Asterion didn't hide his aura or the aura of the cursed spirit. He wouldn't do like Rose, wasting so much magical energy reinforcing his body when it wasn't necessary. He preferred something more old-fashioned, making a grand but imposing entrance.
Because of this, the Spanish team had also spotted Asterion and his cursed spirit from kilometers away.
Seeing the enormous cursed spirit, about fifteen meters tall and so hideous it was hard to look at, the faces of the four members of the Spanish team turned grim in an instant.
"Everyone, get into formation. Don't attack; focus entirely on defense," commanded Ana Rodríguez, the captain of the Spanish team, a student with non-magical parents, as she took a fighting stance.
She had brown hair and blue eyes, her ordinary face showing a resolute expression. A thin drop of sweat rolled down her face as she watched the cursed spirit get closer to her location.
There was no way to escape. The enemy on the other side could fly, and if they separated, they would be weakened, allowing Asterion to eliminate them one by one.
For this reason, Ana didn't order the entire team to flee like Hans Weiss, the captain of the German team.
Landing softly on the ground, the cursed spirit, shaped like a centipede but with claws instead of legs, looked at the four members of the Spanish team with its three eyes.
Asterion descended from the cursed spirit and calmly brushed the dust off his clothes, his eyes never once focusing on the team in front of him, something that certainly didn't please anyone.
To those watching or to the Spanish team itself, it might seem like he was showing disdain for the team, but Asterion simply disliked dirt, especially on himself. He cleaned the dust off his clothes before starting to fight.
After all, if he was going to fight, he had to do it with elegance.
The blatant disregard almost made one of the Spanish team members charge forward to fight Asterion.
Ana glared at Carlos furiously and grabbed his shoulders, stopping the young man from rushing toward Asterion. "Control yourself, Carlos. He's doing this on purpose. He wants you to get angry."
"But that bastard—" Carlos didn't finish speaking as he felt a chill run through his body. He looked up and saw the cold eyes staring at him, and behind the seemingly calm gaze, there was a faint murderous intent.
Apparently, Carlos wasn't the only one who sensed Asterion's murderous intent. Ana flinched for a moment and recalled the circumstances of Asterion Black's birth.
Her face darkened somewhat, realizing her teammate had just called an English Special Grade Sorcerer a bastard, someone who cared greatly about the circumstances of his birth.
"Carlos spoke impulsively, Your Excellency. He didn't mean to offend your noble mother and father," Ana said in a dry but very sincere tone of apology, while nudging Carlos's ribs with her elbow. Losing didn't matter anymore at this point; she just wanted to suffer less at the hands of the very handsome young man in front of her.
Carlos, hearing his captain's voice, finally realized what he had just done. The information about Asterion Black wasn't a secret; every country had investigated and kept their own files on extremely dangerous people, and Asterion Black was one of those people.
Asterion, who was about to teach the young man a rather painful lesson, looked at the woman with interest. He looked at her for a moment and nodded.
"Very well, I'll forgive your offense." When Asterion spoke, it was like an angel saving Ana and Carlos's sanity, but their hearts sank when they heard his next words.
"But," Asterion smiled and continued, "you'll still be my training dummies for a while." Behind Asterion, the cursed spirit moved its hundreds of claws and opened its mouth full of teeth, letting out a beastly roar.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
A bitter expression appeared on the faces of the four members of the Spanish team, but no one backed down. They reformed their formation, the three protecting a girl with black hair and brown eyes in the middle. They all drew their wands and were ready to fight at any moment.
They didn't want to return to their country as cowards; their names would be dragged through the mud, and everyone would remember them as those who fled instead of fought, even if it was a hopeless battle.
Seeing that no one fled, Asterion showed a slightly disappointed expression. Although he thought Rose wasted too much energy on mere ants, he found the idea of chasing and hunting them one by one quite appealing.
Drawing his wand, which had a cursed spirit core specially made by him, Asterion pointed it at the enemies.
"Stupefy." A spell shot from the tip of Asterion's wand, and a red flash flew toward the enemy team.
"Protego!" Ana quickly conjured a transparent shield, repelling the attack.
Seeing this, Asterion shook his head. "Instead of dodging, you used your magical energy to conjure a Protego. Not very smart." His eyes looked at Ana with slight disappointment.
Ana gritted her teeth in anger, hearing the instructive tone in Asterion's voice. Didn't he know that something like this was gained through experience over the years? She was eighteen and had only fought with students her age, besides doing missions against cursed spirits.
Although she was a civilian genius with great talent, she was still an eighteen-year-old girl.
"What should I expect from someone so weak? What a disappointment. Rose really hit the jackpot fighting the German team," Asterion murmured to himself, returning to his cold and disinterested expression. He had hoped for a fight like Rose and Hans', but he was disappointed in the end.
His words, though whispered, were very audible to everyone present in this particularly quiet forest.
Carlos, who already had trouble controlling his anger, clenched his teeth and didn't care about anything else. He reinforced his body and forgot his orders. In the next second, he shot forward, appearing almost instantly beside Asterion. He aimed a kick at the Special Grade Sorcerer's ribs.
"Idiot!" Ana wanted to strangle Carlos at that moment. Although Asterion's words made her extremely angry, she didn't let them shake her. Her teammates were like her; unfortunately, Carlos was an exception.
Grabbing Carlos's leg by the ankle, Asterion smiled maliciously. With his fist reinforced with magical energy, he struck the Spanish boy's stomach.
"You need to learn to control your anger," Asterion said calmly.
Carlos's eyes widened, and he spat out a tremendous amount of saliva into the air before being thrown back like a cannonball, hitting a tree brutally and falling unconscious the next moment.
"One down," Asterion casually commented, looking at the three remaining members of the Spanish team.
"Shall we continue to dance?" he asked, approaching with his wand in hand.
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 145 - King's Game (13), Chapter 146 - Second Phase of the King's Game (1), Chapter 147 - Second Phase of the King's Game (2), Chapter 148 - Second Phase of the King's Game (3), Chapter 149 - Second Phase of the King's Game (4), Chapter 150 - Second Phase of the King's Game (5), Chapter 151 - Second Phase of the King's Game (6), 152 - Second Phase of the King's Game (7), 153 - Second Phase of the King's Game (8), 154 - Second Phase of the King's Game (9), 155 - Second Phase of the King's Game (10), 156 - Second Phase of the King's Game (11), 157 - Second Phase of the King's Game (12), 158 - Second Phase of the King's Game (13 e And), 159 - Death of Arcturus (1), 160 - Death of Arcturus (2), Chapter 161 - First Phase of God's Creation Plan (1).