«Alright! I won't use the water stream against you. I promise, or my family name is not Brown. Let the whole city of Boston be our witness. Now give it to me!»

The audience held their breath when Kyon brazenly bribed his opponent! Where was the judge looking?! Weren't there any rules to stop this anarchy?

Kyon hesitatingly took the thing out of his pocket as if he was regretting the offer. He lingered for a while and then threw it to his opponent.

Kiyan caught the "relic" and cast a greedy gaze over the precious crystals encrusted in it. He had never seen anything so delightful before!

Kyon smirked. He took a plain ring out of his pocket and turned it on his finger. – «Best regards to your grandfather!»

«Actually, he fought with demons and died like a n.o.ble hero.» – Kiyan replied coldly.

«I know.» – Kyon grinned even wider.

~BAAAM~

There was a powerful explosion. A deafening sound wave lifted a thick layer of ice dust, sending the echo throughout the arena. The protective barrier shook dangerously,

Kiyan's giant body slowly slid down the barrier, leaving a b.l.o.o.d.y trail. His body was ripped apart by the shock wave, a final jagged shard severed him both hands. His clothes were ripped to shreds. There was partially no skin on his chest, neck and head. Bones poked through his skin covered with deep wounds. Kiyan's eyes were cloudy like those of a dead fish, staring into eternity.

The ice surface and water, that Kiyan had created, were instantly evaporating into nothing.

The explosion contained no fire, but impact force turned the fragments into a formidable weapon.

The deafening rumble made hundreds of thousands of people jump from their seats. Many panicked and screamed. The judge, who was at the epicenter of the explosion, got the fright of his life. His hair stood on end, and his pants were wet. He was standing there, watching the fight, minding his own business, when suddenly - BOOM! - the end of the world had come!

The sect envoys, Fernand, and Queen Vlada gaped in astonishment.

Timothy, who was idly thinking about something, had instinctively taken a defensive stance. Diana and Bai resembled stone idols, the rest of the Stones were not much different from them. Stunned Herman stared at dead Brown number two. The shock of the other Browns was gradually replaced by horror, but their emotions were only a small part of what many patriarchs were experiencing at the moment. The color of their faces could tell their percent of the leverage in the deal with the fat guys. A white face meant no more than 5x. Grey faces indicated no more than 15x. Green faces suggested a higher risk.

«What was it?!» – This question was on everyone's mind.

Kyon breathed in the air filled with smoke and shock. He wished there was a nucleus in his unique body that fed on the emotions of surprise. He would never have any problems filling it to the brim. The good news was that someone in the stands was sending him concentrated negative emotions. Lovr noticed Tzayan, the younger brother of the deceased, pulling his hair out. The poor guy must be feeling unwell. The second source was Herman, and his stream was only getting stronger by the second.

«b.a.s.t.a.r.d!» – Patriarch Brown suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs and jumped into the arena. – «You used an explosive formation! It is against the rules of the tournament, but what is more, you murdered one of the most promising members of the Brown family! YOU MUST BE EXECUTED AT ONCE, VILE CREATURE! Judge, remove the barrier!»

Hundreds of thousands of people realized what had just happened, announcing their anger with loud screams. Their indignation was almost tangible. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d had broken the rules! He had killed an innocent man! And above all, he did it with the help of a formation! The scoundrels using dirty tricks like poison and attacking formations were most despicable! It was one of the main reasons why such things were not popular.

«Booo! It's abominable! Off with his head!» … «Patriarch Brown, kill him in public! RIP HIS HEAD OFF!» … «It's disgusting! I'm going to puke! He's not a human, he's a demon if he uses such insidious methods!» – the audience yelled under Hernan's influence.

«Save him, father!» – Diana begged in tears, worried sick about the boy.

Kyon coughed in his fist and said loudly:

«Actually, it wasn't a formation, it was an ordinary weapon, something like a firecracker but a little more powerful. It wasn't forbidden to bring in a pre-c.o.c.ked Daedric crossbow three tournaments ago. Dishonorable patriarch Brown, you realize that weapons are not forbidden in the arena, do you?»

«WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLING, JERK?!» – Herman roared.

