The nearly thousand spectators in the arena stared dumbfounded at the scene below.?

  Less than three seconds had passed since the match bell rang,?

  and only one contestant remained standing on the arena floor. The other had been sent hurtling beyond the boundary line, embedded headfirst in the ground in a ridiculous butt-up pose, motionless.?

  After a brief, breathless silence, the arena erupted in deafening cheers unlike anything before.?

  "One-hit knockout!"?

  "Unstoppable!"?

  "Incredible!"?

  "......"?

  Amidst the roar of the thousand-strong crowd, Hulim strode out of the arena with an unflappable expression.?

  As for her opponent, he was carried away on a stretcher by the staff.?

  ......?

  "Hulim! That was insane! You took him out in one blow!"?

  The moment Hulim stepped outside, Miko darted over, brimming with excitement.?

  "It’s not that dramatic. He was just overly careless. By the way, what are you planning to do next?"?

  The first round of the preliminary round had the largest turnout, with matches stacked back-to-back. It would take at least half a day just to wrap up this round. So like Miko, Hulim’s next match wasn’t until the afternoon.?

  "Hmm...... How about we check out other arenas? We might stumble upon some really powerful competitors!"?

  "Sure, let’s do that. I’m curious to see just how strong the top fighters in this tournament can get."?

  "Let’s hit Arena No.8 first—it’s the closest!"?

  "Alright, off to No.8 then."?

  Hulim didn’t much care where they went. Running into strong opponents was purely a matter of luck, and it could happen anywhere.?

  The two made their way toward Arena No.8 together.?

  At that moment, a hastily rushing staff member suddenly emerged from a corridor.?

  Not noticing the two approaching, he collided straight into Miko.?

  After the crash, instead of apologizing, the staff member didn’t even spare Miko a glance—he just kept walking like nothing had happened.?

  "What’s his problem! He ran into me and didn’t even say sorry!"?

  Miko pouted, clearly annoyed.?

  As Hulim watched the staff member’s retreating figure, her eyebrows lifted slightly.?

  Was it just her imagination......?

  There was something about him that gave her a faint, unsettling feeling.?

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  And that kind of aura usually only came from certain unsavory types......?

  "Hulim, are you okay?"?

  "It’s nothing......"?

  Hulim shook her head.?

  "Let’s hurry to Arena No.8. The matches must have started again by now. If we move fast, we might still catch one in full swing."?

  "Ah, right!"?

  The two rushed toward Arena No.8, the little incident seemingly slipping their minds.?

  ......?

  Meanwhile,?

  the staff member who’d accidentally collided with Miko arrived at a secluded spot.?

  After knocking on a door in a coded rhythm, it creaked open a crack—this was a restricted room off-limits to spectators.?

  Once his "identity" was confirmed, the person inside opened the door and let him in.?

  The door snapped shut behind him......?

  "How did it go?"?

  "Don’t worry, Captain—I got the list!"?

  The "staff member" pulled a thick stack of documents from his uniform.?

  "This has the names and ID details of every tournament staff member!"?

  "Perfect! Well done! With this, we can replace the staff with our own people without raising a single eyebrow!"?

  The man addressed as Captain flipped through the documents briefly, then handed them to another man.?

  "Take these to the Vice-Captain. Don’t mess this up!"?

  "Yes, Captain!"?

  The man grabbed the documents, took his orders, and vanished from the room in a hurry.?

  After he left, the Captain turned to the others in the room.?

  "Stay sharp too. Keep your movements low-key over the next few days. We must fully secure this place as our home turf before we make our move!"?

  "Yes!!!"?

  Everyone in the room responded in unison.?

  "Good!"?

  The Captain looked at them with a satisfied nod.?

  "Now, let the first battle of the Great Demon Mercenary Corps on the world stage begin!"?

  ......?

  Ding——!?

  "Fight——!"?

  At the referee’s signal,?

  Miko moved in a blur. Her figure darted across the arena like a whirlwind, shifting positions so fast she left afterimages.?

  "Dammit! You’re so annoying, darting around like a rat!"?

  Her opponent was a Rapid-Fire Archer, a master at pinning down enemies with continuous long-range attacks. He’d won his previous matches by keeping his foes at arm’s length, but now he was stuck.?

  Miko was far too fast to lock onto. Even when he loosed his arrows, they only chased after her ghostly trails.?

  "If that’s how it’s gonna be, I’ll just wait for you to get close......"?

  The archer stopped shooting, nocked an arrow, and drew his bowstring taut, ready to strike. A green whirlwind swirled around the sharp arrowhead—clearly, its power was on a whole different level from before.?

  Under normal circumstances, no one would dare charge in recklessly. After all, the closer you got, the smaller your margin for error, and the easier it was to get hit.?

  But Miko didn’t care one bit. She charged straight at him without hesitation.?

  "Are you out of your mind? Charging right at me! Eat dirt!"?

  The Rapid-Fire Archer released the taut bowstring in an instant.?

  Whoosh——!?

  The arrow, glowing with an eerie green light, shot toward Miko with a thunderous crack that split the air.?

  Faced with the oncoming projectile, Miko didn’t dodge or flinch. She clenched the short blades in her hands and slashed forward with all her might.?

  The crossed blades carved two arcs through the air, slamming into the arrowhead head-on.?

  Clang——!?

  Sparks exploded everywhere. The crisp ring of clashing metal echoed throughout the arena. Miko was forced back several steps by the arrow’s immense impact.?

  "What!?! How is that even possible——!!?"?

  The Rapid-Fire Archer gaped in utter disbelief.?

  His full-powered attack had been blocked with such brute simplicity??

  But the archer seemed to forget he was still in the middle of a match.?

  Miko flipped the blocked arrow into the air with a flick of her wrist. She spun 180 degrees and unleashed a devastating roundhouse kick.?

  Bang!?

  Her foot connected with the arrow, sending it hurtling back toward the archer at breakneck speed.?

  "Oh no!"?

  Seeing the arrow flying straight for him, the archer finally realized his fatal mistake. He had no choice but to dive out of the way to avoid it.?

  But he was powerless against Miko, who was charging right behind the arrow.?

  He could only watch as she closed in. By then, it was already too late to nock another arrow.?

  Bang!?

  Miko drove her knee into his chest, sending a searing jolt through his skull and leaving him concussed.?

  She followed up with the same roundhouse kick, leaving a clear, tiny shoe print on his face. His body went flying like a discarded sandbag before slamming hard outside the arena perimeter.?

  After hitting the ground, the archer rolled his eyes and twitched uncontrollably.?

  "The winner—Miko Kedar!"?

  As the referee boomed out the result, the thousand spectators in the arena erupted in enthusiastic cheers.?

  Miko waved to acknowledge the crowd, then strode out of the arena. Her opponent, meanwhile, was carried away on a stretcher by two staff members......