Chapter 246 (2): The Judges Are My People—How Can You Possibly Compete with Me?

Boom!

In a corner of the forest, several large trees snapped in quick succession. The dense fog was pushed aside by the shockwave, leaving a brief vacuum.

With his arms crossed in front of his chest, Alex staggered back several steps before barely regaining his balance. Looking at his disheveled sister, Desiree, a trace of killing intent flickered in his melancholy eyes.

The siblings had terrible luck. After entering Misty Forest, they failed to quickly meet up with their allies from Franc’s century-old friend, Windsor. Their spawning point was right between the mansions of the candidates from Iberia and Graeci. To make things worse, the four candidates had formed an alliance.

With the two of them against four, the siblings were at a disadvantage from the moment they landed.

Eight candidates had been assigned to Misty Forest. The Lambiel siblings had spawned right at their competitors’ doorstep. They had the absolute worst luck. Before they could even react, their number eight mansion was already demolished.

The two candidates from Iberia were women, while Graeci sent a man and a woman. Both pairs presented themselves as siblings. Desiree was still figuring out who the actual candidates were and who the bodyguards were.

All four candidates were quite attractive. Even the male candidate, confirmed as the bodyguard, was as good-looking as Alex. He ticked all the boxes for a handsome man by the mainstream beauty standards.

If it were two against two, Alex wouldn’t lose, but two against four? He was simply powerless no matter how determined he was.

Desiree gave her brother a look.

Stall! Stall until their allies of a century-old friendship arrived.

Five minutes later, four people stood against two on opposite sides of the battlefield, a clear divide between them. All six of them were in varying degrees of unkemptness. The fact that the four candidates from Iberia and Graeci merely held the upper hand rather than an overwhelming advantage despite their greater numbers showed how the two districts’ talent pools had dried up. They were merely shadows of their former glory.

Conversely, one could also say that Franc had remained strong after all the storms she had weathered.

Alex panted heavily, throwing his sister a look to ask whether they should reveal their trump card. Desiree shook her head. It wasn’t yet the time. They should wait a little longer.

The four candidates closed in, taunting the siblings verbally while maintaining a certain distance.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“What a cute little girl, still so pretty even when covered in dust!”

“Lauder, kiss her. Holy Maiden candidates must maintain purity. This is a rare opportunity to eliminate her today.”

“Why me?”

“You’re the only guy here. If you don’t kiss her, who will?”

“Um...”

The four of them bantered like a comedy troupe while slowly closing in on the pair of siblings. As steadfast allies, they all wanted the others to make the first move.

None of them was a fool. They had guessed that the Lambiel siblings still had hidden cards up their sleeves.

“If no one dares to, how about I do the honor?”

Wayne’s voice spread through the thick fog, its source impossible to pin down. One second, it was coming from the left, and the next, it came from the right.

The four candidates cautiously retreated together, wary of a sneak attack. Then they saw Wayne walk out openly with Veronica rather than taking advantage of the element of surprise.

That caught the four of them off guard. The pair was either exceptionally confident in their power or stupid. The latter was unlikely since Holy Maiden candidates were all elites from major districts. Even if there was a talented fool in the mix, they would usually be paired with a smart strategist.

Clearly, the newcomers had to be so immensely powerful that they thought sneak attacks beneath them.

“Alex, aren’t you doing too poorly? It seems that I need to reassess our alliance.” Wayne mocked him loudly. “Sister Desiree, your brother’s no good. You should be my sister instead. Let Brother Wayne take care of you.”

Desiree turned away, mentally flipping him off.

Alex shook his head with a bitter smile, not saying anything to defend himself. He was relieved that their allies had shown up. After being neighbors for over a month, he had come to understand Wayne somewhat. Wayne wouldn’t tear up their peace treaty, at least not yet.

“Now, it’s time for me... and my sister to take the stage.”

Wayne had planned to take care of the four opponents on his own, but seeing Veronica’s excitement, he decisively proposed pairing up with her instead. He smiled at their opponents. “Don’t worry. It’s two against four. You have the greater numbers.”

As soon as he said that, he swung his fist forward fiercely.

