Time had passed since Uriel's battle with Durus. He had already faced four opponents after him, but none were as difficult. Uriel kept fighting and made it to the top three, where he then beat the semifinal opponent and advanced to the Finals.
Out of the five he had fought, Uriel only killed two—one of them being Durus—but that didn't matter now.
At this moment, Uriel was making his way out to the arena once again.
Uriel walked up the steps to the arena and caught sight of his challenger.
"Hello! Hello! HELLO!! Everyone, please give a big, loud round of applause for our final match!!"
The crowd, full of rich laughter and excitement, erupted in cheers. They couldn't wait to be entertained.
"For our last match, we have the one, the only—Masked Demon! And for his contender, our one and only... Dreaded Witch!"
A woman walked onto the stage, cloaked in a black robe with a witch hat to match. She had brown hair and green eyes and stood at about 5'6", hunched over like she was scared of everything that moved.
Uriel stood nearly face-to-face with the shy, trembling woman.
"Hi... I'm Emilia. N-nice to meet y-you..."
Emilia's words stuttered out, slow and uncertain, like she was trying to show she was no threat. But Uriel didn't believe it for a second.
"Stop acting like a scared child. You look pathetic pretending to be weak. If that were true, you wouldn't have made it to the finals. Lift your back straight and act like someone worthy of being called a cultivator."
Uriel despised her posture. He didn't hate the weak—but he couldn't stand the strong who chose to act like they were helpless.
"I... I-I'm s-sorry..."
If Uriel's face had been visible under his mask, it would've shown nothing but disgust.
"OOOOOH! Look at this energy coming off the Masked Demon's body! Oh, what a man~~~"
The man in gold raised his hand and began the countdown.
"Three!"
"Two!"
Uriel and Emilia both called out:
"System storage."
Uriel summoned his spear. Emilia pulled out a black staff with a blade at the bottom—an unexpected weapon, but Uriel didn't have time to care.
"One!"
As the announcer shouted, Uriel launched forward toward her heart, trying to end the fight before it even started.
Emilia raised her staff in a panic and muttered, "Times ten."
Uriel's body suddenly collapsed to the ground, face first. His mask cracked from the impact.
He grunted in pain.
Even under the strain, Uriel got up and pushed forward again—slower this time. Emilia cried out, "Time five!"
Uriel braced himself, expecting more pressure—but nothing happened. Instead, Emilia vanished, only to reappear behind him.
He felt a cold stab pierce into his back.
Uriel turned to strike her, but he was too slow. She shouted again: "Times ten!"
Her speed increased. She hit him with a blow to the gut, launching him backward. He slammed into the arena floor, grunting in pain.
But Uriel's mind was racing.
She stood over him and stabbed again, this time in his stomach. Uriel tried to grab her staff, but she pulled it back quickly and retreated.
His body healed, and he rose again.He didn't know how to land a hit on her—until he remembered someone.
Uriel rushed toward Emilia again. She expected him to repeat his tactic, planning to dodge and counter like before. But then—
A massive fire erupted from Uriel's hands, blinding her.
Still, she didn't panic. She believed she could react fast enough anyway. But she didn't expect Uriel to launch his spear through the white flames.
"Defense times ten!" she cried.
The spear hit—but only left a shallow scratch.
Uriel wasn't done.
He sprinted forward, leapt into the air, and dropped down with a guillotine kick. The extra weight added from her spell should've crushed her—but she raised her staff to block and yelled again:
"Cancel Times ten strength!"
She coughed up blood but canceled the added weight on Uriel's body just in time to reduce the damage. Still, the blow was heavy but she was able to push back .
Uriel was knocked back hard, slamming into the floor again—but this time, he chuckled under his breath.
Emilia looked confused—until she felt heat behind her neck.
She turned—and a fire arrow slammed into her face.
"AHHHH!" she screamed, rolling on the floor in agony.
Uriel approached, ready to finish it—but paused.
He knelt, placing a hand over her face. A white flame flared again—Emilia screamed, thinking she was about to die.
But the flame didn't burn. It soothed. It healed.
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Uriel said. "You're stronger than I thought. I shouldn't have been so rude."
Then, he lifted her like a princess and carried her out of the arena.
He gently set her down and patted her head.
"I can't wait to see you at the Academy."
Emilia was confused by the sudden change in his attitude and as to why he would heal her?
Her heart fluttered as Uriel walked away.
"Th-thank you..." she whispered.
If you could see under his mask then you would see a smile that didn't match his face —not evil, but not kind it was a calculating smile.
"WOOOAH! Our one and only Masked Demon healed the Witch and carried her out like a princess! What a man!! NOW IT'S TIME TO ANNOUNCE OUR WINNER!! THE ONE, THE ONLY—ASRA!"
"Oh... so that was his name," Emilia thought, blushing.
The crowd went wild as the announcer roared out Uriel's name.He left the stage silently grabed he's spear that he trew and made his way out of the arena .
As he neared the tunnel back to his room, a familiar figure stopped him.
It was the lazy table man.
"Please follow me."
Uriel nodded and followed. But instead of returning to his room, they took a different path—deeper into the hallways.
Eventually, they entered a room where a man sat at a table.
The man had white hair, gray eyes, and a lean but muscular build. Even sitting, it was clear he'd be taller than Uriel.
"You can leave now," he said, dismissing the lazy man.
Uriel stepped inside and sat down.
"Hello, Asra," said the man, voice dark and scratchy. "I'm one of the heads of this event. My name is Dean."
Uriel didn't care who this man was. Names were only useful when they gave him something.
"Sir Dean... why did you call me into this room?"
"Well, it should be obvious, shouldn't it?" Dean said, voice calm but cold. "I asked Gerald to bring in the person who won first place so I could give them their reward."
Uriel stayed quiet and stared at the man across from him.
"What are you giving me besides a ticket to the Academy?"
Dean reached under the table and placed two items in front of Uriel: a thick leather pouch that clinked with weight—and a small glass bottle containing a swirling metal core that shifted from red to white in the light.
"Besides the Academy, you get three hundred gold," Dean said. "And a core harvested from a rank three monster."
Uriel's fingers twitched. The gold was useful. The core? He didn't know what to make of it.
Dean noticed the flicker of confusion.
"You look unsure," he said. "So I'll assume you don't know what a core does. I could explain it now, but you'll learn its purpose soon enough at the Academy. I just didn't want to hand this over out there where someone might try to steal it."
Uriel nodded, took the pouch and the bottle, and stored them using his system.
"So how do I get to the Academy?"