More than fifteen minutes ago, after the prizing ceremony is finished, except for the team members of Merciless Executioners and a few others, the remaining joined the audience section to enjoy the mini-concert of the closing ceremony.
Now that the tournament is over, Barbara also didn't bother to sit with her team. Rather, she requested Gideon and sat next to Azzy, much to Claire's displeasure who sat on his other side.
"So, cou… *Cough* I mean, Azrael. Congratulations, your emotions have been returned." She let out a comment as soon as she took her seat.
Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "not sure whether I need to celebrate or feel sad."
Claire and others glanced at him, wondering what he meant by that. After all, it is a good thing.
Barbara stared at him for a couple of seconds and nodded, "I understand. But then again, when we return, you can just train in it. After all…"
"Barbara…" Azzy suddenly raised his voice and looked at her seriously.
It was the second time she saw an expression on him. After watching him being expressionless for the past few weeks, it was an unfamiliar experience for her. Still, she managed to calm down upon understanding the meaning behind his actions.
She slowly apologized and placed her attention on the stage where Singer Sky is singing a ballad.
While the others didn't understand the meaning behind her words, they didn't want to disturb the current atmosphere and focused on the performance.
In the meantime, inside his mindscape, the Reaper seemed to be meditating as he was concentrating on sensing the surroundings. He knew what's going to happen next as in all the possible futures, this event is sure to happen, although the outcome varies.
As he was trying to scan the whole stadium, he felt a mysterious aura that is quite nearby Azzy.
"What is this aura? It is familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. It looked like it belongs to this world and at the same time, doesn't belong here? Is it a messenger from the Celestial kingdom or is it a person from one of those faraway worlds? Whoever it is, he/she must be at least in the demigod realm and is also powerful enough to escape my vision of timeline. Argh… My abilities are too much restricted in this mortal body."
Even in the past during his time spent with the Death clan founder, the Reaper faced situations like these. So, he was familiar with this.
He was more frustrated about how such a presence is going to affect this upcoming event. After all, according to the Reaper, it is one of the turning points in Azzy's life.
Furthermore, the Grim Reaper who knows every possible future hates uncertainty in the timeline. Only Demi-gods and Gods could cause such uncertainty in the events of the timeline. So, the Reaper couldn't help but wonder whether the beings from heaven are involved in Azzy's life.
With how the current head of the Death clan figured out Azzy's identity, his suspicion only grew further.
"I should be ready with stopping the time at any time and teleport Azrael away to a safe point. If he dies, I might have to go over this time loop once again."
Thankfully, Azzy couldn't hear Reaper's thoughts, or else, several questions would pop up in his mind regarding time travel. Who knows, he might even start to suspect every little thing that Reaper advises him.
Soon, the performances are finished and Exea declared the end of the league. Like everyone, Azzy and his friends also stood up from their seats to leave for their dormitory so that they could fresh up and get ready for the Champions feast where the top 3 medalists will get the opportunity to have dinner with the exalt ream Arcana masters, upper echelons of WAMO, and VIP guests.
However, who could have expected that before they even moved a few feet away, the invasion takes place…
Upon spotting the old man comfortably standing on the giant stingray, Dragon Academy's representative instructor, and a few people who seemed like they were from Church, Azzy realized that they might be here because of him.
Claire and others also realized the same except for Barbara. She was watching them curiously.
Meanwhile, Claire quickly grabbed his arm and tried to drag away, "let's go. It's not safe for you here."
Azzy was of course not stupid to go and dig his grave. He let Claire drag him away.
***
<strong>Elsewhere in the Grand Arena;</strong>
The sudden appearance of individuals in the stadium alerted several people who are on their way to exit the stadium.
Some na?ve were curious whether this is another event while others that recognized some of these individuals wondered whether there's going to be some trouble.
Looking at the serious expressions of these strangers, several people started to hurry up to leave the place as soon as they can while others appeared to be curious to see this matter to the end.
A frown appeared on Leroy Cobris, the head of the organizing committee. "Aethon Light? There's former King Timothy Light, Dragon Academy's Ricardus, a couple of unknown exalts, and tens of six-star realm experts? Are they planning on capturing one boy or trying to level down this entire city or something…"
Leroy fell into thoughts. As the tournament ended, he doesn't have any authority to intervene in the matters unless the situation escalates to a situation where a possibility of a mass massacre of the civilians takes place.
Moreover, he still doesn't have any right to stop others from using his organization name as he is someone that belongs to a different department. Only conducting tournaments is his job, although he was a rank-7 expert.
So, unless he has permission, he can't involve in this battle. Not to mention, he doesn't want to ask it because the intruder is a rank-9 out there who can kill him with one strike.
"What to do… Hmm…" Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and his eyes lit up. "Yes, Vice President Crescent intended to rope Azrael and Claire into our special forces. But Claire is born in a royal family and that too as a direct descendant. Roping such a girl is almost an impossible task. However, Azrael is different. Maybe, this might be an opportunity to scout him."
Leroy didn't waste any time in taking out the message card and send one to the Vice-President who was on his way to the hotel.
Meanwhile, Barton slowly landed on the field with his hands to the back.
He first looked at the old man who was standing right to the giant stingray and commented in a serious tone, "It looks his Majesty is too impatient. He couldn't even wait a day and gave an order for an attack as soon as the tournament is ended."
Barton's eyes then shifted to the man mounted on the giant stingray, and scoffed, "The mighty Royal ancestor who kept silent until now decided to make a move. I could understand that you are afraid of WAMO. But, I didn't understand the reason behind these worthless lackeys behind you. I guess breaking through to even the nine-star realm didn't give you the courage to act alone, huh."
Naturally, Barton's comments didn't go well with the listeners. One could clearly see anger in Timothy and others that are loyal to Aethon.
"Mind your words, Everglade. Remember who you are standing in front of..." As the King's father stepped forward, summoning a giant red spider, the royal ancestor interrupted him, "Timothy, stand down."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