Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

"Now that is how you bring excitement into your matches!" Russell Davies, who was watching the match with enthusiasm, turned his gaze towards Javier, who was also watching the match. "See, even the kid knows how to be a good showman. You really need to learn more, Javi." "I told you before and I'll say it again, Russell. I'm not a showman," Javier turned to look at Russell with an annoyed expression on his face. He then paused for a second, contemplating on his words before continuing, "And don't call me Javi."

After making sure that Eric was not in any dangerous condition, Elder Kenneth walked towards Claude and stretched out his hand to him. Claude let out a short snicker and accepted the handshake, after which Elder Kenneth raised his hand and announced, "The opponent has been knocked out. Claude wins!"

"Wow! That was a quick match!"

"To think the junior brother actually won against the senior. And in such a quick time as well! I was not expecting that!"

"It's not that surprising, really. After all, the junior brother who fought against senior Eric is Claude Rayforth, the disciple who also fought alongside the new King of Argria!"

"Oh! Yeah, now that I think about it, it does make a lot of sense!"

After the silence, the crowd in the spectator stands exploded into chatter. They were all excited and their discussions were unending.

As he was walking off of the arena, Claude suddenly turned his gaze and looked at Ian, who coincidentally was also staring at Claude, and the two locked eyes, causing Ian to flinch.

"Heh," Claude, who saw Ian flinch, just let out a short chuckle in response, and waved his hands at him with a wide grin on his face, as if he was saying; next is you, Ian!

"Y-You little b*tch! I'll show you who I am!" Ian, who felt humiliated yet again, gritted his teeth in anger.

"You really don't have to continue entertaining him, you know?" Senior Beldon said as Claude walked towards him.

"Who? Are you talking about Ian?" Claude turned his head around and glanced at Ian once again before shifting his gaze towards Senior Beldon, who nodded his head in response. "He's not worth your time. And not to mention that his actions are like that of a pest. He may not be worthy of being your opponent on the basis of strength, but he can make your life extremely annoying."

"So? What are you telling me to do?" Claude asked, and Senior Beldon simply shrugged his shoulders. "Don't lead him on. With enemies like that, you either finish them off, or crush their spirits so hard that they won't even bother getting up again." 

"I definitely can't kill him. At least not yet. So you're telling to just give him a beating so bad that he'll wish he was dead instead?" Claude asked, and his senior nodded. "Otherwise, he'll do even more annoying things. This time, it was burning down your residence and murdering your servants. Next time, it could be even worse."

"The next match, Wilfred Beldon vs Javier Banderas!" All of a sudden, Elder Kenneth announced the next match of the sparring contest, and Claude, surprised by the matchup, looked at his senior, who also seemed completely shocked.

"I guess you have more important things than me to worry about, senior brother!" Claude said with a snicker, and Senior Beldon smiled bitterly at him and nodded his head. "It sure seems like that, doesn't it?!"

"Cheer up, senior! Who knows, maybe you will win this fight and surprise everyone!" Claude patted his shoulders, trying to comfort his senior.

Senior Beldon sighed as he said, "And then I'll wake up and realise that it was all a dream and I had been knocked out within three moves by Javier!" 

"Come one senior brother. Look at the bright side!" Claude responded as he slapped his shoulders, and Senior Beldon looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "At least you would've won in the dream." Claude said whole shrugging his shoulders, and Senior Beldon let out a chuckle.

"You know what, I do need to be more positive." Senior Beldon said as he began walking towards the arena, leaving Claude standing alone in the gallery. 

"Junior brother Claude!" Claude heard a voice calling him from behind, and he immediately turned around, only to see Ian's group of followers standing behind him with their heads lowered.

Did they seriously come here to start another fight with me? Claude furrowed his eyebrows as soon as he saw the group. He definitely did not have a positive impression of these seniors, as they were not only weak compared to him, they also tried to bully him even after they knew that they were weaker than Claude. This meant that they were not only talentless, but also delusional because of arrogance. And Claude despised unfounded arrogance. 

"Oh, it's you seniors. What's the matter? Are you here to challenge me to another fight?" Claude said in a sarcastic manner, which did agitate the group a little bit, but they held it in. Brenden, who stood in the front, bit his lips and moved forward as he began to speak. "I understand that we weren't exactly kind to you during our first meeting, junior brother Claude."

"Oh boy, isn't that an understatement!" Claude interrupted his words with a cheeky reply, but Brenden disregarded the lack of respect he was getting from his junior and continued. "Like I was saying, we understand that you have a grudge against us. After all, we did try to use our positions to try and bully you. However, we are standing in front of you today to tell you directly that we have come to understand our mistakes, and we assure you that we'll never commit such atrocities ever again!"

"Uh Huh! Sure.." Claude rolled his eyes at the words of Brenden, and remained unconvinced of their sincerity. Jason, who saw that Claude wasn't buying their expression of sincerity, stepped forward and said, "I can understand why you wouldn't be keen on believing our words, junior brother Claude. After all, we definitely aren't trustworthy people in your eyes."

"Of course you aren't. You all took part in burning down my residence and killing my servants. How on earth can I trust you all?" The fake smile on Claude's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a serious expression, and the group of lackeys couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spine. "And don't even mention the look that your owner just gave me a few minutes ago! If you all believed that I'd trust you just because you can whip out a speech, then you're all just a bunch of idiots!"

"I completely understand, junior brother Claude! But I hope you understand that we have no control over Ian and his feelings. This apology has nothing to do with Ian. He has no idea that we are here." Brenden clarified for Claude their situation, and Claude raised his eyebrows in surprise. Don't tell me these lackeys have abandoned their master? Brenden continued, "And we are not simply standing in front of you to just apologize. We are here because we wish to make amends for our mistakes!"

"Oho?!" Claude smiled, completely taken aback by their words. So not only did the dogs abandon their master, but they also wished to help him? Was this an evil plot conceived by Ian? Was this Ian trying to get him to lower his guard? 

No, that can't be it, Claude shook his head after some thought. He's too dumb and prideful of a person to think of such a plan. And he definitely wasn't a patient person. 

"And why on earth should I believe you all? For all I know, you could all simply be lying. To try and trick me!" Claude said, and Brenden shook his head. "You are absolutely right, junior brother. You have no reason to believe us. However, I feel as though junior brother is a very opportunistic man. And an opportunistic man would be able to realise the importance of free labour, even if they cannot be fully trusted."

"Oh? Don't tell me you people are trying to tell me that you have value!" Claude snorted, and Brenden shook his head. "Not on our own. But you can make use of our abilities. We can do things that you can't, or rather, do not wish to do. Andost importantly, we are a group."

"A useless group, you mean!" Claude said, and Link interjected, "I agree that we might not be as strong as you, but our numbers do offer up advantages, such as completing a variety of tasks simultaneously." 

"Like I said, we know that we aren't trustworthy people," Brenden said. "But that means you can entrust us with jobs that do not require your complete trust."

Claude stared at the lackeys with amusement in his eyes. Certainly, he wasn't going to forgive them for their atrocities. But then again, he was unable to give them proper punishment as they were still his seniors. 

So why not make use of them until he is able to exact vengeance upon them?

A wide grin appeared on Claude's face. Things were about to get even more interesting..