Chapter 109 A Competition Bearing the Fate of Humanity?
Chapter 109 A Competition Bearing the Fate of Humanity?
Chapter 109 A Competition Bearing the Fate of Humanity?
Demigod?
Xia Fa felt a slight sense of satisfaction. He never expected that this seemingly quiet and well-behaved Princess Victoria was actually a demigod.
A nineteen-year-old demigod?
At this moment, not only him, but everyone present also had extremely different expressions.
The lower-ranking clergy of the Silver Church, including Ethan Fensne, were completely stunned, unable to believe what they had just heard, their expressions blank.
Lieutenant General Bedivet's hearty smile froze instantly, replaced by a look of utter dismay.
The most vehement reactions came from the three members of the Augustus family: Cardan, Axor, and Glenn.
Cardan's usual haughty and aloof demeanor vanished for a moment, his face turning completely gloomy.
However, it was only for a moment. He quickly regained the composure befitting a nobleman and even straightened his black bow tie.
Axor, however, could hardly maintain his cheerful expression. His obese body trembled violently, and his eyes widened suddenly. It took him a long time to recover, just like Cardan.
As for Glenn, he looked as if he had been struck by lightning, his face filled with disbelief.
Prince Ariman was quite pleased with the reactions of the crowd, especially the Augustus family, but he remained expressionless, as if he had just delivered the most ordinary news.
He then changed the subject, saying:
"Alright, Jack, and Snowflake, you two take the rest of the family to the stands. I'm taking Princess Victoria to the preparation area."
Within the Selene royal family, two middle-aged men with black hair and black eyes bowed to Prince Ariman, placing their hands on his chest in obedience.
Princess Victoria remained obediently standing in place, seemingly oblivious to the reactions of others. It was impossible to know what she was thinking in her calm, still eyes, or perhaps she was thinking nothing at all.
As for the petite Anna, she still timidly clutched the hem of her mistress's skirt, not daring to even lift her head.
Xia Fa took in everyone's reactions, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.
Judging from this, the power struggle between the Selene royal family and the Augustus family is probably far more intense than he imagined.
Clearly, the Augustus family did not want another demigod to appear in the Selene royal family, which is why they were so wrong and so unwilling to believe it.
On the other hand, Prince Ariman seemed eager to share the news as soon as he met Cardan and the others.
Besides showing off, it also implies suppression and intimidation.
However, what Xia Fa cared about more was that Princess Victoria had become a demigod at the age of nineteen.
This is absolutely incredible!
To be honest, he felt that unless someone in the Kingdom of Augu could become an angel, ruler, or even a god in their twenties, Victoria was probably the most outstanding young person of this generation.
Suddenly, Tyrean's aged voice, carrying a hint of weariness at being unwilling to get involved in such a struggle, rang in his ears again.
"Victoria is the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor, and His Majesty the Emperor is a ruler, as you should know? Our Kingdom of Augustus has two rulers in total, the other being the current head of the Augustus family, Gaius."
Xia Fa vaguely guessed what Tyrene was going to say, but he couldn't ask to confirm it in this situation, so he listened quietly.
However, he was aware of the formidable reputation of the two rulers of the Augu Kingdom; in fact, even the children running all over Daniel Street knew about them.
Octavian de Selenes, His Majesty the Emperor.
Gaius de Augustus, the current head of the Augustus family.
Legend has it that these two rulers of the Augu Kingdom, while remaining estranged from each other until death, joined forces several times throughout history to fight against foreign enemies who dared to invade their territory.
Therefore, this extremely complex and intricate connection can be said to have imbued both rulers with an air of mystery.
As for the extraordinary monarch Dictator and Osius, the patriarch of the Silver Church, they did not belong to the Kingdom of Augu, so Shafa did not include them in the calculation.
Tyrene's voice rang out again, interrupting Shafa's thoughts.
"The daughter of a ruler, and as you know, His Majesty the Emperor only has one son and one daughter. Therefore, Princess Victoria inherited His Majesty the Emperor's 'secret covenant certificate.' She could understand the first five covenants the moment they were signed. So, although it's somewhat unbelievable that she became a demigod at the age of nineteen, it's actually understandable."
