Villain: TPOD, Chapter 374 (Patreon)

The audience was deathly silent as they watched three Aurors fight their hearts out in the Arena.

Almost all of them had never witnessed a fight so intense and filled with skills that made them question their lifelong training, and it was proving to be an invaluable and insightful event in their lives.

Samrath was exceptional with his sabre, Victor was relentless in his brute hand-to-hand combat, and yet, they were both inferior against their opponent who bested them both at their fortes.

It was two against one, yet the Yexuan was overpowering both Samrath and Victor, both of them now bearing several cuts on their bodies and bleeding.

"This is how you fight with a sword, boy." The former Immortal Sovereign mocked the other Child of Destiny as he waved his Aura Sword, effortlessly defending against Samrath's sabre, getting past his defence and landing another cut on him.

The young Arya did not lose focus of the battle, not paying any heed to the remarks of the enemy was undoubtedly stronger than him, and he even refused to pain attention to the stinging pain in his cuts.

Thankfully, he was well-prepared, and all the cuts he received were shallow, having been blunted by his Aura Defence.

Once again he and Victor rushed at Yexuan in a pincer attack, and once again they were effortlessly thrown back when Yexuan slammed his sword against Samrath and kicked Victor in the abdomen.

The Child of Destiny gritted his teeth as he watched his enemy rush at him at a speed he could not defend against, and it was only out of instinct and experience that he managed to block the Aura Blade with his Aura-Coated Sabre, but his heart soon clenched when he witnessed beloved sword get cut into two pieces.

It was his family heirloom, something that had been passed down to him from his father as it had been to him by his father. He cherished the Sabre a lot, but he did not have the luxury to feel sad over its loss at this moment.

"Your blade was weak..." Yexuan smirked but immediately turned to his left to block a powerful punch that Victor threw at him, frowning a little as he found the tenacity of this Muscle-Head a little too irritating.

The stupid man just refused to stay down.

For some reason, Yexuan felt like he was the Villain, and Victor, the Tyrant, was an innocent who was just fighting for his life and pride.

It did not sit well with him, remembering all the faces whom he lost and could lose again to this very man, and in his moment of rage, he slashed his Aura Blade around Victor's torso, intending to leave a scar on him.

But he witnessed something that froze his mind.

The moment his blade touched Victor's skin, the Muscle-Head activated the Runic Shield that he was wearing on his body, saving himself from receiving a fatal injury, and the repulsive force that resulted from the impact allowed him to pull back and gain some safe distance.

Samrath, who was focused on the battle saw the opportunity and took it, and Yexuan, who was frozen at seeing the familiar Runic Shield, reacted only a fraction late.

The weapon managed to cut through the Aura Defence, catching him by surprise.

He could have saved himself from the damage by activating his Runic Shield, but he knew that it would give away his secret to the Demiliore, so he did the next best thing and then he winced in pain as he felt a burning sensation on his face.

Everyone held their breath as they watched the dagger in Samrath's hand slash across Yexuan's face, leaving a vertical cut over his right eye that reached down the middle of his cheek.

Samrath pulled back just in time as a more potent Aura burst out of Yexuan's body, narrowly escaping the Aura Blade that was headed its way to cleave him in two.

He landed right next to Victor, panting just as heavily as him, and they stared at the unmasked rage bubbling in Yexuan's left eye before the other opened as well, revealing that it had managed to survive.

The cut had done no real harm to him.

Their hearts chilled as they felt an irresistible urge to run, which was their instincts screaming at them for what was about to befall them.

"You will pay for this with your life." The words sounded like a decree, and then the young man, clad in his yellow Aura, rushed at them, conjuring up a massive Aura Claw that even masked the sun.

It was the Dragon's pride that had taken another hit, and he wanted to return the favour to these two Mortals.

There was no way out for them, and they did not even have time to fortify their Aura Defence.

