Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"Roar!"

The behemoth, which has stood at the top of the food chain since birth, knows nothing of fear. Countless scales stand erect on its massive body, and the triangular fin on its back, powerful enough to shatter the hardest rock, charges toward Raslaufer.

Its three rows of sharp teeth were fully revealed in its roar, and even the serrated edges on both sides of each tooth were clearly visible. Not to mention being bitten, even a glance from an ordinary person would be enough to make their soul fly away!

However, today it has met its match.

Raslaufer slammed fiercely into the side of the monster's massive head, causing the monster's front half to rise up and swing its razor-sharp claws toward Raslaufer's torso. However, before it could strike Raslaufer, Dople's greatsword had already pierced its almost unrecognizable neck!

A chorus of gasps erupted from the stands outside the arena!

In his private lounge, Lei clenched his fists and stared intently at the image projecting the situation on the field, his gaze shifting from admiration to fear.

No wonder that night, those sneaky bodyguards left him alone at a table... If that pretty boy hadn't come along as a scapegoat, she might have really died at his hands that night!

That's a land shark! Forget about ogres, even a real giant would have to think twice before dealing with it, yet Raslaufer charged straight at it and hit it with a single blow!

But... Lu Sha weighs about the same as twenty strong men. Can a single sword wound take down this behemoth?

It was obviously impossible, but Raslaufer didn't harbor such a delusion. As the land shark's claws slammed down, Raslaufer gripped the greatsword hilt with both hands and swung it horizontally, using the immense force to pull himself back and simultaneously pull the blade out of the tight flesh that had been wedged in.

Although the sword strike had hit the land shark's neck, it hadn't penetrated too deeply. The land shark's abdomen emitted a roar that shattered the sand, and its thick tail slammed into the ground, raising a dust wave a meter high. Using the sand and gravel as cover, the terrifying creature pounced on Dople, its strong and broad body immediately sealing off all the space around Raslaufer to dodge or move.

But there was one more place. Dopler's gaze fell on the top of the land shark's head, which was covered with thick bony plates.

He leaped into the air, his greatsword swung in a full moon arc, slamming heavily onto the giant beast's head with a dull thud as it struck rubber. The land shark's head immediately sank downwards. However, while this monster's intelligence wasn't particularly high, its instincts were terrifyingly powerful. Almost instantly, its muscular limbs dug through the ground beneath it, burrowing into the sand as Reslaufer crashed down!

When Raslaufer landed, all that remained at his feet was a huge crater over a meter in diameter, while the Land Shark itself had vanished without a trace. Hidden beneath his visor, a pair of icy blue eyes cautiously scanned the surroundings, trying to find the monster as quickly as possible, but for some reason, they found nothing.

Behind him, a triangular dorsal fin had already silently ripped through the ground, circled the edge of the field, and then dashed toward the blind spot behind Raslaufer!

"Watch out behind you!" Even those spectators who had bet on Land Shark couldn't help but shout nervously from the stands. But when Raslaufer turned around at the sound of the shout, Land Shark had already burst out of the ground with agility that did not match its size and monstrous strength that matched its size, leaping into the air!

Its streamlined, agile form was on full display at this moment, enough to evoke the utmost praise from any scholar or poet who witnessed this monster. But those shrouded in its two-ton shadow could only feel the chilling approach of death as it plunged down with that fatal leap.

The bold ones had already covered their eyes, while the timid ones were still staring intently, completely unaware that their crotches were already warm.

“This is truly beautiful…” Raslaufer murmured in a voice only he could hear. He stared intently at the ever-growing body of the land shark, neither running away nor trying to dodge. Such a leaping attack was beyond what could be avoided. The only thing he could do now was raise his sword.

"Come on, come on, come on..."

"Boom!"

The entire arena began to shake as the Garuda crashed down. In an instant, it seemed as if everyone was enveloped under the Garuda's massive jaws. The audience, pale-faced, searched for Raslaufer's whereabouts in the billowing dust. They were both afraid of seeing the bloody remains of the warriors and terrified that even the remains could not be found.

"There he is! Look! He's not dead!"

Someone shouted, and hundreds of eyes turned to stare into the arena. A tiny shadow, much smaller than a land shark, flew out of the dust and crashed hard against the wall at the edge of the arena.

The walls, reinforced by magic, even developed cracks as a result!

"Bang!" The remaining half of the greatsword was stuck in the ground. Raslaufer knelt on one knee, struggling to keep himself from falling. With the weight of the land shark and his own strength, the ferocity of this attack was probably second only to that of the gray bag beast. But now, he had no Daisy by his side to assist him.

He has to face it himself, but... what's so scary about that?

