Doranjan won the battle in an overwhelming battle. Ardelo had no chance of winning from the beginning. He was unlucky that he met Doranjan in his first match.

"Who wins in the previous matches?

" Souta asked Alice who was sitting beside him.

Alice told him the winners.

After the 7th match where Franklin and George fought, the 8th match was between the Red Dragon and a witch called Ren. The one who prevail was Ren as he defeated the Red Dragon with all of his might.

The 9th match was between Yuko and Sisi, one of Eilish's subordinates. She was a great fighter but at the end of the battle, Yuko won by knocking her out using her release form.

The 10th match was between Elder Guan and Maki, also one of Eilish's subordinates. Elder Guan won easily as the gap between the two was huge. He was a top One Shackle Realm while Maki was only a peak S-rank. No matter what tricks she used, Elder Guan used the overwhelming gap in their powers to win.

The 11th match was between Lina and Torkez. Lina was also one of Eilish's subordinates. She showed her combat prowess to everyone as she shockingly defeat Torkez who was favored to win the match.

As for the final match, Doranjan won.

"The first day of the upper tournament had ended!! Everyone knows the contestants of the tournament!! So fighters!! Prepare yourself and see you tomorrow for the next matches!!!

"

The matches tomorrow were decided.

1st match.... Eilish vs Leef

2nd match.... Hanso vs Amanda

3rd match.... Prima vs Alice

4th match.... Franklin vs Ren

5th match.... Yuko vs Elder Guan

6th match.... Lina vs Doranjan

Some of the matches were already decided. Even the audience could see who was going to win in some battles on the 2nd day of the upper tournament.

"This will be interesting...

" Souta smiled while looking at the matches. He wondered who was going to win at the end of the tournament.

He could watch the matches but he didn't have a time to do other things. There were other things that he must do.

He stood up and stretched his arms.

"Alice, come with me. I have something to discuss with you.

"

He had to tell her about the letter and formulate a plan together with her. The danger level was unknown and it would be quite bad if he didn't inform his comrades.

Also, there's a chance that Governor Ray knew about the state of the Hall Plains. Maybe, he knew the secret organizations lurking in this land. Souta didn't have any idea about it since he came from Olympus and he hasn't visited this place in the game.

In other words, accepting the invitation of the Governor was important.

...

Isabella returned to her room. Suffering a defeat to Hanso didn't have much impact on her, she had an important job right now and that was to replicate the red pill that Souta gave to her.

"The red pill used some sort of energy... A lifespan? Life essence or maybe other things...

"

She muttered as she opened the notebook on her desk and wrote down all the things that she discovered in the red pill.

"Life essence is quite right but I should call it life essence and how to extract it... It's a bit problematic. It has the same structure as mana but it wouldn't work on other people... Ugh! I don't know.

"

Isabella grabbed her hair in frustration.

Extracting this so-called

"life essence

" was hard as it couldn't be found in ordinary objects or ingredients. Only living creatures possessed it so she had to use living creatures to find a way to extract the life essence.

"But how... this will be a dangerous experiment so I doubt that anyone will volunteer themselves.

"

She sighed as she opened the drawer on her desk and took out a transparent bottle. Inside the battle was a glistening mysterious red pill. She knew that even if she consumed it, it wouldn't have any effect on her. After all, the life essence of this pill wasn't from her in the beginning.

"Just how did someone extract a life essence? Is this really possible...? Ugh, I need to calm down. Souta said that I should take it slowly.

"

Isabella placed the bottle in the drawer and stood up. She took a deep breath before she said,

"Okay, I'll take a walk outside to clear my mind.

"

With that, she wore a brown coat before she left her room and headed outside the City Hall.

Hm~ mnn~

She walked in the streets while humming a song from her hometown. Even though it was dark, there were still hundreds of stall line-up across the streets. The atmosphere was still lively and it was going to continue until the tournament was over.

"Oh, if it isn't Lady Isabella! How are you today?

" An old lady greeted Isabella with a smile on her face.

"T-Thank you, I'm doing great today.

" Isabella smiled as she waved her hand. Then, she quickly left the scene while using her stealth skill.

"T-That's not good... Ugh, I feel so bad. I'm still not used to other people talking to me.

" She muttered with a sigh.

"I'm different from before. I have strength now and I could protect myself from harm but... It's still hard for me to talk to other people. The old lady didn't have any ill intention but I...

"

Isabella disappeared from her position, only to reappear on the roof of a two-story house. She observed the people as she recalled the past.

A lot of things happened this year. This year also entirely changed her gray and plain life in her homeworld. The war against the Great Astley Empire, fighting nonstop in Living Labyrinth, traveling in outer space, and escaping from the Council of High-Worlds.

There were times when she almost gave up as her mental health couldn't handle all the situations but she managed to prevail. Even after taking the life of another person almost made her lose her mind. All the things that she hasn't experienced before were something she didn't imagine that she would do in her entire life.

"Aaaahaa~ I'm just a slave but sometimes I wonder why Souta free me. Is it really because I'm a talented person just like what he said?

"

She raised her head and looked at the glistening stars in the sky.

"This is a beautiful world... Life is full of unexpected things.

"

The corner of her mouth curved upward. Nothing was more beautiful than this peaceful night. It calms her senses and brings her a sense of comfort.

She subconsciously closed her eyes as the cold breeze of night gently brushed her cheeks. Slowly, she fell into a deep sleep.

"Umm...?

"

Isabella slowly opened her eyes as the sunlight brushed her eyelids. It woke her up and she instantly realized that she fell asleep on the roof.

"Uwah, I fell asleep! I still have to complete my task!

"

She quickly stood up and patted the dust on her clothes.

"Why did I sleep here?! What if other people saw me? Ugh, it's embarrassing!

"

Isabella shook her head as she activated her stealth skill. Then, she hurriedly jumped down from the roof and went straight to the City Hall.

Today, Isabella never showed herself to the public's eyes.

...

On the outskirts of Mirror Lake...

Vandal was looking at the piles of rock with a gloomy look on his face. Beside him was his assistant, Shirley.

"Chief Captain, we've recovered thirty corpses and most of them are warriors,

" Shirley reported.

"Preserve their bodies, we'll give them a proper burial in our legion.

" Vandal said to her.

"I understand,

" Shirley nodded before she left.

Vandal took a long sigh after his assistant disappeared. Until now, they haven't found Avron and the Messenger of Gluttony's bodies.

"Project Sicily... Avron mentioned it to me but after heading to the library, I haven't learned anything related to it. Deadly Sins, they are getting active in the last two years...

"

He muttered to himself. According to the information that he gathered, the forces of Deadly Sins were active in the Giza Continent last year.

"The Bloodstones of the Vampire Clan... Is it related to Project Sicily? And that man who called himself Grim, just what is he planning to do with the Spatial Gem?

"

There were tons of questions that he didn't know the answer to. He already reported it to the higher-ups but it seems that they didn't know what the Deadly Sins was planning to do.

Vandal even personally interrogated the captured executives of the Red Matter Association. According to them, they didn't know that Avron was contacted by the Messenger of Gluttony. They didn't have any idea about that event.

The only thing he could do was to find Messenger and Avron if they were still alive. In this situation, it was hard to move since the gods were watching the movement of the Demon Pillar in the southern territory.

"The other territories are also at war... Not everyone on the continent is on the same side.

"

😉