They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
No, this couldn't be!
How?!
Why?!
While Shang's Aura and clothing were different, his appearance couldn't be any more distinguishable.
After all, who else was missing his eyes, an arm, and both his legs?!
Beside Gregorio hovered a torso with a head and a right arm, encompassed by a bloodred piece of cloth.
How was he still alive?!
When Abaddon looked at Shang, he laughed loudly.
"You're still alive!" he shouted with happiness. "And I thought this tournament would be boring!"
When the Emperors heard Abaddon's exclamation, their minds started to go wild.
Was it really so bad that Shang was alive?
If Abaddon and Shang were to fight in the final...
And then, the Emperors realized that no one in this tournament was supposed to die.
But with a vote, they could probably change that.
So, if Abaddon and Shang fought to the death in the final, one of them would be dead, and the other one would be severely injured.
As long as Isis Neweston, the organizer of the Ultimate Tournament, handed over the prize very quickly, the Emperors would be able to fight a weakened Abaddon or Shang!
Of course, all of that was mixed with many other feelings and thoughts.
How did he become a Peak Sword King without anybody noticing?
How was he still alive?
Hadn't Lucius said that no non-Mage Emperor was supposed to appear again?
What was Gregorio's plan?
In an instant, Amon Gus, Brutus Cesar, and Kali gathered Mana in preparation to unleash their Spells.
Shang didn't do anything.
Just like always, hejust silently hovered in the air, almost like a ghost.
"And what are you planning?" Gregorio asked with a bit of annoyance.
"Upholding the law," Kali said. "He has reached the Eighth Realm without being allowed to. According to the laws, he will be killed."
"Now, now, Mother," Abaddon said with a smile. "Does that actually matter? After all, I will be fighting him soon. I would hate for my only decent opponent to die before the tournament even starts."
Kali furrowed her brows and looked at Abaddon.
The next moment, she dispersed her Mana and took a step back.
Obviously, Kali had only acted like she wanted to kill Shang to keep up appearances.
Kali and Shang were already connected.
If she betrayed him, Shang would only need to unveil the method Kali used to get rid of the Abomination Lords.
She could only betray Shang after the final battle was over.
For now, they were stuck together.
However, Brutus Cesar and Amon Gus didn't back down.
"And how did he break the law?" Gregorio asked. Even though Kali had already backed down, her earlier statement also represented the other two Emperors.
"How didn't he break the law?" Amon Gus asked with a snort. "How did he reach the Eighth Realm, and even the Peak of said Realm at that?"
"Why would I need to explain?" Gregorio asked calmly. "You're supposed to prove that he broke the law."
"His mere existence is already proof enough," Brutus Cesar grumbled coldly.
"How?" Gregorio asked. "You all looked at the Beast Lords and Beast Kings with incomparable paranoia for thousands of years, and nothing unusual happened to them."
"You constantly checked all the Mage Lords of all the Empires, and you also saw no discrepancies in them either."
"Keeping track of all the Mage Kings is especially easy."
"There are also no huge genocides."
"Over the last 28,000 years, you didn't even complain about anything for a single time."
"Reaching the Eighth Realm isn't forbidden. It is simply forbidden to consume any of the Beast Kings or a huge number of Beast Lords or Mage Lords."
"So, which of these laws did he break?" Gregorio asked.
Amon Gus only snorted. "A lot of words to say nothing. Fact is, he took Mana from somewhere, and it is forbidden to take so much Mana without our permission."
"Okay, where did he take it from?" Gregorio asked.
"It doesn't matter from where. The fact that he is at the Peak Eighth Realm means that he did just that," Brutus answered.
"I need more proof than that," Gregorio said.
Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar narrowed their eyes.
"Enough," Isis Neweston spoke calmly but with authority.
The two angry Emperors looked at her with annoyance.
"We all know Gregorio," she said. "He won't back down without proof, and if he is that confident to appear this openly, it means that it is impossible for us to find proof."
"Instead, we should focus on the tournament."
"Now, will this be a malicious or benign tournament?" she asked.
Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar noticed what Isis was doing and stopped complaining.
Originally, there wasn't supposed to be a vote for benign or malicious.
This was just supposed to be a benign tournament since no Empire actually wanted to lose their most powerful Mage King.
Everyone knew that Abaddon would win. There was no point in throwing the lives of their Mage Kings away.
But now, things had changed.
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"So, we are all in agreement," Isis Neweston said. "Nine votes for malicious and zero for benign."
"This tournament will officially be a malicious tournament. If one side of the battle wants the battle to be malicious, it will be malicious."
All the Mage Emperors and Mage Kings focused on Gregorio, Kali, Abaddon, and Shang.
All of this was for them.
When Shang and Abaddon met, they would obviously choose malicious.
After all, they were each other's greatest enemy and rival.
Both of them had lofty goals, and both of them obviously wanted to become the next God.
Yet, there was only enough Mana for one of them.
This meant that this was the best moment to kill the other person.
However, the price would be heavy.
Everyone knew that over 50% of all the Mage Kings would die.
Sadly, this was a necessary sacrifice to kill one of them and weaken the other.
After all, the two of them had to meet in the final. Otherwise, the weakened one would recover.
The Mage Kings became extremely nervous, but all of them had lived for a very long time, and they were loyal to their Empires.
"Then," Isis Neweston proclaimed.
"The Ultimate Tournament will officially begin!"
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading experience