"Go kick his ass, boss!"

I exhaled as I entered the arena and went straight to the middle. As I walked, the roars of the spectators resonated throughout the place, with some of them jumping due to extreme excitement while looking at me from the audience platform where a tall wall was separating the arena and the audience platform above.

From the crowd, I saw Misha waving her hand at me, next to her was Mehrad crossing his arms, and Leo currently conversing with a guy wearing a butler suit standing next to him.

I don't know what they were talking about so all I could do was wonder.

I waved my hand towards Misha.

"So, you are the new leader of the Fang faction."

The fuck?

I immediately turned my gaze toward the person currently standing a few meters away from me.

Since when has he been standing there? He literally came out of nowhere! I didn't even sense him with my Mana perception!

Upon seeing him, the crowd stormed and became a lot louder than before.

"Master Leal!"

"Leal!"

"Master Leal!"

"So, you are Leal."

He brushed his short blonde hair up and looked at me with a puzzling smile on his face. The first thing I noticed was his long pointed ears indicating that he's indeed an elf.

Wearing a white tuxedo and slacks and black shoes, he looked like a high-ranking noble, a young master to be exact.

Based on the story I heard about him, I expected him to be a middle-aged aristocratic gentleman who looks like a mafia boss at the same time. I mean, I was not wrong about the aristocratic part, but he looks way younger than I anticipated.

Do all the faction leaders look this young? Maybe it has something to do with him being an elf.

"Yes, the name is Leal Bertrand, the faction leader of Marionette Faction and the founder of Marionette corps." He put his hand on his chest. "We have finally met, Casimir."

"Do all the challenges that you're accepting take place here? A little bit over the top if you ask me."

"I'm only using this place if I know I'm about to fight a powerful opponent."

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"I see, it makes sense."

"Before we start, I want to ask you a question, if you may."

"I don't mind."

His expression abruptly changed and turned very serious. "What is a meruem doing in this place? A calamity like you shouldn't be in here, and of all the people, you should understand that the most."

I put my arms on my waists. "I'm looking for a safe place to live in."

He chuckled but not in a funny way. "Really? I must admit, that's a reasonable reason… for a normal person."

"Do you have an issue with us?"

Even though I'm just a fake meruem.

He shook his head. "Not just me, the entire world has. On a different note, I have some conditions for our battle, I hope you won't mind hearing it."

I nodded.

"First, the Marionette corps is my property, if ever you have managed to defeat me, you can have the faction territory, but not my mercenaries. And lastly, If you lose, leave this town and never show your face ever again."

"Fair enough."

"Are you sure?" He immediately asked with subtle confusion in his eyes.

Maybe he expected me to express even a little bit of resistance.

"I've come here to win, to begin with. However, in return, if you lose, you'll help me accomplish my goal for this town. As my associate."

He smiled and nodded. "Then, it's a deal, you will end up losing anyway."

He walked back a few meters away from me and raised both of his hands while separating both of his feet.

"It's nice meeting you... Casimir."

And right in front of my eyes, he disappeared.

It happened very fast that the next thing I knew I was already rolling to the ground and wiping the floor with my own face.

Then, the intense pain occurred on my nape as if my bones were breaking apart, it was extremely painful!

I held my neck the moment I stopped rolling through the ground!

Man! That was destructive! That single kick was one hell of an attack!

I coughed as I stood up while the power-up from the attack I received just now immediately built up within me.

All I could hear was the gasps of the spectators after such a blink of an eye attack happened.

[Skill [Extreme Speed] was acquired.]

"What a troublesome skill." He said as he looked at me with visible irritation in his eyes. "I was planning to end this battle as soon as possible, but it turns out, Leo's skill granted you a ludicrous advantage, rather than getting knocked out, it made you more powerful. And now that my initial plan failed, I assume, you already copied my Extreme speed, am I right? Imitator?"

If it wasn't for the Warrior's rage, I'm already lying on the ground and flapping like a fish out of the water.

I stood up and brushed the dirt on my mouth. "I'm amazed, you've done a lot of research in a span of a single night."

He chuckled. "A Night? I have been investigating you since you knocked Leo down. Your name, race, abilities, and your potential threat probability, all of it. And based on what I've learned, you are a huge threat that I need to get rid of before you become an unstoppable force for us to deal with."

Dude, my battle with Leo just took place yesterday!

He raised his fists and looked at me with intense resolve in his green eyes.

"If it's still a game for you, it's not for me. Especially when a potential catastrophe like you is lurking around our town, it's my job to protect this place from any kind of danger, and I will. Although It greatly bothers me how come Mehrad hasn't done anything about you yet, it doesn't matter anymore because I will defeat you and drive you away from this place one way or another."

I activated my Fire and Electricity magic and covered my arms with them as I walked toward him. "I have something that I want to achieve so I can't leave this place and if you really want me to. Then, I wanna see you try, Leal."

I'm fairly certain that some of my bones got dislocated.