The Mage Emperor

A growing child

--- Yehan’s pov ---

Isn’t that Seth’s daughter? If she dares to cross the field, then it should be alright to follow in her tracks.

When the treasure tomb appeared, I was nearby, so I was one of the first people to arrive, but I didn’t want to be careless and check out the cube first, fearing that there were traps in the open field.

Just as I was about to take a step, I noticed that many others have come to the same conclusion as me and started following the little girl. What I found truly impressive was that she was wearing the same kind of armor that I did, meaning that she eliminated at least ten people with her own hands.

Well, she is the daughter of that bastard monster, so I guess it’s reasonable.

As I reached the cube and put my hand on it, I got sucked into a whole different world and fell face-first on the ground.

“Ugh, that didn’t feel good,” I grumbled as I rubbed my nose and stood up. Looking around, I saw nothing but sand as far as I could see, and a giant stone stage a few meters away from me. There was a giant stele in the middle of it with words written in our language, stating that I had to climb the stage for the test to start.

Doing some quick warm-up in case I had to do some heavy stuff, I jumped onto the stage and took a stance right away. A moment later, one of the stone tiles liquefied and took up the shape of a human, which was an exact copy of Seth’s looks.

Hoho! I’ve always wanted to punch him for his rude behavior. Could this be my chance?

Once the stone man explained the rules, it started counting back from three to one, and then charged at me with full speed. Physical training was mandatory in our academies, but that didn’t seem to be the case for these people because I could beat most of the participants from Leviathan within a few seconds. Then again, those that I came across had a weak magic signature, so maybe it was because they were newbies.

A straight punch? How weak, I thought as I tilted my head to the side and avoided Seth’s attack with barely any movement, and then counter-attacked by punching him in the stomach. Seeing him gasping for air, I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to kneel him in the face.

“This battle is a joke,” I shook my head as I got around him and finished him by breaking his neck.

### Stage 1; Finished in 8.57 seconds ###
### LEADERBOARD ###
### Reiner (4.99 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Felice (7.53 seconds) [17 points] ###
### Yehan (8.57 seconds) [14 points] ###
### Theo (8.72 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Rose (9.23 seconds) [16 points] ###
…

### Reward: Restoration pill(1x), Breathing pill(1x) ###
### Stage 2; Continue? [Yes]/[No] ###

“What the heck! There is a leaderboard? It seems only the completion time matters here, but damn, there are already four participants who have a higher score than me? I will have to pick up my pace once I get out if I want to win,” I grumbled as I pressed the ‘yes’ word on the tile.

The clone that I killed a moment ago stood up once again, but this time it seemed to be much more dangerous than before. Its eyes seemed to reflect some sentience.

“Three, two, one, go!” It counted back once again, but this time it didn’t attack.

I guess now it’s my turn.

Getting closer to the clone, I tried to punch it in the face, but it avoided my attack just like I did before, and tried to counter-attack in the same manner as well.

Is this a mirror battle? I thought as I stepped to the side and kicked its side. 

I was expecting that it would fall like a wooden doll, but instead, it caught my leg and elbowed on my shin with all its strength, causing my leg to go numb for a moment. Jumping up, I rolled in the air and used my full weight and strength to kick off its head, but it let go of my leg in time and stepped back.

It’s still physically weaker than I am, but the gap is much smaller this time, and it’s also much more skilled in fighting. The change in difficulty is quite large. It’s as if the first stage was there just to give us those two pills for free.

While I was busy thinking about why the difference was so big, the clone took advantage of my carelessness and kicked me from the side. Although I managed to raise my arm in time to defend myself, the force behind the kick was still enough to make me fall over into the sand.

“This… how disgraceful! I must teach this bastard a lesson!” I couldn’t help but yell as I sprung up from the ground and welcomed the clone’s charge by raising my right knee.

Since it charged directly into my foot, I fell on my back, but at the same time, I could use its charge to flip it over me, making it crash face-first into the ground. Rolling backward, I got on its back and finished it once again by breaking its neck.

Hmm, it wasn’t that hard, after all, but I’m afraid the third round will be very dangerous.

### Stage 2; Finished in 42.1 seconds ###
### LEADERBOARD ###
### Reiner (24 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Felice (36.9 seconds) [17 points] ###
### Corey (42.1 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Yehan (42.9 seconds) [14 points] ###
### Theo (45.8 seconds) [15 points] ###
…

### Rewards: Restoration pill(1x), Breathing pill(1x), Sensing pill (1x) ###
### Stage 3; Continue? [Yes]/[No] ###

One of the rewards is a sensing pill. Although I haven’t heard of it, I reckon it will help us in sensing our opponents. As for the restoration pill, it probably does what its name says.

