Chapter 57: The Frenzied Serpent

Jin took a slap from Lin Qi but did not dare make a sound. Lin Qi’s face was twisted and ferocious, as if he were about to kill someone. In Lin Qi’s eyes, Jin saw madness and a thirst for blood, and he dared not utter another word. Lin Qi was undoubtedly a petty thug, but the man behind him, the Blackbeard, was far more terrifying. Though Jin knew little about the Black Tiger family, every young noble of Dunkirk had received the same warning from their elders: never cross anyone from that mansion atop Black Beech Hill.

That was a figure in Dunkirk who could stir the clouds and call forth the wind—a powerful presence who commanded the fear and respect of all the city’s noble houses.

Jin clapped his hands vigorously, shouting for the arena guards to open the iron cages. The sting of Lin Qi’s slap vanished instantly from his mind—he was simply a practical businessman. Lin Qi had threatened to chop him up and feed him to the fish, and Jin believed he was fully capable of such a deed, so he chose to forget.

The young gentlemen and ladies present remained silent as well; it was clear that this had become a contest between the two visiting ladies and Lin Qi. The heiresses of the Vyars Commercial Federation’s greatest houses were facing off against Dunkirk’s notorious local ruffian—this was no fight for outsiders to meddle in.

Yet Lin Qi was, after all, one of their own. However notorious his misdeeds, however many of them he had offended, he was still a son of Dunkirk, while the two beautiful girls were outsiders. Though the Dunkirk youths could not unite against them, they could at least remain neutral and hold their tongues.

Lin Qi’s twisted face turned, his eyes nearly spitting fire. He stared at Ya and Ling and said coldly, “If my friend so much as loses a single hair, you will both lose something as well. Don’t think you’ll leave Dunkirk unscathed.”

Ya and Ling sneered, shaking their heads in disdain. “Are you saying that you, a country bumpkin, dare threaten us?” they scoffed.

Lin Qi pressed his lips together and said nothing. The Vyars Commercial Federation was the most prosperous nation on the Western Continent, its economy and culture the envy of all. The haughty Federation citizens regarded all foreigners as yokels, and the great houses of Vyars were even more arrogant and overbearing, just as Ya and Ling demonstrated now.

Lin Qi saw no need to waste words. If they truly harmed Enzo, he would see to it that they never left Dunkirk alive.

Not only they themselves—should harm come to Enzo, their families would taste the Black Tiger clan’s most ruthless vengeance. Their caravans would be plundered by bandits on every road, their merchant ships hunted by every pirate at sea, their relatives marked by every assassin in the underworld, and even their employees and their employees’ families would be subject to merciless murder and abduction.

With fists clenched, Lin Qi felt a boundless malice rise toward these two women who had appeared so suddenly. Dunkirk was his home, his territory—how dare these women act so brazenly before him! Did being the heiresses of Vyars’ greatest houses truly make them invincible?

Ya and Ling narrowed their eyes, studying Lin Qi. Was this the enemy Arthur was to face?

As companions to Elham, they bore a heavy responsibility: to spread the light of the gods across the Gallic Empire, to see divine authority rise above royal power. To promote the glory of the gods, they needed powerful allies—Arthur was their chosen partner, drawn to them by his own ambition. They saw potential in him and so chose to cooperate.

Since they were to work with Arthur, Lin Qi had to be destroyed. Of course, it would be foolish to do so in Dunkirk. But once Lin Qi left its borders, bereft of his family’s protection, he would be as helpless as a rootless weed in a storm.

Today, they had only come to see what sort of person he was. Ya and Ling casually approached the railing, overlooking the arena below. This was merely a test for Lin Qi; his anger was of no concern to them. Apart from having a strong family and a formidable father, what did this ruffian Lin Qi have to boast of?

“Country bumpkin!” Ya and Ling curled their lips in unison and snorted.

Lin Qi let out a cold laugh, glancing at Enzo’s unconscious form on the ground, then at the middle-aged man who had struck him down, nodding slowly. He had made up his mind—certain people needed to be reminded that this was Dunkirk, not the Vyars Federation.

In the grand arena, several burly guards turned massive winches in a hidden chamber within the walls. Huge metal gears ground together with a deep, grating rumble. Dozens of iron chains, drawn taut, began to pull. As the chains tightened, the mechanisms inside the two cages holding the magical beasts released. The cages slowly rose, disappearing into the walls.

The curtain in the center of the arena was also drawn back, and for the first time, the two beasts saw one another.

The Ice-armored White Bear let out a thunderous roar, its clumsy forepaws slapping the ground. Frost rippled outward, encasing its body in thick, gleaming armor, a chilling aura radiating as the ground around it glazed over with a thin sheet of ice.

But before the bear could finish preparing for battle, the Green-striped Golden-eyed Python shrieked and shot forward like a whirlwind. Its golden eyes blazed red with fury. Ignoring the biting cold of the bear’s icy armor, the massive serpent coiled itself tightly around the bear. Its enormous body writhed madly, jaws gaping wide as it struck for the bear’s head.

“What’s going on?” Jin was dumbfounded. This was completely unnatural. Normally, when faced with an Ice-armored White Bear, any reptilian beast would be intimidated, never launching such a desperate, suicidal attack at the outset. Only when driven to the brink, grievously wounded, would they fight to the death.

But what was wrong with this python? What madness possessed it?

Within the gaping jaws, four fangs as thick as an infant’s wrist gleamed with venom. With a sickening crunch, the fangs crashed against the bear’s icy armor. Two fangs shattered, and the armor splintered as well. One fang pierced the bear’s shoulder, injecting a torrent of venom.

A gasp rippled through the crowd—the serpent had truly gone mad. For a magical beast of its intelligence to sacrifice its own fangs was unthinkable. Though it had taken the bear’s armor down with it, the price was immense.

Lin Qi laughed coldly, slow applause echoing through the arena. Of all those present, he alone kept laughing.