Chapter 63: Friends Are Meant to Be Sold Out

Linley stopped in front of the prince.

The atmosphere by the sea grew tense, and all eyes turned to the two of them. The captain of the Night Elf guards from the Hall of Astromancers mingled among the crowd, feeling a flicker of excitement in his heart.

"When true masters clash, the first contest is always one of aura. Everyone, be patient and watch..."

He hadn't finished speaking when, with a resounding crack, the prince was suddenly sent flying sideways.

The entire scene fell silent as death. Linley kicked away the prince's sword, which had landed on the ground, blew on his fist, and exclaimed, "Nothing beats the thrill of a blow to the face!"

"Young man, you've got guts!" A massive shadow of a fist descended from the sky, and in an instant, Linley was hurled backward by the impact.

With a thunderous crash, a deep pit formed where Linley had just stood. The prince rose from the crater, his eyes blazing as he glared toward the shore.

Linley stood fifty meters away, facing him.

In the next moment, both of them vanished.

Explosions erupted across the dark sea, sending towering columns of water skyward.

"How are you still alive after all that? What kind of monster are you?"

"I was about to ask you the same!"

One explosion after another rocked the shoreline, the thunderous noise unending. The guards who were too close were drenched to the bone. The Night Elves stared in stunned disbelief, and even Eve gazed at the rising pillars of water in utter shock.

"Is that magic?"

"No... that's pure physical strength."

Hera lifted her jaw from the ground, utterly astonished that Linley could stand toe-to-toe with the prince using only his body.

The prince was a warrior; the bodies of Night Elves were even better suited for close combat than those of Forest Elves. As a child, he had been blessed by the Dragon King, making his physique tougher than any other Night Elf. He had spent centuries traveling the world, pushing his bodily strength to the absolute limit—unmatched among his people.

Even on a global scale, the prince was a renowned warrior; any mage before him was simply a single punch away from defeat.

Hera had assumed Linley would use magic to win, but never expected him to simply meet the prince's fists head-on.

"True cultivation is amazing!" Hera's heart surged with emotion as she rediscovered the concept of cultivation—so powerful, so overwhelming.

On the water, Elray moved with astonishing speed, gliding across the waves as if on solid ground.

"Young one, try this move of mine!"

He suddenly spun in midair, his thigh sweeping up a surge of the sea, conjuring a dazzling spray that shot toward Linley like a volley of arrows.

"Heavens, you can use magic too!"

Linley dodged the water arrows, his entire body surging with true energy. In a flash, he appeared before Elray, his right fist hurtling toward him.

"Good, just what I was hoping for!"

Elray's body ignited with battle aura as he returned the punch.

Yet at the very instant their fists met, Linley's form flickered, not only evading Elray's blow but dragging him to the spot he had just vacated, where Linley's knee drove viciously into the prince's back, sending him crashing into the sea.

With a mighty splash, the prince plunged beneath the waves, water spraying in all directions.

"That was satisfying!"

No sooner had Linley exclaimed his pleasure than a sword-shaped jet of water shot up from the seabed, blasting him skyward.

"I never thought you were truly this formidable!"

Elray rose from the sea in a burst of golden light, leaping like a water dragon to hover in midair.

That was the battle aura shield of a warrior—Linley, knocked back, wiped blood from the corner of his mouth as his body began to glow white. He poured his true energy into his flesh, his fighting spirit burning brighter than ever—this was what battle was meant to be!

"Your body is the strongest I've ever seen!" he said eagerly, eyes locked on Elray.

Elray's eyes sparkled as he gazed at Linley. "You too—I've never met another elf who could spar with me."

A great warrior must not only possess a powerful body, but also master the use of battle aura. It had been a long time since Elray had unleashed his battle aura, but today his opponent was formidable—Linley relied on nothing but raw speed and physical strength, yet was holding his own!

"Impressive. I truly admire you."

"Sorry, old man, but I'm not into men," Linley quipped.

Gold and white light clashed again, their duel growing fiercer as they both found their rhythm.