But what about that breathing pill? Oh, well, whatever. Let’s go for round three.

As I pressed on the yes, the stone stage cracked into multiple pieces and sunk into the ground, along with the body of the previous clone. Seeing the scene, I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. My subordinates believed that I was one of the most powerful magicians and that I had infinite power at my disposal, but seeing all these strange spells that could take me to different worlds, I just came to understand how lacking I was.

All this shit just makes me want to punch him in the face, even more, I couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.

“This time, you can use anything in your arsenal to eliminate me,” a voice came from behind. Furrowing my brows, I turned around to see who appeared behind me without my knowledge, but it was once again Seth. It was just that this time he seemed to be alive.

“Are you alive?”

“Do I look dead to you?” he scoffed, shaking his head.

“Then let me rephrase it, are you the real one?” I rolled my eyes.

“No. Why the heck would I personally fight against you? There would be no point in fighting,” the clone said arrogantly.

“It seems you are indeed a clone. Based on what I’ve experienced, Seth is a low-key and calculative person, not pompous and arrogant like you. Is it so that it would be easier to complete this level?” I asked.

“Are you going to attack today, or do you plan to chat all day?” the clone smirked as he looked at me.

“Am I allowed to use external magic as well?” I asked.

“Elemental magic is allowed, and this body isn’t immune to the elements,” he nodded.

“Then let’s start,” I replied, but the moment the word ‘start’ left my mouth, it froze in place and told me all the rules again.

Its physical strength was thirty percent above mine, but I was allowed to make up for it by using elemental magic. The fact that he called it elemental magic made me question what other types of magic there were, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to find out anytime soon.

“Three, two, one, come here,” the clone mused as he counted down. Seeing his lower leg moving forward, I knew he was about to charge at me, so I immediately stepped back to make some distance, and then used a smaller portion of my mana to create a few earth spikes in front of me.

“That’s useless,” the clone laughed as he swung his arm and directly broke off the tips of the earth spikes before jumping over it. Waving my hand, I used earth magic once again to make a dent in the ground where he was about to land, and then pushed all the sand towards his legs to bury his lower body. I was preparing to use a fireball, only to see him rolling forward before my earth magic could bind him.

Realizing that my situation was dire, I released my unfinished fireball and then turned around to run. With a wave of my hand, I created a tall earth wall behind me and started preparing a bunch of traps in the sand for my melee battle. With his speed, I knew it would come down to that sooner or later, so I was better off preparing for it.

“Don’t hide, you little rabbit!” he laughed as he charged straight into the earth wall and punched a hole into it next to my head. It was lucky that I felt the need to step forward because his arm easily penetrated the wall and then tried to wrap around the place where my head was a moment ago.

As he charged through the rock-like wall, it broke into many pieces and shot towards me with a speed that was enough to cut my body in numerous places. Using some wind magic, I pushed the shrapnels away just in time and used a combination of water and earth magic to turn the sand in front of me into a marsh.

Thanks to the clone’s arrogant settings, he laughed like a madman as he tried to charge through the thick and sticky texture, trying to catch me. Showing off his strength, he swiped across the marsh with his arm, blowing all the mud away as if it was a pile of feathers. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t standing there without doing anything. That moment he stopped was more than enough for me.

Just as his arm stopped, I finished casting my fireball and shot it straight towards his chest. His eyes opened wide upon seeing a giant ball of flame flying towards his face, and since he had no time to move, he could only raise his arms in his defense. Following my first attack, I sent another four as quickly as I could, which was enough to melt all the sand around him. Afraid that he would be able to get out even after all that, I even cast a few earth spikes, and then fueled the flames with some wind magic.

### Stage 3; Finished in 59.5 seconds ###
### LEADERBOARD ###
### Corey (3.1 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Rose (3.2 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Theo (3.2 seconds) [15 points] ###

### Reiner (3.4 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Felice (3.4 seconds) [17 points] ###
…

### Rewards: Restoration pill(2x), Breathing pill(3x), Sensing pill (2x), Battle Boots (1x) ###
### Stage 4; Continue? [Yes]/[No] ###

 

Only after seeing the usual stone tablet did I feel calm. My happiness was short-lived, though.

What the fuck?! How did they finish this round so quickly when it was the hardest up till now? Am I so bad at magic?

Seeing the results, I couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

“This round will be very different. You will no longer have to attack in the following stages,” another clone appeared behind me and started stating the rules.

