Chapter 188: The Golden Fox’s Scheme

Uon looked left and right at both contestants before nodding; he raised his arm and—

"Wait a second, young assistant." A voice reached his ears, and everyone else’s at that moment.

"Lucen, what do you think you’re doing?" Samuel finally spoke in a low, sharp tone.

Lucen stood from his seat and started flying under everyone’s mixed gazes. "Don’t worry, I just felt like saying something all of a sudden," he said with a soft chuckle.

He made eye contact with Moon, who looked back at him with an evidently uncomfortable gaze. Lucen’s smile only widened.

"There are a few things that everyone here," he pointed at Moon, "especially this young ascender, should know."

"A long time ago, I had a dream that one day the children of average backgrounds would have an equal opportunity to stand and earn their places among those who were born in a luckier environment."

Lucen got to hold the attention of everyone in the branch with these words.

"Damn, golden fox bastard," Ed cursed. "He’s airing this to every branch." He leaned forward, staring daggers at Lucen, who ignored him.

"This is a battle that should be witnessed and sought after regardless of your affiliation or background." Lucen proceeded with his uninvited speech.

From every branch, teachers, assistants, and young ascenders alike rushed to the arena.

Enzo, who was watching the event live on his ring—

Knock~

Was suddenly interrupted by a sudden knock on his door. "Come in," he said casually. "The fight has yet to start anyway."

Enzo looked at Korr, who had just entered and bowed his head slightly. "What’s going on?" Enzo said, noticing the noise outside as soon as the door opened.

"The battle is being aired in the arena right now," Korr elaborated.

Enzo’s eyes widened; he blinked in surprise before looking at the screen in his room again.

He dismissed the screen and stood from his seat, chuckling, "Ah, what’s that guy planning?" He moved out to watch the match in the arena instead.

It wasn’t just Enzo; everyone in the Western, Eastern, and Northern branches heard the commotion.

Lucen didn’t stop at that, before everyone’s eyes.

Ding!

A quest screen issued under the authority of the Normalization Facility appeared to everyone, announcing the beginning of the duel between Moon of Gru Mountains, a place that virtually didn’t even exist, and Talia of the Knights’ Realm for authority over one another and the group of followers they were leading in the second trial.

Lucen let the screen set for everyone from the other branches as well. He looked at Moon again with his usual gentle smile, but all he could see was a frown deepening further.

In the audience, Basil poked Barrett with his shoulder. "Barrett bro, imagine we hoarded all the money in every branch in our pockets; this guy should have done this sooner."

"No need to think about it, we can’t even carry that much money," Barrett retorted. "Boss doesn’t look comfortable with whatever is happening now."

Basil looked at Moon and nodded, but he didn’t say anything.

"Lucen, answer me now. What are you trying to do?" Ed’s voice came to Lucen’s ears, sharp and threatening.

Lucen shrugged. "Didn’t you want me to send my cute kids to help him?" he asked before adding, "I thought, maybe they can see and decide for themselves." Lucen laughed.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"I’m doing you a favour now, so don’t be an ingrate," Lucen said, turning back to his speech now that everyone had seen and come to terms with what he’d said and shown.

Ed and Samuel exchanged glances at that, but didn’t say anything.

"The Southern branch was blessed to have the talents it currently has, competent and proud," Lucen said before his hand pointed at Talia. "This young lady, admirably, chose to win over everyone who would work with her in the trial rather than using any other method."

He pointed at Moon after. "And this young man, who pleasantly made his way here from the first floor, unaware of Echo or what it was till a couple of weeks ago, fought the branch and stood undefeated against all odds with nothing but his body."

Around him, small screens started appearing, showing selective scenes of Moon’s fights over the days he’d spent in the branch.

"Over the short period of time this wave of ascenders had to spend in my Facility, it was blessed by a fresh and exceptional winning streak, unheard of."

The scene where he punched through Dara’s Echo with his bare hands came, earning the exclamation and amazement of everyone across the branches, almost everyone.

"I am guilty," Lucen said. "Only allowing you all to witness this now, I’m guilty." He shook his head in regret.

The scene where he beheaded Dave, followed by the one where he moved between the contestants of the first round untouched.

"Keeping these fights to be only accessible to the Southern branch, this is a grave mistake I’ve made," Lucen repeated. "But today, I’m correcting this mistake."

"Today, you all should witness the fight between the apex ascenders and fighters of the Southern branch, who will merge their groups with one another regardless of the winner."

Lucen pointed at Talia. "This young lady issues the challenge in a way that ensures both sides are inevitably together and on friendly terms regardless of the result, which is something rarely seen."

"Brat, you good?" Ed’s voice suddenly came to Moon’s ears.

Moon pursed his lips. "I just don’t like that guy."

"Yeah, me neither. He’s—" Ed was about to say something.

Moon cut him off. "He’s disgustingly too handsome; my eyes are starting to hurt," he spat through gritted teeth.

Ed went silent; Lucen, on the other hand, was proceeding with his speech.

His tone hardened, and the smile on his face was completely erased.

"I hope the flames burning in their hearts, the ones that kept our dear Tower going for long years, burn in yours as well. We’re being challenged by many enemies, and unity is the key to our survival and the survival of our Tower."

With these last words, Lucen returned to his seat, showered by the applause of everyone around.

Ed whispered, "It’s like you started an entire speech of bullshit to say the last part."

Lucen didn’t answer for a moment before saying, "Well, it’s the important part."

"Yeah it is, that’s why we stayed here in the first place," Ed said, "though the results are underwhelming."

"Someone as old as me is qualified to say that, not you," Lucen retorted. "You should thank me instead of talking rubbish."

Ed didn’t answer.

Further away, in the Western branch, Enzo chuckled as his ring vibrated. He brought it up, and the screen appeared.

"Sir Enzo, did you see that just now?" Lorian appeared behind the screen, his face in panicked urgency.

"So you noticed as well." Enzo chuckled. "That old guy still has some tricks to play."

"Sir Enzo, this isn’t a light matter; he’s obviously advocating for their group." Lorian was speaking in evident anger that he failed to hide under the urgency.

"It’s fine, we recruited aggressively, he did what he should." Enzo shook his head. "Don’t lose your cool for stupid reasons," he warned casually.

Lorian lowered his head. "I’ll bear that in mind," he said readily before asking, "Sir, what should we do if we lose people?"

Enzo dismissed his concerns. "Don’t worry, when the time comes I’ll figure out something."