System's POV

Chapter 769 The End Of Friendship [Part 1]

Chapter 769  The End Of Friendship [Part 1]

Vincent awkwardly chuckled as he lowered his hand. He felt a little embarrassed about his action and wished he could bury himself on the ground.

However, before he could do that, the Medics rushed in to support his body and give him first aid.

Mikhail received the same attention, leaving Thirteen to make an impromptu announcement about the tournament.

"Due to the destruction of the arena, we will hold off the next set of matches until tomorrow," Thirteen declared. "Everyone, thank you all for coming! Now, it's time for a commercial break!"

After giving a thumbs up to the camera, the commercials finally aired, leaving only those who were in the Colosseum to see the aftermath of the battle.

Looking at the ruins caused by those two, Thirteen was thinking hard about who to call—it had to be someone who could fix it within half a day. If the arena was only slightly damaged, it could easily be fixed. Unfortunately, it looked like it was nearly demolished from all angles, so it needed to be replaced from scratch.

During the battle, Mikhail had gone all out to destroy his surroundings before his final clash with Vincent, which further destroyed the parts that were still intact.

'Welp. I'll just let the professionals deal with this,' Thirteen thought, washing his hands over the matter. He was certain that Claude was already dealing with the problem and would just give Thirteen the receipt for the repair fees at a later time.

For now, he looked at his brother and the handsome playboy. Currently, they were being treated by ladies, who made sure to take advantage of them in their weakened state.

Just as everyone thought that the battle was over, two people descended into the destroyed arena and faced each other.

One of them was Roland, and the other one was Joshua.

Clearly, the two of them had a grudge to settle that could no longer wait.

The audience, who were already ready to go home, settled back in their seats, feeling that something not-in-the-script was about to begin.

Thirteen also understood what was happening, so he glanced at the cameraman and gave instructions.

A moment later, the commercials ended, and those who were watching at home saw something that glued them to their seats.

"I've long wanted to fight you seriously, so this is a good opportunity to do so," Joshua said in disdain. "Roland, I'm tired of cleaning up after you make a mess of things. It's time for you to fix your mess on your own."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Roland sneered. "Is this another one of your mind games to make you look like the victim? By all means, go ahead. I want to hear your pathetic excuses as I beat you up."

"You? Beat me up?" Joshua chuckled in contempt. "You should only dream when you're asleep, Roland. Are you perhaps still sleeping? If so, it's time for me to wake you up to reality."

In the VIP Room where the Hero Party was seated, Shana, Derek, Mildred, and Diana were all feeling conflicted about the personal fight about to commence.

Only Erica looked at the two young men in the destroyed arena with an amused look on her face. She was even happily eating her popcorn.

After sorting out her feelings and finally understanding who she truly cared for, she was finally able to move on from her feelings for Roland.

Of course, since he was her first love, he still held a special place in her heart. However, she also understood that this battle between him and his best friend, Joshua, needed to happen so that they, too, could move on.

"Everyone, we have prepared a special match for all of you to enjoy as compensation for not seeing the remaining battles in the semifinals!" Thirteen declared as if everything that was happening was part of his plan.

The corner of Roland's lips twitched after hearing Zion's declaration, not liking how the latter took advantage of the moment to entertain the viewers.

However, he also knew that he couldn't just fight Joshua at a random place aside from the Colosseum because they might get apprehended by the local authorities for the destruction of public and private properties.

Seeing Roland's reaction, Joshua couldn't help but chuckle. After all, the sage had long wanted to see the former lose his composure.

"Before we start, are you not going to apologize to me?" Roland asked before summoning his sword.

"You're right." Joshua nodded. "I apologize for what happened during the battle on the deserted island. However, I don't regret doing it. If given the chance, I would have done it again. Are you happy now?"

"Your apology lacked sincerity," Roland nearly spat on the ground but held himself back.

The Sage of the Hero Party just shrugged as if finding explaining further too troublesome.

"Let's just fight," Joshua said. "I've long wanted to beat the crap out of you."

"You think you can beat me?" Roland asked in genuine curiosity.

"Beat you? No." Joshua shook his head. "I'm going to clean the ground using your face. That way, you can put your face to good use."

"You bastard!"

"Come, you Hero Wannabe. It's time to wake up to reality."

Not even waiting for Thirteen to declare the start of the match, Roland swung his sword with fury, creating a tempest that sent dirt and ground flying in Joshua's direction.

The Sage was unfazed by Roland's glare and fury and remained standing in place.

He simply waved his right hand to clear the dust and slash the tempest in half, making the debris fall to his side harmlessly.

After confirming that the barrier was in place, the Sage summoned his staff and tapped the ground thrice.

Countless Earth Spikes rose from the ground, preventing Roland from charging forward and closing the distance between him and Joshua.

Truth be told, Joshua had long wanted to fight Roland in a serious battle with their lives on the line.

He recognized his best friend's strength and was even jealous of the latter because he seemed like the perfect young man who could do anything. Both of them had a crush on Shana, and Joshua didn't believe that he could win against Roland if the latter became serious about wooing her.

However, that was all in the past.

Joshua knew that his relationship with his best friend and the rest of the Hero Party would no longer return to how it was.

Since that was the case, Joshua decided to settle his grievances with Roland and make him understand the pain that he felt all these years by watching his back and wallowing in his inferiority complex.

"Fight with everything you have, Roland!" Joshua shouted. "I don't want you making any excuses later when I defeat you!"

Instead of saying anything, Roland raised his sword, as if gathering all the light in his surroundings and making it shine like the sun.

Joshua knew that he couldn't take this attack head-on, but that didn't stop him from unleashing countless black spears in Roland's direction, preventing the latter from unleashing the powerful attack that he always used as a finisher against Boss Monsters.

"Divine Edge!" Roland roared, making a downward slash with his sword.

All his anger, sadness, helplessness, and unwillingness were imbued in this sword strike.

This made Zion, who was standing on the stage right behind Joshua casually moved to the side, so he wouldn't get hit by any stray attacks that were coming from the enraged Hero who seemed to also be targeting him as well.