Apparently, Pseudonym was Human!

"Do you know what this means?" Cesar grunted.

Replacing the glove, so that not even a millimetre of skin was left uncovered, Pseudonym shrugged.

"Sooner or later I'll have to die inside Orma's walls, haven't I? Let's see if any Goblin will have the guts to step forward before one of the two Immortals can kill me," said Pseudonym in a flat voice.

Cesar began to reflect on those words.

That Human before him knew very well what the consequences of his actions would be. If he meddled in their business, the Sect of the Worthy would do anything to kill him. For Pseudonym, entering a dispute like that should be taboo.

"I do not understand. Even if Medusa retreated in front of such a threat, scared of you, Aure would tear you to pieces. You can't leave Orma, since you have the Seal of the Slave on you. If you exit the Seal range, your body will explode. Within Orma's radius, even if you were to hide a hundred meters underground, Aure would find you and kill you. I cannot protect you, much less the Elders of the Colosseum. Aure would destroy his own and the Sect's reputation to tear you into pieces."

Pseudonym replied, calmly: "Your disciple has saved some simple slaves' lives. He utterly destroyed the Sect's reputation. He had the balls to do what the Clan of the Sacred Eagle should have done hundreds of years ago, that is to claim his position of superiority and destroy the Sect. Your disciple does what you do not dare to do.”

"If Helial died," Pseudonym continued, "Orma would also fall. I would die anyway, wouldn't I? I might as well make my death meaningful. "

The King looked at one of the tapestries that covered the Throne Room walls. On each of them there was a scene from Orma's glorious past. Cesar observed the representation of a bloody battle, where a Goblin had just torn the body of the King of the Undead in two.

Such splendours hadn't been the prerogative of Orma for too long.

Cesar wanted to regain Orma's lost glory, but he didn't know how. He would have needed to mantain peace in its internal affairs, before resuming the series of conquests that had led the city to be the powerful capital city-state of the Goblins.

"I see you don't trust your race enough. Helial has already entered a secret training ground within Orma. If he comes out alive, he will be able to stand up to Medusa; otherwise, he will die there. There is no third option." Therefore, your sacrifice would be useless. Moreover, if Helial died during the match and you then had to kill Medusa, the Sect would force you to accept a fight with Comodo, in order to kill you in front of the audience. Otherwise, Aure would come you."

Laughing, Pseudonym turned on his heels. He understood that he could not get what he wanted.

But, before he left, his words echoed in the hall: "Even if they were so crazy to make me face Comodo, I wouldn't mind doing you one last favour before being killed by Aure."

Hearing the young Human's words, Cesar's pupils became pinpoints. Perhaps he meant that...

No, impossible. Although Pseudonym's legends was terrifying and no one in his own Phase had the courage to challenge him, he could not be so strong...

Moreover, Comodo was at the Initial stage of the Sixth Phase. Pseudonym was only at the Intermediate stage of the Third Phase.

Pseudonym was around level 200, while Comodo at 370.

A 170 levels gap!

There was a difference of so many Stats, years of training and who knows how many other things that it was impossible to think that Pseudonym could win! But, judging from the young man's words, it seemed the opposite.

Cesar wondered if Pseudonym was really convinced he could take Comodo’s life in a fight. The King was brooding, still quite shocked by what he had heard.

Meanwhile, inside the Octagonal Room, Helial was face to face with a creepy creature, whose fetid breath and stench of blood hit him with every breath. Helial began gathering Mana on his skin and maxing the characteristics of Body of the Qilin, to be ready in case of attack.

Curse of the Demon appeared in his right hand and vibrated lightly.

The evil-smiling spirit fixed his empty eye sockets first on Curse of the Demon, then again on Helial.

The fact that he had no eyes was really disturbing and the unnaturally long smile was terrifying to say the least.

Helial felt something burning inside Song of the Mermaid, his Interspace Ring.

The evil spirit frowned; something seemed to have upset it and its expression changed.

Its call made a ring appear in front of Helial. It was not his Interspace Ring. No, it was another one, that Helial had inexplicably found in his pocket after the clash in the Colosseum and could not understand where it had come from.

Helial didn't know who had put it in there, nor when, and never would have imagined that Aure had done it.

Although nothing escaped Iblis' watchful gaze, the Devil had said nothing. Since he had entered the Octagonal Room, Helial had had no contact with the black-fringed child. It seemed that he wanted his disciple to be hardened by the experience without any help.

Still, Helial knew that Iblis would hardly slow down his tongue if there was no chance for him to survive there.

"Where did you get that ring?" asked the spirit in a shrill voice, like the claws that had just scraped the floor of the room.

The evil Aura began to penetrate inside Helial and make the Circulation of Mana more difficult in his Meridians, as if this strange power could slowly corrode its Mana.

The evil spirit was trying to intimidate him.

What would a hero do in such a situation? Should he ascribe it to the Karma that linked him to that strange treasure?

What words should be used for the spirit and to ensure that he did not die there?

"Get the fuck away from me, you shitty spirit. Your fetid breath is worse than that shitty cat's farts", suddenly Helial's Aura exploded and Metamorphosis activated in a fraction of a second.

The energy of Life and Destruction began to rage inside Helial's body and Flame of the Qilin wrapped his figure from head to toe.

"I have no time to lose with a being out of scary stories for snotty children," two small columns of Rune appeared on the index and middle finger of the Human, as he activated his Secret Ability. The evil spirit was struck by that little boy's behaviour, who had not hesitated to attack him twice, fiercely.

Even Aure and Cesar, the most powerful beings of Orma, had fled with their tails between their legs for fear that the attacks of the spirit would get inside their Soul, and Helial dared to face it!

Entities like that were far more dangerous than normal monsters. Attacks targeting the Soul could not be easily dodged and only a fool would attack the spirit head on.

As he prepared to extinguish that arrogant brat's life, the spirit heard ancient words penetrate into his mind.

"Put him to the test and change the flow of time," murmured a majestic stream of consciousness that had shaken its soul.

Helial was about to use his most terrifying attack, when he was surrounded by total darkness and fainted, falling to the floor as if dead.

It seemed to Helial that he had been asleep only for a few seconds, but when he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the Octagonal Room.

He was in a battlefield.

Around him there were countless armed men, some on horseback, others fighting with their bare hands. Beside him, on the grass, bodies lay still, their eyes wide and terrified at the sight of the enemy who had killed them.

A spurt of blood hit Helial's cheekbone, and he looked up and saw a warrior who fought with great animosity, brandishing an axe with both hands.

The warrior killed one of his enemies and turned to find a new victim. Helial did not even notice, but in a matter of seconds, the warrior had approached him and was attacking him, pointing his axe to Helial's head, ready to split his skull in two.