Chapter 2027
“How did she do that? She was moving too quickly. I couldn’t see what she did. The odds were clearly not in her favor.”
Lacey paid no attention to the looks everyone was giving her. She didn’t care if they were looking at her with suspicion, disbelief, shock or bewilderment. She was in a state of stunned stupor herself.
The final move had been something that Ethan had taught her. He had told her to conceal her true strength.
In her opinion, when you are faced with a powerful opponent like Marcel, you should throw everything that you had at him. You didn’t have the luxury to conceal your true strength.
But she had ended up doing what Ethan had told her to do. She had followed Ethan’s exact instructions on choosing the right moment to strike.
She had reeled back with shock when she had sent Marcel flying out of the arena.
“I’ve won.”
Lacey sat down in front of Ethan.
“I saw that,” said Ethan. “Congratulations.”
Their conversation ended with Lacey’s nod. No one said another word.
She needed some time to collect her thoughts. She needed time to think. How had she managed to win the fight?
She had been in that fight. She had won it. But she couldn’t understand how she had managed that.
All she had done had been to follow what Ethan had told her to do. That had led to her victory.
The outcome of the battle wasn’t proof of her strength. It was proof of the unimaginable depths that Ethan possessed.
There wasn’t anything to look forward to in the matches that followed.
There was no question about Lacey earning a place in the top three positions.
Another match was required. She had won against Marcel. That was proof that she had grown stronger.
Cid stood in the distance with a dazed look on his face.
“I’m sorry, Mr Terrik, I didn’t expect this to happen,” Marcel said with a hint of resentment in his voice. “This was beyond my expectation. I didn’t know that Lacey had such an attack up her sleeve. It was simply incredible…But such a technique doesn’t exist in the Clearheart Sect.”
He couldn’t have known that Lacey could unleash such a move. Not even in his wildest dreams.
He knew every Clearheart Sect technique that Lacey knew and he knew them better.
He had not deemed Lacey worthy of his attention at all and he should have crushed her. Yet, in the end…
He had been thrown out of the arena by her attack. This was mortifying!
“You’ve really done me proud,” Cid said sarcastically through clenched teeth. Violent tremors coursed through his body. He pointed at Marcel, his next words at the tip of his tongue. But he swallowed them in the end. “Humph!”
Marcel was going to enter the Portico and become the Senior Elder’s disciple. He might not care if he offended Marcel, but he didn’t need to be blacklisted by another person.
Marcel wasn’t feeling happy as well.
It should have been an effortless victory, but he had lost.
“Let me tell you the truth. Lacey wasn’t the one who defeated you,” Cid scoffed. His lips curled into an icy smile. “He’s the one who defeated you.”
Marcel’s eyes turned towards where Cid was looking and landed on Ethan. His pupils contracted instantly.
“Him?” There was a hint of scorn in his voice.
Ethan looked like any other ordinary man. Marcel couldn’t see anything exceptional about him. He looked young, perhaps younger than Marcel. How had he lost to this man?
“He’s the one who trained Lacey. He trained her for a month. And you lost. You wouldn’t be able to withstand a single blow from him if you were to fight him instead.”
Cid’s intentional exaggerations amplified the disgruntlement that Marcel was feeling. Marcel’s eyes reddened.
He wouldn’t survive the first attack?
That was utter bullshit!
“Who is he?” Marcel ground his teeth.
Cid laughed mirthlessly but didn’t say anything. Instead, he gave Marcel a look. Marcel caught scorn, disappointment and a hint of mockery in his eyes.
The anger that had been burning inside Marcel erupted instantly.