The last two teams came to the stage; the tension of the crowd had reached its highest point. Judging by the drool leaking from their open mouths, they wanted to see the reflection of the ambition brought by blood, struggle, and war.
Unfortunately, they were going to be left empty-handed; they couldn't find a tenth of the previous struggle. Two mediocre teams engaged in a struggle completely based on team battle, checking each other. When one won at the end of the hour adorned with organized defenses countering attacks and stereotyped attack combinations, groans rose from the spectators' side.
"I was about to fall asleep at one point!"
"Wow, do you think you are the Sheikh. Who are you to sleep here!"
"Come on man! If I had such babes next to me, not a minute of sleep would enter my eyes!"
The crowd was so disconnected from the subject that the subject of their conversations stopped being the fight and became the other people around.
"Look at the types sitting in those clan stands. How they look down on us!"
"Traitors! After the sect experienced the disaster a hundred years ago, they all switched sides at once!"
"Whoa, hold it right there. Only the Bloody Moon Fiefdom continued to stay loyal to the sect!"
It couldn't be said that the public in the Holy Blood Sect campus loved the Clans and Fiefdoms. People were not stupid, and rumors were scattering over the Hell Realm like lava ceaselessly flowing from a mountain.
"Next Fight! Team Three and Team Five, step forward!"
With the announcement, the spectators turned their attention back to the battlefield; they had looks adorned with expectations in their eyes. Unlike them, a person in the area where the fighters rested muttered while yawning.
"What's the need for so much monkey business; let's go out, slap those clan representatives, and get it over with!"
Nafız reproached looking towards where the five clan representatives sat, but no answer came. The five people had looked very strange since the battles started; they seemed to have closed themselves off to the reactions coming from outside.
The newly started battle was no different from them either. The struggle going on between the team retreating into defense and those desperately attacking them was pushing the limits of boredom. When half an hour passed, boos and even if feeble, curses started to rise from the crowd.
"Ignorant dogs, they only know battle as cutting the other!"
"A bunch of losers living under the wings of the sect, don't mind them. Let them speak without knowing they are spending their last times!"
Those in the clan stands remained silent. As for those in the Fiefdom area, they had mixed feelings in the face of the public's reaction. While they had to continue their lives under the pressure of the Clans standing over them even here, the words of those living under the guarantee of the sect were stinging them.
Actually, the public wasn't wrong; when the defending team won after two hours passed, even Atractivo, waking up from his sleep, agreed with them.
"Third, did you have the fights brought before the public so they could watch this nonsense?"
The Sheikh wanted action. Five people blocking the other five using all kinds of methods didn't align with his understanding of entertainment.
"Sir, the quality drops every year. Besides, we only passed the first round; I can guarantee there will be more entertaining battles in the semi-finals!"
Tilting his thin neck right and left while speaking, the Third Elder wanted to move on to the other battle immediately. Team number one was walking to the arena again; opposite them was team number two. Barely half an hour passed, the fight ended, but there was another activity on the highest platform in the area.
"It was truly a perfect battle, Third. If I made the two babes next to me fight, it would be better than this. Are you messing with me, you beanpole whose face I shit on!"
Slamming the glass in his hand hard on the ground, the Sheikh gave him a piece of his mind; the environment turned to ice. His energy undulated across the area in an uncontrolled manner, and people directly felt the wind passing through their bodies. The Third Elder couldn't speak; he could only give the continue sign to the Fight Official with his hand.
"Next battle; Team number three and Team number four!"
The two teams got up from where they sat opposite each other and walked to the battlefield. There was such a silence that every step they took echoed in the giant area.
"Ralf, do you want to continue?"
This time Nafız asked the rough-bearded man his preference. Against the opponent who won their battles with a tight defense, she seemed like she would help him.
"Of course! I want to see what my new weapon can do!"
Ralf stepped forward just like in the previous battle. His move brought both the crowd and the angered Sheikh to their senses.
"Again, whatever is there, you have it, Second! If this brat entertains me, ask whatever you wish from me!"
Planting a kiss each on the large lips of the frozen women, the Sheikh leaned back taking them under his arms. The refilled wine glass was waiting for him; it was as if that glass had never emptied anyway.
As if he heard the conversation between the two men, Ralf attacked directly. He attacked head-on, without deviating right or left, but this time there was a giant shield opposite him. When the weapon with the snake-decorated hilt came down on the shield, a loud noise rose. Two people standing behind the square shield whose bottom part entered the ground had leaned their shoulders against it.
Saying this is the opportunity, Ralf wanted to lunge forward; he would have too if it weren't for the two arrows targeting his head. Ralf ducked in one move; then just as he was going to straighten up and attack, he was hurled back by the blow he received from the shield that was stuck in the ground a moment ago.
Although it was impossible for him to be injured, the short black-haired man was losing his momentum; he raised his weapon into the air and took a deep breath. The team whose battles he watched was showing skill in defense, he was aware of this, and the solution he found was to crush them with brute force.
He accelerated again, calculating the blow he would deliver to the shield, but events didn't develop as he planned. The shield disappeared; five people fled in three different directions and moved out of his way. Ralf was running into the void; he had to choose a direction.
Stomping his left foot hard, he hurled himself to the right. The moment he determined his target, the other three people united and launched an attack from behind the rough-bearded man. As if expecting this, Ralf suddenly turned his back; he raised his sword into the air to clash with the enemy, but he was going to be frustrated again.
The trio suddenly stopped and started running backwards; Ralf, who prepared his body for the clash he would experience, was turning into a fool. While he was in this state, the duo remaining behind him drew their bows and released their arrows; the rough-bearded man would be surprised once again.
The ones on the side he chose for attack were the duo supporting the shield in his first attack. In the face of the same people using both shield and bow, the only thing he could do would be to dodge the arrows directed at him.
"We said unrefined ore, but I didn't expect him to be this unpolished!"
Nafız snapped half laughing, half angry. While Jashua maintained his silence, Lareina was speaking for the first time in a long time.
"I know this person; he was constantly leaving the sect to fight with wild creatures!"
"It's obvious anyway. Fighting and fighting wild creatures, his intelligence dropped to that level!"
The young girl didn't speak further; she now understood why Jashua didn't answer. The crowd of spectators was also of a view close to Nafız's, the only difference was that they were behind Ralf.
"Five people, they run away even while fighting against one person. A bunch of cowards!"
The girl who said fiery words for Ralf in the previous battle shouted with anger; those around her were agreeing with her too.
"Fight you cowards!"
"If we gather five of you, you don't make one man. Get down from there!"
In response to all the boos and curses, the five standing against the rough-bearded man didn't break their formation. While their action style had become annoying, Jashua took a step forward.
"Where to, Your Excellency the Young Count?"
Nafız caught Jashua, who tried to pass by her, by the arm.
"I will put an end to this masquerade!"
His voice was harsh and dull! He exclaimed as if to say my decision has no side open to discussion.
"You can do that whenever you wish, but if you want, don't take away our chance to see what Ralf is actually made of!"