Ainsworth stood proudly in the middle of themoners, regarding each and every one of them with a sharp gaze that was filled with disdain. It was as if they were filth, and merely being in their presence made him disgusted. Ainsworth''s lips tightened as though simply breathing the same air as them was an unbearable offense to his pride.


    "Tsk, lowly scum." He sneered under his breath, his gaze locked on the least of themoners—the one with the spear. A gold gleam shed briefly in his visor. "Let''s start by taking care of this one."


    Sensing the heavy gaze of the prince, the young man who had spoken earlier raised his spear, pointing it at Ainsworth with trembling hands. "We won''t go down without a fight!"


    "Oh... are you threatening me?" Prince Ainsworth''s cold voice rang out, cutting through the silence. Because of the tense silence all over the arena, everyone present heard the prince''s threatening words.


    "This bastard... even in such a fight, he is still using his status to intimidate his opponent... how despicable." Brawn looked at the prince with eyes full of disdain, and his voice was quite loud—so loud that the others who were close to him heard him.


    They briefly nced at him before moving their attention back to the tform. It was no secret that the leader of the Silent Whispers was fearless; he was one of the few who could tantly speak ill of the royal family and go scot-free.


    Nyx watched the prince with an unreadable expression on her face. She never felt anything for him from the beginning, but this single act made her even more disgusted by him. She briefly shifted her gaze from the prince to themoners.


    On the tform, the tension had reached its breaking point.


    That youth stammered with a horrified expression on his face as if he had forgotten how to breathe. He clenched his spear tighter, trying to summon courage from within, but his voice trembled as he spoke again. "We… we are not threatening you, Your Highness... it is just that..."


    "Keep your exnation to yourself, lowly scum," Ainsworth sneered.


    Then, without warning, he moved.


    He was a blur of gold and fire, too fast for most eyes to follow. One moment he stood still, the next he was in front of thatmoner, his sword already drawn.


    Without a moment of hesitation, the prince''s de shed forward, a silvery arc slicing through the air with deadly uracy.


    Shing!


    "Shit!" Themoner cursed as his spear collided with the sword, the sharp metallic ring resonating through the arena. The sheer intensity of the prince''s strike sent him staggering back, the force going up his arm like a shockwave. Themoner felt his arm go numb and noticed a lingering metallic scent in the air. Stiffly, he nced down at his arm and was horrified.


    His spear had broken in two, and one of his hand had been severed.


    They were all lying on the ground, staring back at him. How is this possible? Thatmoner was confused; the prince had only executed one attack. Could it be that he was mistaken?


    "Such speed, just as I expected from the prince," one of the dignitaries in the reserved areamented, his tone a mixture of admiration and surprise. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward as he watched the prince with a mix of respect and envy, clearly captivated by the disy of such royal prowess. "If I wasn''t a high-level Awakened, even I would''ve failed to see his second strike."


    Yes, indeed, thatmoner''s suspicion was correct. After the first strike, the prince had swiftly followed with another.


    Despite seeing blood, there were no chants or cheers from the crowd. They all watched in silence as if they were witnessing a tragic movie unfolding before them. As Ainsworth shook the blood from his de, both the fighters and the spectators closer to the fighting tform flinched back.


    The morale of all themoners took a massive plunge, and they were all taking several steps back. The trembling increased several times; most of them had even urinated on themselves. Among everyone, themoner who had spoken had the highest level among everyone there.


    He was a level 10 Awakened, and somehow even he was taken out quite easily like this. Then where did that leave them, who were mostly level 5 to 7? The best they could do was forfeit.


    "That smell." At that moment, Prince Ainsworth''s expression turned ugly as he caught a whiff of the urine from themoners. "How dare you! How dare you urinate in my presence?"


    "P-please, have mercy, Your Highness--!"


    Shing!


    Arge arc of blood flew into the air as that person''s head thudded to the ground, rolling a couple of times beforeing to a stop.


    Nathan and Brawn jumped up to their feet when they saw this sight! Their expressions filled with shock! Even Nyx''s indifferent eyes trembled slightly as she witnessed this.


    "I can''t detect any life signals from him." Brawn narrowed his eyes; those brown eyes were filled with confusion and surprise.


    "There is a runic barrier, right? The prince couldn''t just behead him like that, could he?" Nathan asked in an incredulous tone, still struggling to believe what was happening before him. Oftentimes in arenas like this, there were runic barriers that would activate, healing the fighters back to their full health.


    A few seconds flew by, and nothing happened.


    Nathan''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    "There is none." King Aldric''s voice rang out from the royal box. His tone was indifferent. "All thesemoners are prisoners; they were all originally issued a death sentence..." He paused, then added in a tone filled with glee, "Prince Ainsworth is simply doing his duty to the kingdom by getting rid of them."


    "Y-you sick bastard!" Nathan cursed as he sat back in his seat, his face as pale as a sheet of paper. "They''re just kids."


    Nathan knew very well that thesemoners were innocent. The king most likely had framed all of them... just... just to prove what?


    That themoners'' lives were no different from ants? That they could be squashed whenever the nobles wanted?


    Whatever message the king was hoping to pass, he had seeded.


    ***


    AN: Hmmm, it seemed we Still haven''t reach 50 Golden Tickets


    ---


    50 Golden Tickets: 1 extra chapter


    500 power stones for 2 chapters


    100 Golden Tickets 2 chapters


    200 Golden Tickets 4 Extra chapters


    Castle for 5 extra chapters