"..."
"..."
Xi Mu disregarded the audience's enthusiastic response, flicked the blood off his hefty sword, and with a tilt of his head, smiled at the host a short distance away:
"Don't waste time, bring on the appetizers all at once."
"Ah… Sir Ahtal, are you serious?" the host asked in surprise, followed by cheers from the audience.
The audience became even more excited by Ahtal's proud words and his nonchalant attitude.
"Let the appetizers come forth all at once!"
"Let the appetizers come forth all at once!"
"Let the appetizers come forth all at once!"
The rising and falling waves of sound created immense pressure, as if to refuse would result in being torn apart by the audience.
The host wore a troubled expression.
The rules of the dueling arena called for one-on-one combat; even in team battles, the number on both sides had to be equal.
"As long as I can win, having them all come at once won't affect the earnings," Xi Mu casually mentioned, "and it won't affect your betting either."
Such natural arrogance—his calm words seemed to narrate an objective reality. For him, the prospect of defeat didn't seem to cross his mind.
If he was talking about going home for dinner, such a tone would be normal, but he was in a duel.
This was utter disdain for his opponent.
"What an arrogant guy, but I like it!" In the stands, a noble girl covered her face with her hands, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
Such arrogance was what attracted them the most.
"It's not arrogance, it's objective consideration," a red-haired burly man with crossed arms said coolly.
"The quicker he gets rid of the appetizers, the more advantageous it is for him."
"What do you know!" the noble girl immediately became dissatisfied at these words and glared at the red-haired burly man beside her, "Everyone knows the more opponents there are, the more troublesome it is. This is Sir Ahtal's extreme confidence in his own strength!"
The red-haired burly man fell silent for a moment, scratching his head and smiling helplessly, "Right, you make sense, he is very confident in his own strength."
"You don't come to the dueling arena often, do you? You don't even understand this basic knowledge," the noble girl said, looking at the arena, her eyes seemingly sparkling with excitement.
She had seen Ahtal with her own eyes when he was only wearing shorts, holding a rusty broken sword, and now Ahtal had grown into a knight, clad in shining silver armor, resolutely returning to the dueling arena for the princess he vowed to protect.
This romantic tale made them envious and their hearts flutter.
Hence, from the start of the duel, they had already sided with Ahtal and deep within yearned for Ahtal's victory.
Of course, a romantic story must also have a beautiful ending.
The red-haired big man sighed, not wanting to argue with the girl beside him. He believed the owner of the dueling arena would definitely agree to the duel.
After all, the duel had to be thrilling.
"Agreed!" The host pulled his gaze back from the audience and nodded to Xi Mu, although he didn't understand why the owner would arrange such a duel.
"Group battle... no, it's one against nine in a siege!" he shouted, raising his hand high and stepping closer to the edge of the dueling arena.
"Will our star Ahtal win, or is this where he stops!"
"..." Xi Mu surveyed both ends of the dueling arena, only to see a few duelists cautiously stepping out, their movements wary as if they dared not approach.
He had to end them quickly. Despite having drunk plenty of Magic Potion, its effects still had a time limit.
The most rational choice was to quickly defeat these duelists, who were merely for warming up, in preparation for the increasingly difficult opponents that would follow.
Gripping his heavy sword tightly, Xi Mu took a step forward, causing the nine opposing duelists to subconsciously retreat a step.
Then, as if provoked, the nine duelists immediately charged at Xi Mu, not allowing the silver-clad Knight any chance for a one-on-one fight.
This was the unspoken agreement among the nine duelists, who instinctively made the best choice without needing any communication.
This was like a wolf pack, which naturally opts to band together when facing lions or tigers. And this instinct wasn't exclusive to wolves.
Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs—all social and intelligent beings accustomed to living in groups—possessed a stronger will to cooperate and to band together.
And the proof of this instinct was the wars between nations.
"Ahtal!" With a roar, a lion-headed orc, wielding a Wolf Fang Club, charged forward. His arm muscles bulged as he swung it down with full force.
It then came crashing down heavily onto the flesh.
Xi Mu sidestepped the Wolf Fang Club and even spared a glance at the human smashed into a bloody mess by the lion orc.
Then he refocused his eyes on the lion orc, extended two fingers, and plunged them directly into the orc's eye sockets, accompanied by blood splattering.
Xi Mu immediately withdrew from the encirclement, and the blinded lion orc, flailing wildly with the Wolf Fang Club, accidentally hammered a few of the surrounding duelists.
Indeed, the alliance of the weak was a method to overcome the strong, but if the cooperation lacked harmony and the strong caught an opportunity to separate and defeat them individually, this would lead to even quicker deaths for the weak.
Under the watchful eyes of all, a no-holds-barred but elegantly brutal massacre unfolded. Xi Mu kicked up gravel to blind, discarded his weapon for close combat, accurately predicted the attackers' trajectories, and danced around their strikes like a blade gliding on ice.
The number of duelists in the arena thinned at a visually perceptible rate, leaving only the lion orc still standing before long.