Chapter 553: Irritating Serpent

All of his friends managed to go on through to the next round. The only person who wasn’t able to go on through was Lyra, though if Julius was being honest, it was an expected outcome. She had some apparent weaknesses compared to the rest of the field.

Derek handily won his own fight. Julius was impressed by just how strong Derek had become. The conviction in how he fought was vastly different than a mere year ago.

Aubrey had won her fight fairly easily as well. However, she also had an easier matchup than Edgar. Her opponent didn’t have the necessary perception to keep up with her clones. It was over for them before the match even started.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your next fight?” Aubrey asked him, poking him in the side as they watched another match finish up.

“It’s okay, I am not too worried. Based on how the Empire has been organizing the matches, it would appear the stronger seeds are fighting the lower seeds.”

“Oh? So you think you are one of the higher seeds?” Aubrey asked him.

Julius shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Be careful, I heard that your next opponent is quite… unsavory,” Derek commented.

Julius turned to look at his friend curiously. “Really? Why do you say that?”

“During his match yesterday, the guy mocked and humiliated his opponent the entire time. He also belongs to the Umbral Serpents Guild. It’s not official yet, but he has already accepted their invitation. They are not exactly known to be the most honorable sort,” Derek explained.

Julius was intrigued. “How so?”

“Well, they are a guild that specializes in poisons and infiltration missions. Everyone knows that they dabble in more illegal things, but there hasn’t been any solid evidence to prove this.”

“Ohh. So bad guys?” Julius said with realization.

“Pretty much.”

“Don’t worry. I will be careful,” he promised, despite not feeling much worry about it. He wasn’t concerned about poisons; his healing skill was too good for most poisons to have any effect on him. Not to mention, his improvements with his ruinous aura. If his healing failed to hold it off, which was unlikely in the first place, he would destroy it with his ruinous aura.

He looked over at the clock placed over the door to House Zenith’s suite and sighed. “I’d better get going. It would be embarrassing if I forfeited because I was late.”

He saw Lily roll her eyes. “Yeah, imagine not showing up to your own finals and losing because of that?”

He looked around, confused, and shrugged. “Who would do something like that? They must have been embarrassed or maybe were just too tired.”

He ignored Lily’s mental slap she sent to him and continued to walk his way out of the suite and down to the stadium. He had a certain serpent to beat.

***

“By the Authority of the Luminous Empire, I declare this bout to be sanctioned and witnessed by its nobility and citizens. There will be no interference or external influences during this match.

The announcer paused, grinning before he flourished his hand to Julius’s opponent.

Julius heard a smattering of boos filtering through the barrier before the man was allowed to introduce his opponent. It was clear that his opponent hadn’t left a favorable image during his last match.

“On my left stands Corbin Halevo from Blackglass Academy. He has clawed his way up to this point in the tournament, proving that he is indeed a top talent,” the announcer said and turned to point at Julius, ignoring the boos and insults hurled at the other boy.

Corbin, Julius’s opponent, didn’t seem too bothered by this either. In fact, he seemed amused, and a smirk was on his face as he stared up at the crowd.

“His opponent will be Julius Snow, hailing from Goldencrest Academy. Some of you might already be familiar with the first year that has skyrocketed to the top of the tournament in explosive fashion,” the man exclaimed with a cheerful smile.

Unlike his opponent, Julius appeared to be exceptionally well-received. He didn’t hear any boos or anything like that. They were all cheering his name, and he could have sworn he saw several posters with his name on them.

He rubbed his head, embarrassed at the attention, but he also noticed that the smirk on his opponent’s face had slid off when he heard how the crowd reacted to Julius. It was a very different reception from his own.

“Who will win? Will it be the experienced poison user from Blackglass Academy? Or will it be the first year that has quickly become one of the most popular participants this year?”

The announcer let the crowd cheer for a little while. Letting the noise build, Julius could practically feel their passion and emotions, despite not being a psychic like Lily.

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Julius had some time to look at his opponent and scrutinize him. He could see what his friends meant by unsavory. The guy in front of him certainly seemed like a picture-perfect representative of the word.

He was wearing all black, yet it still seemed dirty somehow. The guy also had an objectively handsome face, but the sneer on his lips ruined it. Julius didn’t like to make assumptions off the bat, but he couldn’t help but dislike the guy from the get-go.

After half a minute, the announcer finally brought his hand into the air. It was a small, delicate action, but to his surprise, he felt a weird pulse of something rippling from the announcer, and suddenly, the man had regained the crowd’s attention. Their clamoring died down. It was like magic.

This time, he spoke again, but unlike before, his tone was sharper and more serious.

“This fight ends only when one combatant can no longer stand.”