"If I told you to pull your guys from the fight, would you get mad at me?"
When Atractivo finished his words, he was very calm, but the same couldn't be said for the Holy Bone Sect Sheikh.
"Are you out of your mind? How can you ask for such a thing?"
The bald man unleashed such an energy that the wall of flames surrounding the battlefield flexed inward. Obviously, the Sheikhs could enter whenever they wanted, but this would be the rudest move they could make.
"When has this brother of yours ever talked nonsense? I'll take full responsibility, just listen to my word one more time!"
Throwing his right arm around Hueso's shoulder, Atractivo grinned with delight amidst the bewildered stares of the onlookers. Eyes were not on the battlefield, but on the two Sheikhs huddled closely together.
"Desert Storm!"
Even if they weren't the center of attention, the Holy Earth and Holy Ice disciples didn't stop fighting; they continued to unleash their techniques one by one.
The Holy Earth Sect students dumped massive amounts of sand into the arena by opening their mouths as wide as they would go, and Desierto in front of them unleashed his technique. The target of the sand waves rising one after another was the defensive stance of the Holy Ice disciples. The sand grains, blown by a wind appearing out of nowhere, had reduced visibility to almost zero.
"Absolute Freeze!"
The answer came from Tipo. Standing at the tip, the young girl right to Nieve's right waved her pale blue fan, ensuring they were surrounded by swirling snow.
Against the sandstorm coming in waves, a wildly spinning blizzard. When the two energies clashed, there was another power fluctuation. The flame barrier flexed outward, taking on an elliptical shape, as if someone stepped on it.
"What a violent clash!"
"Indeed, it seems we didn't come here for nothing!"
"The younger generation of the Hell Realm doesn't make us miss their ancestors!"
The representatives of the Mercenaries were talking among themselves, but their voices were a bit louder than normal for everyone to hear.
"Atractivo, how can I do what you ask of me in front of these bastards?"
The Holy Bone Sect Sheikh Hueso's mind was elsewhere; he was mulling over his friend's proposition.
"Would you rather talk over your granddaughter's dead body, or have them mock you for backing down? Don't you dare tell me you can beat the Holy Fire disciples?"
When his friend's words finished, the man with chalk-colored skin swallowed hard. Hearing the truth didn't always leave a pleasant taste in the mouth.
"You haven't been at the head of the sect for all that time, and your resources are getting squeezed more and more every day. The reason for this is you standing by my side, I'm aware of everything, but look, the danger of falling from sect status is gone. Good days are just around the corner!"
Sheikh Atractivo spoke so reasonably that even his friend pulled his head back a bit and checked him out from head to toe. Is he crazy? Is he a scholar? The handsome Sheikh was like a Russian nesting doll; you never knew what would pop out of him.
At the same time, the battle of the disciples of the two sects reached its climax; the Holy Earth was throwing everything they had at them. Clay Golems, sandstorms, and weapons coated in light yellow energy were about to come down on the Holy Ice quintet.
"Freezing Point!"
Placing both hands on the black floor, Nieve shouted with his booming voice; everyone's eyes were on him. The freezing, starting from the point where his skin touched the ground, spread at the speed of light; within the span of three or four blinks, heaven and earth were white. The wall of flames surrounding the battlefield faded and slowly began to freeze over.
"Third Fiend!"
Eyshan had to step in. The flames of the red-robed fiend standing to her right set off to counter the freezing. Fortunately, there was a world of difference between the intensity of a clash between young disciples and the abilities of a Fiend.
"This round has ended with our defeat!"
When the Holy Earth Sect Sheikh Tierra conceded defeat, the Fiend's flames spread into the arena as well, rescuing the quintet trapped in the ice. The Holy Earth disciples, whose bodies, blood, weapons, and energies were frozen, were barely breathing. After all those attacks, they had lost the battle with a single strike.
"The Holy Ice Sect is truly dazzling!"
"There's a world of difference between genuine ice energy and artificial ice energy!"
When the representatives spoke, Eyshan really spread out on her throne; judging by her rolling her eyes, she had a few words to say.
"Of course there will be a difference between the energy produced by creatures calling themselves Engineers and the energy bestowed by the Holy Mountain. The Empire of Machines, huh, a bunch of talentless humans!"
Eyshan's arrogance wasn't unwarranted. While the Mercenaries were located in the northern part of the continent, to their east lay the Empire of Machines, and on their southern borders were the Hell Realm and the Lands of Light. The powers of their two neighbors were at a level that could be called divine, and their only crutch was the combat equipment produced by the inventors of the Empire of Machines.
They neither had innate energy affinities nor techniques to unlock their soul powers. They pillaged, they stole, bought low and sold high, and used their money to close the gap in their power.
The ones providing them with this capability were people calling themselves Engineers, and the place they lived was named the Empire of Machines. They had no gods, no holy things, no taboos, they only had their science. They made weapons, they made armors, they even produced artificial energy and soul power.
Therefore, it was only natural for Eyshan not to like, or even look down on, a society capable of mimicking her own traits. The representatives swallowed the insults indirectly thrown their way and continued their praises.
"Her Majesty the Queen is absolutely right in her words! How can something man-made ever be on par with the divine?"
"Our ice weapons would only bow down before this might and beg for forgiveness!"
As the guests spoke, Eyshan puffed up with pride, and smiles broke out in the ranks of the other sects. Only the Holy Blood and Holy Bone were keeping to themselves away from the situation; their agenda was a completely different matter.
"We've fought for centuries; if we're going to die, we'll die on the battlefield!"
Hueso's granddaughter stepped forward; she had been eavesdropping on the conversation between her grandfather and Atractivo from the very beginning.
"Muslo!"
"No, grandpa! I can't keep quiet while your drunk friend is trying to humiliate us!"
The Holy Bone Sect Sheikh called out to his granddaughter, but the response was a harsh outburst.
"You zombie-looking monkey. Shut your trap!"
Atractivo laughed off the insult, but someone sitting in the rows right behind him was going to lash out very harshly. Nafız spoke without turning her head, not taking her eyes off Eyshan and the Fiends for a single moment.
"What did you say. Say it again if you have the guts!"
"I said shut your trap! If you have a death wish, go ahead and die, but don't make noise in front of people you can't measure up against!"
A bone spear appeared in Muslo's hand out of nowhere; she was about to get up, but she froze in place along with the voice coming from the arena right across from them.
"The next struggle; Holy Bone against Holy Fire!"
The moment the announcement ended, five people materialized in the middle of the arena; five Holy Fire Sect Disciples in flame-red battle gear. The Holy Bone Quintet stood up, they started moving to advance to the battlefield.
"Stop!"
If it weren't for Hueso's intervention, they would have made it, but the chalk-skinned man's mind was in turmoil. He looked at the people across from him, then at Atractivo, and then at his granddaughter. The event, which took place over the span of just two breaths, was worse for him than years of torture.
"We will not fight! We concede defeat!"