"Why do you always aim for the face?"

"You can't show your enemies mercy!"

"Haha, well said! Take this!"

Gold and white light interwove across the waves, moving so swiftly the battlefield shifted constantly, dazzling the eyes of the Night Elves. Linley and Elray fought with all their might, the exhilaration of battle evident in every move.

"This is exactly what we wanted!"

They began trading blow for blow, abandoning technique for pure, unadulterated combat—the kind of fight neither had ever experienced. It was a collision of bodies, perhaps what they had both secretly longed for.

Linley's blood was ablaze, all the pent-up frustration within him swept away by the ferocity of the fight.

"This is it—this is how it's supposed to be!"

Elray felt as if he were young again, his body brimming with vigor.

But passion must eventually fade—after half an hour of brawling, neither had managed to truly harm the other.

Elray, however, was tiring fast. With a single punch, Linley sent him flying from the sea to the shore.

"What a shame. If I were fifty years younger... you wouldn't be my match!"

Elray lay exhausted on the ground, his light slowly fading.

Linley approached the shore, eyes fixed on Elray. "Still want to fight?"

He looked refreshed, clearly still full of energy.

"No more..." Elray gave a wry smile. "I'm old—my stamina and strength aren't what they used to be. You're no warrior. What do you practice?"

"Cultivation," Linley replied.

"Cultivation... so that's cultivation. Remarkable—you could fight a dragon with that body of yours."

Elray closed his eyes. "I've lost. The wager was fair. You may kill me."

Linley's gaze grew complex. For the first time, he realized how powerful warriors truly were; even with his true energy strengthening his body, he could only barely match Elray. If Elray learned cultivation, he might surpass even the royal family's greatest mages.

"I won't kill you," Linley said suddenly. "Would you like to learn cultivation? With your strength, if you practiced cultivation, we could spar together!"

"You'd teach me your power?" Elray opened his eyes, astonished. "You don't care that I'm your enemy?"

"That's irrelevant," Linley replied, extending his hand. "Are you coming or not? I need a sparring partner."

Elray gazed at his hand for a long time before slowly reaching out to grasp it.

"I'm in."

He gripped Linley's hand tightly. Linley burst out laughing.

"Friends forged through battle—you're my brother now!"

"Brother?" Elray repeated, shaken. Despite being enemies, this young man truly regarded him as a friend.

Such young men were all but impossible to find among the elves.

"Very well, I count you as a friend too," Elray said, joining Linley in laughter.

With kindred spirits, Linley beamed with joy.

"Well, then, my friend... I'm going to have to tie you up now."

Suddenly, a magic-sealing chain appeared in Linley's other hand.

Elray's smile froze, a sense of foreboding rising. "Wait, what are you doing? Didn't you say we were friends?"

"Have you never heard the saying," Linley's grin grew wider, "that friends are for selling?"

Ignoring Elray's protests, he swiftly bound him up and tossed him before the Astromancer.

"I leave him to you!"

Hera's hands trembled, hardly able to believe her eyes.

"Thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, overjoyed, vanishing the moment she seized Elray.

"I'm heading back," she called, her voice echoing as Linley stood there, dumbfounded.

"She's in such a hurry."

"Well, elves may have a long sense of time," Leopard quipped beside him, "but after two hundred years of feelings, wouldn't you be eager too?"

"True enough," Linley admitted, feeling he'd done a good deed.

He turned to the Night Elves and announced his victory. For a moment, silence reigned, then a wave of jubilant cheers erupted.

"We've won! Victory is ours again!"

"Our boss is so strong—truly incredible!"

The Night Elves had never witnessed a battle like this. If it had been a contest of spells, they wouldn't have been surprised.

But this was a brawl. The Night Elves had never seen such a fight; their eyes were opened to a whole new world.

"Our boss is definitely the number one warrior among the Night Elves!"

"It's a pity his divine sword broke, or we could have seen his true glory!"

"We must find him another divine sword!"