The black dragon glanced at Ace before looking back at Wukong. "Is this some kind of joke? You want to send a kid to battle? Are you underestimating us?"
Hearing the dragon's words, a fiendish grin suffused his lips as he fearlessly looked up at the god-like beast that hovered above them. "You said magical beasts are superior to humans? I just want to see if that's really true.
Surely you're not scared of a little child, are you?"
As the dragon snorted, a strong gust of wind shot out its nostrils, pushing several foot soldiers off their feet. "If you're really willing to send a child to his death, then who am I to deny one of my subordinates a free meal?
Zarconul, you go. Tear that arrogant boy limb from limb!"
As he said that, a 6-foot brontosaurus with purple scales hopped off the dragon's back.
Venerin's eyes bulged when he saw that. "It's a Thunder Lizard. They actually sent a magical beast of the dragon race up. Kong, you know all beasts with dragon blood are superior to ordinairy magical beasts anyway. Are you-"
"Don't worry; he won't lose!" Wukong said confidently, interrupting the city lord midsentence.
He would be lying if he had said he had been entirely confident the whole time. He knew that the Ace was strong enough to beat almost any third-rank beast, but at the beginning, he was worried that the pressure of having so many lives at stake would be too much for him to bear. But looking at Ace's back, he could tell, he was just as calm as ever. He didn't know how an eight-year-old could show such composure in circumstances such as these, but he already knew Ace was no ordinairy eight-year-old.
'Peak of the 3rd rank?' Ace noted as he calmly watched the creature crash land on the ground in front of him, creating a small crater and cloud of smoke concealing its body from sight.
As the dust cleared, all the soldiers of Silverlight waited with bated breaths; many couldn't even bring themselves to watch. Those that did felt their hearts stop as a purple bolt of lightning tore through the smoke aiming straight for Ace.
As the bolt pierced through Ace's head unimpeded, crashing into the floor in front of them, the onlookers could only clench their fists and look away in frustration at their weakness and inability to do anything to change the fate of a small child.
Without fail, every single one of them believed Ace was dead. Even the city lord, who had faith in Wukong's vision, watched with reddened eyes as the bolt of lightning perforated the young child.
Even though he only met Ace that day, the thought of a child who didn't even live in Silverlight losing his life trying to protect his city put an unimaginable strain on his heart. His head snapped to his right as he glared at the ape-like man who caused this. "KONG, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
But even as Venerin grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, Wukong merely smiled calmly as he said. "I already told you he wouldn't lose."
"What are you talking about? That poor boy ju-"
"RRAAAHHHHH!"
Hearing the pain-filled roar of what sounded like the brontosaurus Venerin turned his attention back to the battlefield, where he saw a sight he would never forget.
A young boy with long curly black hair casually stood holding a glaive over his shoulder, looking down at the decapitated body of an adult-sized magical beast.
"Well, that was easier than I expected!"
Though the cloud of dust had covered the body of the Thunder Lizard, how could Ace, who had his [observation] active from the moment he jumped off the wall, be caught off guard by an attack like that?
As soon as he noticed the lightning essence being summoned, his smile widened as he thought back to the higher-ranking members of the world government he fought against in his previous life. They were all able to use a movement technique that allows the user to move at rapid speeds.
At the time, he found the users of this particular technique more of a nuisance than anything else. Fortunately, with the help of his fire elemental devil fruit, Ace had never struggled too much against them.
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But when speaking to Wukong the other day about speed being his weakness, it was that very technique that came to mind.
As soon as the lightning bolt was fired, Ace kicked off against the ground ten times in an instant, allowing him to not only dodge the incoming attack but also appear behind his opponent before it realised anything was wrong.
By the time it realised someone was behind it, the blade of Ace's glaive was already mere centimeters away from its neck. All it could do was roar unwillingly as it was cleanly decapitated.
'Who thought I'd ever feel thankful to the World Government for anything? But I have to admit, [Soru] is definitely a useful technique.' Ace thought to himself as he glanced up at Wukong, who was looking down at him from the top of the city's outer walls.
"That brat," Wukong said as he looked at Ace in surprise. "When did he learn a movement technique?"
