A huge pressure descended onto the surroundings; Kenta felt a heavy weight fell onto his body as the figure slowly closed the distance. Standing by at the entrance was a muscular man, with bald head and bearded chin.
The man was topless and seemed to be somewhere in his late thirties. His well refined abs were visible, and his muscles swelled.
Feeling the man's gaze on him Kenta had the illusion that he was standing before a fierce dragon, ready to devour its prey.
However, once he saw both Jessica and Leroux, that pressure instantly disappeared as he raised both eyebrows. "Oh, you two are already back? I thought I won't be seeing any of your faces for another three months." The man said, a little surprised. "Heh~, why does it sound like you're trying to get rid of us?" Jessica asked, a smile adorning her face.
"Oyy, I'd never! Without you calming down that crazy woman would be impossible, even for me, you know." The man's face stiffens for an instant, as he recalled a certain event. "Hm? That woman, she came here?" Leroux asked, surprised.
"Yeah, she did. Sigh, she caused quite a disaster. In order to alleviate her boredom, she came here and challenge one of the seven swords, you can easily imagine how that went." The man said, as his expression became somewhat bitter. "... If it's that woman, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire temple is destroyed." Jessica replied, her expression becoming serious as she remembered her encounter with that 'Woman.'
Hearing the words of Jessica Kenta's poker face broke as he wondered who could be so strong to destroy the entire temple, everyone here were insanely strong from his point of view. "Um, who are they talking about?" Kenta asked, Leroux. "A woman who is said to be the most dangerous woman in the world." Leroux replied, in a serious tone.
"Eh? More dangerous than Jessica?" He questioned. "Yes, a thousand times more dangerous, if Jess over there could be said to be a monster, then... that woman can be said to be a demon. The numbers of strong nations destroyed by her fist is so large that it's enough to give any king or emperor nightmares to have her knocking at their door." Leroux explained, as he sweats visibly.
Seeing his state Kenta couldn't help but wonder what kind of person this woman was, someone even more dangerous than Jessica, 'It seems I need to reevaluate my thoughts a bit more.' Kenta thought, as he placed his hand beneath his chin.
"Hm? Who is this boy?" The man changed the subject not wanting to talk about that "Demon" Anymore. Realizing she hadn't introduced him yet; Jessica's expression went back to its stoic look. "This is Kenta." Jessica explained. "Hm, Kenta?" The man said, as he observed Kenta's appearance closely, as though to "Evaluate" Him. 'Interesting, he has a rather peculiar aura around him.' he thought.
Soon, a powerful pressure left his body and was being focused on Kenta, Kenta felt his heart clench as that pressure fell down onto his body, 'Argh, how many times are they going to forced me to kneel!' He was starting to get rather frustrated now. "Cough, cough." Kenta coughed out a mouthful of blood as he fell to his knees.
"Hey, old man, what are you doing?" Jessica asked, in a cold tone. She narrowed her blue eyes sharply as she asked. Feeling the pressure coming from her the man grin. "Hahahahahaha! To think you would intervene to save someone, it seems there is something about this boy that really caught your eye." The man laughed heartily when he saw the usual indifferent Jessica reaction.
Finally, the pressure disappeared. Kenta fell weakly onto his knees, with his hands supporting his body, his body was covered with a sheen of sweat as he coughs heavily. When Kenta raised his head and looked into the eyes of the man, his blue eyes carried a dangerous glint within them!
"Oh, I like that look in your eyes, I can see you are very prideful. However, too much pride can cloud one's mind and allow one to make fatal mistakes." The man explained. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" The man said, he stared back into Kenta's eyes. "I am the patriarch of this temple, Emerson." Emerson introduced himself while punching his chest.
A loud sound echoed as his fist struck his chest. However, it didn't seem as though he took any damaged.
"Young Kenta, what is your conviction?" Emerson asked, his eyes grew sharp as he asked. Kenta finally got back onto his feet as he heard Emerson's words. 'What is my conviction?' Kenta became silent as though lost in thought.
Seeing how long Kenta was taken to find an answer, Emerson was disappointed. He didn't wait for Kenta to find an answer instead he spoke. ".... The conviction of those who are a part of the temple of power is simple... only the strong can survives, while the weak dies." And... with a speed impossible for Kenta to react to, he thrust his fist into his stomach! "Argh!" Kenta groans, as his eyes turned white his surroundings began to spin and.... he lost consciousness.
Emerson caught the unconscious body of Kenta in his arms. Jessica looked at Kenta's unconscious body and sighed quietly. She could already imagine what's going to happened next.
His test is about to begin, the test that every member has to complete in order to officially join the "Temple of power" Leroux looked at Kenta with some concern but, he didn't say anything.
Even he wasn't allowed to interfere with the test that was about to begin. 'Good luck kid.' Still, he wasn't worried, he had personally witnessed Kenta prowess from up close. Jessica was also in the same boat. There was a small smile on her beautiful face.
