Ranking Match

At the compound where the members of the Temple of Priests live.

Joshua was walking with 2 groups of people.

In front of him were Lucius the headmaster of the compound in Luxen City, Grana the headmaster of the Temple of Priests' building in Luxen City, and Clementine the guest and the team leader from another Chapter Temple located at Heisen City.

All of which were Red Cloaks.

Meanwhile, beside Joshua was a dark-skinned man in his late 20s named Cornelio who was a White Cloak along with the rest of the guest Priests and Priestesses from Heisen City which consisted of 12 Brown Cloaks and 7 White Cloaks.

"How was your trip, brother?" asked Joshua.

"It was a good trip, brother. We managed to apprehend some heretics along the way, hence the delay of our arrival," said Cornelio.

The guests from Heisen City were supposed to arrive yesterday afternoon so that the next day they will be energized for the Ranking Match after having a good night's sleep from traveling.

"Oh, how many heretics have you captured?"

"We captured them, rung the information out of them and then attacked their hideout. By the time everything was said and done, we managed to eradicate more than 20 heretics along with their leader," Cornelio said with a satisfied smile.

"You and your Chapter have done another service to this world!" Joshua said and smiled.

Cornelio shook his head.

"We are simply doing our sworn duty, brother."

"That is true, brother. But I still would like to thank you on behalf of all the people that those heretics have harmed. May the God of Light bless them and your Chapter."

"May the God of Light bless them as well."

"But brother, since you and your Chapter just arrived, are you sure your members are ready for the Ranking Match?" Joshua said and smiled.

Cornelio's lips turned into a huge and nasty grin.

"We, the Heisen Chapter Temple, are always ready for a fight! Our Chapter never backs down from any Chapter, Heretic Hunter!"

Heretic Hunter was a title given to the Temple of Priests' members who managed to catch and slay a lot of heretics.

"If you say so, Demon Slayer!"

On the other hand, the title Demon Slayer was given to the Temple of Priests' members who slayed several powerful Demons, not Lesser Demons.

Joshua and the others finally reached the Training Grounds and they entered the huge building where members can practice fighting. But on this occasion, it was arranged in a manner where there was only a single fighting ring and the rest were occupied with seats.

"Greetings, High Brother Lucius, High Sister Grana, High Sister Clementine and guests from the Heisen Chapter Temple of Priests!" a White Cloak Priestess greeted them and bowed.

The female who greeted them was none other than Giselle.

"Please allow me to escort all of you to your seats," she said and led the way.

The White and Brown Cloaks of the Heisen Chapter Temple were seated with the White and Brown Cloaks of the Luxen Chapter Temple. Meanwhile, the Red Cloaks were seated among the Gold Cloaks.

And if Vivian was here, she would recognize a few of the Gold Cloaks -- Isaac, Samuel and Lance.

All of the Gold Cloaks exchanged pleasantries with Clementine before taking their seats. But when Clementine met and greeted Samuel, she was particularly VERY respectful.

"Greetings, Brother Samuel," Clementine said and gave a deep bow. She didn't raise her head and maintained it, waiting for Samuel to speak.

"Greetings, High Sister Clementine," Samuel said. "And please raise your head already, High Sister. How many times do I need to remind you that?"

Clementine raised her head and there was a small awkward smile on her face.

Clementine was a serious-looking dark-skinned red-haired woman in her late 30s. But the way she was acting right now was like a little girl being scolded by the principal.

"Come, High Sister," Grana said and pointed at their seats.

"Yes, High Sister," Clementine replied.

Lucius, on the other hand, was already sitting in his seat.

***

At the center of the fighting ring.

A group of 50 White Cloak Priests and Priestess were standing there. And if Vivian was here, she would recognize a few of them -- Marie, Criselle and the Priestess who was in charge of her Light Affinity Awakening Ceremony.

"Brothers and sisters, I am Briene and may the God of Light continue to watch over you!" said the Priestess who was in charge of Vivian's Light Affinity Awakening Ceremony.

"May the God of Light continue to watch over as well!" the crowd replied.

"As you may already know, today is the monthly Ranking Match of the Luxen Chapter Temple.

"And today is also the 243th anniversary of the Ranking Match between the Luxen Chapter Temple and the Heisen Chapter Temple!

"And just like how our predecessors have always done, before we start the Ranking Match between brothers and sisters, we must show proof that we are devoted to the God of Light and our Holy Mission!"

Briene turned to her companions who were standing with her in the middle of the fighting ring and nodded at them.

They all nodded back and pulled out a wand with an Affinity Crystal attached to the edge.

To be precise, 30 held Chaos Affinity, while another group held 30 Lesser Chaos Affinity.

"Show your devotion to the God of Light!" Briene shouted.

The Priests and Priestesses carrying the rods began approaching the crowd. Everyone in the crowd took turns in touching the Affinity Crystals to show proof that they weren't demon-worshipers.

Even the Gold and Red Cloaks had to participate.

With each touch, not once did the Affinity Crystals shine.

After everyone in the crowd had their Chaos and Lesser Chaos Affinities checked, the White Cloaks who were in charge of checking returned to the center.

This time around, they checked each other, including Briene.

The Affinity Crystals still didn't shine.

After confirming that everyone in this building wasn't a demon-worshiper, Brien ordered the White Cloaks standing with her in the middle of the ring to go leave.

They all left, leaving Briene alone.

Briene swept her gaze in the crowd for a moment before finally speaking.

