Chapter 260: Results of the Regionals (Patreon)

Raven

“How were you not turned into a blood fruit?” Grendal Hox, Raven’s former master who’d sold him to a merchant to use as an alchemy ingredient, was standing on the Universal Tournament’s regional competition stage in front of him as an opponent, and this time things were different.

Tall, with yellow hair, steel gray eyes, and light skin for a human, Grendal was wearing Fabled grade leather armor and in his hand was a plain looking Mythic grade sword, but these artifacts, which Raven used to have literal dreams about owning, were nothing compared to those Raven had seen everywhere in the other universe, not even comparable to the secondary artifacts currently in Raven’s own spatial storage ring.

“Alchemy.” Raven only said the single word, unable to say more due to the contract he’d signed with his new lord’s shadow, but he didn’t have much to say anyway. For someone as arrogant as Grendal, words were useless, and it was much better to speak with actions.

So, he just summoned out his secondary artifact set, Mythic grade armor made from the leather of a Phantom Wolf which resonated with his new Mythic grade Flash Wolf bloodline to increase his already high speed to an even higher level, and a Mythic grade glaive, effectively a scimitar on a pole, enchanted with a single ability, absolute sharpness.

Then, when the System gave the signal, he activated his full power, using all his maximized stats, the extra boosting skills his new lord had inscribed into his soul, and his early grade Law Scarab of Speed to move as fast as he ever had in his life. And, as the third boon from his lord increased the maximum stats of his race by 50%, above that of even an Empyrean grade race, this put him at over double the speed of Grendal, someone who also specialized in speed and not defense.

Raven’s glaive entered through the top of Grendal’s head and down all the way to his groin, Grendal’s severed brain and vocal cords making it pretty much impossible for him to surrender. Then, as fast as he could, Raven kept slashing, chopping up his former master into little pieces until the man’s lifeforce was fully exhausted.

“How dare you!”

When Raven returned to the ready room, Grendal’s grandmother, a young looking B rank with Grendal’s same coloration, came to find him, and Raven unconsciously touched the bracelet on his left arm, an artifact his lord had made for him to wear between fights. “How dare I what, Ms. Hox?”

The woman, not a berserker like the B rank Master Tedros had tricked in the local section of the tournament, took a deep breath, calming herself down. “Come the end of this tournament, I will personally kill you.” Then she turned to leave.

Raven, however, couldn’t help but laugh. “Come the end of this tournament, you’ll no longer have the chance.”

Ms. Hox didn’t take the bait, not being an idiot, but she did look back at Raven with a deadly glare, and Raven felt great.

He knew he had no chance in the finals. Among C ranks, he was powerful and talented, but he was nowhere close to the top 256. Even Master Tedros had only reached 173rd in the last tournament 20,736 years before, and, while Raven’s current stats were a lot higher than Master Tedros’s had been, Master Tedros had had three middle grade Law Scarabs and tens of thousands of years of experience on battlefields, things Raven couldn’t compare to.

Still, with a Law Scarab, Raven had passed one of the most difficult hurdles in a cultivator’s life, something most powers only achieved at B or A rank, so, if he managed to reach the top third of contestants in the finals, and his lord helped him reincarnate—which his little brother had assured him was not a trick—it was almost certain he’d be able to achieve A rank with his new body so long as he wasn’t killed or injured in the process.

Feeling good about himself, Raven won his next seven rounds, winning his area’s regional competition, and then he teleported to a small F rank world before paying the higher cost to teleport back to their force’s B rank planet in the other universe, where he was met with cheers and congratulations.

Of the 1,358 members of the Za-Lord’s Guard, 847 had made it to the finals of the C rank Universal Tournament, and they partied for three days in celebration. Then, when everyone was good and relaxed, they all gathered in a large outdoor theater in their training complex to hear Master Tedros’s instructions.

“Alright, everyone.” Master Tedros, standing behind a podium on the stage, looked out at all of them. “We did a good job. And the universe master is pleased.

“After the C rank Universal Tournament is over, those who wish to stay will be able to, officially becoming part of the universe master’s main force, while those who wish to leave will be free to do so, though they will have to give back their artifacts and swear an oath of nonaggression.”

All the other members of the force, after a little prompting from their fellows, cheered, Raven included. So far, while the words of some of the universe master’s servants they met couldn’t always be trusted—his shadow especially liking to push people’s buttons to get a better read on them—anything from the universe master’s own mouth, such as what Master Tedros had just told them, had always proven true.

“Now, on to a review of how we’ve done.” Master Tedros sent a message through the System and everyone entered part of their minds into the universe’s soul net, where they would be able to see recordings of previous fights in the Universal Tournament. “847 of us have made it to the finals of the C rank Universal Tournament, 432 in first place, 267 in second, and 148 in third. And, of those who’ve made it, only 537 of us, myself included, had to use all our trump cards already, meaning 310 of you still have surprises in store for your opponents.

