Alice and Roan looked at each other and stepped forward until they were close. Both threw punches at each other's chins simultaneously.
Alice turned her face, feeling slight pain, while Roan also felt the impact. But neither stopped—they began trading punches with each other.
They beat on each other without defending, just exchanging blows.
Alice looked at Roan and said, "You're tougher than I imagined."
Roan replied, "I didn't think you'd fight like a wild cat."
Roan and Alice were fighting without using mana, and others noticed this. Murmuring started among the prisoners.
"Man, they're fighting without using mana and they're still strong enough to handle us without problem," one prisoner said with surprise.
Another nodded and said, "Yeah, we need to train more."
The spar grew wilder when Alice released her mana and punched him with irritation. The punch hit directly at his stomach.
Boom!
Roan was pushed backward, shocking Alice. She had thought he would be knocked out by now, but to her surprise, he took her punch and absorbed the impact.
Roan stopped, sprinted forward, and punched her. Alice blocked his punch, but felt her bones crack.
Her eyes widened at his strength as she drew her sword, looking serious. "I never thought I'd use a weapon against someone like you."
She sprinted toward Roan and sliced with her beautiful sword. Roan thought of blocking with his fist, but his instincts denied that thought—he dodged the sword slice and stepped backward.
Roan looked at her and said, "You're better than I thought. I believed I had surpassed you long ago, but I was wrong."
Roan drew a massive sword—human height and wide. This surprised everyone in the hall.
"Man, he's also a sword user, huh," one prisoner said with a shocked expression.
"Yeah, I thought he was just a beast with extra strength, but he uses a large sword."
Whispers started following Roan's revelation. Alice was also shocked that he was beating her in every way—strength, speed, endurance, and more.
Alice felt anger building inside as she sprinted to Roan and swung her sword. It was blocked by Roan, but he was pushed back slightly. Then Roan swung his massive sword against her long sword, pushing her back further than he had been pushed.
Everyone was shocked by this turn of events, wondering how he was doing this. They went silent and didn't say a word.
Alice felt more irritation, so she thought, Let's finish this.
Alice stood in place for a moment and began channeling mana into her sword. Her blue mana became visible as it grew denser and denser. Roan sensed something was wrong and moved toward Alice, but it was too late.
Alice swung her sword at him as blue light filled the hall and attacked Roan. He looked at the blue light and blocked it with his sword.
BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!
Dust filled the entire area. Alice said, "Huff... Fatty, what happened? Come fight me! HAHAHAHAA!" She was provoking him, thinking he had already lost, and let her guard down.
But before the dust cleared, Roan sprinted at Alice and swung his massive sword. Alice's eyes widened in shock—she had no time to block or dodge. She felt powerless, thinking her neck would be severed.
Then everyone heard a sound: "Stop." The man on the throne spoke a single word, and Roan stopped inches from Alice's neck.
Roan looked beaten up—his upper body clothes were torn and blood dripped from his mouth and eyes, but his eyes still stared at Alice with killing intent. He looked at Alice and said, "You're lucky."
Roan collapsed to the ground. Alice felt relief but looked at Roan with strange eyes, angry at herself for letting her guard down.
Alice didn't linger there. She returned to the man on the throne, knelt, and said, "I have failed you, my liege. I deserve the sentence of death."
The man on the throne gazed coldly at Alice, then turned to Roan and said, "No. I already knew this result."
Alice was shocked by his statement and felt more reckless now. I should have known—he was just providing proof so I wouldn't argue with his decision.
Alice sighed, calmed herself, and said, "I must be punished, my liege."
The man on the throne looked back at Alice coldly and said, "Okay. You and the others will follow him from now on. Follow his orders without question and support him in our future plans."
Alice had predicted this, so she didn't argue. "Yes, my liege."
One of the prisoners was about to say something, but he exploded—blood splattering everywhere. No one understood what had happened.
The other prisoners looked at this scene, and all of them knelt before the man, saying in unison, "Yes, my lord."
The man on the throne nodded and glared at Aeren, who was still standing among the kneeling people. He asked him directly, "What about you, child?"
Aeren looked into his eyes and said, "As long as I gain knowledge, I will follow."
The man on the throne stared at Aeren. He had used his skill on Aeren too, but to his surprise, nothing happened—as if his skill was blocked by something. Aeren has a more dangerous artifact than I thought.
His thoughts told him that killing Aeren would give him more than keeping him alive. So he tried, but wasn't able to kill him. He had killed the other prisoner just as a test.
"Okay. As long as you don't get in the way, we'll provide you with knowledge from beyond this world."
Aeren nodded.
Everyone was shocked by the man's decision—even Alice was surprised. She had never thought someone could get anything from this man.
Aeren stared at the book and said, "I want your book. Now."
Pin-drop silence followed after hearing this. Raid almost vomited blood in his mind but had no guts to say anything.
The man looked at the black book in his hand and threw it to Aeren, saying, "You can all leave now."
Everyone was shocked by their liege's action and said nothing, but they felt fear toward Aeren as they left the hall.