At the officiator's words, each participant activated their sphere, and glowing numbers emerged above their heads. The crowd collectively held its breath as the pairings were unveiled:
Drake stared at their opponents with a light smile on his face. Meanwhile, the air dragons didn't seem too bothered about the pairing.
"Seems like luck is on our side," Mirra chuckled.
"Hehehe, we'll crush them!" Toren folded his arms, a light smirk tugging at the sides of his lips.
"Guys, don't get cocky," Drake warned.
The reason why the others were excited was because, in the dragon realm, it could be said that the weakest element was air, as it was not as destructive as the other elements.
Nox glanced at the Wind Dragon Kingdom and thought silently, Wind can be just as disastrous as any other element if it's utilized well.
And from their stance, they seem very confident in their abilities. Well, let's see how this plays out.
Deciding to stop overthinking, Nox chose to go with the flow.
"Yes, brother is right. We shouldn't underestimate our opponents," Zara said, a serious expression adorning her delicate face. Then she pointed out, "Besides, Galen von Windfall, the crown prince, is participating as well. Someone like him will definitely have some tricks up his sleeves. We should be careful."
"Quit worrying too much. The Wind Kingdom is one of the weakest. They have nothing on us—we'll bulldoze through their defense," Toren, the scarred one, chuckled loudly, his voice carrying a hint of mockery.
Because of his loud, boisterous voice, both the supporters in the stands and their opponents heard him. Several gazes filled with murderous intent were directed at them.
"You might want to keep your voice low, asshole," Kaisy face-palmed.
"Keep our voice low? This is a damn competition! Taunting your opponent is part of the event!" Toren retorted as he shoved his middle finger at the Wind Kingdom team, who immediately began hurling insults at him.
Nox stood watching all of this unfold. None of Toren's antics really concerned him—his entire focus was fixed on the officiator, who was discussing something with other organizers.
After a while, the participants were led back to the waiting room, where they would be called to participate when their time came.
The officiator raised his voice once more. "The first battle shall begin shortly! Warriors, prepare yourselves!"
A wave of excitement spread through the audience at his words. They seemed to have forgotten Toren's disrespect from a moment ago and were now chanting the names of their representatives.
"The first match-up is between..."
Thousands of hearts beat in sync as everyone waited with bated breath. The officiator intentionally delayed the announcement, thickening the tension in the air.
Then, in a booming voice, he declared:
"Frostpire vs. Windfall!"
"Let's give them a good opening show!" Drake said confidently as he strode onto the wide fighting platform. From the other side, their opponents, the Windfall team, emerged.
Leading the Windfall team was a slim youth standing about 5'7" with shoulder-length milky-white hair and a pair of charming misty-gray eyes. His skin glistened under the sun's glare, and his lips were a deep blood-red.
This young man was Galen von Windfall, the one and only prince of the Windfall Kingdom. As the only child of the king, he had access to vast amounts of resources, which allowed him to reach Emperor Rank Level 8.
Not only that, but he had also been given several powerful skills by the King of the Wind Kingdom, who wanted to ensure his son's strength.
Behind him, the other six members of his team were slightly above or equal to the prince in terms of level, placing them in the same range as the Frostpire team.
Nox's eyes gleamed as he locked gazes with Prince Galen von Windfall. The latter also stared at him for a brief moment before looking away.
"The rules are simple. The only way for you to win this match is through knockout, forfeiting, severe injuries, or... death."
"Death?" Nox mumbled aloud, and the others around him heard.
The officiator shot him a glare, irritated at being interrupted. "Yes, death. Anything wrong with that?" Then his expression morphed into one of disappointment as he asked, "Don't tell me you want to chicken out now."
Fortunately for Nox, Drake came to his rescue.
"Please forgive my cousin. This is the first time he's hearing about this competition," Drake said with a polite smile. "You may continue."
"First time? Dang, has he been living under a rock or what?"
"Oi, it's not too late to forfeit, you know."
The warriors of Windfall began throwing jabs at the Frostpire team, something that got under Toren's skin. Just like that, the two teams started exchanging derogatory insults at each other.
Drake felt a massive headache forming, but there was nothing he could do. Besides, even the audience seemed to enjoy the spectacle—it was entertaining to them.
Meanwhile, Nox was left in deep thought.
Neither the king nor Drake informed me that one of the winning conditions was death... He was surprised. This is the first time I'm hearing about a competition with such a rule.
Normally, if something occurred in the human domain, Nox was more than certain that kings would wage war against each other to take revenge on behalf of their prodigies.
Was the case different here? Would the Dragon Kings just sit down and watch their kin die?
"Don't think too much about it," Drake whispered when he saw Nox's expression. He explained, "Though death is allowed, it's a very rare occurrence. In fact, in the past four competitions, there hasn't been a single recorded death."
"Oh." Nox raised an eyebrow.
"Yup. Even though we dragons are battle-hungry, we know when to give up," Drake smiled.
He didn't need to explain much.
Nox could tell right away that the reason there hadn't been any deaths in the past was because warriors knew when to forfeit the match when they noticed things were beginning to go south.
Some time later, the officiator announced the start of the battle. Both sides lunged at each other, some half-transforming while a few fully transformed right from the get-go.
Nox was about to move from his position when he noticed two wind dragons charging toward him with cruel smirks on their faces.
Their plan was rather simple: Take out the weakest link in the Frostpire team.