色戒无删除版

Kieve narrowed his eyes and grinned because the man did not leave and run. \'At least he has the guts,\' he mumbled to himself. The blue ice flew towards at a breakneck speed but Kieve wasn\'t fazed. He stretched out his hand and blocked the incoming attack that was directed at him.

A red barrier appeared just as Kieve raised his hand. The blue ice melted as they made contact with the shield. The enemy did not stop there though as he appeared behind Kieve and used the same attack.

Kieve noticed the attack and managed to jump back to avoid the deadly ice that was aiming for his body. The ice landed on the ground instead and instantly froze a part of the arena. The man did not stop there as he knelt and touched the ground with both of his palms.

Blue mana rushed through the iced floor that he created and a series of sharp ice stalagmites manifested. These stalagmites were so tall and deadly that they reached the air where Kieve was floating. The mage bent down on air and touched the tip of the stalagmite.

His red mana immediately covered the ice and turned it to water. He then landed down on the ground and looked at the man. Kieve then waved his hand and several red waves appeared. These waves targeted the enemy and he did his best to dodge them all but they kept on returning and coming for him.

These waves were sharp and cut through the walls of the arena. Once the enemy made sure that those waves hit the walls, he could now focus on attacking the man once again. Before he could do anything though, Kieve was already behind him with a curved red mana blade pressing against his neck.

"That\'s enough because no matter how you struggle you will die by my hands. Do you want to die?" Kieve whispered with the blade pressing into the man\'s neck that it drew blood.

The man raised both of his hands. Kieve smiled and retracted the blade that he used to threaten the man. He then stepped back and gestured for the man to go. The enemy closed his eyes and left the arena.

"Are there any more of you who want to test their luck?" Kieve looked at the bleachers above the arena where the council members were sitting. "If there are, let them come at me at the same time because I don\'t want to spend any more time in this place."

The council members were on the verge of an outburst at how arrogant Kieve was. Because of that, they let their mages go up to the arena and fight the mage. There were a total of five mages who entered to challenge Kieve.

Kieve could already tell that these mages were still young. Although they have strong mana signatures, it was not enough to face him. His control over his mana was precise and he could do it even without moving from where he was.

Five mages attacked at the same time but Kieve did not even move and let his mana spread into different directions. The mana became blunt blades that stopped the mages from their attack. The mages were then flung away by the force of the attack that hit them.

The mana blades then became sharp pointed spears that moved to pierce the mages. Kieve was looking at the council members while he was attacking the mages that they sent to fight him. Before the spear could pierce through the skulls of those mages, a loud voice stopped him.

"Stop!" A voice from one of the council members who were seated at the back shouted. "We already got your point so please spare them."

The spear-like mana stopped just a few centimeters away from the skulls of those mages. "Then do you all still insist that I relinquish my father\'s position to these mages?"

Silence. That was the only answer they gave to the man. He was indeed strong as did anyone who bore the name of Altair. Although it was a good opportunity, it was truly too good to be true. Almost all of them decided to take a step back and wait for another chance.

After the duel, they all returned to the council room and proceeded with the other concerns that they must talk about. Kieve remained silent throughout the duration of the meeting which made the council members sigh in relief. Zandro was also happy with the result of that duel.

Both of them waited for all the members to leave before Kieve finally bid the king goodbye. He bowed and was the last to leave the palace. He exited the room but he wasn\'t even half way when he heard a voice calling him.

He looked back and saw that it was a woman and he remembered her as one of the council members. She had blonde locks and almost golden eyes. She walked towards him with her hips swaying a little bit.

"May I help you?" Kieve politely asked since he didn\'t know the woman and he was hoping that she would introduce herself.

The woman chuckled. "I\'m just here to express my condolences to you and to your family. High magus Maius has been a great help to my family. In the future, you will have my support." The woman bowed before she left without introducing herself or waiting for Kieve\'s reply.

Kieve was confused but he wasn\'t about to turn down an offer so he silently accepted the woman\'s words. He returned home with his wife and children waiting for him. They took turns in greeting him and he made sure to shower them with kisses.

"What does the inside of the palace look like?" Cygnus asked while being carried in his father\'s arms. He had been seeing the palace from their home but he hadn\'t entered that place yet.

He tried asking his grandfather to take him there too but the man refused. Cygnus wanted to know why his grandfather never let him go there with him. He was really curious as to how a palace would look inside.

"It is beautiful. There\'s a huge library there and a place where all kinds of flowers grow. There\'s also a place where mages and the warriors practice their skills. There\'s also a forest where the king usually hunts." Kieve answered his son\'s question and he was rewarded with his son\'s sparkling eyes as he became fascinated with what he heard.

"Will you let us go to the palace?" He asked in excitement. Because his father answered his question, he immediately assumed that they were going to the palace.

Kieve gave his son a smile and ruffled his hair. "Not now, I can\'t allow you to enter the palace for now."

The joy in his son\'s face fell after he heard his father\'s words. "Why? Even grandfather didn\'t want to let us go with him and now you too."

Kieve sighed and let his son down. He then knelt on one knee and looked at his son. "Although the palace is wonderful, that place is also dangerous. I just don\'t want you to get hurt because I don\'t like to see you get hurt. That is also the reason why your grandfather preferred to let you stay here in our house."

This was the only explanation he could come up with. It was the truth even though he left out the part about the people who could hurt him. He did not want to let his family be entangled even more with the complications of the palace.

Although they were already involved because he was now the high magus, he still wanted to let them live a normal and happy life. Cygnus and Elara were his children and he wished that they wouldn\'t get swept away by the storm that was brewing in the horizon. To minimize their exposure to danger, the needed to be on his toes and make sure that no one could get near his family, especially those people.

Maius did a great job of not involving any member of his family into the matters of the palace and he intended to do it. He looked at his wife and the woman gave him a gentle nod with a smile on her face. They already talked about it so many times and the woman understood the man\'s concern.

She fully supports whatever her husband intended to do because she knew how the palace was. It was full of wolves waiting for their prey. Once they saw a weakness, they would tear you piece by piece and would not leave even a bone behind. It was a place he would not allow his children to go not until they were a bit older to understand how the world they were living in worked.