System's POV

The entire Colosseum shook as the blinding light from Roland's all-out attack spread far and wide, lasting for nearly a minute.

Gradually, the light dimmed until it vanished completely. Not long after, everyone regained their sense of sight, and their gaze hurriedly shot to the arena, only to see a giant crater estimatedly dozens of meters wide.

On it, Roland was on his knees, clinging to his sword although he could barely support his body to keep it upright.

He was panting for breath, and his face was as pale as a sheet of paper.

Clearly, the last attack he unleashed took a great toll on him, sacrificing his ability to do anything for a period of time.

Seeing that the Hero was fine, they shifted their attention to the Sage. And unlike Roland's sorry figure, he was actually standing on his feet.

Roland almost coughed out blood when he saw Joshua casually chugging half a liter of Rejuvenation Potion, which the latter had prepared for this exact scenario.

"Y-You… what the heck are you doing?" Roland was already very exhausted and no longer had the strength to shout, so he could only ask the Sage why the latter was drinking a Rejuvenation Potion in the middle of a match, which was supposed to be illegal in tournaments.

"Drinking," Joshua replied and even looked at his former best friend in a weird way. "Do you not have eyes to see?"

Roland, who was just a step away from fainting due to frustration, bit his lip almost drawing blood.

After a few seconds, the Hero finally asked the most important question.

"How did you survive?" Roland inquired.

"How?" Joshua replied in contempt. "Do you really think that such a weak attack can hurt me? The most it did was make my cape flutter. You should try working as a staff for movie production.

"I'm sure the special effects department will be more than happy to have you. Honestly, you sure are good at making things shine brightly."

Roland, who was no longer able to take the injustice, frustration, and irritation in his heart, finally collapsed on the ground.

Just before he lost consciousness, he wondered why he was the one lying on the ground instead of the person who betrayed him and put an end to their friendship.

Joshua looked at the young man whom he had treated as his love rival and best friend, as well as the person he respected the most, before taking a long and deep sigh.

He then brushed his hair once with his hand before glancing at the teenage boy on the stage, who was giving him a thumbs up.

Another sigh escaped Joshua's lips before he walked away.

The audience looked at the Sage of the Hero Party with conflicted expressions on their faces.
Your next journey awaits at empire

They didn't expect that the one who would emerge victorious during the battle was Joshua, who had betrayed his best friend for the sake of advancing in the tournament.

What they didn't know was that Joshua genuinely didn't give a damn about what everyone was thinking right now.

He was currently reviewing the battle he just had, and he couldn't help but feel amazed at Zion.

Everything went according to the latter's plan.

While he didn't want to admit it, he felt uneasy about how easily he won against Roland just by following the teenage boy's instructions.

During his best friend's final attack, Joshua had used the spell that Thirteen had taught him, creating a dark portal that sent Roland's attack to another dimension.

This dimension wasn't finite, and once it surpassed its limit, it could no longer continue absorbing anything.

Fortunately, he could open another portal and discharge anything that his first portal had absorbed.

Naturally, he sent Roland's attack back to him, which caused a collision that resulted in a giant crater in the already-ruined arena.

Even the Rejuvenation Potion he chugged earlier belonged to Zion.

Last but not the least, even the grating parting words he had said to Roland were part of the script the teenage boy had prepared just for him.

Clearly, even until Roland's last moments of consciousness, Zion wanted the former to feel aggrieved and frustrated about the outcome of the battle.

'If I missed a single step from his instructions, I would have certainly lost this battle,' Joshua thought before turning around to give his best friend one last glance before completely leaving the Colosseum Grounds.

The only thing on his mind right now was how he could become stronger, so there would come a time when he would no longer need to rely on Zion's strategy to win the battles he had to face on his own.

Even so, he felt a lot lighter.

It was as if all the past grievances, jealousy, envy, and inferiority he felt in the past had been repaid in full.

Joshua's steps were now firmer, and the flame of confidence in his heart, which had diminished over time, was slowly burning brighter once more.

Thirteen watched Joshua's retreating back and understood what he was thinking right now.

'Don't worry.' Thirteen crossed his arms over his chest. 'This is the best way to let the two of you continue moving forward. Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.'

The teenage boy then shifted his attention to the Hero, who was currently being carried away by the Medics.

A moment later, he heard a light cough from behind him, making Thirteen feel that he was about to suffer from a headache.

Claude had his hands behind his back and was looking at Zion with the, 'You're going to clean up this mess, right?' glare, which made the teenage boy smile faintly.

"Times like this, I'm glad that people pay taxes," Thirteen said before Claude could say anything to him. "Since that's the case, let's use the taxpayers' money to create a better arena for the Finals."

Lawrence and Tristan almost choked on their saliva. After all, the taxes Zion was talking about were the taxes paid by the people to the Central Government, to ensure that their world remained a peaceful place to live in.

However, since they couldn't refute that they were now one of the Major Sponsors of this tournament, they had no choice but to shoulder the bill to fix the arena that had been destroyed by the two previous battles that happened earlier.

As if wanting to get away from the venue as fast as possible, Thirteen hurriedly declared the end of the tournament for the day and announced that the next matches would be held after three days.

Three days was enough time to repair the arena, as well as create a better and more powerful barrier that would effectively protect the audience from harm.

Since the program had already ended, Thirteen hurriedly ran away from the stage and didn't even bother to glance at the Grand Marshal and the Field Marshal, who had resigned looks on their faces.

Erica chuckled before she stood up to leave alongside her friends.

They planned to visit Roland and check his condition. Also, Shana wanted to make sure that he was getting proper treatment.

While all this was happening, Zion headed to one of the cafes near the Colosseum.

He had some important matters he needed to take care of before visiting Roland in the Hotel booked by the Central Government.

Thirteen deemed that now was the perfect time to make the Hero understand his shortcomings.

The only question that was on his mind was whether Roland would be able to stand up again after his fall, or would he continue to fall deeper and become a corrupted Hero, who had lost his will to live.