Chapter 333: Chapter 333 - Arcadia Championship Clash(Part 23)

Point-of-View: Aries Velenet

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"I-I couldn’t keep track of their movements at all, so fast..."

"Don’t tell me...have the Demons been slowing themselves down to match their opponents until now? They definitely weren’t this fast in their previous matches."

Looks like they’re finally starting to get it, the Demons can’t be taken lightly. Especially since they’ve been somewhat weakened in this tournament...the safety barrier has been formulated to teleport them out whenever they’re about to sustain damage to their hearts and throats, and probably their heads too, but in a real fight, damage to those areas wouldn’t be enough to kill them, at best it would only momentarily slow them down.

Even I could barely follow the movements of those two Demons...actually, they were probably not as fast as Satan and Argent Stryker were in their match, but since these two had been constantly on the move for practically the entire match, particularly Lucifer, there was no time to process whatever I could follow because the battle just kept escalating.

"Alright, that’s the end of round two, hope everyone’s been entertained so far. Feel free to voice your opinions, I’m open to any and all criticism," Remarked Larrk Stryker, as he stood up and looked around with a smile.

That gleam in his eyes, he was waiting for this reaction...no doubt about it, a major reason why this tournament was held in the first place was to serve as a deterrent to anyone thinking of attacking Arcadia.

"Er, yes, it’s been quite a fantastic showing so far, I have nothing to criticize."

"Indeed, I’ve been thoroughly entertained."

"Y-yes, I have as well, it’s been a fantastic competition."

"I must say, this looks to be quite the event, I should thank you for the invitation," Spoke up King Landis with a smile. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Oh, you’re quite welcome. We plan to make this an annual event, and from next year onwards, we can have slots for participants from the other nations, get the whole continent involved in some friendly competition," Suggested Larrk, glancing this way.

"That sounds like it should be quite entertaining, I’m certainly open to discussing it further," Nodded King Landis in response.

"Er, as am I, Onyx is happy to cooperate with this endeavor!"

"Yes, we at Zircon would also be happy to be involved."

"Same here!"

Looks like it’s working, this is exactly what Arcadia is after...I have no doubt now that they’re genuinely striving for peace, they don’t want to start a war with any of us.

The more the other nations interact with Arcadia, the more and increasingly difficult it’ll become to even consider attacking them...King Landis has very openly thrown his support behind Arcadia, and if the other nations follow suit, peace in the Dark Continent will become a very real and likely possibility.

Of course, there is still the Light Continent to consider, I highly doubt they would ever agree to forming an alliance, or even a non-aggression pact for that matter, with a nation of Monsters, Heretics and Demi-Humans.

But the more unified the Dark Continent is, the more the Light Continent is going to think twice about attacking any of our nations. They wouldn’t take the sheer power that Arcadia possesses lightly, that’d be nothing short of foolish, I’d even go so far as to say it’s suicidal.

"It’s encouraging to hear so much support, I appreciate your sentiments. Let’s continue to work together in harmony, ensuring the mutual prosperity of all our nations, and the Dark Continent as a whole. Now, then, that’s enough political talk, this is an event for entertainment, after all...we’ll be taking a short break before the next round, the quarter finals, begin. Feel free to roam around, try out the concessions and amenities, make yourselves comfortable. And look forward to the rest of the tournament. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go prepare for the next round," Remarked Larrk, as he headed out the room and shut the door.

He clearly knows what he’s doing...he’s pretty young, but he’s sharp and cunning, his leadership skills are at quite a high level.

With the immense power that Arcadia possesses, it’s easy to imagine that most leaders who find themselves commanding over that much power would use fear and force to make potential enemies submit, power like that can easily make one arrogant and greedy.

He could have used his nation’s power as a base of intimidation to force our nations to serve Arcadia, or extort our resources and wealth. But no, all the terms he’s proposed have been nothing but fair, or even generous.

It’s probably a show of good faith...something like ’we’ll treat you well, so please do the same’. And I don’t think we want to find out if there’s a ’or else...’ to that gesture.

"You seem to be in deep thought, Commander," Remarked King Landis, as he glanced at me.

"Huh? Oh, er...yes, my apologies, I got lost in thought," I apologized sheepishly.

"No need to apologize, I get it...they’ve given us a lot to think about. Still, as far as Obsidian is concerned, this doesn’t change anything...I had no intention of stirring any conflict with Arcadia in the first place, so there was nothing they needed to convince me of. That said, by the time this tournament is over, I think it should be safe to say that any of those who are still harboring notions of attacking this nation will go quiet. While it isn’t easy to let go of prejudices that have been deeply instilled into your beliefs...no one wants to commit suicide," He pointed out with a wry smile.

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