After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted into an uproar of conversation.
"What did he just say? Did he say he's actually going to challenge Alix?"
"No way, he must be joking. Otherwise, that would just be signing his own death wish."
"Even if he isn't going to challenge Alix, he's as good as dead now. There's no way Alix will let him off the hook for what he just did."
"John got one lucky victory and now he thinks he's on the same level as the Three Emperors? What an idiot."
The crowd buzzed with conversation, while Three Emperors stood there for a moment. Thraks was smiling with an amused smile at Alix, as if mocking him. Azalea was looking at John's figure, which disappeared into the arena.
For some reason, she felt John to be familiar, although she couldn't put her finger on why. She had never seen or talked with John's identity, and so couldn't place why she felt the familiarity.
