Chapter 92: Mountains and Sky

                                    

                                          
In the arena, a towering warrior swung his giant sword, cleaving his opponent and their weapon in half.
The warrior plunged the giant sword into the defeated's corpse, and a strange scene unfolded: the defeated's blood seeped along the pine needle patterns on the giant sword, drop by drop, while the body gradually withered and shrank, like a sapling drained of juice by aphids.
"Schroeve Dahlsen has won his fifteenth consecutive victory! He's charging forward on the road to the title of Warrior Captain! The number of enemies he has slain has risen to eleven! If his opponents in the previous matches hadn't chosen to forfeit, the death toll would surely have increased even more!" 
The announcer's hoarse voice shouted the results, echoing against the arena's walls, but there were no cheers from the crowd, no thunderous applause for the victor.
The audience seats surrounding the arena were empty, with only two slender figures at the very top—the only spectators. They had rented the entire arena but stood alone at the highest point, looking down like solitary eagles surveying ants below.
Without any audience response, the passionate announcer seemed to lose interest. In a monotonous tone, he announced the next match:
"Next up is Schroeve against the orichalcum-level adventurer Anderson Rupert. Um... ah, breaking news, Mr. Rupert has forfeited, giving up the duel. What a shame. So, let's congratulate Schroeve Dahlsen in advance on his sixteenth consecutive victory!"
"It turns out adventurers can be afraid of death too," one of the two spectators muttered to himself from the highest seat. He was slightly plump but dressed lavishly, exuding a royal air. The gruesome scene of the dismembered body in the arena made his round face look a bit uneasy.
"Prince, everything that lives fears death, even a lowly adventurer like dirt," Odys Malcon Waverly said, standing beside the second prince Zanac with a calm tone.
They were at the highest point of the arena, looking down like clouds over the lives of the world.
In the distance, a few elegantly dressed corpses dangled from the bell tower in the western district. Their hair was disheveled, and the nooses were tightly fastened around their necks, swaying like puppets with strings in the wind.
These were nobles hanged in recent days, accused of murdering the princess, treason, conspiracy, and corruption. After the executioner took their bodies down from the gallows, they were hung from the bell tower by the king's order to warn the nobles lurking in the dark.
"The princess's actions are quicker than we expected," Zanac said, gazing at the swaying bodies with a hint of worry in his voice.
"The culprits captured by Princess Renner are just a few pawns we tossed out," Odys replied, his eyes as calm as a still pond. "She is indeed more cunning than her peers, but she is still not enough to stand against us old-timers."
"Indeed, General Odys," Zanac said humbly. "Thanks to your support, the royal power remains stable. Sigh, I never imagined things would develop to this point. I remember when I was young, my sister and I were as close as... as friends. Ever since my brother died in battle, everything has changed."
"Do not show mercy; be wary that your sister might take everything from you—power, wealth, even your life," Odys cautioned. "Now, take your gaze away from the bell tower and look down at the arena."
At his words, Zanac immediately turned his head, looking down at the scene in the arena. In the center of the sandy ground, a warrior wielding a giant scythe had opened his opponent's abdomen, intestines spilling out onto the ground, creating a tragic sight.