Walking past me, he turned on his heel and faced me as he started, “In the fourth round, I’m going to attack you with elemental magic while your task will be to avoid them. After every ten seconds, the difficulty is going to increase, but at the same time, you will be able to earn extra rewards with each completed ten seconds. If you can survive for two minutes, you will have completed the fourth stage and will be eligible to challenge me in the fifth round.”

“During this test, you aren’t allowed to use external items and magic. We can start when you are ready,” he said with a smile.

As he stood in front of me, I could feel the whole environment tremble as streaks of his mana seemed to take control of everything around me. Considering that this was some kind of clone, I could imagine that I wouldn’t even realize this if it was the real him. Even though I was an overseer of my planet and was at the pinnacle of my species, sensing that even space trembled from his mana made me understand that if he were to attack me for real, he could end me with a single spell.

Maybe he was capable of dealing with others even without moving, like our goddess.

“I’m ready,” I replied. I’ve wasted too much time with the last stage, and the longer I stayed inside, the more time the first to come out would have to prepare a trap outside. I had to hurry.

“Three, two, one,” as he finished counting down, he simply looked at me, and a giant wave of fire shot towards me. Blinking hard, I barely had the time to step aside and avoid the spell.

Feeling the ground trembling beneath my feet, I jumped backward and avoided the earth spike right before it could go up to my ass. Noticing that the tremors didn’t stop, I jumped back once again, and the earth spikes followed me for another three seconds before they finally stopped.

From the tip of each earth spike, a vine shot towards my limbs and grabbed me tightly. Feeling the earth trembling all around me, I knew that I was in trouble, so I immediately used my full strength to break free and escape. Barely dodging the next batch of earth spikes, I could see three blades of wind flying towards me from three separate directions.

Time passed by as I continued dodging one spell after the other, but as I passed the one minute mark, I started accumulating wounds as well. At about one minute twenty seconds, I lost my right hand. When the time was nearing one minute and forty seconds, a wind blade cut off my whole left arm, and about ten seconds later, I lost my right arm as well.

Just ten more seconds! I screamed in my mind, hoping that I could survive until the end.

“Let’s wrap this up,” he smiled as he stopped for a moment, letting me catch my breath before he suddenly waved his hand and shot one attack towards me from each element from every direction.

The attacks surrounding me contained terrifying auras. There was a fire blade in front of me, towering at the height of a hundred meters. Similarly, I could sense spikes coming from below, blades of wind coming from above, a high pressure, compressed water blade from the left, and the list went on. At that moment, I realized there was only one way out, and that was to sacrifice a part of my body!

I barely had any time to think as the spells flew towards me, but I instantly realized that my best option was the water blade. It was very thin, and it gave me the highest chance to survive without dying, as long as I could protect my upper body. Rushing towards the water blade, I could see that it immediately moved to the height of my neck, which meant that it would probably follow me even if I tried to duck down in the last few millimeters.

After the last two minutes, I wasn’t dumb enough to doubt Seth’s control and make such a mistake, so I knew I had to jump, even if it meant that I would lose control over my body afterward. Glaring at the water blade, I could feel the heat of the fire, the pressure of the wind, and all the elements from the other directions as I finally reached the last moment and jumped with all the strength in my legs.

I felt immense pain as the water blade directly cut off my legs, and I spun in the air before landing on my arms. Seeing the other spells following me even after that maneuver, I pushed myself backward.

Counting the seconds as I flew backward, I could see as the spells reached closer and closer to me.

Five meters.

Four meters.

…

Gritting my teeth, I could see the elements fuse right in front of my face into a single spell, only to stop right in front of my nose and disperse a moment later. Waving my arms and legs, I managed to land on my feet after sliding for another few meters in the sand.

Wait, how can I have arms and legs?

Realizing that I’ve lost them not long ago, I couldn’t help but look down in surprise. My blood-covered body was now clean and perfectly healthy.

*Clap* *Clap*

I raised my head and turned to look towards the clapping Seth as he looked at me with a smile. “That jumping sacrifice, in the end, was the only choice I planned to leave for the participants. Whether it was luck or skill, you managed to pass the fourth stage.”

“This time, you are the only one who completed the stage, which means that you are also the only one who can attempt the fifth and last stage, which is the most rewarding of all. Do you want to give it a shot?”

“What’s the fifth stage like?” I asked with a frown.

“If you continue to the last stage, you will have to fight my wife’s clone, and you will be allowed to use any kind of spell. At the same time, her magic power and mana capacity will be the same as yours, and she will be limited in spell casting as well. She won’t be allowed to use magic that you haven’t cast before.”

Considering that I nearly failed the fourth stage and that it was ‘easier’ than the last one, I understood that even if I didn’t want to admit it, I had no way to win.

