Silence reigned through the arena. Against all odds and facing multiple schemes and obvious traps, Roku won the Gods' Tomb Champion Contest.
Invictus unleashed a power beyond even their wildest dreams and killed three life forms born of the bodies and souls of twenty-six Peak Rank 5 geniuses.
King Bork's eyes showed the shock that right now affected his mind. All his plans, all the schemes that should have secured his victory, everything he worked so hard for faded like dust in the wind.
As the saying goes, faced against absolute power, all traps and tricks are useless.
Once the shock subsided, his soul began to burn with immense rage. He focused on Ezequiel for a moment, but the image of the ruthless monster that backed the supreme genius helped him calm down.
When he managed to get his emotion under control, King Bork's scheming mind began to work, and a deceitful light appeared in his eyes.
After a few seconds, King Bork began to smile and stared at Roku before turning to the Emperor.
"Emperor Kurt, I am afraid that too many abnormalities occurred during the contest. Declaring the winner now would not only be irresponsible but also incite the discontent of many people due to a perception of lack of fairness."
When the rest of the empire's higher-ups heard King Bork's words, they could not help but be impressed by the man's shameless and scheming mind.
He performed all sorts of tricks and traps before and during the contest, and it was clear to everybody that Ezequiel won fairly. Yet, he still had the face to demand an investigation.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I support that! There is no way I could accept the result of the contest with so many incongruencies occurring at every point of the battle." The fat King did not waste the chance to get back into King Bork's grace and immediately yelled those words.
"?Me too!"
"Yes, the result is not clear!"
"There must be an investigation before deciding the winner!"
More and more people began to shout their support of King Bork's proposal. Soon, every King backed the investigation.
Kurt raised his hand, shutting the roars of the Kings. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and speaking in a loud voice that echoed through the entire Imperial Arena.
"Too many uncertainties surround the Gods' Tomb Champion Contest, and the cracks in the dimension during the final moments of the fight could have allowed outside interference that we were unable to perceive. Due to these circumstances, I can not declare in good faith a victor at this moment. I assure everybody that a thorough investigation will occur, and I will announce the true winner in a matter of days."
Kurt spoke with a tone full of fairness and righteousness, but all those who heard him could see the intention behind his actions.
Everybody knew who the winner was, and only a fool would believe otherwise. The fact that Kurt accepted King Bork's proposal already told a lot, and the use of the words "true winner" gave them a pretty good idea of how the investigation would go.
'Why use strength or let my rage dominate me when I can still twist the truth just using my words?' King Bork showed once again his usual calm and confident expression.
The other Kings by his side could not help but show nasty smiles due to the sense of power that intoxicated them. Even if their defeat was as clear as water, they could still win by lying and deceiving.
When the Kings turned toward Roku, they expected to see a man filled with anger and rage due to the obvious injustice done to him, but the only thing they received was a radiant smile.
"HAHAHAHA!" Suddenly, Roku began to laugh, and he did it with so much strength that the Imperial Arena trembled.
Kurt, King Bork, and the rest of the Kings got a bad feeling when they heard that laugh, and many of them even began to tremble.
"You guys are hilarious, but there is a mistake. The winner was already declared."
Confusion assaulted the people, and Kurt's eyes narrowed as he stared at Roku.
"And who declared it?" He was the Emperor, and he was supposed to be the only one who could announce the winner.
Roku stared back at the Emperor, and while the smile on his face remained the same, a violent and destructive will appeared in his eyes.
"Isn't obvious. I did it! I won the Gods' Tomb Champion Contest, and I will lead the Aeternum Empire during the next phase of the Divine Extermination War!"
The determination and resolution in those words affected everybody in the Imperial Arena. They understood that Roku's will could only be born of someone who defied destiny and who would never surrender to faith.
"Hmph, Roku, are you ready to disobey the Emperor and betray the Aeternum Empire!" King Bork roared those words, each of them filled with poison.
At the same time, Kurt stood up from his chair and rose to the air as his energy began to grow, and coldness appeared in his eyes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmRoku's smile did not vanish, even after noticing the Emperor's actions. He put his hand over Ezequiel's shoulder and generated a two-layered shield over the Supreme Neo-Demon.
Ezequiel noticed that one layer of the shield was red while the other was blue. Together they protected him from any form of physical and spiritual attack.
When King Bork saw that, he frowned as it clearly showed that Roku did not plan to use words. He glanced at the other Kings, and they all rose to the sky, like the Emperor.
Roku glanced at all the Supernova Domain existences in the sky before focusing on King Bork.
"I endured all your traps and schemes because, while they were immoral, that did not matter since they were flawless, and you left no actionable evidence of them. However, according to the rules, I won the Gods' Tomb Champion Contest, and I don't care what you or anyone else says about it." Roku glanced at the Emperor when he spoke the last part.
King Bork was about to speak again, using his silver tongue to twist things, but Roku did not let him.
"Since the Divine Extermination War is our Ancestor's highest goal and I earned the right to lead our army, I declare myself the Aeternum Empire's Absolute Leader inside Gods' Tomb. Those who follow me will earn glory, and those who defy my commands will find death!"
Roku took a step forward, shattering space and immediately appearing beneath the Crystal Wall. There, he stared at the Emperor and the Kings, and monstrous killing intent emerged from his soul.
"You can all choose to avoid this battle or even run away, but then, I will just hunt down and kill you one by one," Roku said those last words before crossing the Crystal Wall and reaching the void near the Magi World.
Kurt and King Bork stared at each other for a moment before going after Roku. The other Kings did not really have a choice and followed the duo.
The Emperor and the thirteen Kings reached the void in a few seconds and positioned themselves around Roku.
Those in the Imperial Arena could hardly believe the series of events that led to this, but many rose to the sky since the fight that would happen next was not something they could miss.