Apotheosis

Marilyn had kept an extremely low profile the entire time. Prior to the battle, she radiated no presence and was almost insignificant as she stood behind Eddie on the elevated platform.

However, when she spoke, her body suddenly began to radiate with power.

"Owen from the Woollen Grassland, also known as the killer of Shadow Wolf King," she declared, the mocking lilt in her tone masked by her charming smile. "If I'm guessing it right, that one there is your love, right?" Marilyn pointed at the woman beside Yan with a smirk. That woman looked like a statue, expressionless and still, but that was mainly because of her sealed six senses. Despite that, however, one could still feel the refined aura that emanated from her body.

Buzz…

Owen's hand that had been holding his scimitar trembled, and the scimitar whistled softly. His eyes looked up at Marilyn, eyes flashing dangerously with repressed fury.

"What's it to you?" he hissed.

Raising his scimitar, Owen directed his rage to Eddie. "You!" he addressed him. "The one who ranks number one in the Central Region. You went ahead and snatched away my love. Prepare to die for taking her away from me!"

Silence befell upon everyone with Owen's words.

His declaration was bold, especially since it was directed to the number one warrior in the Central Region. It equated to a challenge if anything. Eddie, however, remained unfazed. He turned up his nose with a smirk as if amused that Owen even had the audacity to talk to him. To someone of Eddie's rank, the so-called Shadow Wolf King killer wasn't even worthy of a single glance, so he saw no need to respond to what he considered incessant babbling.

Marilyn giggled at Owen's words. "Aren't you being childish?" she asked him with the innocence of a fair child. "As a warrior, shouldn't you be aware of the fact that power always comes first? How can you blame us for taking away your love when you were too weak to protect her in the first place? Aren't you supposed to be a divine-level talent?"

"What? A divine-level talent?"

The arena was suddenly abuzz with whispers at Marilyn's words.

"Another divine-level talent? And he is an independent warrior?!"

"He should've joined a great sect! I'm sure they'd be clamoring for someone like him!"

"A divine-level talent is one in a million. They are bound to rule the world. Why would they even bother joining a sect?"

"Before he becomes a powerful warrior, he has to keep it low key. But, he doesn't know about this. Alas! He shouldn't have provoked Eddie. Now he's dead meat for sure!"

Marilyn smiled upon hearing the bystanders' words. "You're a divine-level talent, but you don't know how to keep a low profile. If I were you, I would've just hidden somewhere to cultivate and kept away from the world. Once strong enough, I would then reveal myself and take revenge," she said. "To be honest, even if you aren't able to avenge yourself, you could still steal someone else's woman. It was a really stupid move to come out and court death."

Owen's face scrunched up in anger. "Do you think that everyone is like you? Shameless!" he roared. Unable to bear it any longer, Owen swung his scimitar towards Marilyn, summoning a green, glowing tornado from nowhere. The tornado whooshed across the platform and towards the woman.

Marilyn's brows

s a very important thing to consider, but was it necessarily above everything? Did one's strength justify trampling over other people? Did one's strength justify stealing someone else's woman?

Many of the warriors saw themselves in Owen's shoes. If they were faced with the same situation and were told such things, then they too would also itch to kill this woman. So, though Marilyn was a beauty, none of them really liked her anymore.

In the world they all lived in, killing one another for treasure, betraying a close comrade, inciting conspiracy within the sect—these kinds of things were commonplace but that didn't mean one could simply openly acknowledge it just like that. They did such kind of evil things and still dared to admit it in front of so many people. That was truly shameless.

At that moment, however, in the midst of cheering and fighting, Zen was feeling extremely nervous.

Owen's appearance completely disrupted all of his plans.

Zen had originally suppressed his trump card and tried his hardest not to reveal his true capabilities.

Destroying Eden's warrior spirit was only the first step, and he did it to provoke Eddie. If Eddie did not recognize him, then his second step would be to kill Marilyn by surprise. He had even gone as far as to tamper the enchanted barriers around the arena to ensure that everything would be under his control.

But Owen's sudden challenge to Marilyn was an unforeseen hitch. It was fine if he was strong enough to kill her, but if he wasn't, then he would merely injure her. She might not be able to fight again or she might become paranoid and stay on alert which would be extremely troublesome for Zen.

Owen had been chasing after Marilyn for about one minute. Groaning in frustration, Owen stopped and stood still in the middle of the arena. The audience fell silent and waited with bated breath at what their hero was about to do next. Owen's eyes suddenly began to glow as green spots appeared on his face. His ears grew and became sharper while his fingernails elongated and became extremely sharp—almost like claws.

"Beast transmogrifying?!" Zen's eyebrows furrowed at Owen's transformation. Were they finally going to see a real fight now?