—

The third round began after a few moments, and when General Zieg gave the signal, Bracca erupted with terrifying momentum. He removed both twin axes from his back as his eyes danced across the battlefield.

“Twin Axe Devastation: Catastrophic Winds!”

BOOM!

A colossal wind filled with catastrophic energy lashed across the air before Bracca, sweeping across a quarter of the platform. Bracca performed the attack instantly, yet the power within the attack rivaled something Kieran took a few seconds to muster.

The aftermath of Bracca’s attack left almost everyone staring in abject horror.

The savage attack eliminated over 20% of the contestants standing on the stage. Even after mustering their greatest defenses, the strike was inconquerable amongst the contestant.

Bracca clicked his tongue and smacked his lips with a disappointed gleam in his eyes. “Damned useless bunch of vermin. You can’t even put up the slightest bit of a fight. Who qualified you all to stand on this grand stage?!”

Bracca’s expression darkened as he spared everyone else on the stage a ruthless look.

“I may just eliminate you all since you seem so undeserving.”

“Hahaha.” An amused chuckle sounded a few feet behind Bracca, prompting him to turn around and size up his opponent.

It was a tall young man with short, fiery-red hair and deep orange eyes. The twin swords in his grasp possessed serrated blades, sharpened to resemble a giant shark’s teeth.

The chains attached to the ends of his weapons wrapped around this man’s forearms, matching the platinum-colored armor he donned. Its sleek design promoted unrestricted movement while delivering ample protection.

This young man was known as Zinsei and was ranked 11th without amassing additional points.

After sizing up Zinsei, Bracca found that he was of some strength, but it was enough for Bracca to regard him differently.

“You must be a foolish one to stand before me. Either that or you overestimate your ability. Though, I have no issue destroying your chances of entering the War Deity Council if that’s what you desire.”

“Mm,” Zinsei chuckled amusedly. “While I intend to fight you, it won’t result in my loss. Besides, your actions paint you in a terrible light—like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. Who are you to determine if these people are worthy or not?”

Bracca’s gaze narrowed and grew colder after listening to Zinsei’s retort. “Who am I? It’s simple—I am the successor of General Saeva. Know your place.”

Bang!

Part of the ground shattered as Bracca rushed toward Zinsei. The twin axes in Bracca’s possession released another burst of impeccable ferocity.

“Twin Axe Devastation: Destruction Wheel!”

Bracca rotated mid-air, slashing his axes down in a spinning motion.

“Unchained Principle: Metal Maelstrom!” Zinsei uttered in a low voice.

The chains bound to Zinsei’s arms loosened and formed a spring-like spiral around his blade that moved according to his action. When he met Bracca’s attack, the chains suddenly changed direction and encased Bracca.

Bracca growled when he felt his momentum slowing down due to the lashings of the chain. Calling the sight a maelstrom of metal wasn’t wrong; however, it didn’t inflict any damage upon Bracca due to his quick reactions.

Every chain that snaked toward him was deflected by a sudden increase in how fast he turned.

“You’re more annoying than powerful,” Bracca spat after safely returning to the ground.

Zinsei smiled amicably. “I appreciate your comment. Again, I do not need points, so I’ll entertain a monster like you while the others battle amongst themselves, vying for a spot amidst people of similar power.”

Bracca disliked the look of mockery in Zinsei’s eyes and scoffed.

However, he understood that Zinsei also possessed a General-level backer. So, his training shouldn’t have been too inferior to his own.

After seeing Bracca fall silent, Zinsei continued. “You’ve already eliminated more than 200 people. Isn’t that enough to sate you, you savage brute? Tsk tsk, I don’t know why you try so hard to be like the Barbarians.”

If anyone were to hear their conversation, they’d most likely shake their head in fear. Why? Because Barbarians were a fearsome group of people, typically referred to as an incredibly unruly bunch of individuals.

Not even the War Deity Council could force them to act properly if they went on a rampage.

So, to hear Zinsei casually utter their name was quite shocking, even if it was to goad someone that was unrelated to but idolized the Barbarians.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work,” Bracca said.

He was privy to the behaviors of someone with Zinsei’s personality. They said and did things that got under their opponent’s skin to manipulate the battle’s progression.

