The coordinators were ready to come down to the battle stage to end the battle. It was obvious at this point that there is no way Peter could defeat him. The healing array was the only thing that kept him alive.
Alicia was banging the invisible force field erupted in front of her. She saw Ghost squatting down in front of her almost dead brother. Peter couldn't clearly see Ghost's face with his blurry vision but he could somewhat hear his words,
"The next time you think about fighting me, don't" Michael ran his fingers across Peter's bloody face with a devilish grin,
"Besides, you're gonna be pretty busy with the Guardians' ' After patting Peter's bloody face, he stood up. The coordinators rushed to the battle stage. One of the coordinators lifted Peter's hand and let go. Peter did not show any resistance as the hand dropped to the ground three times,
"Knockout, Ghost wins" The sunrise sect pavilion erupted in cheers after hearing the coordinators. However, compared to before, the cheers were less thunderous. Many were in shock seeing the ruthlessness of Ghost. None of the participants were as brutal and merciless as Ghost. Many participants shuddered to even get on the battle stage with him. Even the disciples of the sunrise sect shivered; their respect and worship towards Ghost were slowly turning into fear.
On his way towards the battle stage's center, he swung the two swords as the blood of Peter splattered on the ground. After unsheathing his swords, he flicked his wrist as a blue crystal appeared in his hand.
Standing on another VIP pavilion, Peyton and Xanali saw Ghost's eyes land on them.
"Is he looking at us?" Xanali asked Peyton.
Soon his gaze turned to Darius,
"Put this on the screen, the people and the guardians should see this" Michael sent the crystal floating towards Darius. Everyone had a look of wonder on their faces. They were curious to see what was in the crystal. Since Ghost accused Peter of being the young master, few expected some kind of evidence in the crystal to prove Ghost's claim.
Alicia's heart was beating faster and faster. She stopped banging the force field and stared at the crystal floating towards Darius,
"I am still in shock but it seems like I have to prepare for another" Ishihara commented,
"This has gone from competition to a frickin bloodbath. His ruthlessness is hard to take in" James Hall furrowed his brow. He had been a commentator for many years yet never saw such a bloodthirsty individual as Ghost. It felt like Ghost actually enjoyed hurting others and bathing in blood. In simple words, James thought of him as a devil in a human form.
Granted there were many rogue cultivators who did more cruel things than Ghost but it was something different in Ghost. James Hall deemed Ghost as a person who is capable of doing anything to his foes.
While the crystal was floating towards Darius, Peyton and Xanali stared at coordinators dragging Peter from the battle stage to the infirmary. When Ghost first rejected their offer to join the Guardians, Peyton was shocked and felt mad at him. However, after seeing his actions in the tournament, she was glad he rejected their offer because it was evident he was not Guardian material. He even seemed like a borderline psychopath who has a thirst for blood and violence.
Unlike many guardians including the Alpha guardian hadn't deemed Ghost as a threat to them. Peyton disagreed with them. The Guardians were too mingled in politics as they strayed away from their true goals; catching criminals and bringing order to the world. As far as Peyton was concerned Ghost was just as dangerous as Lucifer or even more. He was forging alliances with powerful families, making friends, and building his empire. At this moment of time, he didn't seem like a threat to the Guardians except at this speed, he would become a threat in a couple of decades.
"If Noah said he's a threat, they might have listened," Peyton told herself.
"He reminds me of my sister," Xanali said. Peyton sensed a hint of sadness in her voice. It was not only because her sister went missing a year ago, it was also because someone in Nagaland poisoned her father.
If it wasn't for Noah, he would have already died. To dispel the poison in her father's body, Noah went to one of the dangerous places in the world; The Fire Realm. Xanali's mother ordered Xanali not to go to the Fire Realm with Noah. Some part of Peyton wanted Noah to die in the Fire Realm. She wanted everything to go back to how it was before Noah joined the Guardians.
Peyton's train of thought was interrupted by Xanali's words,
"How so?" Peyton asked
"She too enjoyed such needless bloodshed, she actually enjoyed making others suffer, including her own family" Xanali's eyes watered, thinking about her father on the verge of death and Gaya.
