67th chapter : game start .

As the warm reunion seemed to be like a threat to most of the attendees, Marco didn’t care as he himself, just like the other red mermaid members, was determined on showing the true strength of their hardships.

Emilis was like a proud father as he saw their faces filled with enthusiasm, let alone the courage of facing the trials of this festival. He smiled at them then returned to where the masters were sitting as they all did the same for their members too.

Emilis had a calm look on him too as he took seat last.

“You’re really satisfied with your little babies now Emilis!!” Jeanne said, wanting to tease him.

“Of course I am! I mean they took a long way to reach this level and I’m proud to call them my little kids too!!” Emilis responded.

Emilis broke her expectations as Jeanne flustered because of his response and kept silent.

“Is that so! Master Emilis!!” Layla said out of the blue as she took a seat next to Edina.

“Layla chan!! Can I ask why are you interested in Emilis’ boy!?”.

Annie asked as they all saw Layla taking a seat normally with the masters, Layla looked at her with a bit surprised face then smiled replying.

“He’s my boyfriend!”.

At that moment, they all turned to look at Emilis who was surprised too. It wasn’t the response that shocked them more than Vanica who appeared out of nowhere, reeking an aura of anger so suddenly.

“Ho!! Really?!!” Vanica said as she gave Sophie to Emilis.

“Ahaha!! you must be joking, right?” Emilis asked.

He saw Layla still smiling, so the guilds’ masters were surprised, taking that as a yes.

“More importantly than this!! Master Emilis!! He was being pushy so he didn’t answer my question!! How strong Marco is!?!” Layla asked as she was also being pushy.

No matter how they saw Layla’s reaction, it was her who’s being competitive with the one she loves.

The second that Emilis was about to respond the lights got turned off and were spotted right at the stand as Dalian was about to announce something.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!! I hope you liked the food!! As for the ones who are still with us watching from their homes!! I can say that you did good as the real entertainment is going to start now!!”.

Dalian spoke enthusiastically, snapping his fingers to make all the included holders, who were announced as participants, get teleported into a single room with another holder as an opponent.

“Well I shall explain!!”.

Dalian shouted through the mic, therefore before he could finish his words, a window viewer popped out of nowhere in the middle of the hall, announcing the first point for the red mermaid by Marco.

Within that second, Vanica and Emilis, who were taking a seat with the rest of the masters, chuckled at what just happened as Emilis gave his comments on the scene.

“This serves as an answer I guess my lady, it’s not just Marco but all the guild is” Answered Emilis.

As Emilis finished his words, six other notices showed up showing all the red mermaid members scoring their first point afterwards.

The rest of the red mermaid at the table started laughing too as Dalian was surprised by this outcome.

“Uhm!? Ahahaha!! I’m surprised as you are but this gives a good explanation I guess. Finish your opponent and get a point to collect more, every guild master has prepared what their members need, so be sure to take them before the starting sign of the fight!! Good games!!”.

Dalian finished as he wiped the sweat off his forehead after that, still shocked by how fast red mermaid members moved even without knowing the rules.

Few moments before Marco’s first point.

“Hey!! I’m lucky!! You’re the newbie from red mermaid!! How dare you talk to Lady Layla like that!! On behalf of the love of my life!! I’ll wipe you from!!” said Marco’s foe.

The guy was talking rampantly as they were being transported into the room. At the given moment that they arrived, Marco wiped his foe’s upper body with a wind thrust.

“You talk a lot and Lu isn’t someone that you’re going to put your hands on so beat it” Marco said as he saw the window that popped up.

He grinned as he saw that the other members also did the same as him, they all finished their opponents a split second after the announcement of Marco’s.

“There’s something inside the wall, potions? Right, at least some comfortable clothes, and what’s this scabbard? When did he get it done in the first place? There’s different stuff on the other wall. Must be that lousy person’s things. For now I’ll take the potions for Alex senpai”.

Marco said, complaining to Yuna at what Emilis gave him. In that second, Marco took off his upper clothes only as he noticed that the cameras were turned on at him.

“Master Emilis!! What’s with the scar on his body!! That’s not normal!! What happened to him!!” spoke Layla.

Layla said, looking worried and shocked at the same time just like the other masters and most of the people who were watching.

Mostly because it was designed in a way to let the women change outfits easily and without putting any attention to female holders, all the eyes were turned to the man who got the first point.

“To be honest. I myself don’t know, he doesn’t speak about it and mostly I don’t think it’s a birthmark. Then again he doesn’t speak about anything at all” Emilis responded.

“No matter how you look at it, the kid survived that. I’m sorry for my rudeness but he is far stronger than what he looks, so don’t be intimidated in the next matches” Vanica responded, smiling while looking at them stunned.

“Vanica maman is right!! Marco nii is too strong and he’s gonna win this!!” said Sophie.

Sophie’s words were so sudden as she wanted to root for her brother, therefore she eased their shock by accident and calmed them down with her smile.