Even if I don’t want to admit it, I know that she is much stronger than me, and I would rather not lose in front of so many people against a woman. That would be too shameful!

“I’ll skip the last stage. I need to get out as soon as possible,” I replied, shaking my head.

Thankfully, the clone didn’t try to persuade me or anything of the sort and simply handed over my rewards. After counting everything, I found a total of 14 Restoration Pills, 20 Breathing Pills, and 8 Sense Pills, along with a full ‘battle’ set of armor, including a weapon of my choice and a shield.

### Stage 4; Finished in 120 seconds ###
### LEADERBOARD ###
### You(120 seconds) [16 points] ###
### Stage 5; Continue? [Yes]/[No] ###

There is no way I would waste my time for no reason. - I thought as I pressed the ‘no’ button.

### Rewards for completing 4 stages! ###
### (Restoration pill(18x), Breathing pill(25x), Sensing pill (11x), Battle Boots (1x) , Battle Legguard (1x), Battle Chestplate (1x), Battle Armguards (1x), Battle Shield (1x), Battle Scimitar (1x)) ###

“Cool. Am I allowed to change into the armor here?” I asked as I looked at the clone.

“There is no need for that,” he replied as he waved his finger and the armor split into two halves and wrapped around me from the front and the back before turning into a complete piece once again.

This guy can mend non-metal armors as if they were melted cheese. What the heck?

Noticing my frown, he just smiled at me as a dark portal appeared between us and dragged me away, throwing me into the air outside the giant cube. Not much to my surprise, the plains turned into a warzone with thousands of contestants arriving to take their chances.

Just as I landed on the ground and turned around, I could see a halberd flying towards my face and another guy charging towards me with some spiky gloves on his fists.

“Retard,” I couldn’t help but laugh as I leaned to the side to avoid the halberd and thrust my scimitar towards the guy with gloves. Although our physical strength was quite close even after I wore the enhanced battle armor set, my control over my muscles was way beyond most of the participants, so I could easily slice off his head.

Well, to be more exact, I would have sliced it off if not for the dark portal that pulled the guy out just in time. Sensing a dangerous pressure from behind, I turned on my heel and swung my weapon at the same time, forcing the guy who was trying to sneak up on me to retreat.

Since the giant cube was right behind him, I kicked him in the chest and dodged to the side to avoid another incoming attack from a woman. Using her momentum, I grabbed the back of her head and led her against the cube, making her headbutt straight into the guy’s nether region.

Seeing the guy's pain-filled expression, I couldn't help but smirk as I thrust forward with my weapon, eliminating both of them.

### You have 19 points. ###

A small stone table appeared in front of me. Nodding my head, I turned around and continued my slaughter in the war that broke out around the cube, earning at least one point every minute. Thanks to the battle armor, I was slightly faster than most of the participants, and I could also ignore most of the kicks and punches as long as they weren’t targeting my weak spots.

I could see many other participants wearing a few pieces of the battle armor set, but most of them only had boots, arm guards, and, at most, leg guards. It seemed that only I had the chest plate as well. The battle continued for at least ten minutes, and as more and more people got eliminated, many of the remaining participants chose to flee into the forest to try and stay in the game for a bit longer.

With a glance, I noticed Felice battling against a teenage girl nearby.

“Come on, little Miss, you should be better than this with all that guidance from your parents!” the red-haired girl taunted Felice as she avoided her punch.

“Shut up, Rose! Mother taught you as well, and you aren’t much stronger than me. Do you even know the definition of shame?” Felice grumbled as she turned on her heel and kicked towards Rose’s head. Her technique was pretty much perfect. It was just that her moves were still a bit too raw.

Ducking down, the girl called Rose just laughed at the little girl’s furious expression.

“I’m sorry, young Miss, but this is a competition, and since we aren’t allowed to team up, I can’t let a threat like you stay in the game. I’m afraid I would end up eliminated because of an untimely ambush otherwise.”

“Do you think you can eliminate me that easily?” Felice snorted as she turned around to run. Thanks to her tiny figure, she could easily slide through between the legs of a few remaining participants who were battling nearby. In just the blink of an eye, she got about a hundred meters away from Rose, leaving the teenage girl blinking hard.

Since our running speed was pretty much the same, Rose had no way to catch up to Felice, and she probably came to the same conclusion because she just waved her hand and turned around with a sigh, not even trying to chase after her.

Seeing Felice’s short battle and her movements, I couldn’t help but sigh as I also rushed into the forest in the other direction. It was clear to me that even Seth’s children were monsters. I could feel immense magic power emanating from her body, and she was, at most, fifteen years old. I could still beat her, and thanks to my boosted power, I could have caught up to her after a bit of chasing, but I didn’t feel the need to bully children. If we ended up meeting towards the end of the competition, I would naturally defeat her, along with that girl called Rose.