Secret contract?
This was the first time Xia Fa had heard this claim.
If the father or mother is a superhuman, then the offspring can inherit the secret contract certificate from their parents and understand everything immediately after signing the contract.
Or is it that only the offspring of those with a demigod or higher status can do this?
Tyrene didn't say anything more, and his voice stopped ringing in Shafa's ears.
It seems that this cold-faced but warm-hearted old man made this explanation specifically to prevent Xia Fa's mind from being affected and to prevent him from feeling frustrated by encountering a nineteen-year-old demigod.
Xia Fa understood Tyrene's intentions and was quite grateful, even though he wasn't actually affected.
Because, to be honest, he has only signed two secret contracts so far, so he is indeed no match for a demigod. But Xia Fa felt that as long as he signed the third secret contract, which was the overlord-level secret contract, the Gate of Stars, he would definitely be able to test his strength against a demigod.
In other words, if you're already at the Eagle level, you can probably fight a demigod, so why would you care if a demigod is nineteen years old or not?
Next, the two groups passed each other by. Cardan led everyone to the audience seats, deliberately getting ahead of the Selenes family on the way.
Xia Falu followed Lieutenant General Bedivere, along with Prince Ariman and Princess Victoria, to the preparation platform.
As they were about to part ways, Chestnut, the rat girl, quietly turned around and looked at Xia Fa. Her fair and delicate face was full of encouragement. She clenched her little fist and waved it secretly to cheer Xia Fa on.
Xia Fa returned a reassuring smile and nodded gently.
The preparation platform is located on the south side of the arena's circular area, and unexpectedly, it is a wide tunnel.
The tunnel leads south to the exit, and north to the arena. There are three such tunnels, clearly for the use of the giants, the blademen, and the humans, respectively.
There are ten chairs on each side of each tunnel, for the soldiers to sit down.
Lieutenant General Bedivere seemed to have been appointed as the human commander for this Fog Carnival. As soon as he entered the tunnel, he pointed to the empty seats on his left and chuckled:
"Princess Victoria, Xia Fa, you two can sit here."
Xia Fa didn't think much of it and sat down casually. To be honest, he was a little curious about what the competition would be about this time, and that was his focus.
Prince Ariman frowned, quite dissatisfied with the arrangement. He could easily see through Lieutenant General Bedivere's little scheme. He was about to speak up to stop him, wanting Shafa to sit on the right so that Princess Victoria could have the row of seats on the left all to herself.
But then, Princess Victoria quietly obeyed Lieutenant General Bedivet's orders and obediently sat down next to Shafa.
She didn't seem to think much of it or feel anything was wrong, as if she was used to doing whatever others told her to do.
Seeing this, Prince Ariman finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up:
"Victoria"
"Wow!"
A cute and adorable scream suddenly rang out from beside Princess Victoria, startling everyone.
Anna, in particular, was so frightened that her body trembled and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
She turned her head and immediately saw Benedict Cumberbatch making a face with her hands outstretched like claws. Her voice trembled with tears.
"Ugh—Benise, you scared me again! I—I'll tell Her Majesty the Queen next time I get back!"
Benedict chuckled:
"Sister Anna, I wanted to give you a surprise. You've been keeping your head down the whole time, so you probably didn't even know I was here."
Anna still had tears in the corners of her eyes, but she lowered her head:
"No, no, I sensed you as soon as you came here, but I was just too shy to say hello."
Benedict hugged her happily.
"Wow, I knew it! You could definitely sense me!"
Anna shyly pulled away from her embrace and said softly:
"We are all doll girls from the Endless Realm, how, how could we not sense each other—"
This little incident made Prince Ariman shake his head helplessly, but he didn't say anything about Benedict's offensive behavior, especially since it almost frightened Princess Victoria, as if he had some reservations.
However, Prince Ariman didn't need to be too afraid of Shafa. He turned to look at Shafa and said:
"Xia Fa, you should go over there—"
"Is this your doll girl?"