"It's not like you and your family is completely blameless in Gaya's matter Xanali"
For a moment Xanali couldn't believe what she just heard from Peyton. She had never talked to her like this before. Peyton's subconscious anger towards Noah got redirected towards Xanali.
"Peyton, what did you mean by that?"
"Nothing" Peyton waved her hand but Xanali didn't let go,
"You obviously have something to tell me, so tell me Peyton. You think we were to blame for what my sister did" Xanali's voice didn't sound like she was angry but glum and concerned,
Peyton sighed, realizing her impulse got the better of her,
"Your father took the throne which was rightfully hers and decided to give it to you instead Xanali. So anyone in your sister's place would feel betrayed"
Her words yet again shocked Xanali. She thought Peyton understood her but Xanali realized she thought wrong.
"I never wanted that throne Peyton, she pushed me to take the throne. You know why? If she was on the throne, there would be no need for prisons, she would play the judge, jury, and executioner, just like her mother. My sister always blamed me and my mother for the rising crime rate in Nagaland and said if she or her mother was on the throne, it wouldn't be the case" Xanali paused for a second seeing Ghost leave the battle stage. Darius and some others were meddling with the crystal.
"Because she or her mother would have killed the accused without a fair trial. You don't know how many people were sentenced to death by her mother without any evidence to prove them absolutely guilty. She would go with her gut feeling. Of course no criminals, no prisons , no high crime rate. There might have been hundreds of innocents who were said guilty by her mother. Under her rule, my people lived in fear. Just like her mother Gaya would have been a dictator, I took the throne because i didn't want my people to live in fear"
Peyton knew Xanali was right but only partially right. Gaya's mother was indeed a dictator but under her rule, Nagaland thrived, it was one of the most powerful kingdoms. Under Gaya's father and Xanali's mother's rule, the kingdom had grown weak. But everyone was getting a fair trial under the new rulers. Of course, each case would drag and waste resources. Still Xanali and her mother advocated a fair trial for everyone without any compromises. This was one of the reasons the kingdom had grown weak. Under Gaya's mother's rule, resources were spent to develop military power. Under Xanali's mother's rule, resources were spent helping war-torn countries, trials, offering refuge to refugees, and paying off debts they got to help other kingdoms.
Both queens had done good and bad, some favored Gaya's mother while some favored Xanali's mother. Peyton didn't talk about who's right and whose wrong. In fact, she had never judged Xanali's actions until now.
"I will do what's best for my people. And Gaya was the opposite of best. If she hates me for caring about my people, so be it. Nagaland would never be war-hungry as it once was" Peyton could see the resolve in Xanali's eyes. Peyton was glad that her sister was not what she used to be anymore. Only a few individuals could be compared with Gaya in terms of monstrous cultivation talent. Gaya was on the surveillance list of Guardians for a reason.
"Look" suddenly people in the same pavilion as Peyton and Xanali shouted looking at the giant mirrors. They both looked at the mirror to see a dark room lit with nothing but a few lanterns appeared in the mirror. The arena became silent, everyone's gaze was on the mirror. After a few moments, they saw a figure dressed in black walking into the darkroom. The bright orange light coming from the lanterns illuminated the book racks, the roundtable in the room's center as well as the line of armor stands.
The people were staring at the figure's back before the figure slowly turned back. Looking at the figure's armor, Peyton was positive that this was the same figure that many noble youngsters saw when the young master ambushed them.
"It can't be him right?" Emelda asked Norvin who was sitting on her shoulder. The golden babaroo looked worried. He desperately needed Noah here to somehow find a way to fix the mess if the young master turned out to be Alicia's brother.
"I hope not," Norvin said. Soon after the words left his mouth, he saw the black figure in the mirror take off the hood covering his face.
"No" Alicia's legs turned to jelly when she saw the figure's face. It was her brother, Peter Stone. Norvin saw Peyton and Xanali leaving their seats. He could guess they were going to make sure Peter stays in their sight until he gets healed enough to visit the guild.
"Bastard" Norving cursed Ghost. From this moment onwards, Peter's life would not be what it used to be. The Guardians and the Church would make his life a living hell by investigations and trials. If Peter was proven guilty, that would be the end of his freedom, or worse, he would be exiled to the Southern Continent.
Ghost just utterly destroyed Peter's life, for a private and prideful person such as Peter, what he did was worse than killing.
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