On the other side, Vanica fainted as she heard Sophie calling her like that.

Back to that aspect, after taking the potions and waiting for the next door to open, his next opponent was taken by shock.

Marco instantly blew the black sword at the wall as a decoy then leaped to where he threw it, not giving his opponent a chance to move after blocking his moves with chains and blowing his head with a wind thrust.

“Second point, huh, let’s see what that old man said? Get points and convert them to cards, it’s not that hard”. Marco said, calmly waiting for the next opponent to enter the same room.

The mechanics of the game was like a maze that connected the rooms based on time and how all the holders do during their fights, so Marco was getting his time to finish most of the foes that came in his way pretty much easily.

“I’ll go easy for now”.

Marco spoke as he deflected an attack then he restricted the opponent’s movements with chains again.

His foe was completely struck down as she wasn’t expecting such swift movements at all.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“What are you doing?!”

The girl asked, looking flustered as she saw Marco looking around her, let alone his gaze seemed to be on her pockets.

“Ah, don’t worry I’m looking for the potions that you have, since it’s only the start of this game, you won’t be using them, so!”.

Marco said, calmly smiling at her as he took two potions then threw them in the middle of the air for a sudden portal was opened right beneath the bottles.

“You‘re a jerk!! you know that!!?” she protested angrily.

“I don’t really care how people see me”.

Marco responded then finished her off by blowing her head with a wind thrust, heaving a sigh afterwards.

“Ah! you finally connected!! man what happened to you!!” Alex said as soon as Marco put on the kits in his ears.

“Sorry, I was taking it so far since I got half of the points by now” Marco responded.

“You’re really late, you know!!” Carla said.

“That doesn’t matter for now!! Short long story!! Everyone is doing fine by now! so I needed a helping hand. Thank you for sending the potions to me! And you’re the holder with the largest reserves, I’ll send you some of my weapons. Charge them, like we agreed!!” Alex spoke as she was also fighting her foe at the same time.

“That’s kinda cheating but why only Alex who gets a helping hand!!” Sam said as he was finishing off his opponent.

“You want a helping hand!? I thought you can handle anyone?” Xavier responded, being in the same situation as Sam.

The seven of them were fighting and talking simultaneously whilst enjoying their time.

“Well, send them, I don't mind, I'm taking a rest either way” Marco answered finally.

“Wait, how are you taking a rest?!” Alice was confused by his words.

“I’m using the chains as an orb shield although I’m not tired”.

Marco answered her question then he leaped out of the position to the other side. As he got a glimpse of his opponent, he slammed him to the wall with a wind thrust.

“I’m not sad that I got a sword but I really miss my shield!!” Carla responded as she froze her opponent.

“Anyway!! You guys are combatants so no other word!! I’m the one who’s taking a hard time!” Alex said as she was fighting with Marco’s close combat style.

Her whole training was by the hand of Yuna and Cedric, so she would build a proper reflexive defense, merging the two styles. Yuna had an arsenal of weapons on her, so Alex did the same but chose to use rechargeable euro based weapons as she built her own safe vault place within the training ground and put most of the weapons that she made Emilis buy for her there.

“I’m gonna use the long lance so put everything inside!!” Alex said as she pulled the lance from a small portal.

“How can a navigator fight!!”.

Her opponent was surprised that Alex was on the upper table against him, she looked at him with a confident smile after knocking him down with a swift blow.

“That’s because I’m the navigator of red mermaid!!”.

Alex responded before using a portal as a shield to guard her next foe’s bullets, she took her time and gave Marco that lance too.

“Oowah!! So cool Alex senpai!!” He said, trying to tease her about the choice of weapon.

“Shut up already!! and focus on your opponent!! Filthy red mermaid member!!” Marco smiled as his foe was also pissed off by the outcome of the battle so far.

“Hmm? We have a yawning kid here. Here you go senpai! Have fun!” said Marco.

Marco responded after finishing off the foe by blowing the black sword at his head. Calmly waiting for the next foe to come, Marco seemed to be vigilant of who will appear next.

In the moment that the door was opened, Marco noticed that his next foe was someone interesting indeed, as both charged at each other, blocking both a punch and kick at the same, they were enticed by this outcome.

His foe smiled then he leaped to the back.

“Seems like I got to fight you Marco Deca!” The guy said as he grinned, clearly filled with enthusiasm.

“Finally someone who doesn’t care who I am and wants to fight only” Marco responded as he finally started to stretch his arms and legs.

The guy smiled as he took his time drinking a potion and preparing himself too.

“Let’s see who will win this fight!!” He said as he took a stance.

“Sorry, but I don’t wanna stop any time soon to know who’s gonna win this fight”.

Marco responded as the next second that both were about to clash at each other, a window popped up between them showing a notice.

Marco and the guy jumped to the back as they were looking at the window viewer.

“Kings game cleared? What does this mean?” The guy said as he was inspecting the area around him.

“Means that both of us are qualified, so the fight is over” Marco responded as he put his black sword in the scabbard.