A soft, sweet voice suddenly broke the silence, interrupting Prince Ariman.
It was Princess Victoria. This extremely noble young woman timidly raised her head, her large, dark eyes looking at Xia Fa.
There was a certain expectation of communication, as if I had met someone with a shared interest.
Sunlight streamed in through the tunnel, casting a captivating, deep blue hue into her dark eyes.
Prince Ariman suddenly fell silent, not only out of respect for Princess Victoria, but also because, by seniority, he was Princess Victoria's uncle and had every right to discipline her.
What truly silenced him was that Princess Victoria, who was usually as quiet as a rag doll, actually took the initiative to talk to someone!
This is unprecedented!
It's worth noting that Princess Victoria doesn't even talk much to her own brother, the current prince.
It's not that the brother and sister are estranged; in fact, His Highness the Prince cherishes his sister very much. It's just that Princess Victoria is too quiet and doesn't talk much even when she's with her brother.
A thought flashed through Ariman's mind: Xiafa was, firstly, an extraordinary descendant of the Baal behemoth, and had awakened the rare talent of elemental expansion; secondly, his first and second secret contracts were both high-level secret contracts, which seemed to—barely offset his commoner background.
Anyway, it's just that today is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a commoner like Xia Fa to meet Princess Victoria and have her talk to him. It's nothing to do with it and won't disgrace the princess's dignity and status.
His Majesty the Emperor has mentioned more than once that he hopes his only daughter, whom he cherishes dearly, will have a more cheerful personality.
With so many thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant, Prince Ariman chose not to interfere further, but still stood a short distance away, keeping a close watch on Xiafa.
If Xia Fa dares to do anything disrespectful, he will teach him a lesson, and no one can stop him.
Lieutenant General Bedivet burst into laughter and patted Prince Ariman on the shoulder:
"Don't be so nervous. Xia Fa isn't some street thug. Let the young people have a good chat. We old folks shouldn't bother them."
Prince Ariman gave him a helpless look. As a prince, only Lieutenant General Bedivere dared to pat him on the shoulder like that, so he couldn't say anything.
Of course, he wasn't afraid of Vice Admiral Bedivet, but rather of the naval admiral behind him—a powerful figure whom even His Majesty the Emperor relied heavily on.
At this moment, facing Princess Victoria's question, Xia Fa smiled quite naturally and said:
"Yes, and what about you? Is that your doll girl?"
Princess Victoria nodded gently:
"Uh-huh."
Xia Fa suddenly realized that if the conversation continued like this, they would inevitably have to ask about each other's favorite foods as doll girls, which might expose the fact that Benedict liked supernatural dried fish, and might even lead to his disguised physical form, "Gluttony." So he forcibly changed the subject, saying:
"My name is Xia Fa, what's yours?"
Victoria said in a soft voice:
"I—my name is Victoria."
Xia Fa nodded:
"Yes, I know your name is Victoria."
Victoria raised her eyes in surprise:
"Then why did you ask?"
Xia Fa laughed:
"This is called casual conversation, you know?"
Lieutenant General Bedivere: —
Prince Ariman: ·
At that moment, Prince Ariman suddenly felt that he—perhaps—did not need to be so wary of this boy named Shafa.
He seems a bit slow on the uptake.
Princess Victoria thought about it seriously for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.
"Oh—I see."
She suddenly looked at Xia Fa seriously and said:
"My name is Victoria, what's yours?"
Xiafa: —
What the hell is this?!
This noble princess is putting her newfound knowledge to use, isn't she!
There was nothing he could do; after all, he had spoken first, so he could only reply:
"My name is Xia Fa."
Princess Victoria nodded slightly, then smiled happily:
"Okay, I've got it."
Lieutenant General Bedivere and Prince Ariman in the distance:
At this moment, Prince Ariman sincerely wondered if Princess Victoria's quietness might be due to a lack of intelligence, or perhaps she was simply too naive.
