Chapter 41
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At this moment, the half-blooded winged warrior Silvarando, who had been shooting volleys of arrows through the sky, finally felt himself reach his limit. By then, no fewer than 108 feathered arrows were already aimed at the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable.
Under the relentless barrage, even if the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable could evade them, he could never dodge attacks coming from every direction.
Yet the violet lightning whip in his hand was more than enough to shatter the arrows as they closed in, its strikes carrying the devastating force of thunder.
…
The battle in the sky raged with breathtaking intensity. After witnessing the clash between the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable and the half-blooded winged warrior, all the Soldier King candidates watching from afar, with the exception of those chosen by the other eight Primordial Systems, were involuntarily plunged into silence.
“How powerful.”
Every Soldier King candidate could see that both Silvarando and the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable were still holding back in this battle.
Even so, what they had displayed was already far beyond the reach of most of them.
“As expected of Soldier King Candidate No. 001. He had never appeared before, yet he can actually contend with that half-blooded winged warrior at this level. Wouldn’t you agree, Salvador?”
Ever since the battle in the sky had begun and all the “monsters” of Plane 25838 had been drawn toward the battlefield between Silvarando and the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable, Soldier King Candidate No. 098, Salvador, had left the place where he had concealed himself. He had appeared among the gathering of Soldier King candidates, listening to the discussions around him.
After hearing the praise from the friend beside him, Salvador remained silent for a moment before answering with utter sincerity, “You’re right. Lord Soldier King Candidate No. 001 is truly astonishingly powerful!”
To display such splendor at the tender age of a mere cub, both in Plane 12768 and Plane 25838—he truly was worthy of being the little lord, son of the Beast God!
Within the void, Salvador’s System 098 had long since fallen silent, unwilling to say another word. Even so, it had no choice but to admit that the cub bound to Soldier King System 001 was an extraordinary fellow. In this terrifying plane, he had actually managed to subdue the leader of the Netherworld clan in a single stroke.
In that sense, the cub truly was worthy of being Soldier King Candidate No. 001.
At that moment, as System 098 looked at its host—the one person sober amid a crowd of drunkards—it managed to feel a trace of superiority. Its host was still an idiot, of course, but compared with the idiotic hosts of the other systems, its own host was not entirely beyond saving.
…
After discussing the terrifying and revolting “monsters” of Plane 25838, the Soldier King candidates present could not help turning their gazes toward the tide of monsters that was still converging on the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable.
“Why do you think these monsters are gathering in the direction of Candidate No. 001?”
“Why ask? Candidate No. 001 has already subdued their leader. Naturally, they were summoned by him to submit to Candidate No. 001 as well!”
“What an enviably lucky fellow…”
“Come to think of it, have you actually seen him? The leader of this plane’s monsters is such an adorable little cub… I feel that, faced with a cub that cute, even we could easily subdue him, couldn’t we?”
“Oh, I think you’re right!”
“But this plane really is rather strange. Did you notice? That cub leader has already rescued the monster pinned down by Candidate No. 002, and that monster has now returned to its humanoid form…”
“So their monstrous forms are actually fake?”
…
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The Soldier King candidates continued discussing the matter, each adding their own opinion. Only the half-orc Salvador silently watched the distant “monster” that had returned to its humanoid form.
Salvador could not help complaining inwardly: Have you idiots really not noticed?! That “monster,” despite regaining its humanoid appearance, still has two little horns on its head!
Although the horns were inconspicuous, probably because of the power within them, just look at that humanoid form. Don’t you think the monster resembles their great little lord far less than it resembles the fellow in midair fighting Candidate No. 002?!
…
In truth, some people had harbored the same suspicion. However, most of the Soldier King candidates who had entertained such doubts forcibly suppressed them.
After all, if that monster and the person in the sky wielding the violet lightning whip belonged to the same race…
Would that not mean that the one in the sky was the true leader of the Netherworld clan, while the genuine Soldier King Candidate No. 001—the one who had subdued him—was the cub being held by the violet-robed man below?
