Elowyn, who was sitting in the stands, brought a hand to her mouth as if she were about to vomit for some reason. Narisse, sitting to her right, grew concerned and tried to approach her, holding out an empty popcorn bucket.
"What happened, Princess?"
Elowyn's eyes were turning red because of the burning sensation she felt. The reason was simple: Lira's essence had worsened. Now, that grotesque thing was concentrated around Enrico's neck, as if it had been sent there by the girl herself.
The pain in her eyes intensified with every passing moment, even when she turned her head to the side, trying to avoid looking directly at it.
'My eyes... They hurt so much! How can I make this pain stop?'
Remembering something, Elowyn turned her eyes back to Enrico. As soon as she observed him, she realized that his essence seemed to be devouring that grotesque thing, causing it to gradually diminish around Lira.
Little by little, the pain in Elowyn's eyes disappeared, finally allowing her to relax.
'This feeling is nice... The only problem is that I have to look at him.'
"That's right, Enrico! Don't give up!"
"He seems to have gotten stronger."
"Why is he so badly injured?"
Upon hearing Danyana's voice cheering for Enrico, Elowyn turned her head and saw that Valença and Kai had also just arrived. Both were watching the situation with worried expressions.
As soon as Valença saw Enrico's condition, she ran toward the arena.
Meanwhile, inside the arena, someone grabbed Enrico.
"This fight is already over, Enrico."
"No... I can still continue."
"Not in your current condition. Let me heal you."
Angela held Enrico in her arms while he tried to move to face Lira again. However, his movements were growing weaker, and he seemed on the verge of losing consciousness.
He had been so close to winning! If he had succeeded, perhaps the other characters would have evolved even further. Now, however, he had lost that opportunity.
"Damn it..."
Angela sighed when she realized that Enrico had finally lost consciousness. Carefully, she laid him on the ground and began treating the deep, open wounds covering his body.
Meanwhile, Lira, having regained her cold expression, bowed before turning around and leaving the arena, which had already returned to its normal form. She walked away while her hands trembled slightly.
'This feeling is incredible.'
When she reached the corridor where no one was around, Lira leaned against the wall, trembling as she hugged herself. A dark laugh escaped her lips, and her eyes shone with a madness she could no longer hide.
"Incredible..."
Enrico was taken to the infirmary in a condition that might keep him from waking up for some time. If he didn't wake up in time, he might miss the fifth round.
Upon arriving at the infirmary, Serenya, Elian, and Caelan approached the bed, all worried, especially Serenya.
"Angela is already healing his injuries while they're bringing him here. You can trust that she'll take good care of him."
Virelle appeared behind the three of them, reassuring them.
As she had said, Angela continued treating Enrico. Six of his wounds were already healing, and only those on his face were taking a little longer to recover. Even so, they would soon be completely healed.
Valença arrived shortly afterward, accompanied by the other girls, Kai, and Liam. Yumeha was walking closest to him, showing her concern.
Watching all the commotion, Elowyn was a little surprised. However, her attention was soon drawn to Danyana, who jumped down from the stands and ran toward the infirmary, apparently irritated.
'He said he could continue. So why did they stop him?'
Danyana was quite irritated with the people who had prevented Enrico from continuing. Elowyn simply shook her head at the attitude of that battle maniac. Her eyes shifted to the person who had stood up beside Velka.
"Where are you going, Deymon?"
"I'm leaving. After all, the fights are already over."
"... Just make sure you come back this afternoon to watch the next fights."
As if he didn't care about the matter, Deymon left. From the way he acted, it seemed he had only stayed there to watch Enrico's fight. Velka, somewhat concerned by his attitude, stood up, apologized for Deymon's behavior, and went after him.
Elowyn was already growing tired of that attitude. To be honest, she was beginning to remove Deymon from her plans and consider replacing him with Enrico, who possessed knowledge of the future.
'Even though he's annoying, he's better than Deymon, especially with that attitude... I'll ask my father to replace him with Enrico on the list of my subjects for the succession test.'
Outside, Deymon sat at a table where Jago was already waiting for him.
It was irritating for Deymon to have those conversations in which he had to mention Enrico. It was already bad enough having to follow him from a distance of more than five hundred meters on certain occasions.
"What do you think of how he performed?"
"Why are you asking me that when you watched the fight yourself?"
"It seems you're dissatisfied with the fact that he's much stronger than you."
"Tsk. That doesn't matter. He lost, didn't he?"
Upon hearing those words, Jago simply smiled as he drank his coffee.
"Actually, in my opinion, that girl was lucky with her final attack..."
Deymon looked at Jago with a confused expression, trying to understand what he meant. Just behind him, Velka seemed to be searching for Deymon on the other side of the street.
Noticing how attentive his interlocutor was, Jago gave a sarcastic smile and turned his head to the side, observing the four hooded individuals sitting at the neighboring table. Those were the four subordinates he had gathered so far.
'He still hasn't shown what I saw that day.'
Jago was referring to the day he had sensed the energy of a Nartheis emanating from Enrico's body during his fight against Tilios.
And it wasn't just any Nartheis. Judging by the energy he had sensed, its classification was probably a level-one Ranvil.
Of course, there were many level-one Nartheis, but that energy was different. It seemed to belong to a newborn, as if the creature were still in the stage of developing its own magic. That was precisely what made its presence so unique.
'As far as I know, one of the Kairom-level Nartheis emerged in exactly this way. It only completed its development five years later, when it had already reached rank-three Ranvil.'
That was why Enrico had aroused so much interest in Jago. Perhaps, if he could understand exactly how that development worked, he could reproduce it to accelerate his own evolution.
'I need to keep an eye on him and try to decipher this somehow... Maybe I can discover who he is. If there really is another one...'
During that fight, Jago had also sensed a second Nartheis presence. However, it was so weak that he couldn't even identify its origin. Perhaps it came from Enrico himself.
'What if that's the case? What if he has two Nartheis inside him, developing together in a balanced way?'
That possibility gave him an idea that could help him make a decision. After leaving Deymon sitting at the table, Jago spent the rest of the day reflecting on the matter.
For hours, he wrote on a piece of paper, analyzing the pros and cons of that hypothesis and considering whether it would be possible to put it into practice.
"It seems I've been here for too long."
Leaving his hiding place, Jago assumed the appearance of a civilian he had killed on the first day of the elimination rounds, someone whose identity he would use to move among the spectators without attracting attention.
'I only came here to analyze Enrico, so I don't need to stay hidden all the time.'
Sitting in the stands, he crossed his legs and began watching the first fights. Among all the groups, the ones that most excited the audience were Groups F, C, and E, considered the best in terms of entertainment.
'Wait... That feeling!'
Jago focused his attention on the arena where Enrico would face Sakura. Fixing his gaze on the place where he would enter, he finally sensed the energy he had been so eager to find.
'Finally... Come on, show me why you're so different, hidden Nartheis.'
Enrico entered the arena with his eyes partially covered by his hair. His injuries were still visible, making it clear that he hadn't fully recovered.
Even so, an amused smile played on his lips. In a way, that smile also carried a touch of arrogance.