From childhood to adulthood, she was well protected by His Majesty the Emperor, His Highness the Prince, and many elders of the Selene royal family.
After this strange conversation, the two suddenly fell silent.
Beneath and Anna sat down on either side of their respective masters.
Xia Fa waited somewhat boredly for the fog carnival to officially begin when he suddenly noticed several pairs of eyes looking at him from the opposite side.
Those were the other five contestants representing humanity, seated on the other side of the tunnel.
Some of the gazes they cast were curious, some were observing, and some were scrutinizing. Xia Fa, however, did not sense any hostility. In fact, he had noticed these five contestants as soon as he entered the tunnel.
Based on the rules gleaned from the demigods' fragmented conversations, he could guess that the five opponents were likely of different strengths: Jun, Ying, and...
One wolf, one elephant, and one whale.
As for the insect-level and demigod levels, that would be him and Princess Victoria.
Among these five contestants, there was a burly fat man gnawing on a chicken leg, a mysterious fellow shrouded in a black robe, and a young man lounging in a chair with his arms crossed, chewing on a cigarette. They all looked like extraordinary individuals.
It is said that since the Fog Carnival only covers Rum City, Brandy City, and Riverwind City, human contestants can only be found in these three small cities.
There seemed to be an opportunity to bring in outside help, but clearly, this time the help was used on Princess Victoria, perhaps because there were no demigods in the three small towns.
"It's about to begin."
Prince Ariman suddenly took out the pocket watch hanging around his neck, which was inlaid with various tiny gemstones, looked at it, and spoke in a deep voice.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and Xia Fazhi became genuinely curious.
Ultimately, what is this fog carnival all about?
It's impossible to just send them out to fight against the giants and blademen of the same rank, right?
That's absolutely impossible. If that were the case, the royal family, the military, and even the church wouldn't have gone to such lengths, no matter how generous the rewards for victory might be.
After all, none of these three parties are short of money.
A massive and thick fog suddenly descended upon the circular arena. After a slight ripple, the fog condensed into a humanoid figure that was a thousand meters tall.
In that instant, an indescribable sense of superiority, stemming from a sense of hierarchy, permeated every corner of the Roman-style Colosseum.
The cheers and shouts, which had been as loud and boisterous as the sea, suddenly stopped.
The giant boy and the blade-wielding girl, who were engaged in a theatrical fight, vanished instantly, as if they had been teleported away.
Xia Fa's pupils contracted slightly. From this thousand-meter-tall mist-man, he sensed an aura similar to that of Patriarch Osius, but much stronger than that of Dictator.
"This is the Mist King, the leader of the Mist People. Her Majesty the Queen said that the Mist King is a descendant of the [Silent Mist of the Earth], and seems to be the fifth generation descendant."
Benedict spoke quietly, her golden-red eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Xia Fa felt a chill in his heart. A fifth-generation descendant of an Outer God would probably start as a Dominator.
No wonder he gave him a similar feeling to Patriarch Osius.
However, he was somewhat puzzled by the fact that the gap between rulers seemed to be quite large.
However, he has never seen other rulers up close. He can only wait and see if he has the opportunity to meet His Majesty the Emperor or the head of the Augustus family before making a comparison.
At this moment, the thousand-meter-tall mist-like figure spoke, its voice ethereal and distant, yet rough and ancient, as if it came from the primordial starry sky:
"Distinguished guests, welcome to our Fog People's Fog Carnival."
"This is the 5997th annual Fog Carnival since our ancestors fell, which is quite remarkable."
"And this time, the way we've chosen to celebrate is in the sacred land of the desert."
The moment the words left his mouth, Xia Fa clearly saw that both Prince Ariman and Lieutenant General Bedivere shuddered violently, their faces suddenly bursting with extreme joy!
This seems to be incredibly good news for the two demigods!
A brief silence fell over the circular stands of the arena, followed by a deafening roar of cheers!
"My God, did I hear that right? The land of the gods in the desert?"
"Praise be to the Lord! Praise be to the silent mist of the earth!"
