Chapter 126: The Inevitable Battle

The voice was somewhat hoarse, making it impossible to discern whether its owner was old or young, male or female.

“Who’s there?”

“What kind of person are you?”

The four martial artists from the other group had clearly also heard the voice. Almost simultaneously with Si, they cried out in alarm and turned their gazes toward the source of the sound. Yet, where their eyes fell, there was absolutely nothing to be seen.

“There’s no need to look. You won’t be able to see me.” The voice sounded again, this time coming from directly behind them.

“Don’t play games. Who exactly are you?” Ilniel asked coldly.

“Hehehe! Isn’t it obvious? Since I’m here, naturally I’m your examiner!” The eerie voice let out a chilling laugh. “Welcome, dear guests, to the Infinite Arena. You must be the candidates participating in the Hassan selection trials, right? I have a clue regarding the airship left behind by Lady Rofrey. Whoever wins after completing the task I assign will receive this clue leading to the airship.”

“Is that so? Then why didn’t you say so earlier? Do you find it amusing to watch us make fools of ourselves?” Vala, somehow already back on her feet, angrily shouted toward the direction of the voice.

“Hehe! Yes, it was quite amusing. Got a problem with that?”

“You damn bastard! Show yourself if you’ve got the guts!” Provoked, Vala was burning with rage.

“Hehehe! Want to meet me? There’ll be a chance. Just become the final victor, and I’ll naturally appear. Enough chatter. Now, let’s officially begin the game. The condition for winning this selection trial is… to kill every member of the opposing team.” The eerie voice suddenly turned icy cold as it spoke the last sentence.

“What did you say?” Every martial artist present was stunned, their eyes wide with shock.

“You’ve got to be joking! This is just a selection trial! How could you propose such an absurd condition as killing people!” Ilniel’s beautiful face flushed red with anger as she shouted at the voice.

“A selection trial? Hehe, perhaps that was the case back on the Star Moon Ship. But…” The eerie voice dragged out the sentence before turning cold again, “Now, the ground you’re standing on is the Infinite Arena! Once you enter here, you must follow my rules. The ultimate winner will receive from me the method to find the airship. If you refuse to fight, that’s fine too. You can simply remain forever in these underground tunnels. Hehehe…”

Amid a chilling laugh, the eerie voice vanished. Inside the enclosed tunnel, only the clearly divided two groups of martial artists remained.

“Hehe! I thought it would be some complicated request. So it’s really that simple to find the airship! Hey! I suggest you all surrender quietly. Maybe the examiner will be merciful enough to spare your lives!” Brushing dust from her clothes, Vala, brimming with confidence, twirled her dagger and spoke to Zhang Wen’s group.

“…Are you sure you want to fight us? If you do, you’ll just be falling right into that bastard’s trap.” Zhang Wen smiled, his gaze sweeping over the four people in front of him.

“Oh! Are you scared?” One of the four opponents, a man named Neil, joined in mocking Zhang Wen’s group, “When you can’t match others in strength, you try to save your life with words? Do you know I hate people who only rely on talking the most?”

“Heh… Hehehe!” Neil’s words caused Zhang Wen to burst into laughter. He had never imagined that he, who had always been known as an “action-oriented” person on Earth, would actually be called someone who “only talks” one day!

Honestly, Zhang Wen wasn’t particularly eager to fight these four kids in front of him. It wasn’t because he feared them, but rather because his dislike for the cowardly bastard who had just been manipulating others to kill each other from the shadows far outweighed his disdain for these arrogant youths.

But oh well. Judging from Neil and Vala’s attitudes, the four kids clearly wouldn’t listen to any reasoning. Their confidence had gone to their heads, and they genuinely believed they had the upper hand. If he didn’t teach them a lesson, they wouldn’t have the mindset to calmly listen to anyone’s words.

“You seem to have misunderstood the situation,” Zhang Wen smiled, raising two fingers toward the four youths. “First, you don’t even know our actual strength. Second, even if my strength and Ilniel’s were indeed as weak as you claimed just now, the advantage still lies with our side.”

“Ha! Bluffing! Bluffing! If you want to scare people, do it now. Later, you won’t have the chance to speak!” Vala straightened her arm holding the dagger, pointing its blade at Zhang Wen.

“It doesn’t matter. Since you insist on fighting, let’s just start then. Well then, two brave warriors from Kentucky, this match is yours.” Zhang Wen smiled and waved at Si and Kai.

“Hey, hey… So in the end, we still have to do all the fighting?” Although the order to discipline the four youths suited Si just fine, he still couldn’t resist mocking Zhang Wen for being all talk and no action.

“If you’re scared, I can go myself.” Zhang Wen casually shot back at Si’s mockery.

“Tch! Big talk.” Si scoffed disdainfully but then excitedly started limbering up. “Alright! This time, for the sake of the wise master’s face, I’ll help you out.”

“Teacher Zhang, is it okay to only send Si and Kai?” As the battle was about to begin, Ilniel’s eyes were filled with anxiety.

