SON OF THE HERO KING

“Not only are people not doubting me that much, but even my odds of victory in the betting stands aren’t that bad?”

“That’s right.”

“How regretful. I thought everyone would look down on me and make a bet of like 100 to 1 and then I would bet a huge amount and win big!...or something.”

“You really have a weird imagination. Why would anyone look down on Tiamat’s candidate?"

Isis gave a weird look at Sol while all he could do was shrug innocently.

He was once again reminded that this wasn't some kind of xianxia world.

While some people did not think highly of him, it wasn't as if they were outrightly looking down on him either. They just had logical and reserved opinions about him since they had little information.

"Anyways, what brings you here? I thought you were sightseeing?"

"Hehe! I know the answer. Isis was worried about– hmm!"

Sheherazade was stopped from further speaking as a red-faced Isis caught her.

Sol could only laugh at this cute interaction of theirs. Isis' little quirks were truly soul healing in his opinion. She gave a certain candid aura that attracted and appeased him.

Though he knew that that aura was the most disgusting thing for most divine beasts in the world.

Nature was truly a weird thing.

“Well, thanks for worrying.”

“Humph. Don’t let Sheherazade’s words mislead you. You are my partner and future mate, how could you lose to those guys?

Isis sniffed disdainfully while crossing her legs, showing a little bit of the image of spring hidden by her robe.

“Ohoh? My mate, huh. It’s the first time you openly acknowledged it.”

The two of them knew that Sol wanted a Lust-type contract and they knew very very well what such a contract entailed. Even then they had never really spoken openly about this fact.

“Now that it’s coming closer, you are more open to it?”

Soon he will fight and soon he would win, becoming a prince and thereby forming a contract with her.

“I guess? I was a little lost.”

“Heh, then…Do you regret it? It isn’t like we can’t form another type of contract.”

He expected her to explode in her usual outburst but, for once, Isis stayed calm. Her expression was hard to describe.

“I certainly don’t regret it. For better or for worse, I believe following you was the greatest shift in my destiny. I like being with you, Sol.”

Sol was surprised as his lips turned into a smile.

“...You are acting quite honestly this time.”

Isis gave a graceful laugh that seemed like a melody and put Sheherazade in the palm of her hand.

“My little friend always tells you what I really think and I always act embarrassed about it. It was fun at first and very helpful for me. But I just realized that…just that I need to grow up.”

Isis sighed. She wasn’t stupid. In fact, far from it, she had a great and insightful vision of the world thanks to the education she received from her father. While she generally didn’t act on it, it was simply because she couldn’t be bothered.

From everything she had observed, something big was about to happen — Something even bigger than the whole contest.

She felt it even more clearly when Sol suddenly expressed his envy to form the contract as soon as possible. The Sol she knew was very careful when it came to relationships and he would never press her like this for no reason.

This only meant that Sol urgently needed the boost obtained from forming a contract. Moreover, the first contract.

Why would he need such power urgently while in Tiamat’s realm?

All of this lead to one conclusion.

Shit was about to hit the fan.

The kind of shit that even Tiamat could not avoid completely.

There was no time for her childish outburst in such a situation. Death was omnipresent and she could not afford to play around anymore.

Sol looked deeply at Isis. It was the first time in a while the two of them had such a serious discussion. Sighing inwardly about how lucky he was to meet a woman like Isis, Sol advanced forward.

“Huh?”

And then he kissed her.

At first, Isis’ eyes opened wide as she tried to fight back. But soon, she seemed to melt in his arms while their kiss continued to grow deeper.

‘Ohh!!’

When their kiss finally ended, Sol gave a boyish grin and told the completely flushed Isis.

"This is just a sample of what is to come, I hope you are ready."

Standing up and arranging his clothes, Sol began to walk toward the door of the room they were currently in.

Once he reached the door and was about to open it, he stopped and turned one last time toward her. “Wish me luck. Though I think it will be unnecessary.”

He waved his hand and left.

Now alone in the room, Isis looked down at Sheherazade, “I think it’s time to go.” Her face was still red and her breath a little unsteady, but Sheherazade acted as if she didn’t see it. The fact that she always acted bubbly and cutely didn’t mean that she didn’t know how to read the room.

“Yeah! I don’t want to miss any of it.”

The two of them left the room using another door on the opposite side of the one Sol used.

—-

After walking through a very long corridor with his thoughts wandering, Sol was surprised to see a place of intersection with two other corridors. Standing there were two people he recognized.

One was wearing an attire that covered her entire body from head to toe, while the other was wearing simple clothes but with an air of confidence around him.

They were of course Nidhogg and Kaiser.

Seeing them, Sol showed no surprise and continued to walk unimpeded. The other two didn’t seem like they wanted to lose this silent contest as they walked alongside him.

It only took a few more minutes of walking for them to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Wooooo!!!

The moment they walked out of the corridor, what greeted them were cries and cheers full of enthusiasm.

Sol looked up and for one instant felt like he was back to the coliseum in Lustburg. This image didn’t last though, since what he was seeing was much more absurd.

In front of them, already standing in rows were about a hundred or more seemingly young people. All of them had tense expressions as they looked up to the sky in the east where a massive floating throne could be seen with one woman sitting on it.

“Now that all the participants are present, I believe it’s time to announce—the start of the contest for the title of the Prince!”

Standing, or rather floating next to Tiamat, Fafnir shouted out loud to all the people present.

Wooooooo!!!!

The cheers resonated even more. The atmosphere was electrifying and heated up to the maximum.

“The rules are simple. A battle royal. In a few seconds, you will be transported to a deserted island for you to fight.

Everything is permitted! You can team up, hide, sneak attack, and many more. You just need to understand that every hour, the border of the island will be destroyed until there is no other place to hide. In the end, there will be only one victor! No prize of consolation to the ones who lost.

“Winner takes it all! and the prize is….the crown!!”

At the same time that he finished his speech, a gate opened below everyone’s feet and teleported them all.

—

When Sol opened his eyes again, he found himself surrounded by a very tall tree that nearly blocked all the light of the stars.

Clearly, they had already reached the venue of the fight.

He smiled while remembering the short explanation Fafnir gave. They were easy to understand. A battle royal in a zone that was progressively shrinking. This was a pretty common type of game in some FPS in his previous life at one difference.

The ability to team up.

Not everyone would form a team.

Sol didn’t need to look around to feel all those prickling gazes on him when he was in the stadium. He knew very well that the weaker one would for teams in order to hunt down the candidates with the highest chances of winning and it seemed like he was on that hitlist.

‘Haha, it would be so much easier if they ignored me.’

Though it didn’t matter in the end, in terms of hiding, with his dimension he could hide and eat popcorn until the end and fight the last one to stand but–

‘It wouldn’t be fun now, would it?’

He didn’t just want to win. He needed to win beautifully.

“Perhaps I should try a little bit of the inheritance Tiamat taught me?”

Theory should always be followed by practice.

Placing his hands together, Sol focused for a while before finally muttering.

<<Dimension Encroachment: Reverse World>>

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