“In the finals, however, there will be a total of 20,736 contestants, and we only make up 4%, so we have a lot of work to do over the next three years.” In the soul net, five individuals showed up, all of whom Raven recognized. “First, if you are up against any of these five, immediately surrender, even if you have already lost once, as you won’t be able to even slightly exhaust them.”

In the soul net, Master Tedros highlighted the first individual, Daevic Stormborn, the demigod son of the A rank Thunderstrike Taravan and the Earth Mother of the Primordial Humans. “First, Prince Daevic. We’ve already gone over him previously, and we know pretty much everything about him from the two times I’ve dueled him. But, even for me, I could only win due to multiple specially designed Empyrean grade artifacts, so you all know how you would fare if you were to fight him.

“His odds in the System run gambling houses are now 1 to 5.”

In the soul net, Master Tedros then highlighted the next individual, a pretty dark-skinned human woman with semi-translucent silver hair and pure black eyes, Krysta La’Vordi, the daughter of the Alchemist of the Deep Woods and the Space Scarab of the Twelve Heavenly Scarabs. “Second, Krysta La’Vordi. I don’t think I need to go into more detail here. The woman has a maximized Empyrean grade race, just as many uniquenesses as the Thunerstrike Prince, two Mythic grade classes, and a space element Law at the Law Dragon level. No one has managed to give her a single scratch in any of her battles and, were she not holding back, every single one of her opponents would have died in one hit.

“Her odds are now 1 to 2, showing her as the favorite according to the System’s judgement.”

The soul net then shifted to the third individual, an old female one-eye with gray hair, dark skin, and a golden iris, the cultivator who’d come in 16th in the last Universal Tournament, Seven Sword Sarosin. “Third, Sarosin. We looked at her before the tournament even started. And, while many of the favorites from before the start of the tournament have already fallen due to bad luck and new talents, she faced no true challenges, so it is difficult to tell how much she’s improved. What we can say for certain, however, is that at least two of her six Law Scarabs have risen to high grade, she’s gained an oath that improves the power of her Telekinesis skill, and she’s replaced at least three of her seven swords with Empyrean grade artifacts from the Havadim Imperium.

“She’s incredibly dangerous and her odds are now at 1 to 3.”

Master Tedros then shifted the focus to the fourth individual in the soul net, a large ogre-like human male with a large mane of green hair, gray eyes, and intricately tattooed bronze skin showing scenes of death and birth, the most powerful C rank of those in the 20,736 to 41,472 range, Reverend Samsara of the sangha. “Fourth, Reverend Samsara. He’s not too fast, but he’s strong, able to take out most of his opponents in a single attack. And, more important, he’s nigh unkillable, literally able to come back from death, on top of excellent defense and almost unmatched regeneration. He’s not that dangerous, as unlikely to try and kill you as Ms. La’Vordi, but he can fight at full strength for days.

“The System has his current odds at 1 to 7, but, compared to the previous three, I think he’s the most likely to have a trump card or two remaining.”

Finally, the last cultivator in the soul net was highlighted, an elven woman with blond hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful smile, Sword Saint Milan, the future high priestess of one of the more powerful elven gods, War Dance Koraline. “Finally, Milan. Fast, strong, resilient, but the scariest thing about her is her martial talent. She’s basically what you would get if you gave Raven or his brother a divine class and an extra dozen millennia, someone even I wouldn’t be willing to duel with in a competition of just skill.

“Her odds are now 1 to 4.”

“But of course there is also you, Sir.” Wen Alexis, the elf who’d been attached to the Bloodtree along with Raven, spoke out. “The System has your odds at 1 to 3, but they were lower when the tournament was just starting, 1 to 12, and a lot of us bet quite a bit on you winning the entire thing, so don’t let us down.”

Master Tedros’s aura showed his emotions fluctuating slightly as he started to frown. “I wish you’d told me that before, Wen. I would have told you all not to waste your money.”

“What do you mean?” Raven almost laughed at the panic in Wen’s voice, his attempt to ingratiate himself to their boss obviously having backfired.

“The universe master gathered us all as C ranks as he has some higher goals for this C rank Universal Tournament. But we are a subsidiary force, not the subordinates he truly trusts. And more than just the several members from the main force who’ve come here to spar are participating in the tournament, their achievements just as impressive as our own, only without showing as much of their power.

“And, having personally fought with most of them before, I can say this with certainty. Their average power is higher than our own and the strongest of them, well, fighting against him is a really great way to learn humility. There is absolutely no chance I will get first in this tournament.”