Celestial power: the war of realms

The shadow realm

Luca took his position, his mind steady, and remembered what Sadi advised him. Luca had never taunted Sadi like others, but he did not say anything against those who bullied him. He always kept his position in a neutral place, neither supporting the bullies nor standing up to them. Even though he maintained a neutral stance, he never hesitated to applaud Sadi for any commendable achievements.

In the arena, Luca did not let the emotions control him and distinguished the illusions instantly. It had not taken much time to distinguish; it took less time than Sadi.

Luca stayed calm and stepped out of the illusions. The crowd again erupted in cheers, buzzing with excitement.

The sages, masters, and all respected high-ranking people watched from their seats; they seemed to really enjoy the event. They were pleased with their future generation's skill and composure.

Luca stepped down and exchanged a grateful glance with Sadi.

Then, a competitor from a different realm stepped forward for the challenge. After a while, the task became difficult for many; the illusions of the star's task did not seem easy like the first challenge. A lot of competitors failed to pass the challenge and were trapped in the illusions, and Hiro was one of them.

Hiro stuck in the illusion. He could not win against his emotions and drown in longing. He stormed out of the arena so angrily that his anger was fueled not just by his failure but by the growing of Sadi.

He had always taunted Sadi that Sadi was good for nothing, but now it had changed; Sadi was now suppressing him. He got kicked out on the second selection, and it was an unexpected shock for him.

Antonio had been watching their sons from the above seat. He sighed, watching Hiro's behavior. The bitterness Hiro had for Sadi was clear on his face.

As a participator, Dimitri stepped on the illusional stage after Hiro. But Dimitri did not take much time; he got out of the illusions just in a few minutes with a calm face. He took less time than anyone before him. Dimitri stepped out from there, and the crowd burst into clapping; they were stunned by seeing his swiftness.

Dimitri's gaze was unwavering; his gaze met Sadi when he made his way into the resting room. They only exchanged their gazes, no words. But it felt like Dimitri just showed his power to Sadi; it was a silent message. On the first challenge, Sadi showed his best, so in the second challenge, Dimitri had shown his power as well.

In the illusions of stars, it had been brutal, designed to break the spirit and mind, so it was difficult. Out of the many individuals who took part, only 15 competitors managed to be chosen successfully.

Dimitri settled into his seat, thinking about the third round. He knew the third round was going to loom; it would be the intense one. The third round would not solely focus on the mind game; the actual fight was going to start from it.

The competitors would face each other in a fight; they would fight against each other with their swords.

After the break time, Mason's voice floated through the arena, "Now, the next round is going to happen. We have arranged a box with all the competitors' names. Let's see whom they are going to combat against; it all depends on their own luck."

The sounds of clapping and cheering engulfed the entire arena. A sense of dullness and tension filled the competitors' faces. The task was simple; they had to pick a paper, and that name would decide their opponent. Then they had to fight against that person. It was not unfair, but it was a reason for tension for competitors because there were two people whom no one wanted to involve in a fight. If anyone, by chance, picked those two names, then they were sure that they would lose against those two people for sure.

And those two people were Dimitri and Draco.

Damon, father of Draco, who was the master of the shadow realm and a figure of dread. Damon was notorious among all the realms. He was an ambitious and ruthless one.

In the last so many years, a lot of wars had happened only because of Damon. His eyes were on the celestial stone; he wanted to achieve all those 12 zodiac celestial stones and rule over the entire realm. Damon had once been a close friend of Feng, the former master of the Celestoria realm, but after Feng's death, Damon showed his true colors. His ambition, greed, and betrayal had led to countless wars.

His father, a driven and merciless individual, shared many similarities with Draco. One thing was being heard that the next legend could be Dimitri or Draco.

So the cold fight between Dimitri and Draco was noticeable to all.

Thor moved his gaze to a corner of the arena where Sadi was standing. A smirk appeared on his face. When he watched the first round, he witnessed Sadi's performance and was taken aback. Sadi performed remarkably; no one expected it. Sadi became tense for Thor at that moment. But when Thor witnessed Sadi's second round, a wave of relief crossed his face. Sadi's second round was average, just like a normal person.

Thor stepped forward; Sadi noticed him but did not bother.

Sadi's disregard toward Thor was really like a pinch of salt on an open wound; it made Thor angrier. Yet Thor made up his mind; he would not lose his temper again and handle Sadi in calm.

"Sadi!"

With a distinct expression, Sadi looked at him.

"I'm thrilled that you made it to the third round."

Sadi answered calmly with a steady tone, "Thank you!"

Thor pressed his lips and nodded. He clasped his hands behind his back and uttered, "But the thing is, can you win this third round?"

Sadi blinked his eyes.

Then Thor again added, "Just think, your opponent is Dimitri. Noo... or better yet, Draco."

He leaned in slightly; his tone was taunting on the edge.

Thor chuckled, his laughter dripping with mockery as he said, "No..."

"Let's not talk about them; they are the toughest."

"You can't beat them, not even in your dreams as well."

"Just take a normal competitor," Thor lowered his voice. "Can you beat him?"