She never doubted Si and Kai’s loyalty and strength. However, no matter how powerful the Kentucky warriors were, they were still only two people facing four formidable tenth-tier experts!

“Don’t worry. They won’t lose.” Zhang Wen turned back, giving the worried elven beauty a confident smile. “We are not in the wild or on a dueling stage now. According to the width of this tunnel, it’s already the limit to accommodate two expert-level fighters. Even if you have four people, fighting together will only hinder each other. As for individual combat strength, either Si or Kai alone is far stronger than those four.”

“Oh… I see.” Zhang Wen’s words finally eased Ilniel’s anxiety slightly.

Although Si and Kai, the two Kentucky warriors, were far from perfect in many aspects, Zhang Wen had to admit that in terms of combat, the two were undoubtedly born geniuses!

The moment Si and Kai decided to fight, they had already analyzed everything Zhang Wen told the elven beauty clearly in their minds. Therefore, facing four powerful enemies outnumbering them, Si and Kai showed no panic at all, instead wearing confident smiles.

When Si and Kai stood in front of their opponents, they almost instinctively chose the optimal positioning for fighting multiple enemies under the current circumstances!

Just seeing the coordination and synergy between the two Kentucky warriors, Zhang Wen knew this battle was a guaranteed victory.

The reality was exactly as Zhang Wen predicted. From the moment the battle began, Si and Kai firmly seized the initiative.

The position chosen by Si and Kai was precisely the widest section of the tunnel. Standing side by side, one on the left and one on the right, they each had just enough space to fully exert their strength. In contrast, Neil, Vala, and their group of four didn’t realize the importance of space in combat at all. They simply wanted to overwhelm Si and Kai with their numerical advantage. Thus, from the very beginning, they drew their weapons simultaneously, unleashing their full strength and charging together.

However, the moment Vala’s dagger clashed with Si’s fang blade, the other three realized why Zhang Wen was so confident sending only Si and Kai into battle!

When two tenth-tier experts unleashed their full strength simultaneously, the resulting gust of energy was already astonishing. But in the confined underground tunnel, the airflow was ten times more violent than under normal conditions.

The result was that Vala and Si’s full-force clash instantly created a storm within the tunnel, comparable to a category ten hurricane! The violent gusts swept through the entire passage in an instant.

“Ahh!” The other three who charged alongside Vala toward the two Kentucky warriors weren’t prepared for the sudden onslaught of violent air currents. All three tenth-tier experts cried out in alarm, forced to divert most of their combat energy to resist the oncoming gale.

At that moment, Neil, following closely behind Vala, also engaged Kai.

If the air inside the tunnel had already become as turbulent as boiling oil after Vala and Si’s collision, then Neil and Kai’s clash was like adding a few drops of water into a pot of boiling water!

An even more chaotic storm surged through the tunnel, leaving Neil and Vala’s two companions behind completely unable to continue attacking. They nearly used every ounce of strength they had just to barely maintain their footing and avoid being swept away by the sudden gale. Meanwhile, Vala and Neil themselves were silently thrown backward by the storm, crashing heavily into the walls.

Compared to Neil and Vala’s group’s pitiful state, Si and Kai appeared to be handling the situation with ease. After all, they were already tenth-tier peak experts, their combat energy naturally a notch stronger than Vala and Neil’s. Additionally, the position they had chosen happened to be the widest section of the entire tunnel, so the intensity of the storm they faced was naturally slightly weaker than what Vala’s group experienced.

Therefore, one could say that after this initial collision, the battle between the two Kentucky warrior geniuses and the arrogant four had already decided the outcome.

Of course, Si and Kai, the two brilliant warriors, wouldn’t give their opponents any chance to recover. As soon as they steadied themselves, they immediately launched a counterattack. Neil, Vala, and their group’s individual strength was clearly inferior to Si and Kai’s, and affected by the aftermath of the battle, they couldn’t form a cohesive force, forced to retreat step by step.

“That’s great!” The victory of her companions delighted Ilniel. The elven beauty excitedly clenched her fists and waved them around a couple of times. But when she turned around, she noticed that Zhang Wen seemed completely uninterested in the ongoing battle. During the fight, he had turned his gaze away, looking around elsewhere.

“Teacher Zhang, what are you looking at?” Ilniel asked curiously, following Zhang Wen’s gaze, only to find nothing there.

“I was watching… Oh! Wait, Si and Kai are about to finish things up.” Before Zhang Wen could answer Ilniel’s question, the battle on the other side between Si and Kai had already reached its conclusion.

Under the fierce assault from the two strongest Kentucky warriors, Neil, Vala, and their two companions didn’t last long before being defeated.

However, neither Si and Kai, who had personally defeated their opponents, nor Zhang Wen, who had devised the strategy, showed any hint of a smile. On the defeated faces of Vala and her group, besides pain, there was only confusion. They never imagined how they, who seemed to have every advantage, could end up in such a situation.

