Henragon could be seen sitting in the press room, his head red as he suppressed his anger. These journalists, their questions were clearly biased. Why did it sound as if everyone considered Hotpot the best team in the world? And one of them even hinted at his unfavourable past in Gorocom Gaming. Are they ignoring the briefing? It was clearly stated that such questions shouldn't be asked!
"Mister Henragon. You say you don't accept Hotpot's win. What would it take for you to change your opinion?"
"Change my opinion?"
Henragon, already seething in anger didn't even think about it. He instantly blurted out:
"Of course it is to win against our team in a fair fight! Hotpot, if you see this! I challenge you! We, challenge you! Meet us in the arena if you dare! Face us in battle! Fair and square!"
Instantly the room erupted with excitement. Elsewhere, the members of GalanTen sat together with their managers, watching the interview. Noticing Henragon's agitation the managers already considered stopping the interview. But they had been hesitant. And now it was suddenly as if a bomb had exploded.
"Damn it! I knew we shouldn't have agreed!"
"All our plans thrown into chaos?"
"Can we still stop this?"
"Get Henragon to apologize!"
"Pft. It would be easier to start with a completely new team."
Men and women in suits massaged their temples as they were plagued by a massive headache. GalanTen was a team crafted with a purpose in mind. They had a carefully crafted plan for the future. Henragon being a provocative character was part of the plan. However, GalanTen losing the challenge was not.
The managers were extremely surprised when the news came in, but it was not too bad of an outcome. Things were still salvageable. But at this moment everyone felt that things were about to escalate. If GalanTen challenged Hotpot again, all would be fine should they achieve victory. But if they lost, who would even take GalanTen seriously after that?
Just look at Galaxy. After losing to Hotpot they had almost completely retreated from the public. Was GalanTen about to suffer the same fate? How were they supposed to serve their purpose?
While the managers at GalanTen were having a crisis, Liam and his friends were feeling amused.
"Another challenge?"
"Should we accept?"
"Of course!"
"We must!"
Everyone's eyes fell on Quiana and Adrian. The couple both appeared quite eager. Finally, there was a worthy enemy challenging them to a PvP fight. They couldn't miss the chance!
After a short discussion everyone agreed, and Cynthia made a post.
"Challenge accepted! However, we are also concerned about fairness. We will only fight you at equal levels!"
"Haha, that burn!"
"Woah, Cy, that one must hurt!"
"You did not hold back there!"
The friends couldn't help but exclaim loudly, the scene becoming boisterous. Cynthia couldn't stop laughing. Comments piled up under the post, echoing similar words.
And at GalanTen's place there was only silence. Some people remained composed, others gritted their teeth. But they were all professionals, and their managers were also present. Naturally no one would lose their mind from such a simple provocation.
"But how do we tell Henragon?"
"We need to tell him the news before he can check them himself."
"Right. Fortunately, Ben is with him."
The mangers let out sighs. They didn't expect this evening to become so stressful.
Ben was also someone from the management team. After the interview ended, he immediately found Henragon and briefed him about Hotpot accepting the challenge even before the player could check his phone. Thus, they prevented Henragon from throwing a fit in anger. However, when the player later read through the many mocking comments, he still felt like roaring out loud.
Liam and his friends naturally didn't care about Henragon's opinion. It was him who challenged them, so what did he expect? The group soon left the interview behind and continued spending a great evening together. When they returned to the gaming house it was already late, and the fans had all left. Serena was sleeping against Liam's arm in the car, groggily waking up as they entered the gaming house.
Serena wasn't the only one tired, though. Everyone felt exhausted after the dungeon run. Thus, they were glad to finally catch a good sleep.
A new dawn arrived. The spring sun shone on the massive Red Oak at the city centre, creating a wonderful scenery. Eating breakfast, the guild members could see it through the gaps between the neighbouring high-rise buildings. Everyone felt relaxed and in a great mood as it became time to enter the game.
