Chapter 104

[Third Person's PoV]

'Just who is he?' Perv Asshat thought, his hand on his chin as he pondered.

'What has he been doing all this time? Why has he been avoiding the spotlight? I've never even heard of him before. And he's just a kid at that. How can someone so young possess such strength? Is he someone who's been secretly trained by the higher-ups, or is he one of the Blood Queens' kin, and that's why he appears young?'

The more he thought about it, the more questions popped up. He couldn't help but ask himself once more, "Just who is he!?"

…

As Julius walked off the stage and into the corridor, Annarose stood up and followed behind him, trying to catch up.

"Hey, Julius, please wait up," she called out.

Julius stopped and looked at her with a raised brow.

"I wanted to talk to you before you left. I completely lost our fight, and I want to thank you for it."

Julius looked at her in confusion, unsure of what she was on about. "Why?"

"Thanks to you, I realized what I lack. I left my country to become stronger, but due to my pride in the strength I had, I lost sight of that. So I wanted to thank you for reminding me of what I set out to do. You have my gratitude," she explained as she stretched out her hand.

Julius smiled and shook her hand, glad to see people trying to grow stronger and push past their limits.

"Julius…" Annarose started as their hands disconnected, "I may not know what you're dealing with, but… would you like to serve the Empire of Begarta? I would make sure you receive a post you truly deserve."

"No thanks. You are following your path to power, while I'm following mine, and it appears ours don't align. So this is farewell from me," Julius said as he turned around and continued walking.

Annarose stood tear-eyed, watching Julius's retreating back. "Wait, Julius! I'll be leaving tomorrow! If you change your mind before then, come and seek me out! I'll… I'll be waiting for you!"

But Julius didn't turn around. He just continued walking forward without ever looking back.

…

The next day:

Cid sat across from Iris as they ate in their VIP room, which had expanded even further due to the presence of the two kings from both countries watching.

"I'm sorry, excuse my rudeness, but you can't be here," a maid said as a hooded figure entered the room.

Iris turned to look at the figure, "Ah! It's fine, I'm the one who invited her," Iris informed the maid. "She is the War Goddess, Beatrix."

Beatrix took off her hood, exposing her face, which surprised everyone in the VIP room, especially the maid. "Lady Beatrix!? The legendary swordswoman!?" she exclaimed before repeatedly bowing her head and apologizing. "Please pardon my insolence, it was my first time seeing you before today!"

Beatrix waved it off, much to the relief of the maid.

She then turned towards Cid and nodded her head in greeting, which Cid returned.

"You two seem to know each other," Iris observed upon noticing their familiarity.

"Yes, we do. We met yesterday. It was thanks to him that I was able to find my niece from my late sister," Beatrix explained.

Iris looked slightly surprised before smiling towards Beatrix. "I see. Well, I'm glad you were able to reunite with your family."

Beatrix smiled back, "Thank you."

"Since you've arrived, why don't you sit down and take your time to enjoy the bouts? This year's God of War Festival is getting quite interesting. There is a blind swordsman by the name of Julius in particular that's causing quite a commotion within the audience. Are there any swordsmen who have attracted your attention, Lady Beatrix?"

Beatrix once again nodded, "There is," she said as she looked at Cid.

"I hope to fight against you one day," Beatrix said to Cid, surprising everyone and attracting their attention.

"What!? So his strength is being recognized by the War Goddess herself!?"

"That's unbelievable. I heard that Lady Claire's brother was strong, but this…"

"If he's so strong, why isn't he participating in the tournament?"

"Maybe it's because his sister is in it and doesn't want to fight against her."

Cid ignored the whispers and just smiled towards Beatrix, "Funnily enough, I do as well. We would have to set a time for when we're both free."

Before Beatrix had a chance to agree, she heard boisterous laughter coming from the entrance.

"HAHAHAHA! Surely you jest, wanting to fight him? While those words come from you, Lady Beatrix, I can't help but doubt them. He may look strong, but his strength could only be slightly above average at best," the boisterous man laughed.

Iris introduced them to Beatrix, "Lady Beatrix, this is the King of Oriana, and that's Perv Asshat," she pointed towards the old man with a lost look in his eyes and sunken cheeks, and then towards the man who had been laughing.

Beatrix didn't even get a chance to reply as she and Cid both covered their mouths and noses in disgust at the same time.

'Wow, that really smells. It's especially bad for me since my senses are always heightened,' Cid thought, still disgusted with the smell.

"What is that smell?" Beatrix couldn't help but express.

Although Perv Asshat wanted to move the conversation quickly, Cid didn't let him. After all, he wasn't going to let him get away with calling him slightly above average.

"Tell me, are you an Asshat because that's your name, or is that your name because you're an Asshat?" Cid asked with a hand over the lower half of his face, making it look like he was laughing at him.

A tick mark appeared on Perv Asshat's forehead. He wanted to retort and confront Cid for his words, but he had other things to worry about. He didn't want Beatrix finding out about the smell of the drug he had inflicted on the King of Oriana.

Perv Asshat chose to ignore Cid completely and apologized for the smell, "Sorry about that. It looks like the king's retainer sprayed too much cologne on him."

"I see… I apologize for my rudeness," Beatrix awkwardly said.

"There's nothing to apologize for. Let's just head to our seats," he said as he guided the king to his throne.

As he guided the king, Perv Asshat started thinking about how close he was to getting found out.

'That scared me. I thought she might have picked up the smell from the drug. I used it to manipulate the king, and it wasn't only her; that kid apparently also smelled it. Where do these problematic young men keep appearing from? Forget it. I'll look into it later. After all, everything is finally going as planned. All that's left is to capture Rose and give her blood to the cult. I threatened to kill the King of Midgar if she didn't show up.'

Iris turned towards Cid and Beatrix, "Hope you'll forgive me; my match is up next."

After Iris left, Cid stood up as well. Beatrix looked confused, but all Cid said was, "I need to use the loo."

…

In the Arena both Julius and Iris stood face to face as the announcer started to hype up their fight.

"We are reaching the Final conclusion of this year's God of War Festival!!! The next match will be the one everyone had been looking forward to!

The one who boasts the title of this countries 'Strongest', IRIS MIDGAR!

vs.

Her opponent, who due to his reputation has gained the title 'The blind swordsman' from the audience, JULIUS BLINDMAN.

MAY THIS MATCH…BEGIN!!"