Blood Assimilation

270 Foreboding Feeling, First Match

Despite thinking such things, the Crown Princess still respectfully asked for confirmation: “Does the Great Lord not know of this young man’s recent feat?”

The middle-aged man shook his head lightly and said with an indifferent expression: “I only found out about his existence today, so I decided to check him out. Now tell me. What do you know about him? Tell me everything.”

The Crown Princess finally understood. She already knew what kind of person this man next to her was, and also the indisputable and insurmountable influence he carried within the nation. Even her powerful and royal parents had to show him great respect when they spoke to him, not to mention her, whose only title was ‘Crown Princess’ of the human kingdom.

Furthermore, as far as she was aware, this Great Lord Yonder was the type who never left his mansion. He also didn’t care about insignificant things that were outside his interests. Unless it was something of great importance or of concern to him, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

As such, the feat of defeating demons wasn’t something her parents or the Royal Council would bother him with, as it was already a norm for humans to exterminate demon spies in their nation and humans getting killed by demons due to the ongoing war.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath, cleared her unnecessary thoughts, and narrated what she knew about the new Gladiator, Randy. She included his recent achievements in defeating two demons that had the strength of Demon Lieutenants in her narration. As that was what piqued her interest enough for her to purposely come to the Coliseum with the excuse of assessing his talents to check him out and recruit him if possible, she assumed that the middle-aged man would be interested in that bit of information.

Not only would she garner his attention with her forthrightness, but she could also build some trust with him, even if just a little. She hoped that she would be able to receive his aid during the right of succession when the time came in the foreseeable future.

“Is that so?” After listening to her information, the middle-aged man was not that surprised by her words. Instead, he looked at the back figure of Randy, who was climbing the stairs as a strange light flashed in his eyes and then said in a mysterious tone: “I suppose he does possess some otherworldly talents.”

On the other hand, the moment the middle-aged man glanced at his back, Randy felt a chill on his back that penetrated his skin to his spine. It was as if he was being hunted by a predator of some kind. He instinctively put up his guard and looked behind him and coincidentally stared in the direction of the VIP booth that had two silhouettes sitting in it.

.....

With his heightened perception, he was able to see that it was two people sitting together. One was a beautiful young lady dressed in exquisite clothes befitting that of a noble lady or royalty, and the other person was a middle-aged man, who wore a long spotless white robe.

Their eyes met.

Strangely, this middle-aged man was facing his eyes without averting them. He carried a deep sense of vicissitudes in his aura as if he had seen his fair share of fortune and misfortune in his life, and that nothing could escape his scrutinizing eyes.

This situation startled Randy greatly because he didn’t expect the other party to be staring at him at the same time. Not to mention the foreboding feeling he got when their eyes met. He felt as though he had been seen through by the middle-aged man. He quickly averted his gaze and continued onto the stage while thinking to himself.

‘What was that indescribable feeling just now? Did it come from that man? Just who is he?’

Randy was puzzled by the uncannily dangerous feeling he got from that middle-aged man. He was so alert that he wanted to maintain his guard up against the unknown threat he felt, but as he had a fight coming up, he pushed those thoughts behind his head and focused on the upcoming Gladiator match.

The moment he reached the surface of the platform, the umpire announced to the crowd of spectators with a booming voice.

“The 69th Gladiator match will be commencing shortly. However, before that, I will inform you all that this is a free-for-all challenge. In other words, our new Gladiator here is seeking challengers to break through his current limits and gain new heights after accumulating enough achievements in the Dungeon.”

“With that said, for this challenge, only those who are level 55 and above would have the right to participate in this challenge. Anyone below level 55 does not qualify.”

“Although there are some low-level warriors with enough physical strength to challenge higher-level warriors, that only applies to ordinary warriors. From the information that I received just now, despite his short career as a Dungeon Hunter, our brave Gladiator had accomplished some impossible feats by himself. He could be considered an unprecedented genius of this generation, so keep that in mind for those who decide to accept the Gladiator challenge. For those who are curious about his feats, it is confidential, so I cannot tell you all.”

“With that aside, I hereby announce the commencement of today’s 69th Gladiator match… Challenge of the Strong!!”

“The Challenger should have their level checked when they’re ready and make their way to the stage to begin the challenge.”

Shortly after the umpire finished speaking, the first challenger swiftly rushed onto the stage. He was a slender man with muscular arms. Although he wasn’t comparable to the Great Sword Dien and Fortress Defender Manock or the other Gladiators after them in terms of the thickness of their muscles, he was still well-trained and could even unleash the same power with the right amount of accumulation.

Randy looked at this challenge with interest. This was because he could tell that this person was fast on his feet, completely unlike the Gladiators he witnessed fight just a while ago.

While Randy was sizing up the lanky but muscular man, the other party was also sizing him up.

Once both Gladiators were on the stage, the umpire handed them each two Power-Restraining Bracelets, and they proceeded to put them on without delay.

As they put them, the lanky Gladiator suddenly spoke.

“Young man, as a veteran Gladiator, I don’t want to bully a junior, nor do I want to take the initiative with you. As a show of courtesy, you should attack first as this seems to be your first time. Judging from your attack, I will be able to defeat you without using too much strength.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if I attack, you might get hurt.”

“Do you think you’re stronger than me just because you’re a veteran? I only need three moves to defeat you.”

“...” The lanky man was left speechless by the arrogance of this young man. However, he was an experienced Gladiator, so he wouldn’t let such an obvious taunt work on him, clouding his judgment.

Then, all of a sudden—

“GLADIATORS!!! AS WARRIORS REPRESENTING THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE, I IMPLORE YOU TO FIGHT WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT ON THIS NOBLE STAGE!!! DO NOT HOLD ANYTHING BACK BECAUSE THAT WILL ONLY LIMIT YOUR GROWTH IN THIS HOLY ARENA AIMED TO SURPASS YOUR LIMITS!!! NOW, I PROUDLY ANNOUNCE, BEGIN YOUR FIGHT!!!” The umpire’s booming and roaring voice resounded once again, startling Randy, who did not expect such an occurrence.