Published at 7th of July 2026 8:57 am

Chapter 871: Planetary Reactions

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

As the seven other students delayed, Asher finally moved. The popcorn in his hands vanished as he rose to his feet with calm ease. The mere motion of him standing drew everyone’s attention as every single pair of eyes on the planet snapped toward him.

Asher remained expressionless. He could feel the eyes of everyone boring into his back, but he didn’t react. He simply turned toward Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas and spoke.

"I will step forward first, but before that, I have a question," his tone remained calm. Although he didn’t shout, every being across the planet of Crymora heard him clearly.

A microphone appeared in Thomasinho’s hand before he casually threw it toward Asher with a bright smile, as though the first person to make a move couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Asher caught the microphone before speaking without further delay or any form of hesitation.

"Instead of taking them on one after another, can I take all seven of them on at the same time?" his tone remained calm, as though he hadn’t just uttered the most arrogant question and statement since the dawn of mankind.

Yet his voice bore no trace of hubris, arrogance, or condescension, as though he genuinely meant every single word he had just spoken.

At his words, everyone seemed to stop breathing, doubting whether they had heard him correctly. Their eyes widened in utter shock as disbelief overwhelmed them. None of them could believe it. How could they? Nobody had ever made such a statement... until Asher Wargrave.

They had always seen Asher as nothing more than a hardworking salted fish, someone who trained relentlessly but enjoyed indulging in laziness whenever he had the chance. They had taken him for a calm, grounded, and easygoing person. Never in their wildest imaginations had they expected him to utter something this outrageously audacious.

But did anyone protest? Most certainly not.

Who didn’t know how outrageous the Wargraves were? Who didn’t know how utterly ridiculous they could be? Every single Wargrave had dominated their generation before eventually fading into history with the passage of time.

And now... they couldn’t help but imagine it. A single person, a single young man who had awakened only two years ago and received merely that much training, challenging every remaining genius before emerging victorious over them all.

Wouldn’t that be the most thrilling sight imaginable? Wouldn’t that become the true climax of this Inter-Empire Competition? Wasn’t this the peak everyone had been waiting for? Wasn’t this exactly the entertainment they had sought? What else could possibly surpass this in excitement?

At this moment, even if Asher fought against everyone simultaneously and ultimately lost to the final person standing, the people throughout the entire planet wouldn’t care. In their hearts, Asher would already be the winner.

He would become their ultimate genius if he were allowed to carry out this unprecedented madness.

The best part? Everyone knew that Asher was fully aware of Arianna Haellight’s combat prowess and that she was considered the favourite to win the competition. Many had speculated that the two of them were almost perfectly equal in strength, believing victory between them would ultimately be decided within a single decisive moment.

They also knew that Asher had seen all those arguments online. After all, he read practically every piece of news and every post across social media. Yet despite reading all those theories and opinions, he still chose to challenge Arianna Haellight alongside everyone else.

One couldn’t help but wonder just how powerful Asher truly was to ask such a question without the slightest hesitation. What kind of madness did one have to possess to not only think such words, but to actually say them aloud before the entire world?

At that moment, everyone’s thoughts halted as those present suddenly felt numerous presences descend upon the arena. It wasn’t an overwhelming pressure pressing down upon the spectators. No... it was pure, unadulterated battle intent.

Everyone could sense it, man, woman, child, adult, commoner, noble, awakener, and unawakener alike.

Millions of heads turned simultaneously in a single direction as they all shifted their gazes away from Asher. Their eyes settled upon the Wargrave Luxury Viewing Box. The battle intent radiating from them made their intentions abundantly clear, they supported whatever madness their youngest member intended to carry out with one hundred percent conviction.

Indeed, every Wargrave was insane, regardless of age or gender.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!" Both Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas burst into laughter through their microphones like a pair of deranged twins as they struggled to believe what they had just heard.

They weren’t laughing at Asher. They were laughing purely at the absurdity of the situation itself.

"THIS IS FUCKING YOUTH!" Thomasinho roared into his microphone.

"WHAT IS YOUTH IF YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO GO WILD AND LET LOOSE ONCE IN A WHILE?!" AlyxAtlas followed immediately, their voices booming across the loudspeakers with genuine excitement and delight.

After all, throughout their years as hosts and commentators for numerous grand events, this was the very first time they had encountered such... uniqueness.

"Although my partner and I would love nothing more than to approve your request and simply sit back to watch everything unfold, sadly, we can’t," Thomasinho spoke with visible disappointment.

"Sadly, we can’t," AlyxAtlas echoed. "We don’t possess that level of authority. We’ll have to ask for permission. After all, even the organisers of the InterEmpire Competition never accounted for such an unexpected turn of events."

Asher simply nodded, saying nothing further as he lowered himself back onto his floating seat. Sitting with his legs crossed, he rested one elbow upon the armrest before casually propping his head against his hand with complete ease.

Teo Swig, Finch Whale, Acker Holloway, Lawrence Shade, Isaac Wrath Chillstorm, and Catherine Shatterdust all stared at Asher with different thoughts running through their minds. Each wore a unique expression as they tried to comprehend exactly what was going through the head of that Wargrave.

None of them reacted in the cliche manner of becoming angry because his request implied he looked down upon them. If anything, some welcomed it, while others merely became more vigilant.

Arianna Haellight’s amber-gold eyes shifted toward Asher for a brief moment before she smiled without saying a word. Personally, she approved of Asher’s approach. Had she thought of it first, she would have definitely issued the exact same challenge herself.

She remembered Asher’s words, that she would lose if they ever fought. The thought thrilled her. Her smile gradually widened into a faint smirk as anticipation quietly filled her heart.

’Even if the organisers approve this, I won’t be joining,’ she thought to herself. ’I’ll only fight him after he’s finished facing everyone else. Only when he has fully rested and returned to his peak condition will I challenge him,’ she concluded.

She wasn’t being arrogant or prideful in the slightest. She simply wanted Asher to be at his absolute peak when they fought. She wanted his complete and undivided attention focused solely upon her. Nothing more.

Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas, who had teleported away several minutes earlier, suddenly reappeared once again.

The instant they returned, attention throughout the entire world of Crymora sharpened like the edge of a freshly drawn blade.

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