The group of friends of High ranking Heroes and Adventurers sat in avishly decorated VIP box overlooking the crowded arena below.


    The atmosphere was rxed, with sses of wine and tes of food scattered around the room.


    As they watched the interviews live on the holographic screen from the VIP box of the Arena, Joseph, a tall man with grey hair and a beard,mented on Ares'' challenge to all the academies.


    "How arrogant of him," he said, folding his arms.


    ine, the blonde-haired woman seated next to him, chuckled and took a sip of her wine.


    Before she could respond, a thin man with ck hair and dark circles under his eyes leaned forward on the sofa and spoke, "It was a calcted move on his part. He knew that his academy, which has been the reigning champion for decades, would eventually be targeted by every other academy."


    "...What does that even mean? If he knew that all the academies were already targeting his academy, he should have been more careful with his arrogant mouth, right? Why would he provoke them even further?" A muscr beastman asked, looking confused.


    "He is ying mind games with his opponents," a soft and alluring voice interjected from behind Joseph and ine, catching their attention.


    The trio turned around to see a tall and striking red-haired woman, dressed in a ck dress and sporting a pair of sleek sses that hid her eyes.


    "What do you mean, Sarah?" Joseph asked, intrigued.


    "Allow me to rify," Sarah said, her voice calm and measured. "Our cunning friend here is using a ssic tactic to sow seeds of doubt and confusion among his opponents. By boasting about his academy and proiming that he fears no one, he''s forcing the other academies to take notice and prepare for a potential challenge.


    However, by mentioning a specific academy to watch out for, he''s subtly directing attention away from his own academy and towards a potential rival that may not even pose a threat.


    The beastman man still seemed confused, prompting thezy-eyed man to speak up.


    "Why are all beastmen muscleheads? Sigh." Thezy-eyed man sighed before speaking, "It''s a ssic misdirection technique. He''s making everyone think that the real threat is somewhere else.


    Just think about it this way: Suppose there is a person whom everyone believes is the strongest, and they all want to defeat him to prove themselves. But suddenly, that same person acknowledges someone else as their strongestpetitor. What do you think everyone''s reaction to that would be?" he asked, pausing for a moment.


    "They would be curious about that someone whom the strongest person thinks is theirpetitor. They would want to find out if that person really is strong—" The beastman said, halting in his sentence as the realization began to dawn on him.


    "D-Don''t tell me he just mentioned some underdog academy''s name to divert attention away from his academy," he eximed.


    "That''s exactly what he did," Sarah confirmed with a smile, her spectacles sparkling.


    The beastman scratched his head in confusion. "But wouldn''t the other academies eventually realize that he''s just diverting their attention?"


    Sarah smirked. "Yeah, some smart students can easily see through his game. And those are the people he''s most worried about. The rest prideful teenagers who are eager to prove themselves will be too busy chasing their own tails to notice what''s really going on."


    She raised a ss of wine in admiration. "I must say, he''s more cunning than I thought. I''m excited to see how this ys out."


    "What a cunning brat!" Joseph muttered.


    "Hehehe, he really is my type. Maybe I should get in touch with him after the tournament," ineughed while twirling her wine ss.


    "...Don''t you already have a boyfriend, ine?" the beastman asked.


    "...She already broke up with him. She can''t stick with a single man for more than a week," Sarahmented.


    "Tch, it''s not my fault that they just run away from me for no reason," ine spoke, clicking her tongue.


    "No reason? Your crazy fetish about getting defeated by a man but instead you beat them to half death, don''t you think that''s enough reason for them to run away?" Sarah remarked.


    "Well, isn''t it natural for a woman to want to find a man stronger than her?" ine shrugged.


    "...You ranked in the top 10 on the recent ranking list, didn''t you? How do you expect to find someone stronger than you? The ones above you are old geezers who are alreadymitted or married," Sarah added.


    "There''s just a shortage of strong men in this world, so I am thinking of making a man strong myself," ine said before starting to chug her wine.


    "...Then we will have another Duel, ine Vs Mika!" Thezy-eyed man said in a low voice.


    "Yeah, Mika will definitelye after you if you try to steal her disciple," Sarah added, nodding.


    "Nah, Wouldn''t she be happy for her disciple to have a beautiful and strong woman like myself by his side?" ine smirked.


    "This reminds me of my ''date'' with Jessica," Joseph abruptly spoke, grabbing everyone''s attention.


    "...."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Pfft, hahaha," ine, Sarah, and the rest suddenly beganughing when they heard Joseph.


    As the groupughed, Joseph couldn''t help but feel embarrassed. "What''s so funny?" he asked, trying to join in on the fun.


    "Your obliviousness is what''s funny," ine said in betweenughs. "You still think Jessica was interested in you after all these years?"


    Joseph''s face turned red with embarrassment as he realized why they wereughing.


    "Oh...I see," he muttered, feeling foolish.


    "Wait, you mean the A-Rank gate incident?" the beastman asked with a curious expression.


    Joseph nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed.


    "Oh, I remember that," the beastman said with a chuckle. "You really thought it was a date, huh?"


    "I mean, I did agree to go with her, and we had a good time," Joseph defended himself.


    "Sure, but that doesn''t mean it was a date; it was just a gate you both cleared," ine said with a chuckle.


    "Now that we are on the topic of Jessica, do you think she''ll be able to attend the tournament?" Sarah asked, taking a sip of her wine.


    "No, unfortunately. She is preparing for the uing conference, and things will get troublesome after that. So till then, we are given a vacation," Joseph, who is also part of the Hero Association, replied, leaning back in his chair.


    "And the main host, Ivica, is absent as well," thezy-eyed man whose name is David added.


    "Rumor has it that she''s on the verge of breaking through to surpass a transcendent being," Sarah exined, prompting gasps from the group.


    "...."


    ''Is there really a power beyond that of transcendent beings?'' they wondered inwardly.


    The group fell into stunned silence, each lost in their own thoughts.


    "...Why is Marshal quiet today?" The beastman asked, breaking the silence and pointing at the blue-haired man sitting alone in the corner of the room lost in thought.


    "Don''t mind him. His sister seems to have offended the guy who supposedly killed the demon lord," Sarah stated, a hint of amusement in her voice.


    "You mean to say his sister offended that Marz boy?" Joseph inquired, intrigued.


    "Yes," Sarah nodded, taking another sip of wine.


    "...Do you guys really think that fragile-looking guy really killed a demon lord? I think it''s just a made-up story from Jessica," ine stated skeptically.


    "No, it is not made up. Jessica would never do something like that," Joseph retorted. "Then how do you exin the red sky and the sudden deaths of the demon lords followers?" he added, raising a challenging eyebrow.


    ine was trying toe up with an answer before David spoke up. "There was only one person who really managed to kill a demon lord in the past, but he ended up dead due to the bacsh. That''s the reason why the demon lords were sealed instead of killed back then. At least that''s what we read in the history books," he exined.


    "So you mean to say that even if that Marz guy somehow managed to kill the demon lord, he might already be dead?" Sarah questioned.


    "...No, he is not dead," Marshal, who had been quiet all this while, suddenly spoke up.


    Everyone turned to him, their attention caught.


    "That boy really killed a demon lord. Not only that, he also managed to kill around 1,00,000 monsters all by himself," he dered.


    "Pftt— Cough—Cough!"


    ine''s wine sprayed out of her mouth in shock as she struggled to catch her breath.


    "A-Are you serious?" she managed to gasp out.


    Marshal nodded solemnly. "I was present when the data from his wristwatch was retrieved. His watch was fine and working, but he removed the trackers after a day, and we don''t even know how many more monsters he killed after that."


    Silence descended upon the group as they all tried to process this new information. The idea that this boy had aplished such a feat was incredible, but the fact that he was still alive made it even more unbelievable.