Death... and me

It didn't matter anymore as the judge clearly heard Ludio's words. "Winner, Rean Larks from the Lukimira Sect!"

Ludio then fell on his butt as he sighed in relief, muttering to himself, "It's finally over."

Rean felt like crying after hearing that. "Don't act as if I was the one aiming at your little brother there!"

However, he quickly put those thoughts behind as he asked Roan through their Soul Connection, 'Did you see all of that? Could someone really be this lucky, or do you think he did all of that on purpose?'

Roan narrowed his eyes after hearing that. Obviously, he had also seen it. 'I doubt it was on purpose. However, that chain of events...somehow, I feel like it's connected to the fact that Ludio had gotten this far.'

Rean nodded, replying, 'From what I know, he got this far because most of his opponents who were stronger than him were already seriously injured. They couldn't show any of their real strength and lost in the end.'

Roan also added, 'In fact, the same thing should have happened to you. Did you forget how you and Luval's condition was at the end of the fight? Without your Life Style, Second Form, Recovery, do you think you would be in shape to fight Ludio?'

Rean immediately shook his head. 'I would have given up this fight straight away if that was the case. When my battle against Luval was over, I could barely move, let alone fight anyone else.'

'Exactly.' Roan agreed with Rean before asking, 'Sister Orb, do you know anything about it?'

[Oh, so you finally remember that I exist, huh? Why can't you two talk to me more?]

Roan's mouth twitched in response. 'Stop the fucking drama! Tell us. Is there something different about Ludio?'

[Sigh... such an inconsiderate child. Very well, I'll tell you what I know. Ludio, as you can see, is part of another race, the Yote race. Of course, they're another humanoid race that could reproduce as most humanoid races are derivations of humans...or maybe the other way around.]

'Do you mean that his luck is related to his race?' Rean asked.

[Pretty much. In the Realm of Gods, there are many races that have evolved to be good at something specific. Naturally, it wouldn't be hard to tell that even luck is part of this evolution. You two are using a system that feeds on the changes of destiny, so you should know that it's very possible.]

Rean and Roan nodded after hearing that. They might not have believed in destiny in the past, but they would be denying reality if they said it now.

[However...] Sister Orb paused a moment as she thought about Rean's battle and all the other hurdles Ludio had to pass through to reach this semi-final round. [Ludio's Yote Race shouldn't be this heaven-defying. You could say that races that have ties with luck are manipulating destiny itself. Destiny, as you know, isn't something easily used. Just think of how hard you had to work and how big the changes you had to make to gain Destiny Points. On top of that, you have the Soul Gem System to help you with it.]

'That's to say, Ludio is an exception among the Yotes,' Roan said.

[Well, he might have just been lucky himself, and it got added to the luck his race provides him...to an absurdly high extent. Nonetheless, I would recommend you to form some ties with him. Who knows? It might be of some use for you later.]

'Ties?' Rean asked with a bitter smile. 'He thinks I almost cut his penis out. I don't think he wants to have any ties with me.'

[Hahaha! That's true. Oh well, just forget it then.]

Roan then shook his head before telling Rean. 'Well, then it seems like you won the next battle and the title as well.'

Rean was taken aback. 'Why?'

Roan then looked at the illusory formation that showed the other battle of the semi-final. 'Ludio's luck made his next opponent become seriously injured before he advanced, right? That was supposed to be your case as well without your Instant Recovery skill. That being said, Ludio's next opponent after winning against you should...'

Rean immediately dashed out of the arena and went to see the battle of the other two semi-finalists.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang...*

*Bang, bang, bang...*

*Swish, swish, swish...*

Sure enough, Roan was right. Rean's next opponent would come out of this fight. However... both fighters were going all out, and both were injured quite badly. Nevertheless, they kept giving it their all, only worsening their situation.

Their battle continued for several minutes until finally... they ended up delivering a devastating hit against each other at the same time.

*Thud, thud...*

Both competitors fell to the ground, completely unconscious. This wasn't anything new in this first battle competition, so the judge simply announced. "Both contestants are out of battle. Neither will advance!"

*Wow!*

A few moments later, Ravio, the elder responsible for this competition, announced, "Rean Larks from the Lukimira Sect wins the physical one-on-one competition!"

Rean couldn't help but look back in Ludio's direction, who also came to watch the battle. For Ludio, the loser of this fight would be his opponent for third place, or so it was supposed to be. However, since there would be no one to fight Rean in the final, the three of them should decide who would be second instead. Obviously, Ludio got second place straight away as neither of his possible opponents was in any condition to fight at all!

Ludio was obviously surprised to see that, and he couldn't help but celebrate the prize of 1000 Divine Stones he would get for the second place.

Of course, the main attention was on Rean, as the twins got another Divine Vein.

It's just that Rean's attention wasn't on the outcome of this battle. Instead... 'What is that thing?'

It was faint, but Rean was sure he could see something floating around Ludio. It's just that no one else seemed to notice it. 'A... fairy?'