"Brothers and sisters, there are no demon-worshipers here! We're all devoted to our Holy Mission! The God of Light continues to watch over us!"

"May the God of Light continue to watch over you as well!" the crowd replied.

Briene turned her head to the Red Cloaks.

"High Brother and High Sisters!"

Lucius nodded and then got up from his seat.

Lucius was a man in his early 50s with long white hair and a commanding presence.

He turned to Isaac.

"Brother Isaac, would you do me the honor?"

Isaac got up from his seat.

"It would be an honor, High Brother," he said and then went over to the ring.

When Isaac joined Briene, she left the ring, leaving only Isaac.

Isaac turned to Lucius.

"I hereby announce the 243th Ranking Match between the Luxen Chapter Temple and the Heisen Chapter Temple to commence! May the God of Light watch over you!" Lucius announced.

The crowd cheered.

Lucius sat down and 2 participants, 2 boys in their teens from the Luxen Chapter Temple, entered the ring with Isaac as the referee.

The rules of the Ranking Match were very simple.

Given that the Heisen Chapter Temple only brought 20 members with them, and out of the 20 only 15 will participate in the Ranking Match, the first to fight among themselves will be the participants from the Luxen Chapter Temple.

Once the Top 15 of Luxen Chapter Temple members are chosen, that's when the 15 members of the Heisen Chapter Temple will join in.

And depending on the fights, this Ranking Match could reach until late at night.

Issac looked at the 2 participants.

"Brother Zean, Brother Crew, are you ready?"

Zean had a sword in his hand, he wore a simple set of leather armor, and he also wore a Necklace of Spirit, a Ring of Physical Body and a Ring of Magic Body.

Crew, on the other hand, had a shield and axe. He wore a simple set of Silver-grade armor, and had a Necklace of Spirit and Earring of Magic Body.

Both of the boys nodded.

"Begin!" Isaac shouted.

Crew immediately charged while Zean waited in a fighting position.

The moment Crew entered Zean's attack range, he immediately activated a skill.

[Power Slash].

Dang!

Crew parried Zean's attack with another skill, [Power Shield], causing Zean to lose his balance.

Without missing a beat, Crew took advantage of it and activated another skill.

[Power Mace].

He thrust his mace forward and aimed at Zean's face.

Seeing Crew's mace aiming for his face, Zean let go of his sword, crouched down and moved his right foot into a position to run forward before activating a skill.

[Power Leg].

A small web of cracks appeared underneath Zean's right foot and he was propelled forward.

The Physical Art [Power Leg] can increase the caster's vertical jump. However, it requires timing -- the caster must time their jump and the activation of the skill together.

Do it too early, the skill would only leave either a hole on the floor. Do it too late, the skill won't help increase the caster's jump.

Riiip…

Crew's [Power Mace] managed to graze Zean's head, obliterating the hair and scalp.

Bam!

Thud!

Zean tackled Crew on the chest to the ground.

When they landed on the ground, Crew was still gasping for air from the impact and Zean quickly grabbed the nearest weapon he could find -- Crew's shield. He lifted the shield above his head and started bashing the edges on Crew's face.

Bam!

Crew's nose was broken.

Bam!

Crew's face caved in.

Crack!

The shield cracked open Crew's head, spilling all of its contents on the floor -- blood, eyeballs, brain and etc.

Thud.

Zean threw the shield to the side and got up.

Isaac grabbed Zean's wrist and raised it.

"The winner of the first match, Brother Zean!"

The crowd cheered.

Hearing the crowd cheering, Zean raised his other hand and there was a smile on his face.

Isaac let go of Zean's wrist and waited until the crowd stopped.

"That was a good fight, brother. Now go rest for your next match."

"Yes, Brother Isaac."

Zean picked up his sword before leaving the ring.

As for the wound on his head, there were White Cloaks waiting on the side to cast [Greater Heal] on him.

Isaac went over to Crew's corpse and activated a skill.

[Resurrection].

A faint blue light enveloped Crew's body and his wounds were completely healed.

Crew opened his eyes and gasped.

He found himself laying on the ground and saw Isaac offering a hand.

He grabbed Isaac's hand and he was pulled up.

"Although you lost, you did well, brother. Now go get some rest."

A sad expression appeared on Crew's face but he still managed to open his mouth.

"Yes, Brother Isaac."

He left the ring and another pair of contestants stepped inside the ring.

Given that Priests have [Greater Heal], [Blessing] and [Resurrection], what happened during Zean and Crew's match was normal. Even during practice sessions, although they would show some restraint, sometimes "accidents" can happen.

But in this Ranking Match where everyone was watching?

All contestants would give it their all.

********************

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Hello guys, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I have a few announcements to make: 

1) I received my new laptop around the second week of December but I was already in vacation mode with my family so I wasn't able to write that much.

2) Starting now, I will drop most of the gimmicks I've been doing. 

I just want to focus on writing and posting.

Having said that, I will only be posting 5 chapters per week here at WebNovel. Meanwhile, at Patreon, it would be at least 5 per week.

As to why, that's because in the later chapters I'm writing around 2,000 words each chapter compared to the earlier chapters which were only 1,200-1,500 each.

On top of that, I also have two small businesses that I'm managing and other personal matters.

So yeah, my hands are quite full and I hope that you will understand.

By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…

• https://www.patreon.com/Immortal_Shades

There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.

Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 207-219 are posted there.

I would like to give my special thanks for this month's Patrons:

• 

Thank you once again and I will see you in the next chapter.

Again, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!