Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 411: Nova’s Great Blunder

“God Toseko, may I be permitted to speak, despite my low cultivation?” A solemn, familiar voice echoed through the colosseum, coming from the arena tunnels below.

Immediately recognizing the voice, God Toseko leaned forward and held up his hands to silence the prefecture lords. “Yes, given how your pupil is involved in this dispute, I’ll permit you to speak. But should you present a nonsensical argument, you’ll be punished for interrupting the matters of prefecture lords.”

“Thank you for such mercy, your omnipotence...”

All eyes turned toward one of the arena tunnels. Unsurprisingly, most everyone recognized that voice, either from their brief conversation with the god not too long ago or because he’s known across Iron Town and the surrounding territories.

Out stepped Vloz. However, everyone’s eyes instantly shifted to the silent man in a cold sweat at the leopard’s side.

“First,” stated Vloz, “I want to ask Lord Isaac Draco if he recognizes this man.”

Caught up in the moment, Isaac’s throat was locked up in shock.

.....

Seeing Isaac struggle, Toseko smiled and asked, “Isaac, do you recognize that man? And remember, lying before the Noxious God is a crime punishable by death.”

Isaac wanted to bite off his own tongue from his overwhelming frustration. “... Yes. I do.”

“Who is this man?” Vloz asked.

“Must I repeat his questions, or will you answer willingly?” Toseko added.

Trying to breathe slowly and calm down, Isaac answered, “He’s the king of a neighboring region.”

Nodding, Vloz pressed his sharpened tail further into the man’s lower back. His essence had turned the tail into a spearhead, aimed carefully at the man’s heart. “Then, why was one of your regional kings holding our Vanishing-night Fox Clan hostage, all while everyone was distracted by the exhibition? And, he has confessed that it was under your orders.”

Toseko’s grin instantly spread from ear to ear. He, along with the other lords and the crowd, waited for the answer.

“... I...” Isaac hesitated, glancing at Toseko’s devious grin. “... I choose to not answer that question.”

“Fine. Then, from that may I assume that he was not acting on your orders?”

“... Again, I choose to not answer.”

All the prefecture lords stared at Isaac with varied looks. Some thought he was pitiful, like Isla and Warak. Some thought him a complete fool for getting caught by a perennial, like Peimar. Inka and Treeda were both startled but overwhelmingly glad to see Isaac suddenly facing such trouble.

Vloz nodded, continuing, “Alright. I have no power to force a mighty prefecture lord to answer the questions of a lowly peak-perennial, such as myself. However, by territorial law, if this early-king did not act on your orders, then I have no choice but to kill him here and now. Isn’t that correct?”

“...” Isaac was shaking from his pent-up rage. “... On what grounds-”

Vloz cut off the prefecture lord, declaring, “This man, without receiving your orders, is a mere trespasser that has threatened one of Iron Territory’s patrician clans, one of our pillars of strength and support. For threatening to overthrow the balance of our territory and for threatening the family of my personal pupil, a perfect candidate, the only option he faces is immediate death. Am I wrong, Lord Isaac Draco?”

“You’re correct!” Treeda suddenly spoke up. “And, from this moment forward, Rhyner Region is officially part of Toxic-shadow Prefecture, making this man’s criminal act a felony on a prefectural level. Unless Isaac had given this man orders before the region was returned to Toxic-shadow, this man shall be killed immediately. So, Isaac, will you answer the question, or do you refuse?”

Isaac hesitated. He looked to his older sister, but she was shaking her head and hiding her face. Then he looked to Toseko. However, the god was clearly on no one’s side, letting the prefectures handle the matter for his amusement.

“Will you answer, yes or no?” Treeda repeated. “That’s the final time I ask.”

“... I refuse to answer.”

COUGH! Cough. Thud...

The king’s carcass flopped over as Vloz removed his tail. “Thank you for your cooperation, Lord Isaac Draco. It has allowed us to reach a clear conclusion to the incident.”

Isaac’s lip twitched. He nearly roared and leaped into the arena to strangle the calculative cat.

Bowing to God Toseko, Vloz stated, “Your omnipotence, thank you again for your mercy, allowing me to speak up at a time like this.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for being brief and clear, allowing us to move the exhibition along with so little an interruption,” replied Toseko, smiling and nodding.

“Then, I’ll remove this trash and see myself out the arena.”

Without another word, the entire crowd witnessed Vloz cleanly remove the man’s core in a single swipe, barely leaving an entry wound. The leopard then held the core in his tail, as if casually showing it off, while storing the corpse away. He bowed to Slazza and Narja and leaped to his seat among Puula and the gorillas.

Narja and Slazza both chuckled to themselves while they started preparing the bracket for round two.

Unlike Narja, Slazza, and Toseko, other people chose not to contain their feelings.

“HA! Ha, ha, HA!” Falling back into his seat, Warak’s laughter boomed and filled the colosseum.

“What’s so funny?!” blurted Isaac, promptly returning to his seat. He moved to crush his armrests but he had already destroyed them.

“You!” Warak bluntly replied. “You bet it all! High risk, high reward! But you’ve forgotten the other side of that saying. Great risk, great fall!”

“I think that’s enough...” Isla groaned, feeling embarrassed to be Isaac’s sister at the current moment.

All the prefecture lords sat back down. They agreed with Isla and kept their thoughts to themselves, or at least between a select few via telepathy.

Then, Treeda proposed a question while bowing her head to Toseko, “Your omnipotence, I must ask, since Rhyner Region is now under my rule, that makes Netra my candidate. And since she fits the prerequisites to participate, I can enter her in the second round of the exhibition. Isn’t that correct?”

Suddenly, every prefecture lord dropped their train of thought and refocused on Treeda’s question.

Grinning a little wider, Toseko squinted and leaned back in thought. “That... is a great question.”