Chapter 40: Ambush!

The sixth one!

Gazing at the battered and bruised third-tier Arcane Knight being carried out of the arena, the spectators wore identical expressions of shock and disbelief. Was this a battle between a first-tier and a third-tier? Who exactly was the first-tier? And who was the third-tier?

It turned out that for a genius, cross-tier combat was this effortless; it turned out that the levels of the transcendent sequence could be shattered so easily. Not a single opponent could withstand Cohen’s dazzling and inexhaustible arsenal of weapons. Whether it was short swords, hand axes, and warhammers for melee, or light crossbows, longbows, and nets for range, he wielded every weapon with ease. Moreover, his opponents had to worry about flying crossbow bolts turning into strangling steel cables, or defensive shields transforming into lunging dragon spears. Those with weaker willpower suffered even more, losing their weapons entirely and finding themselves fighting a humanoid tyrannosaur—who possessed a massive armory—with their bare hands.

The crowd could hardly believe that a sixteen-year-old boy could achieve mastery over such a wide variety of completely different weapons. Raymond was stunned; he felt that the words he had spoken to Cohen yesterday were a slap to his own face. This was no piece of gold waiting to be laid into the floor tiles—this was the brightest jewel in the Empress’s crown. Even in her youth, Her Majesty the Empress surely didn't possess such terrifying combat prowess. If it weren't for the fact that Cohen hadn't masked his aura, he would have suspected that the War God’s testing pillar was malfunctioning. Was this boy truly only at the Bronze tier? If he were allowed to keep growing, who would be able to stop him?

"He cannot be allowed to continue growing!"

In the second-floor private box, a sharp, lethal determination flashed in Theodore’s eyes. Since they were destined to be enemies, the danger had to be strangled in the cradle. Nephthys was vital to the DuPont family’s thousand-year grand plan; every obstacle had to be leveled! His long career in the bureaucracy had taught him one truth: either don't do it, or do it thoroughly. Theodore had originally thought that dealing the boy a massive blow today would be enough to force him into submission, but he had completely underestimated Cohen's strength. This peak third-tier Arcane Knight being carried out was the opponent he had meticulously prepared for Cohen. He never expected him to be unable to hold the boy back!

Fortunately, he still had a contingency plan. It was a precaution born of habit, yet he never imagined he would actually have to use it. Theodore cast a cold, grim gaze toward the boxes belonging to the "Pale Wing" and the Cabinet Ministers on the first floor. When the moment of crisis arrived, there was no room for mercy. Even if Cohen could summon gods, even if he were highly regarded by the "Pale Wing" and the Cabinet, all of that was predicated on him remaining a living person.

The most formidable genius is nothing once dead. He did not believe the "Pale Wing" would openly antagonize the noble houses of Aefin for the sake of a dead prodigy. He was also certain that those old fossils in the Cabinet would not turn against him for such a reason. Perhaps they would even be happy to see it happen; he had just received word of what was transpiring in the Cabinet’s box.

Bogus felt the suffocating killing intent suddenly radiating from his uncle and didn't dare to even breathe loudly. He vaguely wondered if his uncle was going too far. Their family’s conflict with this "Lord of Shadows" surely hadn't reached the point of life and death! Was it really necessary to risk offending the "Pale Wing" and the "Transcendent Arena" to kill him in front of so many nobles?

However, what Bogus did not know was that the moment Nephthys decided to break away from the DuPont family to follow Cohen, the conflict between the two parties had become irreconcilable. How could a noble heir who only knew how to indulge in petty jealousies and pleasures understand the grand schemes and conspiracies his family was plotting? Ever since the name DuPont began to spread through the world, political speculation and high-risk investment had been firmly rooted in the blood of the family. From exhausting their wealth three hundred years ago to support the King’s southern campaign, to their current investments in the Grand Justice and the Knight-Commander of the Transcendent Arena, every step the DuPont family took was a gamble.

Now, anyone with eyes could see that the Aefin royal family was teetering in the storm; a family as cunning as the DuPonts could not sit by and wait for their doom. For others, national turmoil and political upheaval might be a catastrophe, but for the DuPont family, this was a heaven-sent opportunity to ride the wind. Ever since the late King passed away, the sharp-minded DuPonts had begun their planning, and this young mentalist was a crucial link in that chain.

Theodore’s icy voice exploded in Bogus’s ear: "Give me your communication stone. Furthermore, from this moment on, you are not to leave this box for a single step!"

Bogus was terrified. He did not doubt for a second that if he dared to leak even a whisper of this, his uncle would abandon all family ties and strike him down. He was not the only heir to the DuPont family!

...

The final contestant was a man in gray robes with an unremarkable face. For some reason, when Cohen saw him, a faint sense of danger lingered in his heart. The man smiled gently at Cohen and pulled a tattered diary from his robes. As the man slowly turned a page, obscure and sinister incantations, like the whispers of ghosts in the darkness, emanated slowly from his lips.

Immediately, a thick, dark aura billowed out from the diary, and evil energy began to surge in the air. As the voice faded, the arena trembled, the earth cracked, and thick, greasy tentacles broke through the ground as if they had heard a call. The surfaces of the tentacles were covered in twisted veins and nauseating slime, writhing wantonly with a hair-raising vitality.

Gazing at the bizarre scene before him, a forbidden profession gradually surfaced in Cohen’s mind: Warlock!

A transcendent profession that gains power by forging pacts with powerful entities from other realms! Judging by the summoned tentacles and the method of spellcasting, the opponent was clearly a Warlock who had signed a "Pact of the Tome" with a "Great Old One"!

Not far away on the judges' platform, Raymond frowned slightly and said to a staff member beside him: "Was the final contestant arranged to be a Warlock?"

The staff member seemed frozen by an invisible force, his lips slightly parted: "How is that possible? I arranged for a peak third-tier Bard!"

Raymond’s tone turned sharp: "Bring me his files!"

Raymond looked at the face on the stage, identical to the one in the file, his brows knit tightly: "He concealed his profession?"

The staff member shook his head firmly: "Impossible. I watched his previous matches; this man is clearly a Bard. He is the leader of an underground gang in Florence; many people know him, there shouldn't be any mistake."

On the stage, Cohen’s expression was grave. Although the Warlock profession was not officially banned, due to its excessively brutal and cruel training methods, most practitioners kept a low profile; very few would dare to step onto the arena floor so brazenly in front of so many people.

The unease in Cohen’s heart grew stronger. The Warlock’s eerie voice echoed in Cohen’s ear: "Mortal, the great 'Bound God' Tharizdun sends his greetings!"

A chill gathered in the depths of Cohen’s eyes. How could a Warlock who served the "Bound God" Tharizdun appear in the dojo of the God of War? Had Raymond gone mad? If one were to list the evil deities whom the God of War, Ares, hated most, the "Bound God" Tharizdun would be at the top of the list. At least three Popes of the War God’s Church had died at the hands of Tharizdun.

No! This man in front of him was being controlled!

The name of a forbidden spell suddenly flashed through Cohen’s mind—the Spirit-Binding Curse!