For Li Shiming, this tournament should and only be about House Li, and there was no room for the Dower. His loathing towards Wang Tong also increased ten folds, as he believed that only a member of the House Li was fit for inheriting the power of the Blade Warrior, not some low-life no account. As Li Shiming's thoughts went on, his eyes held a luster that meant death.
Suddenly, a chubby round face appeared close to Li Shiming's eyes. The face beamed from side to side and shouted, "Go Wang Tong Go! Go Ayrlarng Go!"
It was Karl.
Feeling embarrassed, Hu Yangxuan and Zhou Sisi hurried to drag Karl back to his seat.
"The winner is—PATROCLUS!"
This had been an easy victory for Patroclus, since he had only started to become serious when he used the Deva Lance. It was obvious then that Patroclus's previous fight must have been excruciatingly boring for him, yet he held his patience to wait for the fight against Wang Tong. All the while, Wang Tong's excellent performance was Patroclus's only consolation.
After Wang Tong's fight against Michaux, Patroclus was finally certain that he would be up against the heir of the Blade Warrior. After having watched Wang Tong's fight, even Patroclus was no longer certain of his victory. Meanwhile, this feeling of a sudden lack of confidence and superiority was exhilarating for the Ivantain Prince. Ever since he had mastered the Tactics of the Deva King, Patroclus had always been able to achieve whatever his heart desired. Despite the obvious convenience, the forlorn boredom from a lack of challenge had turned his life into a drudgery.
Truth be told, Patroclus had planned his attack so that the lance only grazed Heidi. Otherwise, the Kaedeians might have to choose another princess from the royal bloodline, because Heidi would never leave the Moon alive. His lance attack was more of a symbolic gesture, a manifesto of his determination and a response to Wang Tong's last match.
Wang Tong was one of the handfuls that had understood his intention clearly and well. When Wang Tong saw Patroclus's stunning performance, he finally understood the "frenemy" relationship between Li Feng and Rilangalos. In addition to Patroclus, Wang Tong conceded that he had an additional opponent: Li Shiming.
Seeing Wang Tong had attracted the attention of the Ivantian Prince, Ma Xiaoru felt proud of his boyfriend.
"The youngsters nowadays are incredible!" Wu Xin marveled. She had thought that the tournament would be a child's play. "But... how did Patroclus know about Wang Tong's hidden identity?"
Ma Dutian cracked a smile; he was also very pleased by Wang Tong's performance. "Perhaps it's his sixth sense, hehe. I look forward to their fight. However, Wang Tong will have to cross Li Shiming first. Xin, it's a different time now. I doubt anyone can stop Patroclus if Wang Tong failed." Ma Dutian lamented. Until a few minutes ago before he had seen Patroclus's lance attack, Ma Dutian had no idea what it meant to be the heir of Rilangalos.
"Wang Tong will defeat him! And he will become my son in law."
"Hehe, fine. You sound as if I don't like that boy. Anyhow, just for your information, your son in law has told your daughter everything about himself. In other words, she now knows much more about the Blade Warrior than both of us combined."
"You mean..."Wu Xin was taken back by the news.
Ma Dutian nodded. "I am glad that they trusted each other."
"I agree. That's something you can learn as well. "
Ma Dutian gave his wife a shy smile and then said, "I'm always... open to you."
Wu Xin rolled her eyes at Ma Dutian, but with a sweet smile on her face.
All media outlets praised the victory of Patroclus, and the fight was described as an easy win for the Ivantian prince.
Many experts had pointed out that although Patroclus hadn't broken free from the ice cage until the last moment, he had many opportunities to interrupt Heidi before she had completed the spell. They speculated that Patroclus did so to demonstrate the invincibility of the tactics of the Deva King to the world.
Many debates were also carried out around the fact that the two fighters both mentioned the Blade Warrior before the fight started. Moreover, as people started to connect the dots, they realized that Patroclus had always attended Wang Tong's fight even before he had become famous. All signs indicate that something must have been going on between the two fighters even before the tournament had started. By the same line of reasoning, it was easy to conclude that Patroclus was not merely taunting Wang Tong at the end of his match. Instead, there seemed to be more significant issues that needed to be settled between the two.
What had made Patroclus taunt the Dragon Warrior? What kind of a story had happened between the two? Questions came one after another, but people knew that they wouldn't find out the answers until the two started fighting.
So far, three combatants had succeeded in their quarterfinals, but who would be the fourth one? Would it be Lie Jian from Mars or Zhang Buyu from the Templar?
Everyone waited for the fight to start with great anticipation.
Inside the resting room, Lie Jian flexed his wrist impatiently. He was disgruntled by the fact that Patroclus had pointed at Wang Tong and not him.
Lie Jian's goal was clear; he needed to get rid of the last hurdle — Zhang Buyu— before he reached his ultimate goal, Patroclus.
Soon, the final match was about to start. The arena maintenance crew had been working round the clock to replace the entire stage. This wasn't the first time they had to do it, and therefore, they had finished the repair faster than expected. However, recharging the first and second layers of the energy shield would take a much longer time. Therefore, the tournament committee had decided to continue the fight with only the third layer on. Meanwhile, the committee had ordered the safety crew to turn on two more energy shields in addition to the three existing layers during the semifinals.
Even with such rigorous safety precautions, a small line of fine print was added to the ticket of the first row seats, indicating the risk of injury for sitting so close to the stage. Nevertheless, these tickets were sold out in a blink, as everyone wanted to witness the fighter's greatness despite the danger.
Zhang Buyu sat quietly inside the resting room as he reflected on his previous fights. Although the most well respected Templar trained him, he knew that he needed to see more and his cultivation should not be restricted within the Court.
"Wish you good luck!" Ye Kai said nervously. The last couple of fights had opened his eyes to another level of power.
"Who is this Wang Tong? Why does Patroclus care so much about him?"
"I'm not sure. But I sense that he is behind the huge improvement of Hu Yangxuan as well."
"Did it ever cross your mind that he could be the heir of the Blade Warrior?" Wu Gang asked abruptly.
"Haha! You have been listening to rumors again." Ye Kai laughed.
The two fighters stepped onto the stage at the same time, as a swell of thunderous cheers welcomed them. The last two fights had set the bar so high that Zhang Buyu wished that he could live up to the expectations of the audience.
Lie Jian was in a flaming red gym shirt, topped with red hair curled up like the mane of a lion. A fire burned in his eyes, as if he could not wait to tear his opponent apart with bare hands.