The five people on the raised platform turned around. They needed to discuss something with the other secretaries.

For a few moments, the whole room was quiet, stunned. Now the room was buzzing. And even the wind god who'd formerly seemed on her last legs seemed a little rejuvenated.

"You can resist his aura suppression?" she said, the wind chimes sounding stronger this time.

"Indeed, this is a pleasant surprise," Ma'la said. "Maybe there is a chance you get to go to the pits. Hmm?"

She wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not, from what Rafe could deduce of her voice.

He wasn't too sure either. On one hand, the fighters in the pits were like slaves. Of course Rafe wasn't worried about being in danger. He would most probably win every time.

What he was worried about was the one rule he remembered hearing that time the projector went up in the city. One of them would die, the announcer said.

But this was a chance to level up. Rafe was close to level fifteen, and after that, by fighting against peak F grades for two months, couldn't he break into level sixteen and finally have a class evolution? It was his new resolve to try harder. To not waste time. To use every chance he had to level up as soon as he could.

"If you are able to win," Ma'la said, "and level up, it would be good for us. Because we have this plan to strengthen your soul in these next two months. Your soul is already very strong, so maybe we can make it in time. Although strengthening your soul but leaving your body weak would cause a dangerous imbalance that could hurt your potential down the road. If you are able to level up though, well that would be a whole different thing."

They were still not telling him why he had to go through all this. Although he wouldn't reject a chance to increase his soul strength. His only soul cultivation technique right now focused on quality alone, leaving his strength up to chance encounters. Encounters like these, he presumed.

"After all the evidence presented," one of the high secretaries said, not the Chosen this time. "We have reached a verdict. The alien, Rafael Kingsley is found guilty of murdering a princess of the kingdom of Ma'la. Do you have any comments?"

Rafe only stared at the man blankly, not even bothering to glare at him. Then he turned his head toward the chosen and glowered at him.

But his emotions were back under control by now. He was mostly just doing it because he wanted to. He wanted to taunt the chosen, to show that he hated him. He was putting on a show.

Of course, most people here knew Rafe was just a scape goat. Him looking at the Chosen like this showed that he knew, but he was also trying to find any sympathizers if they existed. Failing that, his plan was to maybe warn the royals and their supporters that the Chosen was making a move on the royal family.

It wasn't because he wanted to help them, but because he needed to try anything thing he could to fight the chosen. This kind of thing was not something he was good at, or that he liked to do, but desperate times. He needed the highest echelons of Ma'la to be unsettled. In that chaos, perhaps he would get some kind of chance.

"You have two options," another high secretary took up the mantle. "Execution or the pits. Choose wisely, and please choose this time."

When the secretary said that, Rafe heard Filoria suck in a breath. The chosen looked stony faced up on the platform.

Rafe was confused as well. He initially thought he'd have options, but it seemed that was not the case. He could either die, or extend his execution for the entertainment of the blood thirsty masses.

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Rafe closed his eyes and sighed. "I choose the pits."

****

These last few hours were very taxing.

For some reason, Rafe was not in control of his life, and it was very annoying. First, these rare gods, and then Filoria, and then the Chosen. Now Filoria was acting like she was doing him a huge favour.

She led a team of E grade users down into the bowels of the spire. It was dark here.

Rafe was a special prisoner, so he would be kept at the spire. He would be taken to the arena on the days he was scheduled to fight.

Of course he had killed a member of the royal family, so they had to make some pretence of trying to kill him. So all his matches were probably going to be against the strongest individuals in the circuits.

Rafe didn't do anything as the chains were connected to hooks. His hands were pinned up, above his head, and his legs were pinned to the floor. It was awkward sitting down with his hands raised. It would be more awkward to sleep. He'd have to sleep in this kind of position.

The guards stepped back and left Filoria alone in the cell with him. She was not satisfied though, and gave them a look, silently instructing them to go further away. It was a dark room and they were alone again.

Rafe only showed his teeth. The chains were long enough that if she got any stupid ideas, he could kill her directly.

"You are still a little riled up," she said. "That's fine. I was only trying to help you. We'll see after your first fight. Maybe you'll have changed your tune. I can get you out of here. Save your life."

Rafe only kept giving her his violent eye. He did not want to waste even one word on this filthy person.

She took a step forward.

Rafe only shook the chains as if to inform her he could still do damage. Although why did he have to warn her? If he had let her come, it would have been easy to deal with her directly.

She frowned down at the chains. "Maybe I'll have them shorten the chains. I asked for longer ones because I thought you'd be a bit comfortable."

Rafe found the talk of comfort humourous. He was in a dark dank cell deep underground. And there was no bunk or anything. He didn't even know if he was ever going to eat food.

At about level fifty, users could go weeks without food. Even before level ten Rafe could go a few days without food, but he didn't know if he could survive weeks.

To the people of Primus, he was at the peak of the f grade, so perhaps they thought he wouldn't need to eat. Another problem he would have to deal with in due time.

"Don't worry. I'll visit you often. You're probably going to have one match weekly. I know it's going to be hard, but I'm sure you'll survive it."

He still didn't say anything, and he could see that it was driving her mad.

She had no choice but to leave in the end.

Rafe waited for more than a thousand heartbeats. He let out his aura senses. There was no one around his cell. No one except the two goddesses only he could see.

He frowned at them, studying the wind god whose body seemed to be continually becoming lighter and lighter. It was almost like as if she was dying.

Rafe knew a thing or two about gods. Not gods like these, but he was sure the rules applied to them as well.

"Talk then," he said. "Tell me everything."

Ma'la hesitated, looking at her quickly fading friend. She looked at Rafael. She was a paler blue than she had been when she first appeared to Rafael a few hours ago.

Not that he cared. Seeing them suffer like this, Rafe hardened his heart. If it wasn't for this damn pantheon, Rafe wouldn't have had to go through all this shit.

"Mr Kingsley," Ma'la said. "I'll tell you something about gods. We can't do anything for free, otherwise we'll lose our authority. And for us, authority is all we are made o—"

She couldn't finish, her ghost-like body forced to double over as she violently retched. Something came out of her mouth. Something golden and liquid looking, although it was still not a physical thing. It dissipated before touching the ground.

Rafe looked at it impassively. Then he looked back at her.

"I know," he said. "I know. Now then, explain!"

"Mr Kingsley!" the wind goddess tried. "We… we will die."

Rafe looked in her direction. He wasn't sure what expression was visible on his face, but his blood was boiling. He wanted to rip the damn chains out of the wall and kill them.

Well, he would settle for making them kill themselves.

The soul remnants back in the Skyholm trial would probably not die if they gave Rafe anything free, but they would be greatly weakened for a long time. They had favoured him a lot, but they still didn't break the rules for him.

These gods were different from the others. Rafe didn't know their origins, but from watching them as they tried to help him over the past few hours, he learnt something strange. They would be weakened if they helped him for free.

But it got even better. They would die! He found his mouth stretching, probably forming some kind of cruel grin now.

Someone sighed from behind the goddesses. And the first God he ever saw in Primus appeared in the cell. He looked down at Rafe with pity and disgust.

"Are you sure you want to kill them now?" he asked with a shrug. "We do have information you need. And we are even willing, no, in fact we are planning to give our lives to ensure you succeed. So in the end, maybe you'll get to kill all of us."

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