Chapter 41: A Thorny Opponent?

More than two hours later.

Gunie followed the wide metal corridor and arrived at the entrance of the Supernatural Seventh-Order Apprentice Arena, No. 556.

Glancing briefly at the sign for Apprentice Arena No. 556, Gunie breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"This place is really big, and not easy to find."

"It seems I need to wander around this seventh-order arena more in my spare time to familiarize myself with the environment, so I don't miss my spot at a critical moment."

"If I don't arrive on time, I'll be punished by the 'Beast Fight Tournament.'"

Guarding the entrance of Apprentice Arena No. 556 were two Supernatural Ninth-Order administrators of the Divine Kingdom Arena.

Gunie submitted his arena badge.

After checking it with a machine, the two let Gunie pass.

Entering, he saw a rest area of considerable size.

Inside the rest area, over a hundred supernaturals of various forms and races were already waiting.

Gunie swept his gaze over them and recognized many familiar races.

For instance, the Dragonman race, covered in scales.

The Serpentman race, with long snake tails.

The Lava Beast race, exuding an aura of molten rock.

The White Frost Boar race, with a wild aura and standing four to five meters tall.

There were also races with strange exoskeletons, like the Steel Armor race, the Blade race, and the Azure Blade race.

And of course, some Sea races, who were at a slight disadvantage in arena combat, unless they had powerful innate talents to alter the terrain.

There were also some rarer Elemental races.

Supernaturals of all races could be seen everywhere in the Divine Kingdom Arena.

Its extraordinary inclusiveness was a hallmark of Saint Haigar.

Even some dark races were present. Gunie even spotted a half-demon supernatural in a corner.

All these supernaturals from various races were uniformly at the Supernatural Seventh Order.

A few were at the mid-seventh order, but most were at the late or peak stage.

There were none at the early seventh order.

Gunie's supernatural realm was at the mid-seventh order, close to the late stage.

Among these hundred-odd supernaturals, he was quite inconspicuous.

Gunie scanned the entire rest hall, then found a corner, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

The hall was completely silent, with no one speaking.

After all, everyone in Arena No. 556 could become an enemy in a life-or-death struggle.

When everyone is a potential enemy, there's no need to chat or communicate.

After waiting about half an hour,

a dense aura of Supernatural Seventh Order appeared at the entrance.

This immediately drew the attention of many supernaturals in the hall.

At a glance, many changed expression.

"Damn, there's an arena broker," someone muttered.

"An arena broker leading a team—this is trouble."

"At least there aren't many, but whoever runs into them is unlucky."

"Hope I don't."

A few murmurs arose from the crowd.

Gunie narrowed his eyes and looked at the entrance.

There, a Divine Envoy strongman was leading about fifteen or sixteen supernaturals, all wearing black mechanical angel armor, of various forms but all at the peak of Supernatural Seventh Order, undergoing inspection by the guards.

Anyone with eyes could tell this was a team led by an arena broker.

These supernaturals, chosen by the broker, had clearly passed combat screening; those without strength wouldn't be selected.

Those valued by an arena broker were at least close to two-star gladiator strength, or even solid two-star or three-star.

Normally, supernaturals in apprentice arenas were strong but of mixed levels.

Adding a batch of extremely powerful supernaturals made everyone uncomfortable.

Of course, not everyone was uncomfortable.

Among the hundred-plus, a few supernaturals sneered at the black-armored ones and continued resting with closed eyes.

Gunie scanned them, then his gaze lingered on their black mechanical angel armor.

"This black mechanical angel armor is expensive, base price around 1000 Saint Source Coins, much better than my silver-gray one at about 500."

"If I kill one, that armor is mine."

After a moment's thought, Gunie quickly swept his gaze across the hall.

In one glance, he noticed something off.

"Among these hundred-plus supernaturals, there are only about fifteen or sixteen at mid-seventh order, and I'm one of them."

"And the number of black mechanical angels matches exactly."

"Moreover..." Gunie's eye twitched.

"The class counters also match up."

"Fighter counters Shadow, Shadow counters Caster, Caster counters Fighter—what a rigged setup." Gunie muttered inwardly.

His gaze passed over the dozen or so mid-seventh-order supernaturals.

"Good luck to you all."

Then his eyes swept over the five shadow-wielders in dark angel armor.

"And hope you few have luck too, and don't run into me."

The group in black mechanical armor soon finished inspection and entered the hall, chatting and laughing.

After all, they had been arranged so they wouldn't face each other.

Nor would they encounter the strong ones who had been through two or three apprentice arena matches.

They would only face newcomers entering the arena for the first time.

Such people were likely weaker.

And barring accidents, all five matches in the apprentice arena would pit them against these 'newcomers.'

Enough to let them become one-star gladiators safely.

After the black mechanical angels entered, three Divine Envoy strongmen flew in from the staff passage.

Immediately, over 140 supernaturals looked at the three Divine Envoy-level staff.

"Everyone is here, total 148."

The leader, a middle-aged Sea race alien in blue robes, spoke coldly.

"Remember, this is a life-or-death arena, not a playground."

"Once inside, show your skills and strength, fight with all you've got. Don't fly around aimlessly or try to stall and wear down your opponent, increasing our work time."

"If any of you do that, then sorry, your next match will be against a stronger, more countering opponent."

"Fight, fight with everything you've got, use every trick."

"The bloodier, the crueler, the more bizarre, the better."

"That's the true meaning of the arena, what the guests come to see."

"Alright, we'll start calling names now. Those called will enter the arena to fight."

Then the leading blue-robed Divine Envoy sat down on a side seat.

The other two took a list and began calling names.

"Aitu·Huolan, Oklo·Bachler, enter."

The one called Aitu·Huolan was a petite but fierce-looking alien woman. Hearing her name, she flew straight into the arena through the passage, quickly drinking some potions.

The other, Oklo·Bachler, was a supernatural in black mechanical angel armor.

And as Gunie had expected,

the alien woman Aitu·Huolan was at Supernatural Seventh Order, class Fire Elementalist.

Her opponent, Oklo·Bachler in black mechanical angel armor, was at peak Supernatural Seventh Order, class Shadow Wielder.

Realm suppression, class counter.

Even before the battle began,

one could tell from this surface information.

Soon, the first match began.