色戒无删除版

"Are you all done?" He shook his head with a laugh. "I didn\'t know that my council is actually like this. You are allowed to ask me any questions and yet you chose to show this ugly side of you. How unbecoming of people in your status."

The room remained even more silent that one could hear the sound of a pin that was dropped. They were all holding themself back from lashing out once again. They could only swallow their insult and curse at Kieve within their minds.

"I don\'t understand, your majesty. How could you let that man take the position easily?" Another member asked. They all thought that the king hated Kieve because they have never seen the two of them interact or talk to each other before. There was also the issue of what happened between them in the past.

"You don\'t understand or you can\'t accept it? The reason is simple enough. He is an Altair. He is the son of Sir Maius Altair. He is a great magician with his experience and achievements backing him. And above all of that, he is loyal to the royal family and I can trust him." The king did not hold back and told them all what made Kieve the best to take the position.

The emphasis on the last sentence he said was a clear indication that he knew what the others were trying to do. They all knew that he wasn\'t a timid king and it was difficult to control him so they wanted to resort to placing people who would monitor him. All of this was already known to him.

"If you are adamant on wanting to replace me, then why don\'t you bring your strongest mage and let them fight me?" Kieve interjected with a smirk. "If they manage to defeat me, then I will relent this position that you all wanted to have for yourselves."

Zandro was surprised with the sudden proposal from the mage. He looked at him like he had completely lost his mind. But instead of fear, he saw that Kieve was completely relaxed.

"Then we will request for a duel!" The indignant council member declared. He won\'t let Kieve get away with what he\'s done. They will challenge him and show him that their mages were stronger than him.

"I accept your challenge," Kieve smirked. He was that confident with his skills and besides his father was his mentor. In all of Lunaira, there was no one that could surpass his father and he learned everything that he could from the man himself.

He bet that these people hadn\'t gone to any battles and even their mages had no experience or whatsoever. It was better to show them where they belong and assert his authority over them. There was no use in playing safe inside the palace so he must take the risk and show them his power.

No one could look down on the Altair. He won\'t let anyone take it for granted the things that his father had done. That position only belonged to them and unless there\'s someone out there who was more worthy, then they would need to get past him before they could get their hands on the title of being the strongest mages in the kingdom.

Seeing that Kieve was confident, Zandro laughed because he was worrying without any basis. The room was taken aback by the sudden laughter from the king. Zandro now found this situation really amusing.

"Then I will bear witness to this duel," he declared. He leaned on his seat and crossed his legs with a grin on his face. It turned out that this council meeting would be one of the most exciting meetings he had in a while.

"Since the king agreed, why don\'t we start now? I know the main reason why you are eager for this council meeting today. I\'m not ignorant and most of all I am not dumb to not know your intentions. Since it is already the main topic of this gathering, let\'s get through it and finish it today." Kieve stood up from his chair and casted a glance at the crowd.

Zandro also stood up and walked out of the room followed by Kieve. They left first as the council members started to argue and mumble with each other. After they didn\'t come to an agreement, they also left the council room and went straight to the arena inside the palace compound.

The king was already seated while Kieve was already standing in the middle of the arena. He tilted his head to the side while narrowing his eyes towards the entering council members. He looked forlorn in the middle of that wide ramp with his black hair fluttering with the wind.

The long sash that was tied around his waist floated and highlighted the red leaves that were embroidered in it. He was standing tall and emitted an aura of authority. It was incomparable to any of the people in that arena, except for the king.

They didn\'t want to admit it but him only standing there was already giving them a sense of foreboding. They gritted their teeth and swallowed their indignation. The first one to come up on the platform was the mage under the council member who first opposed Kieve.

He was tall and had a lean build. He had short hair and tanned skin. His eyes were as black as the night sky and had a serious face. Kieve could already guess that the man was not fond of any fun conversations.

"I\'ve heard a lot about you and your family. I could even see that famous fire tree everytime I passed by your estate." The man suddenly said, which made Kieve\'s eyebrow raise.

"And I hope that what you heard aren\'t all bad or false rumors," Kieve grinned. He knew everything there was with regards to his family, the rumors and all the talk that was going on outside.

"I only care about your strength," the man simply answered. "I believe that family background isn\'t all there is to a mage and a warrior."

"Well then, let\'s see what you\'ve got." Kieve stood straight and extended his right arm forward. "I call this blood."

A small red orb appeared at the tip of his fingers and he shot it towards his opponent. The man raised a shield to protect himself from the attack. Amongst all the magic he could use, he was most proud of creating barriers. He was confident that no attack would be able to penetrate his five layer solid mana barrier.

The red orb reached the man\'s barrier and touched it slightly. It stopped mid-air but it was still spinning. When they all thought that the orb wouldn\'t do any damage, the resounding sound of a crack echoed in the arena.

The shield that he was so proud of shattered into a million pieces just a few seconds after the red orb made contact with it. The enemy\'s eyes widened because the red orb was still moving towards him. He stepped to the right and slightly bent his back backward to avoid the attack.

A loud explosion took over the arena when the red orb landed. Their eyes were all in the direction where the orb exploded and there a large crater appeared. Some of them couldn\'t help but gasp at what they saw.

The enemy on the other had his eyes wide as he looked back at the crater behind him. He was sure that if that orb hit him, he would have died on the spot. He looked back at Kieve and swallowed hard because he knew that the power of that man was not to be trifled with.