Just as I reached the edge of the forest, another stone table appeared in front of me.

### Stage 2 started. Water World ###

“Huh? What water world?” I couldn’t help but frown, only to raise my head and realize that a giant tsunami was coming towards me from every direction. Cursing loudly, I turned around and rushed back to the cube that shot towards the sky. The whole plain shot out of the ground and turned into a giant mountain, elevating the surrounding area by hundreds of meters. At the same time, the trees didn’t move along with the ground for some strange reason.

As the water crashed against my back, it threw me off of my feet and washed me towards the newly elevated mountain. Although the pressure was incredible, my physical strength was still enough to swim up to the surface. Once I reached the top, I could see countless small islands in the distance, each with a cube on it and many participants all around it. Some of the taller trees also reached out of the water, providing a small cover from others’ eyesight.

I guess this explains what the breathing pills do.

While I was under the water, I realized that my lungs could barely hold out for a minute, even though I could stay underwater for half an hour in reality. It felt as if the oxygen got removed from my body.

The water is strange.

Creating a bubble of air around my head, I ducked underwater to see if I could breathe, but the bubble instantly popped open from the pressure. Taking out one of the breathing pills from the pouch I got from the clone, I stuffed it into my mouth and started chewing on it. As the breathing pill broke into two halves, I could feel a wave of energy rushing into my nose before disappearing as if nothing happened.

Going under the water, this time I could breathe just like on the surface, and the pressure from before seemingly disappeared altogether. Spotting a pair of legs hiding behind a branch nearby, I quickly swam over and got around the top of that giant tree. The water was incredibly clear, but for some reason, we wouldn’t see anything on the surface. Thanks to this strange property, the girl swimming above me didn’t even realize that I was right under her.

Brandishing the scimitar that I exchanged for, I slashed across her back, only to see the usual dark portal pulling her out before my blade could connect. Although the water was clear, there were hundreds of branches towards the surface as the giant treetops combined, making it quite hard to see further away.

Spotting a peculiar yellow light in the deep darkness, I couldn’t help but squint my eyes as I swam towards the bottom of the water. I was halfway through when a branch suddenly wrapped around my waist and pulled me to its trunk, binding me underwater. Although I tried to break free, I realized it was impossible without using something sharp, so I swung my scimitar once again and cut off the branch, quickly swimming back up.

Seeing that all the branches were about to wrap around me, I couldn’t help but shudder within. If I reacted any slower, I would have ended up entangled in the branches with no way to break free.

### Mission: Golden ticket ###
### If you can capture any of the golden tickets, you will become the winner of the competition. If nobody catches it, the one with the highest score will win. ###

These tables always appear and answer my questions when I expect them the most. At this point, I’m starting to think that Seth can read my thoughts or something.

Shaking my head, I turned back and swam towards another pair of legs nearby. It was best to hunt the others who were still confused about what just happened. Thanks to my vast experience, I knew that whatever strange thing happened during a battle, it was best to focus on the task at hand. It was pointless to dwell on what I should do or how this happened.

As time passed by, I eliminated many other participants, though more and more of them dove underwater and fought back.

--- Seth’s pov ---

Waving my finger, I pulled out my daughter from the water world before she got sliced in half, making her land directly in my lap, her body and clothes dry.

“Ah! Dad?” She looked around in confusion.

“You were about to get ambushed by another participant who was hiding behind a branch, unmoving. It’s a pity because you have a lot of points. Your chances to get into the top three were high,” I shook my head as I explained to her.

She was confused because she didn’t even realize that she almost died. Of course, with her natural regeneration and powers, she wouldn’t die from a simple slash across her back, but that didn’t matter in this competition. I was proud of my daughter. Despite her young age and tiny body, she managed to get so many points and win against many others who were well-versed in martial arts.

“Are you serious?” She grabbed my shirt and stared at me with her eyes opened wide.

“Why would I lie to my little angel?” I couldn’t help but laugh as I poked her nose.

“I can’t believe it, how the hell did I not notice that person? Can you show them to me?” She asked, glancing at the many screens.

“It’s this one,” I teleported one of the screens closer to us and showed her the person.

“He- Theo? Are you telling me the ‘guards’- of all the people, you, and mother trained to protect me, ambushed me in the competition, and eliminated me?” She glared at the screen, fuming with anger.

“Now, now, calm down,” Lien chimed in from the side. “He was planning to stay hidden the whole time until you passed to spare you, but I commanded him to attack you if he can. It’s a competition without teams. You can’t expect me to allow them to team up or ‘ignore’ you when you are an easy target.”

