After completing several High-Risk Quests and Daily Quests, Noah returned to the Septimont city area.
Although the night was already deep, the city was still bustling and lively today. Everywhere, one could hear the excited discussions of Septimont people about the gladiatorial tournament:
"Fighting with eight teams at once, my eyes didn't even know which side to look at. You don't know how lively it was."
"How could I not know? Today several teams thought that having more people fighting at the same time would help, so they secretly played dirty tricks. They were all caught by the Ephor."
"Also, the underground betting pools collapsed in the afternoon because there were too many matches. Only now has it recovered."
"Teacher, over here, over here!"
Outside the arena, Lupa enthusiastically waved at Noah, guiding him into the arena.
"Lupa, how were your results in today's gladiatorial tournament?"
"We already fought seven matches, and we won all of them!"
When asked about matters related to the gladiatorial fights, Lupa's mood immediately became excited:
"Fighting seven matches at once, and there are still a few more tomorrow. I'm about to burn up with energy."
Seeing this, Noah offered a few words of congratulations. While they were chatting, his Terminal suddenly rang.
He raised the Terminal to check the message. It turned out that Augusta wanted to invite him for a talk.
Replying that he would come right away, Noah then asked Lupa about Avidius's situation.
"Him." Lupa's brows immediately furrowed, her face full of dissatisfaction:
"Every time before a gladiatorial match, he keeps saying he's very weak, that he'll hold me back, and keeps apologizing to me. But in the end..."
"In the end, across seven consecutive gladiatorial matches, he got stronger each time."
"People like him who desperately act humble with their mouths, but are actually stronger than anyone else... how should I put it? Anyway, it's hard to evaluate. Pretty annoying."
On the other side, in the rest room, Avidius looked blankly at his own hands:
"So... I have a 'stronger against the strong' physique?"
He could be completely certain that the him from this morning only had the level of an ordinary gladiator.
But with the start of each gladiatorial match, his strength would instantly be raised by a level, as if some existence had poured power into him out of thin air.
By now, his strength had already far surpassed that of an ordinary gladiator.
"Is this reasonable?"
This was not reasonable.
"There's a problem, and it's a big one. But I don't know where exactly the problem lies."
Avidius could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought and could only wait and see.
On the other side.
At the highest point inside the arena, looking down from here allowed one to take in the entire arena and spectator stands at once.
Septimont's guardian beast, the Overlord-class Echo Glory Lion Statue, stood tall on the opposite side with its arms crossed over its chest. Its downward gaze swept across every gladiator.
[Limited Card Pool "Unfalling Coronation" and "Authority of Crown Forging Thunder" have been activated.]
"Ephor Augusta."
Noah, who had separated from Lupa, found Augusta and magically pulled out two Choco-lates made using Encore's ability:
"Thank you for helping compress the gladiatorial tournament schedule. Have some ice cream."
"Thank you. You can just call me by my name from now on."
Inviting Noah to sit beside her, Augusta tore open the Choco-late Noah had handed over. Looking at the black chocolate crisp on the outer layer of the ice cream, he found it strangely familiar.
This ice cream... why did it look so much like her weapon?
Taking a bite, the Ephor's eyes immediately lit up.
Delicious. It suited her taste unexpectedly well!
"If it's good, I'll make a few more boxes for you later. By the way, how come I didn't see Iuno."
"Iuno returned to Tetragon Temple. I asked her to help deal with some small matters regarding the Senate."
While licking the ice cream, Augusta asked:
"Yesterday when you called, your tone was urgent as you wanted to compress the gladiatorial tournament schedule. I'm very curious—why do you want to do this? Is it convenient to tell me?"
"Of course."
Noah did not hide anything and directly told everything about Cartethyia's disappearance, including spoiling the subsequent main quest plot of "Flames of Heart" as well.
"So that's how it is."
After learning the full story, Augusta's mood became somewhat heavy. She did not know how Noah knew so much, but his intuition told him that Noah could be trusted.
"In that case, what do you hope Septimont will do next?"
"One word—"
Noah pulled out two more Choco-lates while simultaneously opening Augusta's Signature Weapon card pool:
"Speedrun!"
He put in ten pulls.
[Successfully obtained—Authority of Crown Forging Thunder.]
Switch character—Encore.
...
Inside the script world.
Dark clouds covered the sky. The entire world seemed dyed with a layer of scarlet filter. Septimont City was extremely shattered.
Low, hoarse roars surged in from all directions. Countless Tacet Discords crawled out from everywhere like a tide, tirelessly rushing toward the dignified woman at the center.
A sword light flashed past. All Tacet Discords in a straight line were beheaded. Large amounts of black tide dripped from their bodies, staining the ruins beneath them with filth.
More Tacet Discords followed one after another, filling the gap in this area and pouncing desperately toward Cartethyia.
"This scene reminds me of the second Dark Tide outbreak in Ragunna back then. At that time, Fleurdelys separated herself, broke free from the Laureate's control, and betrayed me..."
"Lord Leviathan, forgive me for reminding you, but only failures constantly reminisce about the past. It has already been a day and two nights. Tell me, how much longer can she hold on?"
