"On the contrary," Principal Ai Wen said with a mysterious smile, "I heard he declined the olive branch extended by the Padric family and decided to win with his own strength."

At these words, Caesar's expression finally showed a slight stir.

If he had won with the help of the Padric family, it wouldn't have been surprising to him, especially since the Dragon family, though not lacking in heritage, pales significantly in comparison to the Padric family.

However, what he did not expect was that this young man, reportedly an orphan, had actually refused the help offered by the Padric family...

"Quite interesting..." Rubbing his chin with his index finger, a hint of admiration and even a thought of allure surfaced in Caesar's eyes.

The boy indeed had some of his own youthful bravado, both in courage and handsome appearance, thus developing him as an affiliate wasn't a bad idea.

The Colin family had many branches that served as reserves of "fresh blood", for instance, his much-appreciated daughter-in-law came from one such branch.

His cherished granddaughter was also not getting any younger, and sooner or later would need a partner, with most prospective candidates being picked from these collateral families.

However, it was still too early to consider this; the Colin family was not as casual as the Padric places, and as the family head, he still needed to observe further.

While Caesar's eyes were intently fixed on the dueling field, Principal Ai Wen sitting beside him couldn't help but silently rejoice at his old student and friend's oversight.

This old fox has yet to realize that the child standing in the arena could very likely be his own flesh and blood...

Is this what they call 'oblivious under the lamp'?

Of course, it's not beyond possibility that this is just a misunderstanding, but from the current situation, it hardly seems like one.

Principal Ai Wen held back his laughter with a cough, disguising it.

What an evil sense of humor!

He found himself becoming more wicked over time.

...

While the two awaited the start of the duel with their respective thoughts, the second pyramid-shaped platform projected a castle situated among the mountains.

It was the Baron Territory of the Dragon family near Demon City, nestled in an underground valley called Black Wind Valley, a fortress easy to defend but hard to attack, named Black Wind Castle!

Watching the thousand-plus Beastman mercenaries and the "Crown of Malice" mercenary group's flags readying themselves on the walls, the judges conferred and gave a fair score of 6.5.

Although these soldiers were far from the quality of Xino Dragon's personally led "Hell's Flames" Heavy Infantry, the defensible terrain of Black Wind Castle granted it a significant defensive boost.

To conquer this fortress, one would need at least five times the troops to stand a chance.

The audience grew increasingly eager to see the "Red Side"'s attacking team.

Although intuition told most Demons present that the Demon King, with his realm deep within the human world, might not muster much manpower, many had heard of his relationships with the Padric family, possibly leading them to lend assistance.

Essentially, those who bet on Luo Yan's victory did so for this reason, except for Luo Yan himself.

However, when the Red Side's attacking team appeared on the dueling field in an instant, nearly all spectators were stunned, even the host stood speechless on the spot, too shocked to speak.

"Is that... goblins?"

To be precise, it was a group of goblins.

Their attire was shabby, and their appearances were odd and uneven. Apart from the scant pants barely covering them, their bodies were laden with various large and small packs.

Those items appeared to be siege equipment... including the contraptions housed in dual-wheeled carts.

It was apparent that the Demon King of Leiming County had prepared quite a bit for this siege, yet there was no sight of the soldiers' weapons... or even where the soldiers were.

It couldn't possibly be that group of goblins, could it?!

Observing the goblins' trembling and pathetic state, one couldn't help but wonder if this group had just been picked up from a Slave Market, having never seen a battlefield before.

Seeing the troops the Demon King brought into the arena, a chorus of boos arose from the audience, and the gamblers who had placed bets even started cursing.

"...Does he intend to give up on the offense and focus on defense instead?" Staring at the noisy and chaotic arena, Caesar Colin furrowed his brows and muttered quietly.

Although winning through lowering the scoring of one's own offensive troops and using the score calculation after dual draws was one way to secure victory, it was ultimately disgraceful.

What exactly does he plan to do?

Caesar was surprised to find that, being at a demigod level himself, he was unable, for a moment, to see through this young man's plan.

And it was precisely because of this that his curiosity grew even stronger, wishing the duel would start immediately and both sides would rush into the teleportation formations to their respective battlegrounds.

Unlike Caesar's anticipation, this time it was Principal Ai Wen who lost his composure.

Ai Wen had not gambled, but he had boasted a lot to those around him, speaking as if Luo Yan had won before the battle even started.

Seeing the goblins, mere cannon fodder, appear in the arena, his old face found it hard to hold up.

He had thought Luo Yan would pull out some trump card that would shock everyone present, but unexpectedly, the lad simply threw in the towel outright.

However, sitting next to him was his prized student, who was also the main target of his usual boasts.

Even though his heart was drumming, he could hardly show it on his face at this time, only managing to cough lightly and say in an inscrutably profound manner.

"Just you wait and see, it's too early to say anything now."

...

The panel of judges in the spectator stand whispered among themselves and ultimately gave a final rating of five 1's.

A thousand goblins.

The battle hadn't started, and it seemed it had already ended.

Watching the noisy audience, Xino Dragon hoisted his battle-axe on his shoulder, laughing heartily in mockery.

"Luo Yan, this is your troop? Hahaha, you have truly disappointed me!"

An extremely annoyed Mia was plastered against the window, her teeth grinding audibly, wishing she could join the fight herself.

Couldn't he have at least picked a silver-level player?

Instead, he brought a bunch of goblins...

One of which was even a gift from her.

Listening to the mockery from the opposite side, Luo Yan paid no heed, merely calming patting the trembling Oke on the shoulder.

"Believe in yourself, Oke, you are destined to become a legendary goblin, hold your chest up high... there, just like that."

The forced chest-puffing Oke had a smile uglier than tears on his face as he stuttered.

"But, but Lord Demon King... Oke has never been on a battlefield! Oke isn't afraid of dying, just afraid of losing face for you and Miss Mia."

"Who said you're going to die? You won't only not die, but you'll become a legend in Demon City!"

Looking at the fearful face of Oke, Luo Yan didn't mock his cowardice but instead pointed to the jeering spectators.

"See those guys laughing at us? They don't believe we can win, not even you believe it..."

"But we'll slap the facts right in those demons' faces, showing them firsthand how stupid their arrogance is!"

"We'll prove to everyone with facts—"

"The times have changed!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.