“Mom, I’m not angry because of that. I’m angry because I didn’t notice his ambush!” She shook her head.

“Haah- whatever. I’ll have to focus more on training my sensing abilities. Anyway, how many points does Brother have?” She asked, glancing at one of the screens that were showing Reiner.

“If you could notice him so easily, that would mean I wasted my time training them,” Lien shook her head, smiling at Felice’s words.

“Your mother is right. As for Reiner, he is ranked second, right behind Yehan with forty-one points,” I replied.

“Although he had few points in the beginning, it was because he was unlucky and didn’t meet others like you. Now that there are fewer places to hide and that he has the most breathing pills, he started earning points like a madman. I reckon he is going to take first place.”

Her eyes gleaming, Felice asked, “He has the most breathing pills? How can that be? Don’t tell me that he survived the fourth stage. I died in that last attack. Was it different for others, and if not, how could he survive that?”

Smiling, I couldn’t help but pat her head as I replied, “You did well, but your last decision was a mistake. I admit that it’s because you know what I’m capable of, but he doesn’t, and that little bit of difference in information made you lose.”

“What information?” She frowned.

“During the last attack, all the elements close in on you, and your highest chance to escape is to charge towards the wind blade. Generally speaking, wind blades can change direction in the air, but most magicians aren’t capable of controlling it to the level where even milliseconds would make a difference. That’s where your knowledge about me turned against you. You know that I can do it and that the wind blade would catch you in reality, even if you tried to jump over it. But you forgot that in the test, it was only a clone.”

“Why would I make a level impossible? You just had to jump to succeed,” I said.

“I suppose Yehan did that,” she grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“He did,” I nodded.

“How stupid! He’s underestimating you, but I can’t believe he could finish it because of this!” She raged on like a cute kitten.

“Your daughter sure is a lovely one. Are you called Felice?” Azael chimed in from the side.

Startled by the sudden voice, Felice hugged my side and turned her head to the side to glance at the woman. “Who is this aunt?” Felice asked in a low voice.

“She is called Azael Jasari, and she is the so-called goddess of our guests. You could say that her position is like mine in Leviathan,” I replied.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” Azael held out her hand.

Timidly shaking it, Felice replied with a nod of her head, “Nice to meet you. I’m called Felice.”

Glancing at Lien, she asked me through our soul’s connection, “Is she stronger than Mother?”

I could hear that she was quite anxious about it.

“Why does it matter?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m just curious. Are world leaders all as powerful as you?”

“World leader? That’s an interesting way to call me,” I chuckled. “As for her powers, she can’t even compare to your Mother,” I shook my head.

Seeing her sighing out of relief, I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. She was probably afraid that there would be many other magicians like me. From her point of view, I was a wall she couldn’t climb, and she certainly wouldn’t feel happy if she found out that there were many other similar beings. I wouldn’t be happy about it either, so I could only work hard to make sure that it would never happen.

Using Ma’at’s commandment, I looked at Felice, who turned towards Lien.

“Mom, this aunt keeps staring at Dad with those strange eyes! You showed me many pictures where guys had this kind of expression, and you said that they would look that way when they were horny. Why is it that she makes the same expression?” Felice asked.

“My love, not only men will get horny when they see a nice woman, it’s the other way around, as well. She has been ogling your dad ever since they arrived, but I can’t blame her. I also fell in love with him many years ago, after all,” Lien replied, smiling at our daughter.

“You said that I shouldn’t trust others easily, especially men. How did you still trust father?”

“Hmm~ it had been many years ago, but-”

Shaking my head, I stopped listening to them. I didn’t think that this mother and daughter combo was secretly chatting about stuff like that. I checked because Lien was too silent, considering her personality. I found it strange that she didn’t try to lean closer to Felice or anything of the sort. It turned out they were chatting while Felice was talking to me as well.

While we were chatting, the competition continued as usual until Yehan was the last one remaining on the battlefield. The result was just as I expected.

Yehan took first place by earning a shocking two hundred and twenty-three points.

Lien’s Apostles mixed with Reiner took the second to seventh ranks, Reiner being the fourth.

Finally, the most experienced members of Leviathan and our guests got mixed up in the top one hundred. Some were unlucky while others got lucky and met only weaker opponents, earning them a higher rank than what they should have. Regardless, I didn’t care for any of that. Luck was part of life, so whatever reward they earned, I would give it to them anyway.

Reiner was a clear example of this because even though he was much better in close-combat than Felice, he still wasn’t at a level where he could fight those veterans that ended up with lower ranks than him. He simply ran into many weaker opponents and earned a lot of points before he got eliminated by Yehan.

