I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

The fierce battle between the Divine son and the Elven prince had ended with the Elven prince emerging victorious.

Although Jane had led the battle for most of the confrontation, the outcome was what truly mattered.

The Patriarchs were rather impressed by his actions and a fight of that caliber could have been stirred from the beginning but it most likely wasn't.

Afterall, most of the devastation done to the Arena had been unforeseen.

The Patriarch of the Kang Lin household, one of the esteemed Spectators, was impressed by the battle, not because of Darell but Jane.

'The powers of the gods ? what kind of life had those gods lived ?' He thought to himself, his gaze slowly shifting towards the Lucia Household podium.

'So many mysteries within the twelve great families, who are supposed to be united….How hypocritical'. He thought and looked away stiffly.

At the Lucia Household podium, Mirable Lucia yawned, it seemed like her son's loss did not affect her in any way.

In fact, she was worried that it might unnecessarily affect her son's progress. However she had ways to ensure that didn't happen.

As she watched Michaelo descend to Arena or what was left of it, she turned towards her Assistant and the young girl beside her.

"see to it that he's fine. I can't have my son depressed now, can I ?". She said, not expecting a response to her question.

They nodded in unison and quickly left through the door to attend to Jane.

'Now then….a battle left for today I guess'.

She turned towards the Aquarius Household, her gaze fixed on Mariam.

'I hope the gods save this poor thing'. She giggled lightly, her lips curling up. "Ara, Ara, things are just getting interesting, aren't they ?".

Darell and Jane were swiftly escorted to their respective family podiums, a mage attending to each of them as they left.

They weren't as physically hurt as they were mentally. It was a fierce battle, one that maybe deserved its own tale.

The spectators that had left to attend to other tasks might have missed a remarkable battle after all and then again maybe not.

Nevertheless, there were a lot if not a few valuable lessons to be gleaned from this battle and one of those would be superior abilities can be outsmarted, even if only slightly.

To succeed, one had to painstakingly find an opening, study their opponent and pick the best terrain that is most advantageous.

It's also necessary to know what kind of abilities your opponents possess, so finding a loophole to his personality or whatnot can be located and used as a means of planning a retaliation.

If there was one thing that seemed unexplainable would be Darell's last minute dodge. That sort of attack was bound to hit but it missed terribly and it seemed like he had led the fight there, edging towards the walls of the Arena.

It wasn't impossible but it meant he had been timing and analyzing it in his own way.

Though, that kind of notion isn't attached to absolute power. Absolute power, once held, can never be overturned.

There is a reason why it is called absolute after all but none of these participants had achieved that yet.

The clean-up mages began their task in earnest, a few more joining in to assist.

Fixing up the Arena was going to be time-consuming, given the depth of the central crater and the numerous smaller craters that surrounded it which made matters worse

It would take at least an hour and that was enough for them to recuperate.

The warm sunbeams diffused in the atmosphere, pulsating with life. It was only about half past twelve.

They all had time for the last battle, and the chance to forfeit as well.

The spectators had grown noisy once again at one point, buzzing with life as if they had not experienced the fear of losing it a short moment ago. The Rankings Battle was mostly portrayed to the people for two reasons.

One would be to etch the might of the powerhouses. In order for the people to realize who they were dealing with.

Though the people had the system in their favor, there was a limit to that ability. It was a simple level cap but that didn't stop some amiable individuals from rising as high as the twelve families in terms of power.

The second was to affirm the people's trust in them. If the people could get a glimpse of the twelve Great Families abilities and find out about their might, it will let the people trust them more easily and openly.

After all, the twelve families were based on different parts around Lumbrica, some even farther away only to achieve ultimate defense in protecting the Kingdom and its people.

That is how it has been since the Great Demonic Age and that is how it will continue to be.

Conversations occurred every here and there within the crowds, excitement in their voices as they talked about the Divine son and the Elven prince.

Some even had debates on past battles. Raffaelo Jun, Mariam Aquarius–the newly appointed Mermaid princess and rumors of her beauty especially were mentioned often and so were many others.