«The judge can confirm that there were no elemental vibrations. Were there any, judge?» – Kyon took a hard look at the trembling man standing nearby.

Hundreds of thousands of people turned their eyes to the judge and the dark spot on his white pants.

Finding himself the center of attention, the poor man was red in the face. He even wanted to disregard the rules and tell a lie to take revenge on the jerk who had put him in this embarra.s.sing position when he felt queen's oppressive aura and realized that it wasn't worth dying for. – «There were no recorded elemental vibrations!»

«But… How is it…» – Herman stopped short. He felt absolutely helpless.

However, many spectators were not convinced by the judge's words. Kyon pulled off the victory with the help of some tricky device! It unleashed a barrage of angry comments followed.

Some patriarchs tried to redirect their anger at the judge, claiming that he was scared stiff to feel the vibrations, but it didn't help. Their voices were lost amid the hollering din.

Herman realized that the audience was against the scoundrel and decided to use it to his advantage. – «Even if the judge is telling the truth, you must be disqualified immediately! The partic.i.p.ants are forbidden to leave the platform during the tournament! Am I right, judge? Then go ahead, do something!»

Thousands of people shouted agreement.

Kyon laughed mockingly. – «How did you even become a patriarch? The rules say it's forbidden to stay out of the platform, and I was inside it the whole time. Besides, when the judge gave the signal to start the fight, I automatically became a partic.i.p.ant even if I weren't one! Read the d.a.m.ned rules already! You should be ashamed of yourself…»

Thousands of nodding a second ago spectators went awfully quiet.

Patriarch Herman was blushed up to his ears. He had never been so humiliated! The d.a.m.ned little snot had dragged him through the mud in front of the whole city of Boston! He was about to explode with anger.

The judge announced the winner in a loud voice and removed the protective barrier with evil intent.

At the same moment, Herman rushed to Kyon to snap his neck and get rid of him once and for all!

Right then, someone he knew very well was standing next to him. When Kyon saw Bai's broad back in front of him, he was a bit puzzled. He didn't expect his "grandfather" to help him out.

«Don't you dare to hurt my grandson.» – Bai warned Hernan sternly, releasing a powerful aura. It had cost him an effort to find the strength to enter the arena and stand up for Kyon.

Herman stopped suddenly, almost tripping over his feet. His face was distorted in frustration at the missed opportunity to do away with the a.s.shole. Vlada was his only hope. He raised his meek eyes to her, ready to ask her to fulfill the will of the people. However, the next moment, his face turned ashen pale at the mocking smile playing across the n.o.blest and most beautiful woman's lips.

«It's time for your apology.» – Vlada ordered in a voice that warned she would tolerate no dissent.

Kara could not hide her antic.i.p.ation. She was eager to see this horrid patriarch disgrace himself. He should never have raised his hand against her precious possession. It was so nice of her mother to share her feelings and give the order at the right moment!

With undisguised horror in his eyes, Herman opened and closed his mouth in silent plea like a fish washed ash.o.r.e. If he apologized on his knees to the hated old fart and the princess, if he renounced his position of the patriarch, it would forever ruin his family's reputation, and he would die of humiliation!

Timothy squinted his eyes. Even if Herman wasn't his biological father, even if he didn't have much respect for the patriarch, he didn't enjoy watching him suffer. Suddenly, Timothy realized it was hatred... He hated Kyon, who had the guts to make his adopted father go through this agony. He shouldn't that this miserable bug serious, but this time he would make an exception. Timothy Brown promised himself that he would brutally kill Kyon Stone.

It came as no surprise for Kyon that the queen had seized the moment and ordered Herman to humiliate himself right now. Demons were corrupt, evil creatures who put on a show anytime as long as someone died of shame or humiliation. That's why Kyon was so confident when talking with Patriarch Brown. He knew perfectly well that his cheeky behaviour would pique the interest of the femmes fatales in the royal box. This, and for the sake of the darkness element, of course.

It would be all right but it was his secondary priority, the main goal was to win. Kyon had revealed his trump card. He was supposed to slip the grenade to Timothy and get rid of his most dangerous enemy... Kyon seemed to have hit a wall.

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