"Has it been almost a thousand years? Finally, it's this kind of celebration again!"
"Yes, especially since our Kingdom of Augu is currently experiencing a famine, this couldn't be better news!"
"Lord, protect the brave warriors who go into battle and grant them a victorious return!"
"Our planet Dark also needs those divine lands!"
"The Blademen have been fighting amongst themselves for years, don't we need to too?"
"Let's rely on our own abilities. By God's grace, with Lord Mist King as the judge, no one dares to resort to any underhanded methods."
Xia Fa carefully discerned the excited discussions, even using the wind element abilities from the Ether Source Secret Contract.
He keenly grasped the meaning of the word "famine".
"Could it be that this Fog Carnival might even solve the famine in the Kingdom of Augu?"
Thinking of the farmers who toiled hard but reaped no harvest, the starving refugees seen everywhere by the roadside, and the pitiful people killed by Pompeii, Xia Fa's gaze narrowed, and his expression became more serious than ever before.
At this moment, the thousand-meter-tall Mist King slightly raised his hand, and the noisy and excited arena suddenly quieted down.
The Mist King's majesty was on full display at this moment.
His weathered and melodious voice rang out once more.
"Esteemed guests from afar, it is not that we, the Mist People, are too stingy. It is simply that the remaining power of our ancestors requires a thousand years of accumulation before it can be presented as a gift to your kingdom once again."
"We have no other requests. If we seize the land of the gods, whether we are humans, giants, or blademen, we would be extremely grateful if they would build temples and create statues of gods for our ancestors on this land."
"As for the rules, they are very simple, and I will tell them to all the brave warriors."
"I will use the power of the [Mist Realm], a seal created by the [Nature Monarch] using the remains of our ancestors, to create a real desert region with lakes, wheat fields, orchards, mines, hunting grounds, and other divine lands."
"Each divine land corresponds to a rank region. There are seven rank regions in total, and each region contains only one divine land."
"Whoever occupies the divine land in the corresponding region first, the divine land will descend upon the occupier's kingdom in a way that expands ten million times, covering those barren and unusable areas."
"The area of the land of God is one acre."
The moment the Mist King finished speaking, Xia Fa's mind jolted.
One acre of divine land, expanded ten million times, descends upon the kingdom of the victors?
It's important to know that the total arable land area of the Augu Kingdom is only about 300 million mu!
If we could seize even a single piece of divine land, especially a wheat field, orchard, or even a hunting ground, the famine in the Kingdom of Augu could be resolved instantly!
If one acre of wheat can be turned into ten million acres of wheat, how many loaves of bread would that be?
One acre of orchard can be transformed into ten million acres of orchards, enough to harvest countless juicy fruits and produce countless fine wines.
How much dried fruit can be made?
One acre of hunting grounds—can become ten million acres of hunting grounds? How many pheasants, rabbits, deer, wild boars, elephants, and other wild animals can be hunted? How much meat can be harvested, and how many clothes can be made from the fur?
Xia Fa was increasingly shaken as he thought about it, and he truly felt how precious this opportunity was.
He immediately understood why even a high-ranking figure like Prince Ariman would be so excited and lose his composure when he heard that the chosen celebration method for this year's Fog Carnival was "The Land of the Gods in the Desert."
Let alone Prince Ariman, Xiafa suspected that even His Majesty the Emperor would be overjoyed if he heard this.
At the same time, Xia Fa also realized that the gods' power was supreme and unfathomable.
If the power of a single Outer God, especially one who has already fallen, left behind in the sealed artifact can achieve such an effect, then what about the power of the Nine Great Gods?
"Humans, giants, and blade-wielding humans, I trouble you to send your respective warriors of the fungus, insect, eagle, wolf, elephant, whale, or demigod rank."
Let's get to the center of the field.
"By the way, if any warrior successfully occupies the divine land of the corresponding rank region, then they can go to the region of higher rank to support their kin, but they cannot go to the region of lower rank. Please remember that."
"Alright, I'll make the announcement."
"This year's fog carnival—"
"Let's begin!"
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