Return of the Mythic Bloodline-Chapter 364: Will of the warriors

The clashing sounds of weapons echoed through the arena as the Waterbanes made their first move against the Thunderbanes. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The stage was soon filled with the dance of sharp, piercing yet elegant waves of water and the violent surge of crimson lightning.

The crowd erupted in joy, witnessing the clash between these Awakened Sages. However, the atmosphere in the high tower where the leaders of each sect were seated was eerily calm, all their eyes fixed on the strange phenomenon unfolding below.

Despite the Waterbanes launching the first aggressive assault, which should have eliminated at least half of the Thunderbanes, not a single one of them was fazed by the attack.

Every strike directed at them was swiftly blocked, and in return, the Thunderbanes launched even fiercer counterattacks of their own. Their flawless coordination, defending and covering for one another, was something so rare that only veteran soldiers with years of experience could pull it off.

"The idiots are going to win," Lucifer murmured, sitting cross-legged in a relaxed posture.

"How do you know that when you cannot even witness—" Before Lyra could finish her sentence, a participant fell from the stage. Just as he was about to hit the ground, a water bubble formed beneath him, saving him from having multiple bones broken. He was a disciple of the Waterbane Sect.

Following him, one after another, many Waterbanes began falling to the ground.

"Wh-what the hell are you all doing!?" Dante shouted, barely holding himself against Cedric’s relentless strikes. "How the hell are you getting eliminated by these weaklings!?"

"Weaklings, huh?" Cedric muttered, veins bulging on his forehead. "I tried to remain calm as Senior Brother Lucifer told me. But no way am I taking all that shit from you."

With a swing of his lightning whip, he forced Dante several feet back. Before Dante could regain his composure, a barrage of relentless strikes crashed down upon him, lashing across his face before hurling him off the stage.

The loud cheers of the crowd dimmed for a moment as they witnessed the exact opposite of their obvious expectations unfolding on the stage. However, their cheers soon grew louder with renewed enthusiasm, not for the Waterbanes but for the newly forged Thunderbanes.

It did not take long for the remaining Waterbanes to meet the same fate as Dante.

Tartaglia, who had been watching the battle with an open mouth and widened eyes, mumbled with a smile of disbelief,

"Master Robert, you sure have trained them prop—"

His words died mid-sentence as he noticed the equally stunned expression on Robert’s face.

Taranis did told him that he was training these young, arrogant disciples to forge them into proper warriors, and Robert believed in him as well, but given the little time Taranis had trained them, he did not have high expectations. He had thought they might be able to hold their ground this time or perhaps even win by a slight margin. However, he had never expected them to completely obliterate the Waterbanes without losing even a single member.

"H-he truly is the God of Lightning," Robert chuckled inwardly. "No one possesses greater knowledge than him when it comes to lightning. Prince Taranis managed to awaken the spirit of warriors within these brats in just a month of training."

Robert could not have been more wrong.

It was not the spirit of warriors that led the Thunderbanes to win the first round without losing any members. It was the raw, primal fear of Lucifer, who had clearly warned them that he would beat them senseless if even one of them got eliminated.

For the Thunderbanes, it was not merely a competition but an actual battle which, if they lost, would be as good as death. Their survival was at stake, so naturally they fought as if their lives depended on it.

"T-the Thunderbanes have won the first round," Javier announced, equally shocked by what he had just witnessed.

Taking a brief pause to regain his composure, he continued, "Since you have won, you may choose any sect as your opponent for the next round."

The group exchanged brief glances, giving slight nods among themselves as if they had already decided whom they wished to face next.

"We want to face the Windbanes," Cedric announced.

As soon as the name was spoken, a sudden gust of wind swept through the arena, and the twenty Windbanes arrived on the stage.

"Your fight with the Waterbanes was commendable," one of the Windbanes said. "But do not think that you can defeat us as well. Unlike them, who care more about elegance and grace, we focus on the violence of the storms!"

Once he finished his rather cringeworthy introduction, Javier declared while lowering his arm, "The second round begins!"

Rather than fighting as a proper team as the Waterbanes had done, each Windbane rushed toward the Thunderbanes from different directions, unleashing terrifying gusts of wind blades from all sides.

The Thunderbanes responded instantly, forming a proper battle formation, covering one another as they defended and parried the invisible wind blades unleashed upon them. Some of them suffered minor injuries, but they were too insignificant to mention.

Cedric, along with every other inner court disciple, had been fighting against Lucifer, whose speed was so overwhelming that it felt as though they were battling multiple opponents from every direction. Those intense spars had engraved into their bones how to fight multiple enemies while defending one another’s backs.

The invisible wind blades of their opponents were fast and deadly, but the lightning of the Thunderbanes was faster.

After an intense thirty-minute clash of thunderous roars and howling storms, not a single Windbane remained on the stage.

However, the number of Thunderbanes left standing was...

Fourteen.

"The Thunderbanes have won the second round!" Javier announced in a shocked tone.

Not just him, but every person present in the arena was flabbergasted by the unforeseen performance of the Thunderbanes.

"O-o-over-over-over," Cedric muttered, clutching his head tightly. "W-we are dead."

"Dead is the easier option, Brother Cedric!" Rowan added, drenched in sweat from fear. "W-wait, we still managed to win two rounds. It is impractical to win all the rounds without any eliminations, right?"

His eyes slowly drifted downward toward Lucifer, who was still sitting cross-legged in his place. "He might not be angry—"

Just as he was about to finish his sentence, Lucifer dragged his thumb horizontally across his neck, sending chills down the spines of every Thunderbane who witnessed it.

Taking a big gulp, Rowan whimpered,

"We are royally fucked!"