Even if there was no previous malice between them, Zinsei was the type to employ such tactics. Rather than a musclehead, Zinsei was a strategist, as was the General who trained min.

Although he possessed power sufficient enough to protect himself and be regarded as one of the top contenders for the extraordinary opportunity, Zinsei truly excelled in mind games.

Once he realized this battle was pointless since overcoming Zinsei within the remaining nine or so minutes was impossible, Bracca placed the twin axes on his back and took a seat directly on the platform.

…

Outside the platform, Kieran’s eyes filled with fascination while noting the solid competition.

‘So that’s Bracca. No wonder Azahara said Yashua was unfortunate. But it seems luck has shone in his favor. Someone has stopped this so-called Bracca’s rampage.’

“Do you know who Bracca fought against moments ago?”

“Their name is Zinsei, a young individual under General Florence,” Azahara answered. Her expression became strange because she didn’t expect this behavior from Zinsei.

Although she had heard of Zinsei’s whimsical personality, the rumors painted him out to be someone that didn’t involve himself unless there was something to gain.

From what she saw, there was nothing for Zinsei to gain by inhibiting Bracca’s rampage. On the contrary, it would lengthen the next stage due to several more participants remaining.

The next stage accounted for many eliminations.

However, after thinking about Zinsei’s actions for a while, Azahara realized something.

‘If the others are anything like Bracca… they’ll want to wipe out most if not all of the competition that stands on the same stage. Doing so will increase the disparity in the points and limit the chances of others passing up their points by eliminating contenders in possession of a decent amount of points.’

Eventually, Azahara felt Zinsei matched his description perfectly. “That type of scheming individual is an incredible threat. I warn you never to fall victim to his deceitful ploys.”

“Oh. So you got that same vibe from Zinsei’s behavior as well?”

Despite how well Zinsei tried to hide his intentions, Kieran saw through it. After suffering from Charles’ machinations, he became sensitive to actions made with hidden agendas in mind.

Not to mention, Zinsei’s presence in the battle was too unusual. Kieran could tell he was hiding something or even holding back. But, Kieran wanted to know how surprises would fare against that person.

Kieran’s gaze fell upon an indifferent young man wearing black and white armor. The predominantly black, sleeveless armor contained accents of white in the form of fur while a giant cleaver rested on the ground before him.

Despite the action-packed battle in front of him, this man’s eyes were closed, simply awaiting his turn. His body language revealed that this was all nothing in his eyes.

Due to the angle from which Kieran saw him, he couldn’t see anything else besides his armor and ear-length, midnight-colored hair that blew in the winds created by the fighting.

Azahara curiously followed Kieran’s gaze before speaking up. “You’re looking at Ronan. Rumors have it that he’s far stronger than Bracca. However, because the two have never announced the results of their fights, the rumors are somewhat baseless.”

“No,” Kieran shook his head.

It was faint, but Kieran could feel trepidation rise in his heart while looking at Ronan. Bracca didn’t invoke the slightest bit of trepidation in his heart, so while stronger, Kieran didn’t feel Bracca was insurmountable.

On the other hand, Ronan gave an impression Kieran seldomly found.

After analyzing this matter, Kieran glanced at Azahara. “That guy, Ronan, is undoubtedly stronger than Bracca. To what extent? I’m unsure.”

“You can tell that just by looking at them?” Azahara muttered skeptically. She began wondering if Kieran possessed a special pair of eyes. Correctly gauging another’s strength based on sight alone should be impossible at their current level.

It wasn’t like Azahara or many other people at her level could perceive the density of the aura surrounding a person and approximate the pressure they exuded while they were inactive.

Only once the targets began fighting could Azahara get an accurate read on them.

“Somewhat,” Kieran nodded. “It’s not perfect as I’m basing it off a sensation rather than factual information. But I trust my instincts.”

“You must possess some bestial instincts then. But, it wouldn’t be unordinary if you’re a Barbarian like Commander Scar. Barbarians are famed for their ability to sniff out strong opponents,” Azahara said.

‘Unfortunately, I’m still considered a normal human. I have no racial advantage, but I have my Soul Trait,’ Kieran inwardly thought.

After their brief conversation, Kieran fell silent. Not just to get a good understanding of his upcoming opponents but to develop a plan to maximize his strength.