“Heeh!! but I want to fight you!!” The guy said as his hand was on flames.

The second that he fired that flame at Marco, a sudden chain dispersed it before it would even pass a meter into his range as Marco turned to face his foe. Marco took a deep breath then calmly spoke with a smile.

“Sorry, but I guess it’s gonna be next time!”.

The cold and collected smile that Marco had on him, made the guy shiver for a second but his face showed rather than fear, it showed a passion towards longing for a fight.

Since the matches of the first game were concluded, most of the fighters who happened to lose due to time being done were transported out. That left about seventy holders only, who won the cards of the next game, therefore were left in the middle of the rooms so the system won’t get an overload although they opened the way out for them.

“I’m Ryu!! Ryu Fanalis!!”.

Ryu, the guy who was all fired up about fighting Marco, said as the two were stuck with each other the whole way.

“I see”.

Marco calmly responded, not wanting to talk.

“The way you fight is truly awesome!! You’re flexible and you know your way with chains!! That’s cool!!”.

Ryu was the kind of person who got enthusiastic, a little over the board over seeing some impressive things happen in front of him.

“But I’m sure that the most interesting thing is that invisible wind thing you do with your hand!”.

However, he’s also the kind of troublesome guy who has a sharp eye, noticing what goes under the table with ease.

Eventually he got Marco’s interest by saying that statement, because Marco made sure that he didn’t show the wind thrust to anyone by using his black sword during the attack.

“You have a sharp eye for someone who plays dumb the whole time”. Marco said, finally responding to Ryu’s words as the two looked at each other for a few seconds. Marco sighed as Ryu smiled at him.

“I guess I’ll also be entertained when we fight each other. you already know my name so no need to introduce myself, pleased to meet you, Ryu kun”.

Marco said as he held his hand for a handshake therefore Ryu grinned as he took Marco’s hand and made it as a fist.

“I’m better with this kind of thing!!” Ryu said as they fist-bumped each other.

Marco looked aside as Yuna spoke at that moment.

“You guys all passed up as I see, good work” Marco said as he got together with Carla and the rest.

“Of course! The idiot who got ahead of us because of just one second of hesitation !” Sam said as he fist-bumped Marco’s.

“Well, the thing is they never got their guards in front of me, they thought it was easy to beat me!! I had so much fun!! Gehehehe!!”.

Alex was looking around as all the people were seeing that a navigator won one of the slots for the next game. Pretentious, it was a first time thing, let alone it was coming from Red mermaid nonetheless.

“For now, it’s not like we’re in first place but not even one guild was able to make one of us out of this game” Alice said as she looked at the other vice masters with a smug face.

A lot of holders were pissed off.

“You won by luck and cheating!! there’s no way that you could’ve won all the matches!! It’s outrageous mockery!! Bunch of lowly cheaters!!”.

The hatred didn’t stop until Alex had shut them all with a simple smile.

“Yeah, that’s right, Even mermaids can be vicious monsters when they get angry,” responded Alex.

At that moment, they all got more enraged as some of them released their serments in accordance to Alex’s response.

“The hell you said!!”.

However, all of their serments got forcibly sealed by a simple act as Alex exhaled her breaths, unleashing a euro pressure on the sight.

“Aren’t you getting a little high of yourselves, Morons?”.

The pressure was some kind of cold threatening aura directed towards all the guilds as a letter of challenge, therefore Alex took it a bit too far with the pressure she released upon those who were still around.

“Senpai, you’re taking it too far, let’s get going now,” said Marco. Marco flicked her on the forehead as the red mermaid members passed by everyone.

On the masters’ side, Emilis was calmly watching the results of the growth that his members had gone through as most of their matches were finished quickly within a time limit that amounted to less than three minutes. The rest of the guilds’ masters were just feeling flabbergasted by such results.

“You know that they put a red flag on their heads right?” Alexander said, grinning his fullest.

“Yeah I know but this is the starting point of the game cause not just my kids as I am seeing it, but most of you guys’ kids are getting thrilled over being irritated, Am I wrong Edina chan!?” responded Emilis.

Emilis saw that Edina was shocked the most after clearly eating the words of Marco when they first met.

“Ah, I’m clearly getting thrilled right now!” She responded as Emilis smiled back at her.

“For now I guess papa won’t program any games so you guys can take it easy for the next two days!!” Layla said as she gave the sleeping Sophie to Vanica.

The masters looked at her, stretching her arms into the air, looking a bit tired, but a hint of enthusiasm still lingered within her gaze.

“Thank you for your hard work Layla san!” Jeanne responded as all the masters stood, bowing to her.

“Seems like she’s head over heels!! After seeing his quick matches just now!!” Recka said as he looked at Layla leaving the place.

“She’ll try to do something to have fun in the first place too, so I bet there will be a match where we spar together”.

Emilis responded with a confident smile as they all looked at him with a disgusted look not wanting to say anything to him in complaint of his words.

The first game of the festival has concluded.

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