Liam and his friends appeared in Luphenour City. Fortunately, yesterday's crowd had already left. Only a few elven players could be seen, occupied with their own quests. The party didn't hesitate long, taking the teleporter to Svebrial.
Soon, they were back on top of the mountain, entering the temple were King of Basilisks Lennreo was lying on the ground. The deep laceration on his belly was gruesome as ever, with black fumes lingering around, showing signs of spreading over his body.
"Adventurers! You are back! Did you get the Dragontear?"
Therim sounded rather urgent as he approached the party from the side. The powerful mage and dutiful guardian was still missing an arm, but his concern was focused on Lennreo. The friends couldn't help but feel respect for the mage. From their understanding, a Dragontear should even be able to regrow a missing arm. But Therim never asked them to acquire more than one tear.
Silver Blade stepped forward with a smile, presenting the small azure orb on her palm:
"Great mage, we did not let you down."
Immediately everyone's eyes were focused on the Dragontear. The two queens were also in the temple. Their bead-like eyes fixated on the Dragontear, and they were almost unable to prevent themselves from rushing forward and gobbling it up.
Every cell in their bodies came alive. They could feel that this Dragontear would be highly beneficial for them. Only the thought about their wounded king made them hold back.
Therim was different. He had once seen a Dragontear a long time ago. It didn't entice him that much. He grabbed the small bead from Silver Blade's hand and turned it in front of his eyes, scrutinizing it carefully.
"Hmm, I almost thought there is something wrong with this Dragontear but it's only because someone sealed it. Seems like you got along well with the dragon's followers. Well done. Since it's like this, we can finally heal that old basilisk!"
"Hey, who are you calling old? Ahh!"
Lennreo's weak voice could be heard, followed by a pained groan. Therim turned towards him, saying:
"Didn't I tell you not to get agitated?"
"Well, who's fault is it? You are the one always calling me old."
"Just stating the truth. Ok, now stop complaining. It's about time that you regain your strength."
"Finally. What do you need? Do you want to set up a magic circle? Thallboa and Vequena can help you. You can use whatever treasure you need. Well, perhaps not everything…"
Lennreo was still talking when a golden light suddenly shot towards him, perfectly landing in his beak. The basilisk almost choked as the Dragontear went down his throat. Immediately he could feel an unprecedented vitality erupt within his body. Starting from his stomach it rushed into every cell. The Dragontear was by no means gentle. Lennreo's eyes bulged as his body become steaming hot. A cry escaped his mouth.
The king of basilisks was just about to start cursing Therim when he felt the rich vitality streaming towards the dark wound on his belly. A green light suddenly burst from the wound. Dark shadows spread, trying to hold the green light back. Suddenly both took on dragon forms, roaring at each other, like two mighty dragons struggling. Green and black light tore into each other in a fierce struggle.
However, it didn't take long for a winner to emerge. While the cursed dark power was without support, like a root without trees, the green dragon was constantly strengthened by the Dragontear. With seemingly endless vitality the green dragon soon subdued the black one, and with a mighty bite shattered the dark shadow apart.
Afterwards the green dragon turned into a stream of the most impeccable lifeforce and rushed into the wound, which slowly began to close. The greyed skin fell off and was replaced with smooth, new skin, looking better than ever.
Lennreo squirmed, his body still extremely hot, his wound itching unbearably. His voice was somewhere between panting and hissing. But he gritted his teeth and held on. He could feel his lost strength returning, even rising beyond what it used to be.
Suddenly it was as if dragon roars sounded in his mind. Everything else became unimportant as Lennreo felt as if… his dragon bloodline was strengthening! What a pleasant surprise!
The basilisk instantly focused, putting all his attention on the bloodline. He even tried to divert as much as the vitality from healing his wound to empowering his bloodline. The latter was clearly more important. It was the foundation of his strength, of all his achievements. With a stronger bloodline, perhaps, he could even take that elusive next step!