Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

”Come on!”

”You can do it!”

”Don’t let him beat you!”

”For the Rockwell Kingdom!”

”For the Darr Kingdom!”

”Fight!!”

When Celestina arrived back at the Manor after seeing off her old friend, she was greeted by a huge ruckus caused by the cheering of thousands of people.

Raising her brow, the Marquess swiftly made her way over to the garden square where she saw an unusual battle was taking place.

Tables had been cleared away and a big circle had been drawn on the grass with some kind of white chalk.

Inside this circle, her great great grandnephew Timothy was ’hugging’ a woman from the Darr Kingdom. Zara, if she recalled correctly.

Of course, this ’hug’ was anything but intimate as both sides held death grips on each other’s shirts as they seemed to be trying to force each other back.

This must be one of Lucas’ ideas, Celestina immediately concluded.

She had already anticipated that something like this would happen, as there was no way youths from the two opposing nations could sit together in the same venue and not get into some kind of argument.

That said, Celestina had thought the way this inevitable dispute would be resolved would be through the Rockwell Kingdom’s method of sparring, or a bare-fisted competition like in the Darr Kingdom.

The current contest of strength where the objective seemed to be to force your opponent out of the circle, however, was completely novel.

And if something unfamiliar appeared in Celestina’s home, the most likely culprit behind it was her First Disciple.

Sure enough, when she spotted Lucas, caught his attention with her Soul Sense, and sent him an inquiring gaze, the young boy just smiled and shrugged.

That was confirmation enough.

Letting out a tired sigh, Celestina quietly made her way over to the head table, her presence able to go unnoticed only because everyone was currently focused on cheering on the young man and woman in the ring.

Finally reaching her seat, Celestina asked the young woman sitting next to her, ”So, anything happen while I was gone?”

In response, Talia Darr laughed heartily, ”Your First Disciple is truly an interesting one, Marquess Balfour.”

”You can say that again,” Celestina laughed before waving her hand casually, ”And you’re already a Martial Adept, just call me by name.”

Tilting her head slightly, Talia felt that Celestina was acting quite friendly towards her, even more so than she had been half-an-hour ago when they had first arrived.

She wasn’t sure why this was, or what it meant, but since the other party was being so welcoming, she decided to play along, ”Very well, then, Lady Celestina.”

Nodding once, Celestina then asked the all-important question, ”So, who’s winning?”

Talia very much wanted to say that her kingdom’s younger generation was superior, but knowing that doing so would only make her look petty and weak, she replied honestly, ”So far, your kingdom’s youth have the lead in these... sumo matches, I believe Young Lucas called them. 3 to 2.”

”I see,” Celestina muttered, sweeping her eyes across all the children who had gathered around the ring, only to notice that Christina was missing.

Seemingly understanding what she was thinking, Talia explained, ”Princess Christina also wanted to participate, but when she tried to enter the ring, everyone blocked her, saying she couldn’t possibly fight in her current dress.”

”Ah, so she’s off somewhere sulking?” Celestina, understanding Christina’s personality, figured out what had happened fairly quickly.

Laughing lightly, Talia nodded, ”Well, something like that.”

As a princess herself, Talia had also experienced a similar kind of frustration in the past when she was unable to participate in the banquet battles because of the unwieldly outfits she had been forced to wear.

That was why, as soon as she was strong enough to refuse putting on those gaudy outfits, she had.

In that sense, she sympathized with Christina somewhat. Not about the girl’s current outfit, that was stunning, but about the restrictions the title of royalty brought with it.

That said, Talia also felt it was a shame that they weren’t able to test the Rockwell Kingdom’s top young genius in battle, even if that battle was little more than a child’s game in her eyes.

Speaking of the game, it seemed the match was about to come to an end, with Timothy using his superior cultivation and physique to force Zara to the edge of the ring.

Everyone from the Rockwell Kingdom was cheering loudly, while those from the Darr Kingdom, despite being much fewer in number, were going all out to encourage their young leader.

Timothy and Zara were, at least in terms of realm, the strongest competitors from both sides, and if Timothy won, the game would be decided in the Rockwell Kingdom’s favour, something the Darr Kingdom youths definitely didn’t want to accept.

”Go! Go! Go!”

”Come on! Just a bit more!”

”You can do it!”

With one great roar, Timothy gathered all his strength and weight and threw it against Zara, a rather ungentlemanly display, but one no warrior present was going to fault him for.

Zara’s foot slipped, sliding across the slick grass as her expression sank.

Everyone was either on the edge of their seat, or already standing up in anticipation.

In that instant, there was no one who wasn’t convinced Zara was about to lose, no one except for a few unarmed combat masters who saw through the ruse.

At the last possible second, Zara shifted her stance significantly, ceasing her resistance entirely as she pivoted on her back foot, the one that was touching the white chalk perimeter.

With a kind of fluid grace that was the complete opposite of the brute strength she had been using up until now, Zara used Timothy’s own momentum to spin the two of them around, throwing him to the ground and landing on top of him.

Both of them had completely left the circle now, a result that took the entire crowd by surprise, but who was the winner?

Everyone turned to the referee, aka Lucas, and silently waited for his judgement.