At exactly the opponent time Donny appeared strolling out onto the arena Instantly the crowd erupted into a sea of cheers
Randidly closed his eyes So much noise
Welcome one and all to the HoundÆs Ladder And the reason that this attempt is special is the man attempting it Randidly Ghosthound himself
Following that pronouncement the crowd started howling like beasts raising their heads up to the sky and shrieking their enthusiasm To them Randidly was an idea A celebrity To see him in person ready to struggle was something of a cathartic experience for these people
This is what they are here for Randidly realized They want to see me fail and be reassured that IÆm human Everyone has their secret dreams and inevitably you are less than you believe you could be That deep frustration they need a symbol to share that They need a great hero to be sacrificed so they can accept their own insecurities
The stadium rumbled with such noise that Randidly could feel the shaking in the stone of his hiding spot But Randidly just grinned down at the shouting people
IÆm sorry but I canÆt give that to you Normally it would be fine to just be yourself but RandidlyÆs emerald eyes narrowed We canÆt afford that Not now Not with the System breathing down our necks
ItÆs time someone reminded you how dangerous this world truly is
Assembled here we have Donnyton Squads 100 through 81 Donny continued when the noise died down enough for him to be heard And standing opposed to them
Donny turned and regarded Helen quizzically She just snorted
Randidly leapt activating All is Ash as he did so He streaked across the sky fueling the Skill with a fist full of Mana until a cloud of ash the size of a pool gathered around him in an ominous swirl Screened from their view Randidly took his equipment out of his ring and slipped it on
Acri and Sulfur
SunÆs Teardrop Belt
White Steel Greaves
Ancestral Circlet of the Broken Ridge
IradakÆs Tinglesilk Gloves
When Randidly hit the arena he was surprised that the ground was well made enough to endure the concussive force Only a few tiny cracks emerged from the collision But that just made RandidlyÆs smile widened IÆll get to you later
The ash billowed outward obscuring himself and Helen from being seen They exchanged a look From the anger and ambition in HelenÆs eyes it seemed she was prepared Then Randidly looked away and waited allowing the ash to slowly blow away in the wind
When the crowd saw him they fell silent Which gave Randidly space to speak
Have someone on standby to help the wounded off the stage Randidly said bluntly And also someone to shield the crowd This challenge I wonÆt be pulling my punches
Chapter 917
Is he being serious Glendel asked tilting his head to the side to peer toward the stark figure of Randidly Ghosthound
Alana nodded grimly as her eyes were locked onto RandidlyÆs face ThatÆs not the posture of a man who is joking The air around him is full of violence
Glendel shook his head Then he looked from side to side They were sitting in a rather small box at the base of the stands effectively the front row of the audience Although the box was large they were the only two who had arrived so early Although it was likely to be soon Glendel couldnÆt be sure that Mrs Hamilton and Sam would likely show up soon
I supposed that means we are the ones who need to protect the audience Glendel said while sighing The audience members behind them were muttering to each other also unsure what RandidlyÆs proclamation meant Alana just smirked
At the moment when Glendel was gloomily considering the fact that he might lose another one of his monster specters just while spectating which was especially troubling after having one destroyed and two heavily damaged in the fight against the Nemesai Mrs Hamilton and the Cortez siblings arrived
Mrs Hamilton gestured elegantly to the siblings as Glendel and Alana turned to face the new arrivals IÆm sure you both know Isabella and Pan If my suspicions are correct they will be the first real difficulty that Randidly will face As such I thought they could benefit from being present in our booth for the earlier rounds
Alana laughed sourly but both the siblings nodded with serious expressions They werenÆt the top tier of DonnytonÆs Squads yet sitting at Squad 25 but that was mostly a matter of experience When it came to growth these two were at the top of the pile
Mrs HamiltonÆs smile was gentle We canÆt run things forever Alana You know that
Alana just grunted and turned back to the arena Mrs Hamilton chuckled a bit and Glendel couldnÆt resist grinning as well Alana wasnÆt a huge fan of the siblings largely because their claim to fame was currently that the two of them could hold out against Alana longer than any other duo in Donnyton
Even Glendel himself teaming up with Clarissa couldnÆt beat their record
From what Glendel understood the incident had occurred mostly due to a perfect storm of coincidences Alana had returned from training in a Danger Zone and decided to lead her weekly training session anyway The sister Isabella had gained a powerful new defensive Skill that took Alana by surprise And for just this moment both of the siblings had been hiding their true abilities
While the sister excelled at battlefield awareness and enduring the opponentÆs attacks the brother possessed a rare Skill that reduced the opponentÆs Stamina when his strikes landed Once Alana realized what was going on her Stamina pool was already reduced to something close to zero
Of course AlanaÆs tension instantly shot up and the battle slowly went against the siblings But that twelve minute match remained the standing record for a fight against Alana To the point that other people had stopped trying to challenge it And what was endlessly frustrating to Alana was that the harder she trained and the lower she pushed the other times the more that one time stood out
Yet somehow Glendel believed that the GhosthoundÆs actions today would make a mockery of that sort of record After all the first half of the duels would be against 200 people Would each match last twelve minutes Somehow Glendel couldnÆt believe that same Ghosthound he had remembered turning back the hordes of monsters would need that much time to finish things up here
Feeling a tingle of anticipation in his heart Glendel focused on Mrs HamiltonÆs words to Alana
You were right about it being impossible to keep a lid on this It seems like everyone who is anyone knows about the challenge HankÆs here with a few people from Zone Eleven and I was just speaking with the ambassador from Zone Seven His tone is much more respectful these days It seemed they liked SamÆs gifts
Alana opened her mouth to say something but then seemed to glance at the Cortez siblings Instead she just grimaced I donÆt like it Them being here Both because they will see what Randidly can do and they will see what we can do
Is he that strong Isabella asked while finding a seat next to Glendel Her brother moved to fill the other free seat next to her As the older and the more extroverted of the siblings she was the one that led their Squad Pan sat next to her content to rest his chin against his knuckles and study the Ghosthound
Both Alana and Mrs Hamilton had strange little smiles on their faces in response to that question The silence stretched to almost ten seconds as Isabella looked back and forth between the older women Even Glendel was unsure how to respond to that innocuous question
HeÆs at least stronger than any one of us probably any ten of us Glendel thought as he gazed out toward the arena That strange grey ash Randidly had arrived with seemed to be dissipating but now it was swirling calmly around his feet likely due to a Skill ThatÆs why we are here thatÆs why we had to agree to this We all want to know how strong we are in comparison to him
he wasnÆt the first to get a Class but he was as strong as a person with a Class even before getting one And after well heÆs had to travel to address various threats Alana finally said her eyes still never leaving RandidlyÆs face