In the midst of the fire, a blonde-haired boy lay, fighting against 50 participants.
"If we all jump him, it might be possible to win."
"You're right, let's get this monster!"
"Haha.. 50 people, really God? Is this.." the blonde-haired boy covered his expression.
"Is this all?" a euphoric expression formed on his face. He surrounded the area with white fire.
"Be grateful, you're about to experience the purest fire you'll ever experience in your life."
"Push!!" everyone yelled in unison as they attacked the blonde boy.
However, with just one gesture from his hand, half of the group burned to a crisp.
"Aaagh!!"
And those who got close to him didn't meet a favourable fate either, as he raised a wall of such intense heat that it made Adrian sweat profusely.
"So that's the famous heir to the Pope, Michael Evaristus. I saw him a few times whenever he visited the imperial palace, but he seems to have changed quite a bit."
'And that fire.. that's a divine magic spell? The firepower on that is seriously crazy,' a desperate chuckle escaped Adrian's mouth.
"Should I kill him right now?" bloodlust radiated from Adrian's body.
"No, no, I can't right now. He is useful in dealing with the remaining participants, and either way his guard is too high for me to surprise him."
"In that case, I'll do the complete opposite and get away from this guy.. for now at least."
Adrian's eyes concentrated on the darkness leading deeper into the cave.
"..."
"There's something odd about this cave, I should investigate.
—-------------------------------------------------
"That boy, who is he? If he's that strong, then how come I don't recognize him?" Arthur looked suspiciously at Michael through the screen.
"Your Majesty, according to our sources, that is the heir of the Pope, Sir Michael Evaristus."
"Has he always been that powerful? To be able to defeat 50 people is no easy feat, even if they are buffoons.."
"My great friend, Arthur, I overheard that you were talking about my heir. Isn't he great?" Evaristus said, a cunning smile on his face.
"Evaristus, you did something, didn't you?" Arthur looked at him, holding his sheathed sword.
"That's quite an allegation to put on someone, don't you think? Haha, if it was anyone other than you, Arthur, I would have ordered their execution by now."
"Silence, from the both of you," the emperor commanded.
"But Your Majesty, it's as clear as day."
"If you don't have proof to back up your accusations, Arthur, then don't speak of them in the first place."
"Tch." Arthur clicked his tongue before releasing his sword and spectating once more.
—--------------------------------------------------
"The magic in this area is off, it feels almost corrupted," Adrian noted as he proceeded further and further into the large cave.
"Grrrr." A wolf howled and surprise-attacked Adrian, scratching him.
"Agh!" Adrian grabbed the wolf by the neck before snapping it.
Crack.
"You really can't see anything with how dark it is, tch. If only I could use a light spell."
"And something is odd. Why was there a wolf all alone in a damp cave like this one? This breed usually goes around in a group. It also looks as if it's been starved for the past week at least. Isn't this entire area supposed to be.."
A thought so disgusting entered Adrian's mind, forcing him to vomit.
"I- it can't be.. but the proof has been right in front of me."
Adrian grabbed his head from the dizziness.
"Eerily realistic feeling of flesh, the screams of pain that shouldn't exist if this was just a tournament, and a forest that has clearly gone through an untold amount of time."
Adrian gulped. "This.. this isn't a tournament world, but rather, the real world."
Adrian felt the weight of the lives he took with his own two hands, felt the hands clawing at him, pleading for help.
"I- I can't stay here any longer."
Adrian looked up towards the ceiling of the cave before yelling out.
"Arthur! Your Holiness, Your Imperial Majesty! Anyone, you should be hearing this, right?! We need to stop the tournament now!"
But no reaction occurred.
"Aren't they supposed to be able to hear and see all during the tournament? That's how they have been so far, so why now?"
'Fuck, none of this was mentioned in the novel, all I have is a rough sketch of how the story is supposed to go.'
"I need to tell Master and the others of this information and stop this tournament from proceeding any longer."
But before he could leave the cave, he felt a hand covering his mouth.
"Shush, little lamb, now isn't the time."
"Mghghm!?!"
Before he could try anything else, he felt power leave his body, leaving him paralyzed.
"Who is he?"
"I think he's the second prince."
"Kill him then, nobody cares about the second prince."
"But.. isn't he still a prince?"
As the cloaked people muttered to each other about whether to keep Adrian alive or dead, he tried to get out of his current state.
"What substance did they give me.." Adrian coursed ki through his body, realizing that it was still blocked.
"Leave him be, he'll die like this anyway." The person whose cloak looked more intricately made compared to the others headed towards Adrian.
"You can't use magic or ki, right? Don't fight it, you won't be able to due to this particularly potent poison," he pointed to a vial in his hand. The vial read "lily of the valley."
Adrian's eyes widened in surprise as he noticed the red spots slowly forming all over his body.
"Oh!" the leader remembered, "and you probably already noticed, but no one can see what happens here."
"B-boss, do we leave him here or?"
"Yeah, we don't have time to deal with him, after all, we are already 2 hours behind schedule."
"Shouldn't we kill him?" a member of the cloaked figures pulled out a knife.
"No, they will definitely search for his body and will most likely use magic to trace it back to us, better not to take the risk."
"Now let's get going."
"Yes, sir!" The cloaked figures left, leaving Adrian alone.
'A-agh.. my entire body is burning, so this is lily of the valley,' Adrian thought to himself.
'It seems the poison also incorporated a catalyst, since the illness isn't supposed to progress this quickly.'
"A-agh.."
'Ah, I'm regaining my voice, it seems the paralyzation was half-assed.'
"damn it."