Dople's greaves were shattered, and the cavity behind his steel chest was completely sunken, looking quite horrifying. But the land shark still wasn't going to let him go. Its brownish-yellow eyes suddenly narrowed into scarlet slits after it discovered that its prey was still alive. Its serrated maw spewed out a foul-smelling storm, and its powerful limbs pushed off the ground, drawing a low arc across the ground as it charged toward Raslaufer.

Faced with yet another attack, Dople still did not intend to dodge and charged forward again. The jagged cut of the broken sword slashed a deep wound on the head of the land shark, exposing the bone. As the land shark's head thrashed in pain, it also slammed solidly into the side of Raslaufer!

The two monsters rolled and fought in the arena, dust mixed with blood, metal and scale fragments rising above them, while higher and higher still, came the battle roar of Dople and the howl of the land shark.

In this pure, savage battle, the sounds gradually dwindled to only one side, and the billowing dust began to settle—who would be the final victor?

"Boom!" The massive body was flipped to one side, and the relatively soft belly of the land shark was cut open vertically. Its internal organs rolled and trembled on the ground, as if the giant beast was not completely dead.

But the next moment, the "giant sword," which had lost even the last half of its blade and was now only a hilt, once again pierced into the Land Shark's jaw, which had already dislocated from the joint, tearing it off completely. Its owner, meanwhile, ripped off the helmet that was now only half intact, letting out a roar even louder than the Land Shark's!

"I am above you in the food chain!"

Chapter 447 Detached from the Script

A human killed a fully grown land shark!

Even the most audacious gamblers wouldn't condemn such a scene as a shady affair in the arena; on the contrary, they would boast that they witnessed it with just one bet!

Cheers and shouts erupted, and countless coins were thrown from the stands, fluttering down onto the field like a snowfall. If it were springtime in Eastern Inasas, they would be throwing flowers instead.

"We'll make a fortune!"

As the exhausted Raslaufer was helped to the exit by two waiters, a tall, stout middle-aged man excitedly hugged him: "Congratulations, Your Excellency Raslaufer! You're alive! Go talk to my accountant later; you deserve a good reward!"

This man was Ursula's father, and the actual operator of this arena. Logically, he shouldn't be here, but as a merchant with a noble title, he knew all too well how much profit this gladiatorial contest could bring him.

He was determined to see this brave man in person and explain his generosity to him personally—although Angelita had come at his daughter's invitation, Raslaufer had not, so Doppler needed a reward.

Leslaufer squinted, his expression less one of exhaustion and more one of languid satisfaction. He opened his mouth but said nothing, simply nodding in greeting before shaking off the two waiters and staggering back to his private room.

The brink of death, how wonderful it is, and the victory that follows, how sweet it is. Raslaw was still immersed in the afterimages of his life-or-death struggle with the land shark, as if the monster's shadow still lingered beside him.

It is indeed there.

"My God..." Daisy stared in shock at the numb, indifferent Garuda spirit beside Raslaufer, its enormous size almost filling the entire space. "Old Raslaufer, you really need to get Heinrich to take a look at this one!"

Before, it was just humanoid creatures, which was fine, but now that there's such a huge monster, if they encounter spellcaster enemies who are used to observing, they'll probably be scared to death before they even fight Leslaufer!

“But it’s strange,” Angelita said, equally shocked by the scene, but with a thoughtful expression, “the beasts that Uncle Raslaufer used to kill would all come to me…”

"Do you still have nightmares about those wolves?" Leslaufer asked suddenly, glancing at the girl.

Angelita paused for a moment, then shook her head: "No... I can't even remember when they started disappearing from my dreams."

“That’s probably the reason, Your Highness,” Paul had heard Angelita’s story along the way. “Only things worthy of fear can be called ‘nightmares.’ Now that you have swordsmanship and magic, there are probably very few things that can frighten you.”

Angelita closed her eyes, and the spirits of those animals appeared around her. She felt that she was beginning to resemble Uncle Leslaufer in this respect; even when she wasn't asleep, they would appear around her on their own, stiff and silent, like sculptures.

“Alright, we can talk about these things later,” Leslaufer interrupted her thoughts. “Get ready, Anne, it’s your turn next.”

“Remember what I said—be careful,” Leslaufer thought for a moment and added, “but don’t be too careful, I’m right here.”

Although he had lost the greatsword, the Hellfire Blade was still with him, and he hadn't drawn it yet. In other words, if anyone thought this was a good opportunity to provoke Raslaufer, it might be their last "chance."

“I’m not worried about that.” Angelita smiled at Raslaufer, waved to the others, and disappeared briskly through the doorway.

Since it's an exhibition match, Angelita won't be using the Long Ballad of Will, but instead will be using the hand-and-a-half sword provided by the arena. This makeshift weapon is unsharpened on both sides, but its material is surrounded by a faint aura, capable of withstanding strong magical impacts. It's suitable for showcasing the combination of swordsmanship and magic without causing accidental injury.