It wasn’t like the reward mattered to them anyway. With Lien’s guidance and the kind of resources I gave them for training, others would kill to get in their position.

The competition ended in four hours, but there were still many plans and rewards for the next few days. Once I handed over the prizes to the top-rankers, the mood got even more lively, and everyone got excited to participate in the next event.

But shortly after I announced the winners, something unexpected happened.

--- Yehan’s pov ---

“Goddess!” I bowed deeply, stopping in front of her. Our race was in serious trouble when she appeared and created safe zones for us, giving us the chance to grow and fight back against the beasts that were suppressing us for thousands of years.

It was all thanks to her.

Although I had seen her statues and we met once when she raised my status to be one of the four overseers, I kneeled most of the time, so this was my first time seeing her face to face properly. I was a bit shocked to see that her race seemed to be the same as Seth’s.

“You may rise,” she replied indifferently. “Why don’t you sit with the other overseers? Come here,” she added, pointing at an empty chair next to Naos, one of the other three overseers.

“I’ll do so in a moment, but before that, may I talk to you?” I asked, turning towards Seth.

“There is no need for courtesy, just speak,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Then I won’t beat around the bush. That test in the competition was quite fun, but I know that they were only your clones, so would you mind fighting me for real?” I asked.

“Do you mean a physical battle?” he raised his brows.

I was about to nod my head when I noticed a pair of arms flailing around behind him. It was his son, Reiner. His daughter, Felice, looked at me and said, “Don’t challenge Dad!”

“I know that I can’t compare to you in magic, so yes,” I nodded, admitting to my weakness with honesty.

I guess the kids also know how strong their father is, so they don’t want me to suffer from his magic. How nice of them.

“Although I’m about twice your height, which gives me a slight advantage in some situations, you can enhance your body to make up for the difference in strength,” I replied, hoping that he would accept.

“I wouldn’t need a handicap if we were to fight, but I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse your request,” he shook his head, while the kids sighed out of relief at the same time.

Are they looking down on me? It would be a physical battle, for fuck’s sake. Stupid brats. Well, I can always try to provoke him.

“Why? Are you afraid?” I asked with a smile. The kids once again started flailing their arms, but this time, even more vehemently.

“It’s for different reasons,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “And you should keep your stupid provocation for those who care.”

“What? Do you want to save your image in front of your woman? Would you leave him if he lost?” I asked as I turned to look at Lien.

“Hahaha, that’s a strange idea. How about a bet? If you lose, Lien will have to leave you for a day,” the Goddess replied, helping me out.

Thank you! I couldn’t help but pray and bless her in my heart.

Furrowing her brows, Lien replied, “There is no bet that can make me leave my husband.”

“And there is no bet I would accept where you would have to do something like that,” Seth followed up right away, looking at her with a slight smile.

Ugh- stupid love birds.

Even now, they were sitting so close to each other that their sides were touching. They were unbelievable.

“Is there no way for me to make you accept my challenge?” I asked, feeling dejected by the idea.

“Do you like bullying those who are weaker than you for no reason?” Seth asked, changing his tone.

“Why would I? There is no point in fighting if neither side wins anything from it,” I shook my head.

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to fight you.”

“We can’t be sure who will beat up who,” I pressed on.

Does this bastard think that he can beat me easily? It’s not a battle of magic!

Scratching his chin, he said, “I think that you are unclear about something. The reason I’m refusing a fight with you is that my body is much stronger than yours. It’s not a normal human body, you know?”

“I still want to have a taste of it,” I replied.

“Are you one of those reckless battle junkies?” he raised his brows.

“I guess I am,” I said with a grin, my blood boiling just from the thought of fighting him.

If his body was physically stronger than mine, it just made things even more exciting for me.

“Dad, spare him, he is stupid and doesn’t know what he is talking about!” Felice grabbed his hand, seeing him tilting his head to the side to pop his neck.

“Who are you calling stupid, Midget?” I frowned.

“I’m trying to save your stupid ass!” She gasped, seemingly offended by my remark.

“I’m not afraid of some pain. Not everybody is a timid little girl,” I stuck out my tongue, earning a scornful glare from her. She was a lovely one, and her angered expressions just made her look even cuter.

“Why are you so stupid?” She raged on.

“Hahahaha, come here, my little angel,” Lien laughed as she spread her arms and pulled Felice into her embrace, freeing Seth’s laps.

“So? Are you coming or not?” I asked, turning back to Seth.

Massaging his temple, he said aloud, “Fine then, but don’t come crying to me later. I’ve warned you multiple times.”

