The moment Grand Elder Dread Crown finished speaking, voices rose throughout the colosseum.
Daemons leaned across the spaces between their seats, calling to companions who were often too occupied with their own conversations to answer. Those who had remained standing during Severin's attack finally sat down.
Their eyes, however, continued to follow the figure in the arena.
"So he's one of us now."
A broad-shouldered daemon released a breath and loosened his grip on the railing.
The Daemoness beside him looked at his fingers.
"Were you expecting something else?"
"No. I'm just glad I wasn't the one who challenged him."
She wanted to laugh, but after another glance at Simon, she found that she understood the feeling.
A little farther away, a blue-haired daemon was counting on his fingers.
"Wind, earth, ice, fire… Four affinities. How does one daemon possess that many?"
"Having them isn't even the frightening part," his companion said. "Did any of them look weak to you?"