Standing in the shadows of the entrance passage, Angelita carefully examined the sword two or three times until she was certain it was without fault before finally holding it in her hand. It seemed no one had tampered with it.

The problem, however, lay with Ursula—according to the original plan, they should have gone over the script again by now. But when Angelita looked towards the opposite passage, she could vaguely make out the outline of the other person's figure.

She's really confident... Angelita shook her head. Perhaps the other party just thought they were being cautious enough. After all, they had prepared quite thoroughly beforehand, and even if there were some changes, they could completely control them.

With that thought in mind, Angelita no longer hesitated, but simply waited quietly for time to pass. As the Garchomp corpses and various debris on the field were cleared away, the fences at the entrance passages on both sides were finally pulled up simultaneously.

As the announcer spoke and Angelita and Ursula entered, a rare, harmonious cheer erupted from the audience—this was a straightforward performance, with no betting involved; all the audience needed to do was calm their emotions after witnessing the great battle firsthand.

—At least in theory.

“Miss Ursula,” Angelita nodded to Ursula, who was about a hundred meters away. The latter was not using her own wand, but instead holding a pine staff about the height of a person. “Our previous sparring was interrupted by demons. This time, I’d like to learn a thing or two from you.”

A soft chuckle rippled through the crowd above the arena; it was merely a polite remark, and also a pre-arranged signal between the two sides.

Ursula's expression looked very strange, but even Angrita couldn't quite understand it, let alone the audience above. She nodded, raised her staff with both hands, and pointed the tip directly at Angrita: "Alright, let's go then."

What does this mean? This isn't the line we were promised! In fact, there's a whole string of fancy words that drags on until the audience is getting sleepy before Angrita finally uses her swordsmanship and magic to traverse Ursula's tornado and demonstrate her power.

It's already starting?!

Angelita swung her sword to the side, a subtle gesture to signal the other party to deviate from the script. However, the "Ursula" in front of her was completely oblivious and immediately began chanting, preemptively summoning a blessing that descended upon her.

Immediately afterwards, three beams of fire erupted from the staff, shooting straight toward Angelita's face!

Chapter 448 They're not even going to act anymore.

"Shield!"

Angelita was taken aback and quickly erected an invisible force field shield to block two of the beams. However, the third scorching ray was angled trickily, and even though she tried her best to dodge, it still hit her left shoulder.

Is Ursula going to kill her? She's gone mad!

The smell of burning flesh coming from her shoulder brought Angrita back to her senses from the excruciating pain. However, Ursula showed no sign of stopping. In the blink of an eye, threads constructed by command magic bound Angrita, and a ball pulsating with fiery energy soared into the air, giving Angrita no chance to catch her breath.

This time, however, the threads failed to restrain Angelita. The girl lunged to the side, barely dodging the dangerous energy ball. At the same time, she flicked her wrist and fired a freezing ray, followed by a series of magical missiles that buzzed as they traced three different arcs in the air, heading straight for Ursula's back.

"What's going on? Wasn't it supposed to be just a performance?"

The audience, filled with students and teachers from the Arcane Academy, all noticed something amiss. The middle-aged man who had been leisurely backstage also realized the problem. His heart skipped a beat the instant Ursula unleashed her three scorching rays.

This isn't the script his daughter gave him!

"Quick! Zoom in, I need to see what's going on!" As Angelita's magical missiles were completely neutralized by the shield spell, he could no longer contain himself. He immediately jumped up and called in two waiters, "Go find Thunder and have her go in and stop this farce! This has gone too far!"

However, the two waiters showed no intention of making a move. They exchanged a glance, and when they turned to the man, they both revealed strange smiles.

"You..." The man felt a sense of foreboding. He immediately reached for the ring on his ring finger with his thumb. It was a magical item that should protect his life.

Unfortunately, it was all too late. His body trembled violently, and as he looked down, he saw a dark, demonic claw protruding from his chest. Between the four claws, a heart that was still trembling was being gripped.

His own life and soul left his body almost instantly, just like his daughter.

Meanwhile, in the arena, Ursula continued to suppress Angelita's movements with spells, and even though she had exhausted all her arcane magic, she could not shorten the distance between them to within thirty meters.

This distance isn't too long for a spellcaster, but it's far for a warrior.

Angelita tried to close the distance again. According to the information Ursula had given her, her opponent should have run out of powerful spells to cast, so this should be her chance. However, after taking only three steps forward, the tip of the staff once again shone with a scorching light!

One beam grazed Angelita's hair, while the other two struck her left leg squarely. The injured girl immediately lost her balance and fell to the side, landing directly in the tunnel that Land Shark had dug earlier!