In the distance, Cristoforo and Leviathan stood side by side, casting their gazes toward Cartethyia's position from afar.
"Two days and one night." Leviathan gave the answer:
"Playwright, actually I have another better method. Not only can it defeat her faster, but it will also bring great benefits to both you and me."
"Oh? You never mentioned this method before. It probably isn't one I would agree to, right?"
Cristoforo saw through Leviathan's intention at a glance and said indifferently:
"Go ahead, what is the method?"
"First, you need to be contaminated by Dark Tide. I will use fusion authority..."
"Stop. It seems we have nothing more to discuss."
Directly interrupting Leviathan's words, Cristoforo shook his head with a light smile. His gaze took one final look at Cartethyia, who was continuously killing the Dark Tide Tacet Discords in the distance:
"Two days is nothing. I can wait."
After all, there was still enough time until the end of the real gladiatorial tournament.
"I have already delayed here long enough. I need to go check on the protagonist of the script in reality. I must ensure that reality develops the same as my script."
After those words, Cristoforo closed the script. He felt the world before his eyes spin.
The originally dark red sky returned to a clear blue.
He appeared in a hidden room. Enthusiastic conversations from the crowd could be heard outside the window.
"Finals! It's the finals!"
"Hero King Team versus Beast Heart Team. Who are you betting on?"
"I'm betting on the Hero King Team. That's Avidius!"
"I think Lupa is stronger than Avidius. I'm a Lupa fan."
The intense discussions entered his ears, causing Cristoforo's heart to jolt.
What finals? What Hero King? Hadn't he only stayed in the script for a day and two nights?
"What are these guys talking about?"
Cristoforo quickly activated his ability and descended his consciousness onto the character he had created, Cartur.
"This is bad. When I left possession earlier, I didn't restore the character to auto-management. For the past two days, Cartur has been unconscious the entire time."
Sensing that things were not good, Cristoforo hurriedly controlled Cartur to run out the door and ask people about what had happened in the past two days.
It would have been better not to ask. Once he asked, Cristoforo was stunned again.
What did they mean the Grand Gladiatorial Tournament was compressed from ten days to one and a half days?
What did they mean Avidius became braver the more he fought and was unstoppable?
This was completely different from the script he had originally planned!
Shouldn't Avidius be in pain, helpless, and full of self-doubt, then train desperately, receive the preset script power infusion during the match, fight with difficulty, and win by a fluke?
If you fight with difficulty and win by a fluke once a day, the crowd will drown you with questioning voices.
But if you win with difficulty seven or eight times a day, the crowd will cheer that you're too good at playing! You toyed with the opponents completely. The program effect is just too good.
At the same time, inside the arena.
"Brothers and friends of Septimont, this edition of the gladiatorial tournament has finally reached its final moment!"
Inside the arena, the host's high-spirited voice excited the entire venue:
"Let us congratulate the Hero King Team, contestant Lupa and contestant Avidius—for winning the championship!"
"Champion! Champion! Champion!"
Fireworks and ribbons bloomed with brilliant colors in the sky. Deafening cheers resounded throughout the venue.
Waving flags, surging crowds, and oncoming sound waves—this was the shared joy of the people toward the birth of a champion and glory. It was difficult to describe in words, yet it made one's heart surge with incomparable excitement.
Lupa waved enthusiastically and joyfully toward the crowd in the stands. Beside her, Avidius also revealed a hard-to-conceal smile.
"Hey, Avidius. Honestly tell me—up until now, have you used your full strength?"
Lupa's sudden question caused the original smile on Avidius's face to carry a trace of bitterness:
"I've been using my full strength the whole time!"
"Even at this point, you're still pretending?"
Lupa was somewhat dissatisfied. Her gaze swept across the stands, then she looked up toward Ephor Augusta sitting at the high seat, as well as the figure in white casual clothes beside him.
An idea came to mind. She asked:
"Avidius, do you want to fight the Ephor?"
"Now?"
Avidius hesitated for a moment. Thinking of his "stronger against the strong" physique and Augusta's weak Resonance ability.
He had never hidden his desire for power. As long as he ascended to the throne of the Hero King, he would definitely protect all the people of Septimont.
Defeating the current Ephor of Septimont in front of everyone would definitely help him rise to power better.
As if possessed, Avidius nodded.
On the other side, although tickets for the gladiatorial tournament finals had long been sold out, Cristoforo still managed to sneak in using his identity as a team manager.
"Ah, I came late. The gladiatorial tournament has already ended."
Looking at the two figures in the center of the arena, Cristoforo felt somewhat relieved:
"Fortunately, even with these changes, Avidius still obtained victory. Although the script was affected, the problem isn't big."
The next second, a woman's high and clear voice resounded:
"Respected Ephor!"
Lupa raised her head and shouted loudly:
"We, the Hero King Team, wish to challenge you and the person beside you to a gladiatorial match!"
As soon as the words fell, they caused exclamations throughout the venue. Everyone in the stands raised their heads one after another, looking toward Augusta and Noah beside her at the high seat.
Only Cristoforo lowered his head in disbelief, his eyes staring fixedly at Lupa inside the arena—
"What is this guy talking about!"
...