…
Every Soldier King candidate who considered this possibility fell silent for a moment before deciding to abandon the thought.
Impossible!
Soldier King Candidate No. 001 could never be that cub!
Still, as the saying went, truth could not be made false, and falsehood could not be made true.
All the Soldier King candidates who had begun to harbor vague suspicions waited for the remaining “monsters” to approach the cub. Just a few more!
As long as they saw several more monsters return to their ordinary forms, they would be able to confirm the truth beyond doubt!
But then—
Just as everyone watched nervously as the monsters drew closer to the battlefield between Silvarando and the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable, a new main-system announcement rang out through every Soldier King System.
“Because Soldier King Candidate No. 001 has successfully subdued the leader of the Netherworld clan in Plane 25838, the elimination tournament for Soldier King candidates in Plane 25838 will end ahead of schedule. Plane 25838 is about to be sealed. The Soldier King candidate elimination tournament is now entering its third stage.”
“All surviving Soldier King candidates will be awarded and assessed points according to their performance up to this moment.”
“The transmission channel to the next competition site is about to open. All Soldier King candidates, prepare for a new transfer!”
“Countdown: sixty seconds—”
What?!
At that instant, all the Soldier King candidates who had been awaiting the final outcome were struck dumb with shock and silence.
What was going on?
The announcement was clearly unreasonable.
If the other Soldier King candidates were truly being prevented from continuing the competition because Candidate No. 001 had subdued the leader of the Netherworld clan, then the system announcement should have appeared the moment Candidate No. 001 subdued that leader.
But in reality, it had not.
The announcement had only appeared after Candidate No. 001 had subdued the leader of the Netherworld clan and then gone on to subdue several more members of the clan.
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Could it be that the announcement had appeared because Candidate No. 001 had continued subduing members of the Netherworld clan, while the other Soldier King candidates had been given no opportunity whatsoever to contend with or subdue them? Had the system therefore determined that there was no longer any need for the others to remain here and undergo the trial?
Every Soldier King candidate was filled with doubt.
Yet the most bewildered of all was the half-blooded winged warrior Silvarando. The instant he received the system announcement, he gritted his teeth and halted his assault on the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable.
But the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable had clearly received no signal to stop before Silvarando ceased his attack. In other words, he had not received the system announcement.
Otherwise, given his strength, halting his attack and ending the battle would have taken no more than an instant.
At first, Silvarando did not notice the discrepancy. But he reacted extremely quickly—especially when a spatial transmission channel opened beside him under the control of Soldier King System 002, while no such channel appeared beside the Myriad Nether Demon Venerable.
Silvarando’s eyes widened in midair, and an expression of disbelief spread across his face.
“Damn it… you’re not… You’re not Candidate No. 001?!”
The moment this thought arose in Silvarando’s mind, his head seemed to explode with a thunderous bang.
How was that possible?!
Yet no spatial transmission channel had appeared beside the man before him!
If he was not Soldier King Candidate No. 001, then who was?
Before the transmission channel opened by System 002 enveloped him, Silvarando cast an incredulous glance toward the cub on the ground.
But when he looked at the cub, he discovered that no spatial transmission channel opened beside him either.
This realization only deepened the confusion already raging within Silvarando.
If the man he had been fighting was not Candidate No. 001, and the cub below was not Candidate No. 001 either…
How could that be?!
Silvarando wanted to stay behind and uncover the truth, but the system’s transmission channel sent him away at once.
The system’s haste made Silvarando sense something subtly wrong. Even so, in that fleeting instant, he noticed several minute differences.
For example…
He finally saw that the “monster” below, the one that had returned to humanoid form, also had short black horns on its head—the very same color as those of the violet-robed man who had fought him for so long.
So…
As the half-blooded winged warrior Silvarando was swallowed by the transmission channel, he finally experienced the terrifying sensation of his entire worldview collapsing.
…
So, in truth… the violet-robed man who had been fighting him all this time was not Soldier King Candidate No. 001 at all. The real Soldier King candidate was the cub below, who looked no more than a few years old?!