"Six hundred and sixty-six! These guys aren't even going to act anymore!" Inside the private box, Daisy couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up angrily, ready to join the battle below. "Now we can be absolutely certain she's not Ursula! That's so many second-level spells, she's almost more powerful than old man Paul!"

Why didn't the evil spirit possessing her just kill Annie with a single fireball?!

The bard angrily opened the door, only to find a dozen waiters standing on either side of the box door. At the end of these waiters stood a tall, strong middle-aged man who had just embraced Raslaufer, but now his chest was ripped open with a bloody hole!

But he is still "alive"!

In the more distant stands, demons, unable to disguise themselves as ordinary people, swarmed out, reaching out their claws at every living soul, plunging the entire arena into chaos. The spectators here were at least wealthy citizens; if this group could be brought under control, the entire Ironforge would fall into the clutches of the abyss, and even ten Heinrichs wouldn't be able to reverse the tide!

Could Heinrich really kill everyone in the entire Ironforge? Even if half of them were already dead!

“You were right this time,” Leslaufer said, brandishing his sword with a grim expression. “They really aren’t going to put on an act anymore.”

“Surrender, Raslaufer, join us,” the demon attached to Ursula’s father’s body rasped, its Inasan language rather broken. “We can cast spells ourselves, but we can’t imitate your power and martial arts. Join us, and you can live.”

"All your companions will survive—and after that, you can kill whomever you want. Follow us, and you'll be free from all rules!"

"You will become even stronger! Invincible!"

As he spoke, a finely crafted two-handed greatsword, shimmering with golden light, appeared in the demon's hand: "This is our sincerity, forged from fine gold, it will never break. And if you wish, we can offer an even higher price—you could even become the next lord of Ironforge!"

"Don't listen to them!" Zhengling's voice rang out urgently in Reslaufer's mind link. "Only devils keep their promises, and they are demons!"

“But this offer is indeed very tempting,” Leslaufer licked his lips, ignoring his anxious companions behind him, and took two steps forward. “It really puts me in a dilemma, doesn’t it?”

"Why would you make things difficult for us, Raslaufer?" The demon paused for a moment. "Your bravery in killing the three-headed Fromon has prompted us to investigate you. Are you taking pity on the mortals of Ironforge?"

"It's alright, this is easy to solve. Come, submit to the abyss, submit to our lord Fraz'eru! With His grace, controlling the mortals of the entire Ironforge is a piece of cake!" The demon turned the greatsword he was holding upside down, as if he wanted to push the hilt into Reslaufer's arms. "They can all live, under your control."

"But you should decide quickly, after all, every second that passes, your 'subjects' are decreasing..."

With his icy blue eyes scanning the evil spirit across from him, Raslaufer seemed to be weighing his proposal. However, a moment later, he raised his head, and along with his head, the battle blade in his hand flew off. The metal from purgatory instantly sent the heads of the two servants beside him flying!

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have hesitated,” Leslaufer’s sinister laugh sent shivers down the spines of even the demons of the abyss. “Sinking Iron Fortress? Mortals? What a joke! What’s the point of that!”

"I have drunk the blood of the devil in the City of Broken Jars; now, it is the devil's turn!"

Chapter 449 The Power of Phantoms

Clusters of shadows emerged from the headless corpse. They looked like giant, translucent black jellyfish with long tentacles trailing behind them. As soon as they appeared, they immediately lashed out at Raslaufer with their tentacles, which were between reality and illusion, their tips shimmering with a dim magical glow.

This is the true form of these evil spirits possessing corpses. However, although their illusory forms are far more powerful than the corpses they possess, they do not like to reveal their true forms in public. Their appearance this time is not of their own volition.

Raslaufer swung his sword, severing five or six tentacles that reached out towards him. A waiter who had attempted a sneak attack also fell. The sword had cut open "its" abdomen, severing its spine in two; it was now completely immobilized.

A waiter collapsed, and an evil spirit floated out.

"You're refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!" The demon possessing Ursula's father's corpse was furious. The illusion of the greatsword in its hand vanished instantly, and a faint purple light quietly shone from its already unfocused pupils. With the influence of mental power, an illusion was attempted to be implanted into Raslaufer's mind—another "Raslaufer." The demon knew that to perfectly kill a terrifying being capable of slaying a land shark, it needed at least an opponent of equal strength.

Once Raslaufer confirms that this is real, he will fight to the death against that non-existent self!

However, this demonic entity was not a true spellcaster; the power of phantoms was its innate skill. Otherwise, a single glance during a spellcasting session would have revealed that Raslaufer was never short of illusions!

The illusory existence of "Reslaufer" drove the true spirits around the real Dopler completely mad!