Lord of the Sky City

The preliminary round at Arena Three had just begun, but the match at Arena One had already come to a crushing end, and the victor was none other than Xia Nai!

When Xia Nai took off his helmet, his princely face appeared on the mana screen for all to see.

"So it's him... no wonder..."

Upon discovering that the victor was Xia Nai, many of the competitors in the viewing area with Rocky sighed, no longer surprised or incredulous, but resigned instead.

To these competitors, the outcome was too predictable. As the son of the Marquis of Kafka Empire, Xia Nai had too great an advantage. Even setting aside his personal strength, just his 5th generation Special Armor was enough to sweep through the other competitors in the preliminary round.

Meanwhile, after a collective sigh, many competitors turned their gaze toward Rocky because they had all witnessed his conflict with Xia Nai in the resting lounge. Now, since Xia Nai had won the preliminary round with undeniable dominance, their looks toward Rocky carried a slightly different nuance.

Among these gazes, there were those gloating over misfortune, those resigned, and even some looking at Rocky with pity, clearly believing that Rocky had provoked an adversary he shouldn't have.

He was in for trouble.

As for those looks, Rocky of course did not care one bit, and in truth, he wasn't very concerned about Xia Nai either.

Rocky had overheard some of the other competitors' discussions and knew that Xia Nai was the son of a Marquis from the Kafka Empire, but what of it? Being a City Lord himself, if it were the Marquis himself, Rocky might have been somewhat apprehensive, but Xia Nai was just the Marquis's son after all. Their statuses were not at all equivalent, and if Rocky were to be afraid, then he would not be worthy of his title as City Lord.

So after that, Rocky turned his attention toward Arena Three.

At that moment, the competitors at Arena Three also snapped back to reality, and as if inspired by Xia Nai's victorious instance, they resumed the match with even more intense and brutal combat than before.

In just a few minutes, the first elimination occurred; a competitor named Kang Ni was the first to be ousted and, at the same time, was the first to die on the arena!

Kang Ni's strength was the weakest among all the competitors, and after the match restarted, he was trapped by two opponents. A few exchanges later, not only did he lose, but he was also stabbed through the heart and died as he was eliminated...

"Good!"

"Good!! Well played!"

"Splendid!"

His death did not elicit any mourning; instead, it sparked waves of cheers from the audience, some of whom were so excited that they stood up.

In the midst of this cheering, the other competitors, also stimulated by the bloodshed and sensing the threat to their lives, naturally fought even more fiercely.

After the battle continued for over ten minutes, the preliminary round at Arena Three finally came to an end. The inconspicuous contestant No. 997 emerged victorious, but the victory came at a high cost: of the ten who had participated in the match, only four came out unscathed, while among the remaining six, three were dead and three were severely injured.

"Let's go."

When the match result was decided and the announcer began to loudly declare the victor, Rocky, who had watched the entire match, said to Liliya and Monte before turning away from the viewing area and heading back to the resting lounge.

"How do you feel?"

Back in the resting lounge, still in the same corner, Liliya asked.

"It's alright, pretty much what I expected."

With a slight smile towards her, Rocky remained composed and calm, indicating that the previous matches hadn't strayed too far from his expectations.

This wasn't Rocky feigning composure, it was what he truly thought.

In the past three days, Rocky had been making adjustments for this preliminary competition, both physically and mentally. With such thorough preparation, the intensity and brutality of the preliminaries hadn't exceeded his expectations.

"Promise me, don't try to be a hero."

Yet even with Rocky's confident demeanor, Liliya felt both reassured and worried. Knowing him well, she was aware that if Rocky dared to speak such words, he must be confident. After all, his personality was such that he would plan carefully before taking action; he wouldn't act rashly or pretend to be more capable than he truly was.

But even so, Liliya couldn't help but worry. A competition is full of uncertainties, anything could happen; therefore, despite making thorough preparations, accidents could still occur. That's why Liliya hoped that Rocky wouldn't try to be a hero. If he truly couldn't win, preserving his life was the most important thing.

"Don't worry."

Rocky flashed a grin and nodded. It wasn't clear whether he had really taken her words to heart or if he was just trying to comfort Liliya.

As they chatted, other contestants who were watching the matches gradually returned to the rest hall.

However, once everyone had returned, the atmosphere in the rest hall felt much more oppressive than before, clearly reflecting the tension from the recent matches.

Of the three matches that had taken place earlier, Rocky had only watched one. In that single match, three contestants had died.

Unfortunately, by the end of all three matches, the number of contestants who had died wasn't limited to three. In reality, once all three matches were over, fifteen contestants had perished!

Out of thirty contestants, only half survived when the matches concluded!

Of the three matches, the one with the fewest casualties was the one which Rocky had watched. In one of the other matches, four contestants died, while the one with the most casualties had eight fatalities—it was the match Xia Nai participated in!

"It's horrifying… truly horrifying…"

The contestants who had watched Xia Nai's match came back with pale faces. When asked by others, they spoke with dread: "You didn't see it; Xia Nai was like a demon, not giving anyone a chance to surrender before he blew up the arena! Except for one lucky person, everyone else was blown to death!"

"Alas..." After this person finished speaking, another contestant who had gone to watch the match sighed: "Too strong, the 5th generation Special Armor is just too powerful. The Armor provided by the Arena is practically paper-thin compared to this High-Level Armor, offering no chance of resistance."

"Don't worry, this time there should be only one ruthless person like Xia Nai. There wouldn't be a second set of Special Armor... right?"

As a contestant finished saying this, everyone paused for a moment, then they all turned their gazes toward a corner of the rest hall, looking in Rocky's direction!

Everyone knew that Rocky was no ordinary contender. Observing the two guards by his side, and recalling how he faced Head-to-Head with Xia Nai, it was clear he must be a tough opponent. So if there was anyone among the contestants who most likely possessed Special Armor, aside from Xia Nai, it would have to be Rocky!

In the moment they looked at Rocky, everyone thought of this possibility. Some sighed with relief, as they weren't in the same group as him, but others furrowed their brows, their expressions growing grim, because they were in the same group as Rocky and would have to compete with him for a chance to win a spot!

"Contestants, the afternoon matches are about to begin. Everyone, please prepare."

At that moment, an Arena staff member appeared again in the rest area, announcing that the afternoon matches were about to start!