"Whatever..." Princess Isabella shook her head and looked as if she was too busy to be bothered about spare change, "Since I'm magnanimous, I won't bother asking poor powers for much..."
Elder Enye and Elder Towerfall's lips twitched, but they could only step up the battle exchange before it slips out of their palms like a liquid.
Looking at their expression, Princess Isabella inwardly sneered in disgust. She couldn't see how these two elders belonged to the peak powers. Instead, they were like two shameless people trying to cheat a child off of their candy.
Davis wasn't aversed at Princess Isabella for telling them the effects of the nectar. In any case, if he hid it instead, it would be like pouring oil on a fire. Their curiosity would explode, which would, in turn make them nosy.
On the other hand, if he explained the effects, he could make them dance according to his tone. After all, the reason they came here was for the nectar, and for that, they even seemed to forget and swallow their own pride.
Truly, greed is the bane of the human race!
"By this time, the martial arena should've already been readied. We'll wait for your subordinates and your arrival, Conferred Queen." Elder Enye clasped her hands and flew towards the southeastern gate.
Elder Towerfall did the same before catching up to Elder Enye, who then gave him the cold shoulder by speeding up. Their figures then soon became a dot in Davis and Princess Isabella's view.
They both looked at each other before returning to the estate. However, Davis stopped and clasped his hands to Elder Havle Alstreim before following Princess Isabella to the estate.
Elder Havle Alstreim nodded before taking off towards the third level. He had some duties to do, like gracing the new Ethren Emperor with his new presence as an elder of the Alstreim Family.
As for Arianna Woller, who stood stunned at the 'exchange' she never witnessed in her life before! When she came out of her reverie, she hesitated for a moment. The battle exchange have been decided, and there was no danger, and Alchemist Davis didn't ask her to stay as well, but thinking back, he had already said for her to return to her son.
Her eyes lit up before she inwardly felt grateful again. She then turned to follow Elder Havle Alstreim to her son's palace at the third level but stopped as she saw the half-masked man who rescued her, walking towards the Conferred Queen's estate.
'A resident?'
She recalled and inwardly swore that she saw this man while strolling around the Conferred Queen's estate with her son. Her red lips slightly curved in contemplation before she disappeared.
When she reappeared, she stood in front of the half-masked man in front of the estate's gate.
Uncle Erik flinched as he became startled. When he recognized the black-veiled woman in front of him, he couldn't help but recall her beautiful countenance that made him temporarily freeze.
Arianna Woller looked at the man who was still reeking with the scent of women. It didn't need a genius to figure out where this man went, and to such a place, she was also familiar in the past.
"What's your name?"
Uncle Erik's body relaxed before he scanned her eyes, "You are one of the guests of this estate, right?"
Arianna Woller nodded her head and politely said, "My name is Arianna Woller, and I'm grateful for the hospitality you all have shown. I assume you're also one of Conferred Queen's subordinate?"
Uncle Erik didn't know what to say to this as he scratched his cheek, "I guess so... You won't tell anyone my name, right?"
Arianna Woller shook her head.
Uncle Erik hesitated, but for a charming beauty to ask for his name, he felt honored, "It's just Erik..."
"Erik..." Arianna Woller repeated his name before she nodded her head, "Erik, thank you for shielding me."
Uncle Erik was about to deny when the woman in front of him took flight and left. He scratched his head and sniffed his own body, wondering if he reeked of women so much.
For some reason, he wanted to stop her from leaving, but he didn't. He just looked at her beautiful figure disappear from his view.
======
Half an hour later.
Four figures exited the second level's southeastern gate of the Ethren City and left towards a place where people seemed to be congregating en masse.
Looking at the dense amount of people moving towards the distance, one of the figures spoke, "It seems that the battle exchange is leaked towards the public. Did they intentionally do it?"
"Perhaps..." A male voice echoed, "They made such a big fuss by breaking into the city, so the people are naturally curious about what is going on and came to join in on the fun."
"So we really are going to battle..." Another woman in the group uttered with a bit of disbelief clear in her tone.
"What? Are you scared?" The man teased as he smirked.
"Of course... I'm afraid that I'll poison them to death..."
Hearing that, the man heartily laughed while the third and last women in the group of four chimed in, "Am I not under-qualified?"
The man turned to look at the woman who spoke as he saw her slightly pale countenance. These four were none than Princess Isabella, Davis, Evelynn, and Natalya.
"Don't worry. It's fine if we lose. Compared to your growth as an expert cultivator, twenty percent of that nectar is nothing but a cheap price to pay." Davis gently smiled.
"Davis..." Natalya became inwardly moved while Evelynn smiled by the side.
To the front, Princess Isabella shook her head. Caring words like these were also what made her fall for this man, and although he seemed to forget about their individual thoughts, he placed their safety first in his mind.
"Even if it's okay to lose, don't just throw the battle from the start. Give it your all, and if you can't win, just surrender." Davis further advised.
"Mhm!" Natalya nodded her head with a smile, no longer feeling nervous.
Soon, they arrived at the martial arena that was set up.
In an empty grassy plain, a completely white martial platform sizing five kilometers long and wide was placed on the soil. It had a depth of ten meters, and considering the durability of the material, it was a King Grade Martial Platform that would not break even under normal Seventh Stage attacks!
Davis and the others with Princess Isabella in the lead finally arrived in the airspace before the martial arena and glanced at the two arks that were floating on the other side of the martial arena.
The youngsters were there on the decks of the two arks, looking at them with battle intent that soared like a tide!
"They sure are hyped up..." Davis commented.
Elder Towerfall and Elder Enye arrived in front of them, along with two youngsters who possessed a differing demeanor. The two youngsters were a man and a woman.
The man possessed short brown hair and wore the brown robes that possess the crest of the Towering Cloud Hall. His eyes were sharp while his nose appeared small and straight. He looked fidgety as if he was suppressing his hotheaded temperament, but when he looked at Princess Isabella, his face lit up like a flame.
'So beautiful!' These words almost inadvertently escaped from his mouth.
Her imposing demeanor was like oil to his heart that he couldn't help but fall into a stupor. He had looked at the Conferred Queen from afar, but when he was this close, he felt as if he was graced by the presence of a fairy.