...
An hour later, in an arena like stadium.
A young boy with short flaming red hair could be seen with a greatsword in his hand. Meanwhile two men could be seen holding the body of a young blonde-haired boy, who was currently unconscious. The two men mercilessly threw the body of Kenta to the ground, once his body impacted the ground a loud thud echoed.
"Ugh!" Kenta's face grimaced as he rolled across the ground. Once his blurry vision stabilizes and the scenery became cleared, he saw a scene that left him speechless. He was on a large stage that was enclosed by an electric cage. With hundreds of spectators watching him from all sides like some kind of tournament.
'What the heck happened while I was out? Wait when did I- that old man!' Remembering what happened before he lost consciousness Kenta's blood boiled.
He was already regretting his choice of coming here! The red-haired boy observed Kenta from a distance and smirk. 'This will be an easy victory.' He thought as he got into a stance with his great sword.
Soon, a man who was supposed to act as the umpire of the battle stepped inside with a neutral expression. "Now, the death match is about to begin, the rules are the followed. All are allowed as long as you kill your opponents, only one person will be allowed to leave here alive." The man said, indifferently.
'Eh? All are allowed. So, the only condition is that only one person gets to stay alive.' Kenta looked at the man speechlessly, 'Aren't these guys taking life a little too lightly' He really wanted to say but, "That will be all, make sure to give our spectators here a good show." Soon the man began walking back to the opened entrance.
The flaming red-haired boy who goes by the name of Han spat onto the ground as he said. "Why don't you commit suicide right now? I'm sure whatever death you can give yourself will be a hundred times better than what I'm giving you." He said, mockingly. However, "..." Kenta stayed silent.
Currently he was lost in thought, trying to find out why he was in this mess in the first place. 'That woman, why didn't she tell me about this?' Kenta wondered to himself. However, seeing Kenta ignoring him Han's expression became a bit annoyed, he was being casually ignored as though his existence wasn't a threat.
'I'll show you not to underestimate me!' With that thought, Han stomp heavily onto the ground to propel himself forward, the ground beneath his feet cracked as he closed the distance with Kenta. Kenta was trying to come up with an answer but was immediately pulled back from the sea of thoughts as he felt something approaching him at high speed!
Han held his greatsword at the ready, preparing to swing.
However, Kenta didn't have a sword on him so, his only option was to take evasive actions. Once Han's was at a reachable distance, he swung his sword with all his might!
Swoosh!
The sound of heavy wind burst out from the swinging force of his sword but, Kenta step to the right allowing the blade of his sword to past him by a few inches.
However, a small grin appeared on Han's face as the blade of his greatsword instantly lit up with red fire. "!!?" Before Kenta could move away his body was struck as the blade of the greatsword change shape and shifted into a flaming whip!
BANG!
His body which was covered with red flames was sent flying through the air, on Kenta's right shoulders there was a large gash wound that burned intensely. "Arghh!" Kenta screamed as he tried to stop the flames from causing any more damage to his body!
"Ohhhhh!" The spectators watching the battle between the two cheered pleasantly.
"Oya, that youngster there has potential!" A man sitting in the audience said.
"Hmm... I feel sorry for that boy, he was really cute." A girl sitting in the audience spoke up.
"Humph, cute? You know this isn't some beauty contest, right?" Another man sitting in the audience said. The spectators continued to chat amongst themselves.
Meanwhile, Jessica and Leroux both stayed silent with unreadable expressions on their faces. Emerson also stayed silent; he slowly turned his gazed to see Jessica's reaction but. "..." It was impossible to see through her poker face. So, he decided to watch and see who will prevail in the end.
"Argh!" Kenta used his hand to desperately extinguish the flames burning his clothes but, no matter how much he tried nothing changed!
Han's observed Kenta for a while before "Pfft." A small sound escapes his lips. Seeing Kenta moving around like a chicken who had its feathers plucked was amusing.
"Hahaha! Thats right scream! Scream like a pig being slaughtered!" Han laughed in gleeful laughter, as he spun the whip around in a circle.
The flames still continued to burn Kenta's body, 'Argh, what kind of flame is this?' Kenta rolled across the ground and tried to stop the flames from spreading but, it seems to be having the opposite effect.
If Agni was awake, then he probably wouldn't have to worry but "..." He got no response no matter how many times he tried calling out to it! 'In that case!'
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Everyone was stunned when they heard the sound of thunder in the sky, even though the sky was clear moments ago. "Heh, it seems he is done playing around." Leroux smiled as he saw the clouds which were filled with purple lightning. Jessica also revealed a small smile on her face.
Han looked up at the sky with some apprehension as he saw purple lightning flickering wildly in the sky.
ROOOOAR!
A bolt of purple lightning suddenly descended from the sky and struck Kenta's body!