Walking up to my side, Reiner patted the side of my leg as he shook his head, “What kind of coffin should I prepare for you?”

“Screw off, brat,” I flicked the side of his head.

“Oldman, I can understand your reasons because I also like fighting stronger opponents. You can always learn from them, but this time, you messed up. If he was going easy on you, then you could learn something, but you are asking for a serious fight, and let me assure you, you won’t see anything. I’m talking from experience. Maybe it’s still not too late to step back, right, Dad?” he asked, looking at his father.

The latter just nodded his head and looked at me for one last confirmation.

“If he can beat me up so bad, then be it, I’m not going to step back, no matter what,” I replied.

“Braveness and foolishness are the closest relatives. Unfortunately, you have visited the foolish relative today,” he said as he made his way towards the stage.

“Please, enhance your body as much as you can, and don’t be afraid to use magic if you find the chance to do so,” he added as he walked past me, still loud enough for everyone to hear who was nearby.

“Fine, I’ll enhance my body,” I replied as I turned around and poured all my mana into body enhancement.

“Reiner, would you mind counting down?” he asked as he glanced at his son at the foot of the stage.

--- Reiner’s pov ---

“Three-”

Seeing that Yehan took a defensive stance, I nodded my head and continued counting.

“Two.”

“One.”

“Fight!” I yelled loudly, and then all I could see was that my dad disappeared from his place and stood right behind Yehan, who didn’t even notice him.

“Huh?” Yehan turned around with a very stupid-looking surprised face, finally realizing that his opponent disappeared. The moment he turned around, Father sent a simple punch towards his right shoulder.

Yehan seemed to be prepared to take on any attack with his arms raised and his left leg placed backward, but the moment my father’s fist reached his arm, I could hear a cracking sound, and he flew off the stage, crashing into a soft bush my father constructed a moment before his punch. At first, I thought that it was his arm that broke, but after running closer to take a look at him, I found his body twisted to the side, and realized that it was his spine that cracked.

“Dad- I think that you killed him,” I said in a low voice.

“No, I used telekinesis to stop his body from making a full turn, so he is alive just unconscious. Let me heal him,” he sighed as he appeared next to me and put his hand on Yehan’s body.

I could hear a bunch of popping and cracking sounds as his upper body turned back in the right direction, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood. Pulling him to his feet, Father turned around and walked back to his seat as if nothing happened, while Yehan opened his eyes and looked around in wonder.

“What happened?”

“You almost got killed in one hit, but Dad saved you,” I replied, patting his leg.

“Haven’t I told you that it would be pointless to fight him? You just get beaten up when you don’t listen to a fellow reckless battle junkie!”

“Fine, but I tried it out for myself,” he laughed as he slapped my back.

“Ugh- you bastard. That hurt,” I grumbled. Going back to my parents, I sat down next to Felice and Mother and secretly glanced at my sister with envy. As if she could feel all my desires, Mom wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me into her warm and soft embrace.

“What is this unfairness? Why do you all go to your mom for hugs and ignore me?”

“Because your body is too hard,” Sister replied.

“It sure is~” Mother mused as she looked at him, slightly raising her brows for a moment.

“Why are you winking at each other?” I asked.

“Because my body is too hard,” Father replied, sticking out his tongue.

“Fine then, keep your secrets…” I rolled my eyes as Mother leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Shortly after, the next competition started, and the festival continued. It continued for two days until it finally ended, granting many people a chance to learn magic from my parents and earn various weapons and spell-books that would usually cost them millions of contribution points.

Seeing their gleeful expression when they received their rewards, I once again realized how much easier it was for me. I had better stuff than what they got, and I got them for stupid things like my birthday. Life was kind of unfair, but I was in luck to be born in my family. My parents were very caring, and even if I was dissatisfied with their decisions from time to time, the older I became, the clearer it became that it was for my good.

With my road paved, I just had to put in the effort, and that was honestly the least I could do.

After the festival ended, my parents brought us along with Azael on a tour of the Earth. It was my first time seeing the planet, and although I had to admit that it was beautiful, the more time I spent in the various cities and experienced how people dealt with each other, the more displeased I became.

It just confirmed in me that if Father ever decided to ‘retire’ from his position and leave Leviathan to Felice and me, I would make sure to follow his ideals. Azael was from an age without magic, so she knew way more about how things worked before mana filled the world, but even she admitted that the way Leviathan worked was akin to a fantasy.

In the end, she attempted the test of Leviathan to become a citizen, only to end up failing it. She tried to persuade my father to make an exception for her, but the requirements to join Leviathan were set in stone, and if one couldn’t pass the test, they would never be able to join.