Arielle's POV
Two days
Only two days have passed since the incident with that mysterious man.
To think he defeated Jasper and my royal knights with one blast and even countered an attack of my own.
He is certainly no ordinary fighter, the overwhelming power I sensed from his mana was something I hadn't felt in years.
"Miss Arielle?" My assistant calls out to me, snapping me from my thoughts.
"Yes Donna, what is it?" I inquire whilst seated on one of the six thrones placed in the room.
"The other rulers have finally arrived." Donna informs me as my eyes widen temporarily.
I was so caught up in my own thoughts I had completely forgot the reason I was here in Pazalia in the first place.
The Tournament Of Esmeraldia
The 4 other rulers enter the grand hall, their presence immediately felt.
"Early as always aren't we Arielle?" Penelope, the Queen of Pazalia says to me sweetly as she takes a seat.
It was almost sickening.
Naive pushovers like her wouldn't last in the world for long, it's only a matter of time before her eventual demise...
"Well, it's been a while since the last tournament." Cedric, ruler of Hawthorne speaks whilst stroking his white beard.
"For good reason." Jayce retorts, clearly eager to go back to ruling Raykor city.
"Now, why don't we all get a long for once?" Sayro, King of New Genesis pleads sheepishly, albeit his eerie signature grin still on his face.
"Yeah meeting together without bickering would be nice." Penelope agrees before the entrance doors swing open as he walks in.
Raymond Felix.
"Well if it isn't our guest of honor." Cedric says with a scowl as Raymond grins cockily, his cold yellow eyes surveying the room.
"Well I am the winner of the last tournament, I would say I've earned my spot in this room." Raymond replies as he sits on the sixth and final throne.
"You're such an arrogant little redhead." Jayce insults as Raymond smirks deviously.
It seemed as if he was always up to something detestable.
"Well what's watching a tournament without treats." Sayro says excitedly before Donna gets to work, diligently serving everyone in the room.
However she accidentally spills coffee on Raymond's clothes as Sayro lets out a chuckle.
"That can't be good." Sayro remarks as Donna immediately apologizes.
"My apologies sir, I'm so so sorry!" Donna says trembling with fear as she tries to clean Raymond's suit, however he grabs her wrist forcefully, a scowl plastered on his face.
"Do you think a simple sorry would suffice." Raymond asks darkly, tightening his grip as Donna winces.
"Let her go." My cold voice rings out as I turn to face the both of them.
"She ruined my suit, must I remind you of who I am." Raymond retorts, his grip on Donna unrelenting.
"Raymond Felix, if you intend to leave this room with all your limbs intact then Let. Her. Go." I command, my dark violet aura slowly enveloping the room.
Raymond scoffs before finally letting a terrified Donna go.
"Donna, return to your chambers and get some rest, we'll talk later." I order before she nods gratefully and walks away.
"If you don't want things to get ugly then I suggest you be on your best behavior, understood?" I warn, my patience clearly running thin.
"Don't think you can boss me around." Raymond replies his red hair slowly levitating as his cold yellow eyes begin to glow gold.
How cute.
With one tap of my finger on the throne's hand rest, my violet aura immediately wraps around Raymond like a snake, squeezing the life out of him.
"GRHHHH!YOU ANNOYING--"
Is all Raymond can say before I tighten the aura's grip on him but Penelope puts a hand on my shoulder, urging me to let the idiot go.
"Arielle, the tournament begins in a few hours, let's not do this." Penelope says before I release Raymond whilst my aura retracts back into my shadow.
Without a word I turn my attention to the glass window before us as Raymond gasps for air on the ground.
The other 4 rulers all exchange nervous glances before they too turn their eyes towards the tournament arena we're able to see thanks to the room's high vantage point.
Braun's POV
What a beautiful day.
Emma and I watch two siblings from House Felix spar on the tournament battle platform.
"Is everyone from House Felix a redhead." I ask slightly amused as Emma nods.
"If they're not born with red hair they dye their hair when they turn 18, for some stupid tradition of course." Emma explains clearly not entertained by the sparring match.
"I bet I could join the tournament too if James didn't give me so much damn chores." She hisses as I chuckle.
"There there." I say playfully rubbing her cat ears as she sheepishly glares at me.
"I mean it, I could probably take you on at my full power if I really wanted to!"
"Then why don't you?"
Emma's expression momentarily darkens before she shakes her head and sighs.
"Just forget about it..." She responds as I realize this must be a touchy subject.
"Sorry about that."
"It's fine, just be glad I won't kick your crotch again to keep you in line." Emma says whilst smirking.
"Come on, you can't keep on bringing that up." I practically whine, slightly embarrassed and annoyed.
"Look at you so flustered, it's quite entertaining." She says before poking her finger into my chest.
"You really need to start behaving." I reply, pulling her cat ears in response.
"Hey, that actually hurts!" She exclaims before I let her go with a satisfied smirk.
"Hey, you there!!" I voice calls out from behind me, as Emma and I both turn back to the source, our moment momentarily interrupted.
"I'm Gabriel, and this is my sister Elizabeth, we're both from House Felix." The man who was sparring introduces himself motioning to the redhead standing next to him.
"While I was sparring with Elizabeth I could sense tremendous mana coming from you, I'd like to spar with you if you don't mind." Gabriel continues as Emma and I exchange glances.
"Sure why not." I reply before confidently stepping onto the battle platform.
Elizabeth shoots me a curious look before stepping off and standing beside Emma.
"Do you seriously think your friend over here can beat my brother Gabriel?" I can hear Elizabeth ask as Emma scoffs.
"Oh I know he can, just watch and see." She responds with a cocky smirk.
"So I'm guessing you're related to the Raymond Felix?" I ask Gabriel who readies himself for the upcoming spar.
"Yep I'm his cousin, he's so powerful it's as if he's a predator and everybody else is like harmless prey." Gabriel responds proudly as I scoff.
"We'll just have to see eventually." I say under my breath as I roll up my sleeves.
Blue energy crackles across my forearms as I let out an excited chuckle.
I hope you're watching this Raymond Felix, I'll show you who really is...
An apex predator