"Movement technique?" Venerin asked in shock. "You mean…"
"That lightning bolt only hit Ace's afterimage," Wukong said with a slowly widening grin as he looked back at the new student he had recruited not long ago. "Yahaha, I guess humans aren't that weak after all."
Though Wukong hadn't spoken loudly, as a saint-level magical beast, how could the dragon not have heard him? Several of the weaker members collapsed under the might of his rising aura.
"Don't tell me you're already planning on going back on our agreement. What happened to your dragon's pride?" Wukong asked, trying to force the colossal dragon to keep his word.
Though the smile on his face was light as ever, his staff was firmly grasped in his hand, ready to react to whatever happened next.
The black-scaled behemoth in the sky glanced at the boy standing over the corpse of one of its fellow dragons. He wasn't stupid; he understood what it meant for a boy so young to be able to defeat a magical beast of a higher level.
That glaive-wielding child was undoubtedly a prodigy.
It was common knowledge that although beasts tended to be stronger than humans at the same level, there was a small number of humans who were able to defeat beasts at the same rank and an even smaller number of humans who were able to jump ranks to defeat magical beasts, but for there to be one who was not only exceedingly young but also able to defeat a magical beast of a higher level with such ease…
He had half a mind to kill him right there, and now before he could grow and turn into a genuine threat. But when he heard the human-ape mocking his dragon pride, he couldn't bring himself to go through with it. It wasn't just his face he'd be besmirching; it was dragons everywhere.
"That was just the first match," The dragon snorted disdainfully. "It's far from over!"
.
.
.
As Ace made his way back, he noticed the expression on the faces of everyone he passed had done a complete 180. Gone was the pity and silent regret; replacing it was respect and awe. He could also feel the morale rising slightly.
Though everyone knew they were far from being out of the woods, Ace's win meant they only had to win one more fight to escape this tribulation unscathed. Even in the face of a saint-rank black dragon – a creature that would otherwise mean certain death – Ace had given them hope. Hope that they'd get the chance to go home and see their families again.
As he climbed back on top of the wall, Ace was immediately approached by Venerin. Before he could say anything, Venerin took a deep bow, and using his battle-qi, he was able to project his voice into the ears of every person on the battlefield. "Ace, on behalf of Silverlight city – Thank you! Your contribution won't be forgotten, and neither will it be wasted."
Facing the city lord's show of gratitude, Ace was rendered speechless. He wasn't actually here to help them. Ace was no hero. If it weren't for Wukong telling him it'd be a good opportunity to train, even if he had known they were about to face a beast tide, Ace never would've gone out of his way to help them. But, in the face of Venerin's sincerity, he would be lying if he said he wasn't affected.
"It was my pleasure," Ace replied as he put his hands under the man's shoulder. "There's no need for such formalities."
"Of course there is. Thanks to you, we're one step closer to avoiding a calamity. Now you can sit back and leave the rest to us!" Venerin exclaimed before turning back to face his six loyal generals. "Hysode, I'll leave the next fight in your capable hands."
Ace watched with a hint of surprise as the youngest of the six generals calmly stepped forward.
It was a beautiful woman with long silky brown hair who looked to only be in her 20s. She was dressed in tight-fitting light silver armour that accentuated her alluring curves, a black leather skirt with a tear running up her thigh that allowed for ease of movement, and a liuyedao sword similar to Venerin's.
"Yes, master. I won't let you down." Hysode softly voiced as she elegantly jumped off the wall.
As beautiful as she was, Hysode still exuded a sharp and valiant air that prevented others from underestimating her. But a slight frown appeared on Ace's face as he watched her head to battle.
Of the six generals, only two were at the seventh rank. The other four were all at the sixth rank. From their respective auras, Ace could tell that one of them was only half a step from breaking through to the seventh rank.
On the other hand, Hysode was only at the early stages of the sixth rank, and judging by the stability of her aura, she appeared to have only broken through recently.
Of all the options available, though she wasn't the last, she definitely wouldn't have been Ace's first pick.
"Don't worry about Hysode," Venerin said slowly, as if he could read what was going through Ace's mind. "My disciple may be the youngest of my generals, but she's also the strongest of all the intermediate warriors and, without a doubt, the most talented warrior in the city.
As it stands, she's the one that stands the best chance of all of us at becoming a saint in the future."