“Hehe… It seems the outcome has been decided. Hurry up and kill them. Then you can get the clue to the airship from me and continue this match.” The eerie voice once again echoed through the tunnel, now with an added seductive tone.

“No… Please don’t!” Vala, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, finally tasted the flavor of fear. Looking at the two tall, fierce-looking Kentucky martial artists before her, Vala’s tears gushed out like an uncontrolled flood, and her body trembled like autumn leaves in the wind.

As the victorious side, Si and Kai exchanged glances, then looked helplessly at Zhang Wen. Defeating enemies in battle was one thing, but killing opponents who had already lost the ability to resist… The pure-hearted Kentucky warriors were simply not capable of such cruelty.

“Please! Don’t kill me…” Vala also realized that Zhang Wen was the true decision-maker among the four, and she desperately raised her head, crying out in tears.

“Hurry up and kill them. Then you can leave.” The eerie voice continued to tempt Zhang Wen.

The tunnel fell into complete silence. Everyone’s gaze focused on Zhang Wen, waiting for his final decision.

“Kill them, and you can take the airship and leave… Such a simple condition!” Zhang Wen murmured softly, as if tempted by the eerie voice.

“I don’t want to die! I know I was wrong, I’ll apologize!” Vala’s tears flowed like water, never stopping.

“Oh? Are you going to say next that you’ll do anything if I spare your life? Haha!… Hey! Don’t look at me like that, I’m just kidding.” Zhang Wen laughed loudly, waving at Ilniel, whose face had turned red.

Then, Zhang Wen took a step forward, his lips curling into a thought-provoking smile.

“Oh, by the way, you said earlier that you would appear once this battle was decided. But so far, I haven’t seen you come out yet?” Zhang Wen loudly asked the empty tunnel behind him.

“That’s because the battle hasn’t ended yet. Once you kill your opponents, I will naturally appear.”

“Is that so? Then that’s too bad. I’m not used to dealing with people who like to hide their faces.” Zhang Wen smiled indifferently, spreading his arms.

“Oh? Hahahaha! Are you planning to refuse my request?” The eerie voice burst into laughter, “Have you forgotten where you are now? Without my permission, you can only stay here forever! Starving and thirsty, you’ll die a painful death! If you’re willing to do that, I don’t mind at all!”

“Hehe! I have to admit, you’re pretty good at intimidation. However, why don’t I believe a single word you say?… Miss Rofrey!” Zhang Wen first spoke slowly and then suddenly turned around, shouting unexpectedly toward the empty space behind him!

“Rof… Rofrey?” Everyone’s gaze followed Zhang Wen’s in shock, but what appeared before them was still only a smooth, empty wall!

The eerie voice also fell silent after Zhang Wen’s shout.

“Teacher Zhang, did you make a mistake? Isn’t Rofrey supposed to still be waiting for us on the Star Moon Ship? How could she appear here?” While quickly scanning the surroundings, Kai shouted at Zhang Wen.

“I think I didn’t make a mistake. Rofrey, since we entered this tunnel, you’ve been following us all along! Stop hiding. Your clumsy shape-shifting technique is useless against me.” Zhang Wen smiled faintly, his eyes still fixed on the seemingly empty wall.

“Giggle…” Rofrey’s laughter suddenly came from the empty wall, eerie and chilling.

“Teacher Zhang, it seems I underestimated you. I didn’t expect you to even see through my shape-shifting technique! You really have quite a few secrets!” Rofrey giggled, her voice like a ghost, fluctuating between loud and soft, unpredictable.

Except for Zhang Wen, everyone else present stared in disbelief. Whether it was Rofrey’s presence in this Infinite Arena tunnel or her ability to hide so well that even those nearby couldn’t detect her, both were far beyond everyone’s imagination!

But just as everyone was immersed in shock at Rofrey’s appearance, another sudden change occurred within the tunnel!

“Watch out!!!” Zhang Wen barely had time to issue a short warning before a violent force struck the two Kentucky men, creating a hurricane-like gust almost as powerful as the peak of the earlier chaos!

The two Kentucky warriors, who had just defeated four tenth-tier experts outnumbered, were blasted away without even being able to utter a sound. Their bodies slammed violently against the tunnel walls, shattering the solid rock and leaving behind a shocking large indentation.

Besides the two Kentucky warriors, Vala and her group, already helpless on the ground, were also swept up by the gale, crashing into the surrounding walls and knocked unconscious.

Then, Rofrey’s figure slowly emerged from the wall, as if melting out of it, appearing at the spot where Kai and Si had stood moments ago!

Rofrey at that moment was still wearing the ultra-thin, extremely sexy battle suit she wore when she first met Zhang Wen. Moreover, possibly due to having just used her shape-shifting technique, the battle suit now clung even more tightly to her body than during their first meeting! Every curve of Rofrey’s body was vividly outlined by the battle suit.

“Giggle! Teacher Zhang, we finally meet again.” Rofrey giggled, extending her tongue excitedly to lick her lips.