It seemed like the excitement that had brewed within them finally had an outlet and they didn't let the chance go by. In all, it was rather peaceful.

Meanwhile, some Patriarchs had excused themselves while others sat and watched.

Kira Merlin was one of such esteemed Patriarchs that stayed.

She had just returned from her daughter's room and a mellow hue exuded within her as she took her seat.

"You look like you were hit with an attack….Did you lower your guard too much ?" Mirabel's voice echoed in her ears and that exhausting feeling was nearly washed away as she turned towards her, Kira's eyes sharp and angered.

"Haaah ! this bitch has started again !" She spat out with a bitter tone in her voice. It was annoying having to deal with her long time rival, Mirabel Lucia in simple matters like this.

The Divine Patriarch always had her ways of seeing through her and bringing out the other side of her personality. Something she does quite often for her amusement.

Mirabel laughed out loud. "what ? Did your daughter perhaps give you a lecture ? It's a good thing. Your parenting sucks". She pursed her lips, her pale golden eyes exuding a mix of amusement and arrogance.

"Says the bitch who's son lost to my daughter" Kira's lip curled upwards as she glared at the woman, folding her hands. Her tone raised a little as she said, hinting confidence.

"If anything, you should be wary of our strength".

Mirabel glanced at her for a moment then her smile disappeared, her brows furrowed and her lips curled downwards. An expression she hardly made as she said.

"Do you want to fight me, Kira ?"

Kira froze at the question. Of course, battling them would inevitably end in her victory. After all, there were more mages than they were Divine users even with the ones that possess the System. But she would be a fool not to acknowledge the might of the Lucia family's lineage abilities not to mention, no one knew how much she had mastered her abilities.

After all, Jane was a mere 40% but even that could deal that much damage…so what about the Patriarch ? Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine.

She looked away and clicked her tongue. "it was a friendly joke, I thought you were good at those". She slowly stood up. It seemed like coming outside to get some fresh air had gone back to bite her.

Mirabel chuckled, watching Kira return through the door and out of her sight, her smile reappearing once again as she hummed melodiously. "Haaaah" she sighed, turning around. "I wonder where Rachael is, I am just so bored".

She stood up as well, walking away from the podium.

****

Meanwhile, Raph had finished resting and was bored from simply sitting on his bed. He decided to take a walk to find one of his sisters.

Luckily he did. On opening the door to his room, Morganna stood in front of him.

Her hand stretched towards the doorknob.

Raph raised a brow. "You wanted to find me ?" He asked, a curious tone in his voice.

Morganna nodded. "Yes, in fact. We needed to talk". She said, opening a path for her brother.

"Is it about adventuring or something ? You were the one that insisted on not going to the Academy". Raph sighed, closing his door behind him as they walked down the hallway.

"Well, it's mostly about my traits". She said with a sigh. Raph glanced at her with an intrigued spark in his eyes.

That was when he noticed their height difference. Morganna must have been seventeen by now but he seemed to be taller than her.

She noticed his observation and pursed her lips. "What do you think you're doing, little brother !" She hissed when they stopped at the edge of the hallway.

In front of them was a window that displayed the town that surrounded the Colosseum and farther down, was a port.

Raph chuckled. "it's nothing, I was just wondering when I became so tall". He was about five–seven and that should be tall for most fifteen–year–old.

His sister was five–five,not that she needed height for any reason in particular.

His tallest sister would be Gloria after all, staggering at five–eleven.

That was definitely tall for a girl.

"you took Dad's genes and I took mum's, leave it at that".

They watched the scene of the buzzing town for a moment with a smile.

"My traits, do you remember them ?" Morganna asked, looking up at him.

He slowly turned to her. "....I do remember how I had to practically coax you into it though".

She pouted. "I thought we'd been past this". Raph laughed out loud, turning towards the window.

"I do remember. It was THE EYES OF THE GODS and THE MASTER OF SOULS wasn't it ?"