Fierce wind howled, sweeping away the chaotic sea of fog in a swirling vortex. Branches shook violently in the gale as the trunks bent, groaning under the strain. The overwhelming torrents forced the four candidates to retreat, their formation instantly falling apart.

Swoosh!

A cloud of fog burst out behind Wayne. Veronica charged out first, going after the Holy Maiden candidate with the best figure. She definitely didn’t do it for any particular reason—not because she was worried about Wayne or because her figure was similar to Vera’s.

“One against three. Now you have a greater numerical advantage.” Wayne curled his lips, walking into the mist while clenching his fists.

Five minutes later.

“Everyone, behave. Left for men and right for women. Put your hands on the trees. If any of you disobey, I’ll strip you.”

Wayne barked at the four captives. Then he turned to Veronica and said, “As expected of elites from major districts. They charged at me while shouting about love and the power of friendship. I had a momentary lapse and almost let them beat me.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do with these four?”

“Kill the man and keep the women.”

“Be serious.”

I am serious. That’s always been the rule of the world—Water Margin was an exception that proved the rule

[1].

Wayne kept his comment to himself. Looking at the four candidates with resentful expressions on their faces, he glared back at them and snapped, “What are you looking at? The weak should obey the strong. This is a test, and the judges are watching us. You don’t want to be eliminated for not wearing clothes, do you?”

His threat not only hit the opponents, but also his allies. Alex made a fist and coughed frantically, reminding Wayne not to run his mouth; the judges were actually scoring them from their audience seats.

Wayne didn’t care. He had already decided to withdraw from the selection. This would be his last test if nothing went wrong, so rather than pretending to be a gentleman and suffering from the ill-fitted image, he would rather do whatever made him happy.

“Allow me to make a suggestion!” Desiree raised her hand and made the cruelest proposal in the gentlest tone. “Wayne, why don’t you kiss the four of them to disqualify them?”

You sure are petty.

Wayne shot Desiree a look and said irritably, “Impossible. Veronica knows me. I’ll kiss anything but a male.”

“Shut up. Who told you to take her seriously?” Veronica kicked him in the leg and huffed. “Desiree, you owe us one for saving you. It’s time for you to repay the favor. Tell your brother to kiss all four of them.”

Please, that won’t be necessary

, Alex despaired.

The two girls engaged in a heated debate on who should do the kissing, each demanding the other’s brother to do the honor.

“Alright, alright. Stop arguing. Let me be the fair judge here.” Wayne separated the two girls. “I’ll take the loss and kiss more of them. The three women are mine. Since Alex is injured and can’t keep up physically, he only needs to kiss the one man. Problem solved.”

“The man’s yours, too,” Desiree disagreed. “You’re from Windsor.”

“That’s a stereotype...”

After much debate, nobody got kissed.

Wayne was only talking. He valued his first kisses highly and wouldn’t give them away to any pretty faces. He seized one mansion and gave it to the Lambiel siblings, letting the four candidates compete for the other mansion. The move effectively drove a wedge between them.

After hiding their new mansion, the Lambiel siblings began searching for the teleportation stones. They had made a deal with Wayne and thus knew where to look.

Wayne made use of the information well, too. When he decided to make a move, he broke the dungeon clearing record and easily acquired four magic stones, activating the teleportation portal to move to the next dungeon with the mansion he shared with Veronica.

Based on the rules, he and Veronica would no longer have allies of a century-old friendship in this new map, and they would face only one rival.

With Senna and Tubert pulling the strings, Wayne’s final opponent in the Holy Maiden selection would be Flora’s student, Ottilia.

“The judges are my people. How can you possibly compete with me...”

Wayne looked at the pitch-black sky and the blue sphere of water in the distance. Although he had already seen the map, he couldn’t stop his heart from racing.

On the desolate surface of the moon, a lone, isolated mansion stood. The azure sphere was breathtakingly beautiful, suspended in the starry cosmos serenely.

At the highest point of the barrier shielding them from the vacuum of space, a ruby glowed and burned with flames like a living thing.

1.

Water Margin

is a literary classic from the end of Yuan and beginning of Ming Era. ☜