-1570- How he handles

At the same time, in the VIP viewing seats of the arena, which was becoming more and more crowded with spectators, Zeth sat there, overlooking the scene below.

Kirsty was not by Zeth's side.

There wasn't even a single guard around him.

He simply sat there alone, watching the arena below until, at some point, he felt something and turned his head to look toward the entrance of the VIP viewing section.

There...

"Long time no see, Zeth Wiegert."

The one speaking these words was a petite girl wearing luxurious priest-like robes, holding a scepter, and with long waist-length golden hair.

"It's you?"

Zeth rarely showed a surprised expression.

Because Zeth hadn't expected this person to show up here at all.

"Even though I am the Pope, it does not mean that I can't come to watch a match."

Annerose spoke with a blank expression.

The person who appeared was indeed Annerose.

And not just Annerose.

"It seems you didn't expect us to come, did you, Lord Zeth?"

Emilie wore a rare, sarcastic expression.

"We've come uninvited."

Cris spoke coldly.

"..."

River was also present but said nothing, simply staring at Zeth in silence.

With these three accompanying her, Annerose stood before Zeth.

"...I truly didn't expect that you would dare to show up in front of me."

Zeth squinted his eyes, and then, with apparent indifference, said these words.

It should be noted that Zeth had long been plotting to take Annerose's life, to eliminate the highest human ruler and usurp her position. Both Emilie and Cris had betrayed Zeth, landing them on the Armored Beetles' hit list, which is why they had to hide in the underground city of the first artificial sky island, unable to show themselves.

Due to the inability to find Annerose and the others, Zeth couldn't easily seize control of the human faction and had to constantly engage in a game of chess with them.

But now, Annerose and the others had openly appeared here, seemingly courting death.

However, Zeth's threatening words didn't concern any of them.

"Do you think I don't know that your true body isn't here and that this is only a mere clone?" Annerose said without showing any weakness. "Even your personal secretary seems to have been assigned outside of Vebel. It seems you're quite wary of Rozen."

Annerose's words carried a hint of mockery toward Zeth.

The subtext was likely pointing out that while she had been hiding due to Zeth's constant attempts on her life, Zeth himself only dared to send a clone into the open because of Rozen's arrival at Vebel.

Thus, the situations of both parties were surprisingly similar.

Of course, though the situations were similar, the conditions were entirely different.

Annerose didn't dare to show herself for fear of being killed by Zeth.

Zeth, on the other hand, wasn't afraid of being killed by Rozen; he was merely being cautious and maintaining a public image, nothing more.

This wasn't because Zeth thought Rozen was weaker than him.

Quite the opposite, Zeth had, to some extent, acknowledged Rozen's strength and believed that he might not be able to defeat Rozen.

However, that was a separate matter from whether Rozen could kill him.

In this world, no one could kill Zeth.

He, Zeth Wiegert, cannot die—this was a fact.

However, Zeth had no intention of explaining further and simply shook his head.

"So you've calculated that it's just a powerless clone here, that Kirsty isn't with me, and that Ymier and the others can't easily take action because they have to participate in the tournament, so you dared to show yourself?"

Zeth seemed indifferent to Annerose's actions.

"For a great pope, you act rather petty, don't you?"

These words instantly angered River and Emilie, who prepared to step forward.

However, Cris stopped the two, shaking her head and signaling them that it wasn't necessary to act.

After all, it was meaningless.

The Zeth before them was just an insignificant clone. No matter how angry they became, it was futile.

And what Cris understood, Annerose naturally understood as well.

"If I'm petty, then you're the one who's delusional." Annerose said flatly, "Do you really think you have us cornered and that Ymier Kaiser will win the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival?"

Upon hearing this, Zeth couldn't help but laugh.

"Who's the one deluding themselves?" Zeth said with a chuckle. "Emilie is on your side, and you're well aware of the power of a Collapse Force wielder, yet you continue to deceive yourself?"

From these words, it was clear that Zeth had complete confidence in Ymier and the others' victory.

And that was only natural, wasn't it?

Collapse Force wielders posed a terrifying threat even with just one of them. If they unleashed their full power, destroying an entire floating city wouldn't be difficult. With five of them, how could any human team possibly win?

To give an example, Ymier, relying solely on her mana, already possessed strength surpassing that of an S-rank sky wizard. Using her superior mana and her ability to convert it into fire and heat, she could effortlessly crush and defeat an S-rank team on her own.

And Ymier had even greater power than mana—jutsuryoku. She also wielded Collapse Force, a power higher than both mana and jutsuryoku. If she went all out, she could annihilate all of humanity without breaking a sweat as long as her energy wasn't depleted.

Under such circumstances, with the addition of other Collapse Force wielders like Gregory, what human team could possibly win?

"I know you arranged for Korai to participate," Zeth said bluntly, "But if you think such power can win, then I must say I've overestimated you, Your Holiness."

Only Collapse Force wielders could defeat Collapse Force wielders.

Zeth was equally convinced of this principle.

To this...

"What about Rorelei Arneet?" Annerose looked at Zeth. "What about him?"

These words caused Zeth to pause for a moment, a flicker of uncertainty appearing in his eyes.

Seeing this, Annerose smiled.

"It seems even you aren't confident that Ymier Kaiser and the others can defeat Rorelei Arneet."

Indeed.

This was likely the only threat and uncertainty in Zeth's mind.

However...

"Even if Rorelei Arneet is strong, he's still just a human," Zeth said with a deep, meaningful look. "With four burdens to carry, let's see how he handles Ymier. I'll be watching closely."

With that, Zeth fell silent.

As for Annerose, she had no further objections.

The two of them didn't mention Korai or Falcion at all.

To them, those two teams were irrelevant to the vortex of this conflict.

Even Annerose, who had sent Korai, thought the same.

As Zeth said, everyone was focused on how Rozen would deal with Ymier while carrying four burdens.

That match would be the true decider.

However, none of them would have imagined that by the time that moment came, the scene before them would be something beyond their wildest expectations.