Just when Samrath was about to unleash the Ace he had up his sleeve, a girl appeared out of nowhere in front of them, her long black hair that reached to her ankles gracefully and magically fluttered in slow motion, and then they saw water burst out of her drawn hand, taking the form of a reindeer that rushed forward, meeting the massive claw.

Everything happened in an instant, and the next thing everything witnessed was the Reindeer meeting the oncoming claw with its antlers.

There was nothing but silence when they collided, and Yexuan's heart sank when he felt all the force he had put behind his attack getting negated as soon as his claw was locked with the reindeer's crown. And then his eyes looked at the girl wearing a butterfly mask, finding a pair of black eyes staring at him, which forced all his rage, pride, and dissatisfaction to vaporise, replacing it with an irresistible fear.

He recognised her in an instant. The cherished daughter of the Lord of Darkness. And he knew would only be helpless against her.

"The battle is over." Minami lightly said, dispersing her water construct, which disrupted the Aura around Yexuan's body, making them both vanish like they never existed.

Yexuan quickly glanced around, finding only twenty-nine contestants, other than him, Samrath, and Victor, on their feet, and he lightly cursed in his heart at this young man's outrageous luck.

It was the second time he was saved in this way.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a silvery blur, and the girl had returned to the King's Box at a speed that made his heart sink further.

How strong were they all already?

He questioned himself but then frowned as he heard Victor happily start laughing and patting Samrath on the back.

"We made it!"

The young Arya smiled too, openly sighing in relief and then stood up, looking at Victor.

"Come, I will help you heal." He lightly said, but the Muscle-Head shook his head.

"I will be fine." He grinned. "This pain is nothing new to me."

Seeing them interacting with each other so carelessly made him grit his teeth, but they were only right to not worry about him attacking them again.

He just could not do it right now.

Yexuan turned around to walk out of the arena, ignoring everyone.

In his mind, he was already making up plans for what he would do after the Trials. He had to steal that treasure from Samrath.

He remembered how the vitality in the boy's body had suddenly flared up at his last attack, and had Minami not interfered, he was sure that Samrath would have still survived under that attack.

Whatever treasure he possessed was immensely precious and useful, and what worried him now was if the Evil Family had their eyes on it as well.

But he shook his thoughts aside.

If they knew about it, they might have already gotten their hands on it.

He had a chance, and Yexuan promised himself that he would not miss the opportunity that had presented itself. It could very well prove to be the key in his mission to save everyone from the Evil God.

The results were announced, and the participants were awarded points before they all went their separate ways.

Minutes later, Victor entered a room and nearly cried in fear when he found Rebecca waiting for him there with Marianne and Kiara. Her ocean-blue eyes were indifferently looking at him, and he knew that he had displeased her with what he did in the Arena.

He could have surrendered, but he pushed on.

"Sorry..." He immediately apologised but was cut off.

"Sit." She commanded, and he just lowered his head and sat down on the floor, cross-legged.

Even Yexuan had not made him suffer so much pain that she did as she broke down every muscle in his body and even forced his bones to vibrate.

But it was his punishment and he accepted it.

Fair price for still staying in the tournament and keeping his hopes alive for the promise his Master had made to him.

Tears kept gushing out of his eyes as he bore it all, not once letting out a scream, and then he started utilising through Two-Fold Heart Pulse, healing himself up, and soon his mind was only focused on sensing and guiding his Aura through his channels.

"How long is he going to be out for?" Kiara curiously asked.

"Around 16 hours. He will be ready for tomorrow's Knockouts." The blonde informed her and then curiously looked at her. "What Minami used was not just Elemental Control, was it?" She asked as they walked out of the room, but Kiara just smiled at her words.

"I can't answer your question."

"Hmph!" She pouted, and then the two of them started giggling. "She scared the life out of Yexuan."

"That she did."

And the two of them giggled some more as they returned to the King's Box, where the rest of the girls were present.

They found Alana sitting in the corner quietly, Amira and Reina keeping her company, and she panicked a little when she saw them enter.

"How's he?" She asked.

"In a lot of pain." Rebecca lightly said. "But he will be fine by tomorrow."