Tai continued smashing whatever creature Zor'xal brought to the table without any mercy. I noticed that Ashal Kal Anur wasn't even watching the fights, just looking straight at the emperor. It was obvious, considering what Avakadaisu told us, that he was just waiting for the forces which Zor'xal called to arrive.

The moods of the citizens of Arc were gloomy. We didn't talk with almost anybody and barely ate. The grief was just simply too strong.

Then the second day came, and shortly after all of us woke up, and some were eating breakfast, the Atri visited us again. She went straight to the first 'important' person she saw, and a whole group quickly assembled around them.

- They arrived. It's twelve people. All dangerous. We tried to look into them, but couldn't all the data was erased, which means they are no joke.

- Any Calludins among them? - asked Adam.

- No, which is quite good information. I still don't know how the emperor managed to get that one to come and fight for him even once. He probably had help from someone high in the Ixan empire to pull some strings for him.

- Can you tell us something about them? Anything? - asked Tai.

- No. I didn't know anything. I've never even seen other people like them. They might be effects some kind of experiments or species from distant places. Definitely not any creatures you could commonly find in the Dispurran empire.

- Shit - escaped Will's mouth.

- How strong they might be? - Tay kept asking.

- I don't know. Judging by the funds that the emperor just spent, probably around Nall, the Calludin you saw. Maybe a bit weaker. It's hard to tell. The really powerful warriors want crazy amounts, and usually, you can't even participate in events like this because they are too closely tied to the Ixan empire. That's why the appearance of Nall was such a big deal. I don't know if you noticed the reaction of Ashal Kal Anur.

- We did - said Edward.

- So I should prepare for a tough fight then... - Tai said more to himself than to anybody else.

p - Yes - greed the Skullcrasher, then he turned to me. - You should also put your mind in order because we will need you if we are going to win this thing. Maybe we won't, but we should definitely try. There will be nothing to go back to if we don't, so please keep that in mind. We fight to the death now.

- We've been doing that since the beginning if you didn't notice - said Gavriil, don't even trying to hide his hostile attitude towards the American. - Just the dying part didn't happen on our side until very recently.

- He is right - Adam agreed. - If I'm correct none of the aliens survived, except the so-called Calludin.

- And that made us lower our guard - said Edward. - We should never let it happen again. There is too much at stake.

Semenov rolled his eyes. He clearly was not Hill's fan.

- Ok guys. Discuss as much as you want, just don't argue -said Tai. - I need to eat and prepare for a tough duel, so I'm gonna go.

With those words, he left. Despite all the grim-looking future, his attitude didn't change at all. I quickly figured out why. Contrary to many hunters who changed their opinion on what was going on during the tournament, Tai was ready to die here from the very beginning. His focus remained me of myself in my darkest days, when I was dealing with Marc, Blitz, and Blue.

I immediately looked around trying to locate the werewolf. Because of what was going on I didn't pay too much attention to him, but he was with us, just keeping quiet and staying away from us. It was so not like him.

I finally found him, with the few of his guys he formed a team with, eating in a corner away from everybody.

After Tai left the discussion continued a bit, but it was mainly Semenov and Edward arguing, so I left them, and so did the rest shortly after. Atri also left us. Almost nobody even noticed that, since they were too focused on the two causing a ruckus, and she simply walked away.

I found myself a spot on an empty couch and watched the Chinese warrior eating food that could very well be his last meal. It was nothing fancy, just some canned meat with a bunch of crackers and plain water to drink.

A meal you probably wouldn't even get in prison, but I wasn't sure since I've never been into one. It was kinda sad to see that. He was about to put his life on the line to protect the whole planet, and that was something he had for breakfast before doing such a deed? But that was our reality. We were in a foreign land surrounded by enemies, and we had to deal with what we had. The provisions brought by me.

This thought led me to consider going back to the hotel in Cairo and bringing those who were to risk their lives something better.

I immediately pursued it and went straight to Tai.

- Hey - I started making him stop eating. - Is there anything you would want to have or eat right now? I think I can get you something better than canned meat.

He licked his lips and nodded.

- Yeah. I wouldn't say no to some roasted duck and fried rice... - he confessed.

I could see his facial expression changing as he mentioned the dishes. He really wanted to eat what he said.historical

I nodded and immediately shadow walked back to Loistavadvaar where I had plenty of points to use. I bought what he wanted and returned to him with two full plates and a pair of chopsticks. That put a smile on his face

I gave him the dishes. He immediately started eating, and I returned to my spot followed by many eyes.. As I sat in my spot I noticed Adam, who nodded to me, showing his appreciation of what I did.