Atai's arrow stunned all the people present.
Nobody, not even Eve or the archbishop, thought he would be so bold.
He literally killed the protegee of a demigod in front of the demigod himself.
"KID, YOU ARE DEAD!"
The archbishop roared. Blue flames surged out of his body, descending towards Atai in the shape of a bird of fire.
But with Eve here, his plan was destined to fail.
"I won't repeat myself again," Eve said while waving her hand and dissipating the bird of flames as though it was nothing. "What do you think you are doing?"
Despite her expressionless voice, the archbishop could not help but shiver when he heard her.
The ice-cold chill he felt from Eve was overwhelming. He could not believe he felt such fear when facing her.
He knew that Eve was strong, but this was on a completely different level than he expected. This was not a strength a demigod was supposed to possess.
This strength… It was already approaching the level of the gods.
However, despite feeling Eve's strength, the archbishop could not afford to step back right now.
"Miss Eve, what is the meaning of this!?"
"I should be asking the same to you. Who gives you the right to attack one of my people in front of me? As a mighty demigod, are you not ashamed of yourself after attacking a junior?"
"Ashamed? Are you asking me if I'm ashamed!? FOUR! FOUR OF THE GREATEST TALENTS OF THE SUN KINGDOM DIED, AND YOU ARE ASKING ME WHY DID I ATTACK THAT BASTARD!?"
Eve did not seem bothered by his words, though. She just stared at him expressionlessly.
"It's your fault for failing to save them in time."
The archbishop glared at Eve and laughed. It was a laugh filled with fury and hatred.
"And who do you think is at fault for that!?"
Even did not reply. She just looked at the archbishop as though she did not care about his words.
At that moment, the rest of the demigods arrived at the scene.
Not just the human demigods, but also the beastmen and elven demigods.
However, the expressions of the three groups were completely different.
The humans were wearing expressions of rage, and there were traces of battle and injuries in their bodies. The beastmen demigods were also injured, but their injuries were much lighter, and they were smiling in schadenfreude.
As for the elven demigods, they were looking at both groups as though watching a good show.
The situation was very tense. Both humans and beastmen seemed ready to fight. In fact, the only thing that was stopping them was that none of them wanted to start an all-out war between the two countries right now.
Plus, Even was here, so the humans could only endure the humiliation regardless of their rage.
When Bloed saw that, he more or less understood what happened.
And Regina's words that sounded in his mind confirmed his suspicions.
When the human demigods realized that their team was in danger, they tried to hurry towards here. However, the beastmen demigods interfered with them and restrained their movements.
In the end, only the archbishop managed to rush towards here and acted in rage, but Eve followed him and stopped his attacks.
The result was as Bloed saw.
Bloed was slightly surprised after hearing that. According to Regina's words, only the lionkin general and Aya's father acted at the start.
In other words, the two of them managed to restrain three human demigods by themselves.
Of course, Eve's intimidating strength had more than a little effect on that result, but even so, it could not be denied that the lionkin general and Aya's father were stronger than he thought.
Mainly taking into account that Aya's father was not even a demigod yet.
At that moment, the archbishop took a deep breath and spoke up to Eve.
"… Order your team to retreat."
Eve said nothing. Instead, she just looked at the eagle who had been unable to move under the pressure of so many demigods.
When the archbishop saw that, his expression turned indescribably ugly. However, he knew there was nothing he could do now.
Thus, he just waved his hand and sent a bird of blue fire towards the eagle, incinerating it instantly.
When the eagle perished, he made a gesture of grabbing at the air and the mana core of the eagle flew towards him.
Throwing it towards Eve, the archbishop scowled.
"Is it enough?"
Eve nodded. She then looked at Bloed at the others and smiled.
"Withdraw."
Just like that, Bloed's group departed with the beastmen demigods following after them.
Bloed, however, could feel the gazes of hatred coming from the Sun Kingdom glued to their backs.
In front of that, he could only sigh.
"… You were very reckless this time." Eve spoke up at that moment, looking at Rana, Rhone, and Atai. "You should have not been so rash."
"But Miss Eve! Greta, she–"
"… I understand you are angry. But killing four of them was a bit too much."
Rana fell silent, but it was obvious she did not agree with Eve.
Eve could only sigh at that. In the end, they were only kids.
It was fortunate she was with them this time. Otherwise, with how angry the Sun Kingdom's demigods were, they would have not cared about the consequences and attacked them to vent their rage.
"Anyway, good job." Eve shook her head expressionlessly. "With your current results, you only need to hunt another demigod and victory will be practically in our bags."
Bloed and the others nodded.
But for some reason, Bloed was strangely uneasy.
For some reason, he had the feeling something was wrong with the situation of just now.
Furrowing his brows, he replayed the scene of the previous battle in his mind. And suddenly, his eyes flashed.
As expected, something was fishy.
…
Meanwhile, in the Sun Kingdom's team–
The archbishop was looking at the remaining of the dead contestants with an ugly expression.
At that moment, the Sun Kingdom's prince spoke up with a hatred-filled voice.
"… Archbishop, what are we going to do next?"
The archbishop did not reply immediately. His eyes flashed with several complicated expressions, before finally sighing.
"… We are withdrawing."
"But archbishop! I have still didn't use that! It was due to that damn bird! If I would have used that, I would have killed all these beasts!"
The archbishop thought briefly before shaking his head.
"It's too risky. Certainly, I'm pained by the deaths of these young elites, but your life is much more important than them. I can't risk it in the current situation."
But just when the archbishop finished speaking, the only other survivor of the battle just now intervened.
"… Archbishop, I agree with his highness's suggestion."
"Ulises?" The archbishop looked at the young man surprised.
If Bloed would have been here, he would have noticed this young man was the same who fought Liu Ying on the arena around one month ago.
The young man had a look of unwillingness in his eyes. Clenching his fist, he stared at the archbishop with a face full of determination.
"… This time, I was unable to use my talent due to the situation. But if I combine my talent with his highness's abilities, I'm sure we can at least kill several of them. At the very least, we will not die so easily. Please, give us another opportunity."
The archbishop frowned. To be honest, he was not very sure about this.
However, he was not satisfied with the current situation.
Plus, if none of the beastmen participants dies after killing four of his participants, he would have to face a lot of criticism when he returns to the Sun Kingdom.
Such criticism was not something he could handle easily, even with his position as archbishop. After all, many other people were eyeing his position and resources.
In the end, he put on a determined expression and gritted his teeth.
"Very well, you have my approval. But at the slightest sign that something is wrong, you must retreat. Understood!?"
""Understood!""
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels