Finally, after one and a half days, it was finally the time everyone was waiting for, especially Reiza, Lunatic, and Irish.
To be honest, if Scarlett had announced that anyone could participate in this competition and she would marry the winner, then there was no doubt that people from all around the world would come to participate. Even King Vladimir might not have been an exception. He would have paused his plans even further and taken it as a golden chance to marry Scarlett.
But of course, it was just a hope and a dream for others. The competition was only for three pre-chosen candidates.
And those three chosen participants were actually having quite a normal time together, sitting side by side on the balcony. Their faces were dim and their shoulders were slumped in exhaustion. They didn't have the energy and motivation of warriors before a fight at all.
"Urgh... Scarlett refused to come back here. I wonder if she's just being cautious or actually upset with us?" Lunatic sighed lightly, her voice filled with worry.
After finding out that Lunatic, Irish, and Reiza knew about her current condition and were trying to mess with her, Scarlett didn't dare to come back to the bedroom or meet them. She knew they would surely take advantage of her emotional state.
Of course, she wasn't truly upset with them, just being cautious. Still, it was normal for them to worry about this possibility, a knot of anxiety tightening in their chests.
"It was your all fault! I didn't even get any chance to do my fetishes," Irish smacked Reiza's head in frustration, her voice a sharp hiss.
Reiza didn't argue back, knowing it was clearly her fault here. She just rubbed her head, a guilty look on her face.
"Fetishes? What kind of fetishes?" Lunatic asks, her curiosity piqued, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Come here," Irish replies, leaning her face close to Lunatic's ear. She murmured some words, so quiet they were almost silent, making even the succubus queen Lunatic blush lightly.
After she told everything, Irish calmly pulled her face back with a proud, confident smile.
"Dang! Even I, a succubus, am in awe," Lunatic replies as if she had just received some new kind of enlightenment and understanding of the world, her mind blown.
"Can you tell me about it as well?" Reiza asks, her curiosity getting the better of her shyness.
But Irish immediately shakes her head. "No, you might pass out. The competition is going to start soon enough," she replies, standing up and patting her clothes to make sure there was no dirt.
"I'm gonna go and wear my armor. You two should be ready as well," Irish replies, her words genuine and serious.
Lunatic "..."
Reiza "....."
Both looked at Irish for a few seconds without saying anything, and then—Pfttt...
Both chuckled at the same time, like they had just heard some kind of hilarious joke.
"Armor is for the weak. We don't wear it," Lunatic replies with a dismissive wave of her hand, her voice filled with pride.
Irish didn't take her words to heart. Instead, she smiled lightly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "It's good that you two are strong. Or else I would have already killed you two already," she says, her voice turning cold and dark with each word, the warmth vanishing completely.
"I wouldn't have regarded two weakling gold digger women as worthy to even breathe around my honey!" she added, her wide dark blue eyes, as always, so dark that they looked like black fog in the depths of an abyss.
"Scary!" Reiza thought to herself with a nervous gulp, a shiver running down her spine.
Without saying another word, Irish turns around and walks away to go and wear her armor, her back straight and stiff.
"Phew, this human girl scares me sometimes," Lunatic sighs, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, her own confidence shaken for a moment.
After half an hour, everything was ready. Knowing that the fight between the three of them would bring great destruction, Scarlett didn't dare to choose a normal battle arena. It would be far too small for a fighting ground for them.
Nor did she dare to let them fight inside DreadHaven. She knew they will surely end up destroying half of it, their power too great to be contained by its walls.
So instead, she organized the fight outside of DreadHaven, in the same vast, open area where Scarlett had fought Luaren, the Prince of the Gwarga Kingdom. Or more accurately, the warlord that he had summoned by using his own body, Lortell Beatrix.
Not everyone was allowed to watch. Flying debris or missed attacks might end up killing someone, and just having a barrier wasn't a safe enough option. The risk was too high.
Only those who were strong and confident enough to protect themselves were allowed to witness the event.
Still, this was DreadHaven, and there was no shortage of strong individuals. Despite such restrictions, there was still quite a large crowd present, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.
Outside the palace, the invited guests of DreadHaven, Aoto, Ingrassia, and others were also ready to go and watch the grand competition.
Ingrassia even wore her armor, the metal plates clinking softly as she moved, just to make sure she would be alright.
"No need to be scared, I'll be there—" Aoto was trying to act all cool and protective as always, puffing out his chest slightly.
But before he could finish his sentence, he saw Chiyoko and Richard walking out of the palace. His words got caught in his throat, and he started looking at Chiyoko without even blinking, his friendly expression vanishing.
Chiyoko noticed his intense stare. He himself stopped and looked back at Aoto, their eyes locking in a silent, heavy gaze.
It was so obvious that even Ingrassia felt something was deeply wrong. The air between them crackled with unspoken tension.
"Did something happen between you two? Did you fight?" she asks, her voice filled with concern, looking back and forth between their stiff faces.
Aoto immediately snapped back to reality, forcing a laugh. "N-no, of course not! Let's go, we are getting late," he chuckles, waving his hand dismissively as he quickly turned and started walking away, eager to escape the awkward moment.
****
Meanwhile, at the same time, in the territory of Xulgorath, the land of the late sixth demon king.
He had died because of his own ultimate skill, trying to make a clone of Scarlett. With him, thousands of his soldiers had also perished.
There was a huge, deep crater in the ground, as if something had sucked it in whole. The surrounding trees were uprooted from their places, looking like an earthquake and a tornado had hit at the same time. The land was scarred and silent, a testament to a terrible power.
At that moment, a rectangular portal opened in the air with a soft 'whoosh'.
A tall man with white hair showing signs of old age stepped out. His sharp eyes were full of malice and cruelty, and he wore a clean, white scientist's coat that seemed out of place in the desolate landscape.
He was none other than Dr. Raki. He was holding a big, red slime in his hand, almost twice the size of a human baby. It jiggled slightly with his movements.
"This should be the right place for it to have some peaceful time and assess its own identity and powers," he mutters to himself as he throws the red slime to the ground. It landed with a soft, wet plop.
Despite being directly dropped to the ground, there was no movement in the slime at all. It just lay there, a still, gelatinous blob.
The sunlight glistened on its jelly skin, making it shine brightly. In its jelly body, there was a particular thing that was clearly standing out.
A small black chip was attached to it. Its purpose was to take control of him in case he went out of control, kind of like a digital slave collar.
And more importantly, a malicious instinct of killing intent against Scarlett Nova had been programmed into it. An instinct to devour her at all cost from the moment he saw her.
"I did a minor change," Dr. Raki said to himself, a small smile on his lips. "Along with the killing intent for the demon angel, he'll have a natural instinct to protect my brother if he sees him."
Scarlett had captured his brother, Dr. Magi. Asmodeus, the third demon king, had refused to help for his own selfish reasons, and there was nothing Dr. Raki could do about it, Despite him serving Asmodeus for years.
There was no doubt that Dr. Rank was quite angry with Asmodeus but there was nothing he could about it. The difference in power between them was too great.
At this point he don't even know that if his brother is even alive or not, This was the only way he could have any hope of saving his brother.
He turns around slowly, his coat flapping in the gentle wind. Then, he turns his head back to take one last glance at the unmoving red slime.
"Let's see what you can do, Heavenly Demon!" he whispered, his voice filled with a dark, anticipatory glee.
With that, he takes out a remote-like thing from his pocket and presses a button. He then steps back inside the portal, which closed behind him with a faint hum.
Creeeek!...
A bolt of electricity shot out from the chip, crackling with energy. The next moment, the red slime's body twitched for the first time.