A day passed quickly.

Fafnir couldn’t see the other fights, which was to respect the privacy of the other fighters and keep their abilities hidden from the other competitors, ensuring that their hidden cards would stay hidden, but he heard the results... which weren’t truly pleasant.

In the second group, Michael was the winner. Emeralda was among the people he fought, but as expected, he won without killing anyone, including her.

The problem was the third group...

Adrian won.

And unfortunately... he fought Jin.

’Damn him!’

Jin was killed.

Not only killed. According to Emilia, he was fried the moment he decided not to give up!

She didn’t go into details about how he died or about Adrian’s abilities, but that didn’t change the terrible fact.

Fafnir couldn’t help but panic at this moment. Jin was the best caretaker of Ruby. Without him...

’I hate this, I hate this, I hate this! Why did he have to kill him! And couldn’t that bastard just give up for once! I was extremely lucky in my fights, so why is my luck doing this now?!’

"The silver knight whose first instinct in the first stage was killing everyone is mad about someone’s death?" Greed manifested and grinned: "You know, maybe the elders who wanted to kill you weren’t wrong. They really should have kept you in prison or executed you."

Fafnir clenched his fists as some memories flashed through his head.

He indeed did a few things that could be considered morally bad, but...

’It’s still frustrating...’

Unfortunately, Fafnir could only hope that Emeralda could take care of Ruby until he finished the competition... he couldn’t talk with her or meet Ruby before finishing the final stage.

"Why are you overreacting?" Sitting on the bed in the same room as Fafnir, Emilia asked, "Didn’t he hate you? I thought you’d rather feel some relief for his death."

Fafnir glanced at Emilia with a mix of annoyance and frustration. He sat next to her and covered his face with both hands, not responding.

He didn’t know what Michael did on his stage, but for some reason, Fafnir was now left alone with Emilia.

’Was his performance bad? Maybe the ideology of no killing ended up dragging him down. Or... maybe they found out that he’s loyal to the Holy Kingdom? Yeah, that would be a problem politically.’

Sighing deeply, Fafnir finally responded to Emilia as he wrote: "I don’t care, but I need his help regarding something."

Fafnir would be lying if he said that he cared about Jin’s life at all. For him, that person was just a drunk man who dreamed about things beyond his capabilities. Not to mention that his behaviour toward Fafnir, although a bit justified, still annoyed Fafnir.

Fafnir cared only about his master, and Ruby was the slave of his master, and Jin was taking care of the slave of his master. That was everything between them.

Maybe Dante would be mad upon knowing about this... but Fafnir couldn’t think about that right now. Jin caused his own death anyway.

Emilia suddenly rested her elbow on Fafnir’s shoulder with a frustrated face, clearly annoyed by her mother’s decision, and asked: "What is that thing? I might help you if you get chosen."

Fafnir pushed her elbow away immediately and responded: "It’s a secret. I might refuse the offer if I get it anyway. I’m not really interested in marriage."

Emilia read his response with narrowed eyes, a memory of what Anas told her and her mother flashing through her mind.

"Believe it or not, he and the other one seemed more interested in the rewards than in Lady Emilia."

By how casually Fafnir had pushed her arm, she finally realized that it was likely true.

For the first time, she was looking at a man who clearly wasn’t ready to become a dog for a chance to marry her... if Michael was ignored.

’I have a chance to stay free...’

"Fufufufufu." Emilia laughed like a spoiled noble next to Fafnir, making him stare at her as if he was staring at a creep.

"Fufufufufu!" Greed followed her laugh, sitting on her head.

"Anyway..." Emilia stopped her creepy laugh and added: "You should stay alert. I can’t tell you what I have seen, or that would be cheating, but just know that it’s not going to be easy... especially that flaming guy. He seems to be really hating you. He looked disappointed that you weren’t in his group. Why is he that mad anyway?"

"I know."

Fafnir sighed and turned into his little form, lying on the bed and ignoring Emilia completely.

He didn’t understand why Adrian hated him that much... Well, maybe he understood why, but regardless, he was still confused as to why he didn’t attack Dante after returning from the White Abyss.

However, Fafnir wasn’t planning to let what happened slide.

He was furious, and he wanted nothing more than to crush Adrian’s skull.

There were many things to think about, like the strange things that happened in his second and third fights, but right now, he felt like killing Adrian was enough to make him forget about everything.

Emilia stared at him for a long moment, then she crossed her arms, looked away, and puffed her cheeks.

’How dare he ignore my question?! At least say you don’t want to answer?’

¢¢¢

"Welcome, welcome, welcome... TO THE FINAL STAGE OF THE COMPETITION!"

"YEAH!"

"START THE FIGHT!"

"I’M BETTING MY LIFE ON THE CLOWN!"

The audience cheered, staring at the empty arena.

"No hole in the middle, no tricks, no traps, no lightning, nothing!" The narrator explained with an excited tone.

"Only a single fight that will determine the ranking of the top three. If they all survive, they’ll be the top three of the competition but with different ranks, all will be rewarded. If someone dies, the Duchy herself will choose someone from the previous fights to be rewarded instead."

"The rules are simple. The champions will enter the arena, wait a few seconds, and fight! Whoever keeps standing in the end without giving up is the winner."

"In other words, just a fight with everything on the line! They can team up against the third, betray each other, fight randomly, or keep hiding. Everything is allowed, though the latter won’t help that much."

The audience chuckled at the imagination of someone hiding in a corner.

The narrator spread his arms as the gates began to open.

"Now greet the qualified champions—Fafnir, the dark silver knight, Michael, the immortal clown, and Adrian, the fist of flame!"

"Let the champions in!"

A/N: Whenever you feel anything for the slow updates... Curse my college.