sore thumb. —Especially given their attire, which was thoroughly out of place. The surrounding commissioners turned to glare furiously at the untimely pair, leaving the two completely baffled. In the center of the plaza, the ten oppressive mountains also turned their gazes over. "Hm?" The beast-like red-haired man's eyes suddenly narrowed, locking firmly onto the pajama-clad youth. Whether it was an illusion or not, the very instant he laid eyes on this kid in pajamas— He felt his Beast Blood Aristocrat pathway... Stir. "You... seem rather strong?" The man's eyes lit up. Under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd, he pointed straight across the dense gathering at the youth in pajamas standing on the perimeter. "—Kid, I want to fight you!" "Huh?" Suddenly singled out, Bai Zhou looked left and right. As an ordinary spectator who had just arrived hoping to watch the drama unfold, Bai Zhou was utterly bewildered. "Me?" He stepped to the left, then shifted to the right, but the finger on the platform remained unwaveringly aimed at him. "—Do I have to fight too?" With that, Bai Zhou turned toward the "gorilla" standing amidst the ruins of the plaza. Sensing an inexplicable, haughty impulse welling up from his Adventurer pathway—an urge to make the other man drop to his knees before him— He faintly detected a certain familiar aura clinging to the man. Feeling strange, Bai Zhou blinked twice, then raised a hand to point dubiously at himself, calling out across the distance: "Oi, Redhead." Bai Zhou asked in all seriousness: "Are you... pointing at me?"