Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

Chapter 144: No Choice

Brenden let out a sigh and said, "Well, I guess we have our answer." Link nodded his head, but he didn't reply. Perhaps seeing Ian put up a fight against Claude might've ignited a small hope within him, and seeing his hopes get crushed almost immediately must've been heartbreaking. 

"This. Is this really happening?" Jason lowered his head and clutched both his hands tightly. He definitely wasn't taking it so well. Brenden sighed and shook his head. 'This is why you should've kept your expectations realistic,' he thought to himself. He knew that there was no chance of Ian winning against Claude. 

Elder Kenneth walked towards Claude, pulled his hand up in the air, and screamed loudly, "The opponent has been knocked out! Claude Rayforth advances to the next round!"

As soon as the words left the Elder's mouth, the entire spectator stand exploded into loud cheers!

Claude waved his hands at the audience, smiling as he did so, which only increased the cheers even more.

The Headmaster, who had already returned to his position, sat down on his chair with a satisfied smile on his face. 

"Ohohoo, the kid is excellent. If he keeps this up, he really might win the contest!" Back in the spectator stands, Russell Davies was leaning back on the wall and let out a loud cheer along with the audience.

"Why are you still standing next to me?" Javier Banderas, who was standing to his side, turned his head and asked. His usually indifferent expression now had a slight hint of annoyance on it. 

"Oh, I can't believe that you are actually annoyed!" Most people wouldn't notice it, but Russell, who had a really good eye, immediately noticed the slight fluctuations on his face, and exclaimed. He shot up his fist in the air and said, "Yes! I actually was able to annoy the one and only Javier, who doesn't show any emotions."

"Do you want to get knocked out?" Javier massaged his forehead and clicked his tongue. Russell had been following him everywhere since early morning, trying to make small talk with him, commentating over the fights and giving his opinions. It was so tiring to hear that even someone like Javier, who usually doesn't get swayed by emotions, was getting annoyed. 

"Oh? You want to knock me out?" A wide grin appeared on Russell's face when he heard those words. "Well, you sure can try. But if you think that I'll just let you beat me without even defending against you, then you're dead wrong!"

"... Nevermind," Javier glanced at the hyperactive Russell and shook his head. Now was not the time. "I will knock you out, but not here. We'll settle this like true cultivators. In the arena!"

"Tch and here I thought we'd be having a brawl right here and now!" Russell clicked his tongue and looked dissatisfied, but in the end he just leaned back again and turned his gaze towards the arena, and Javier did the same.

'Hmm, I guess he can be annoyed. Interesting..' Russell thought to himself. Although he was one of the top cultivator disciples within the Royal Academy, he was someone who was known for his sneaky methods in his earlier days. And even though he turned out to have amazing talent in cultivation, he nevertheless still retained some of his old tricks and mentality. 

'I'd have to annoy him a bit more, to try and shift his focus,' He said to himself. He wasn't someone who plays by the rules. He knew that Javier was a monster when it came to cultivation, and no matter what he did, he would always be overshadowed by his monstrous talent.

But that doesn't mean that there's no chance that he can win. He just had to think outside of the box. At least, that's what he thought that he was doing with his sneaky tricks.

'You may be a monster when it comes to cultivation, but I'm not going to lose so easily to you, Javier,' He grinned. 

Claude walked down from the arena, and was greeted by the group of lackeys of Ian. 

'Well, well, well. I guess they made their decisions,' Claude stared at the lackeys standing in front of him and snickered. It's not like he was going to leave them with the ability to choose. He had made sure that working under him was the only choice they had.

"Oh? Did you make your decision already?" Claude said with an innocent smile plastered across his face, and the lackeys immediately bit their lips and lowered their heads in shame.

'Damn it! Why on earth is this happening?' Every single one of the lackeys thought as they stood in front of their junior brother, and soon to be master, Claude Rayforth.

Most of them didn't still believe this was happening. After all, they were the inner disciples under the Headmaster of the Royal Academy. Never in their lives would they have imagined ever bowing their heads to someone who were younger than them. 

But here they were, doing exactly that.

"We have, in fact, made our decision, junior brother Claude." Brenden stepped forward and nodded his head. Claude snickered once again, "Oh? And may I ask what might your decision be, senior brothers?"

This kid!

The lackeys clenched his fists as they tried their very best not to get enraged at Claude! They knew that he was making fun of them. He was mocking them, and the worst part was that they couldn't even do a single thing to stop it! They had to endure.

"I think you already know what our decision is, junior brother." Jason said with a frown on his face as he stepped forward. 

"Oh I may have a rough idea." Claude said with a smile. "But I don't think you know, senior brother."

"What do you mean by that, junior brother Claude?" Jason tilted his head and looked at Claude with confusion in his eyes. 

"Because, if you did know what your decision was..." Claude pointed his finger at Jason, and the smile on his face disappeared in an instant, replaced by a serious expression, sending a chill up Jason's spine. "... Then you'd be addressing me the right way!"

Silence!

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions on all of the lackeys' faces turned grim. They knew that Claude had mentioned it, but they were desperately hoping for it to be just a joke. Or perhaps they were simply holding onto hope.

But now, their hopes had been shattered! They had to face the harsh reality!

"Junior brother Claude, is there really no room for any negotiation?" Brenden looked at the grim expressions on the faces of his fellow brothers and asked Claude with a bitter smile on his face. But what he received was a cold and emotionless glare from Claude, and he immediately shut his mouth. 

"Room for negotiation? Hah? Are you kidding me?" Claude scoffed at Brenden, who lowered his head. "You people tried to use your positions to try and bully me for no reason, then burned down my residence and killed all my servants because you didn't have the strength to back it up, needed to see your owner get beaten into a pulp and expelled to understand what kind of a mess you've gotten yourself into. And you think you're capable enough to ask for a negotiation?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Claude's powerful aura burst out from his body, forcing a tremendous amount of force onto the lackeys, who had to kneel down because of the pressure they were facing.

Claude's eyes were glowing red as he walked forward, and stood right in the middle of the group of lackeys as he spoke. "You low life scums should be glad that you're not dead. You've got no room for negotiation!"

He then stared into the eyes of Brenden, who was having a hard time breathing properly, and asked, "Now tell me, how are you going to address me?"

"... M-Master," Brenden spoke with great difficulty, and as soon as he spoke, the tremendous aura that was pressing down on them was gone in an instant, and the lackeys breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. Now was that so hard?" Claude placed his hands on his hips and spoke with an innocent smile, but the lackeys only saw the figure of a devil with a sinister grin across his face.

----------------------

"... Heh, he's pretty interesting," Leroy, who was watching Claude from a distance, had a wide smirk across his face. 

"He's a pretty interesting fella, isn't he?" A voice entered his ears and he turned around in an instant. A beautiful girl and a tall and handsome man stood behind him, waving their hand at Leroy, who frowned in response.

"Too bad for you, you won't even get a chance to fight him," The beautiful girl, Eva Walker, said with a grin on her face. Leroy crossed his hands and asked with a frown, "And why on earth would he not end up fighting me?"

"Because, silly," Eva smiled and pointed at the arena, where Elder Kenneth stood and announced, "Next match! Leroy Wayne vs Ray Walker!"

"... You're fighting my brother."