Chapter 1083: ROLL THE DICE

HMM.

Neoma noticed that it was quiet.

Granted that her team was still "backstage," she still couldn’t hear loud cheers outside, despite the bleachers being filled with spectators.

Yeah, she was expecting it to be loud.

I guess the audience can’t make a noise because they’re celestial beings? Or are they afraid of Lord Levi and Ruto? Those two have the power and authority to kill gods, after all.

Anyway, it was boring.

If they’re going to watch a fight, they should at least cheer.

"Princess Neoma and her team will now make their appearance."

Ah, finally.

Neoma, as the leader of the group, walked out of the tunnel until the light finally touched them.

Once they had set foot in the arena, she heard a collective gasp from the audience.

As someone with sharp hearing, she could hear what the celestial beings were talking about.

"How beautiful..."

"No wonder I’ve heard people say that the de Moonasterion Princess of this generation is more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty..."

"Now I understand why Lord Yoan has fallen for the little princess..."

Heh.

Of course, hearing those praises made Neoma’s already inflated ego grow bigger.

But Ruto, the ’emcee’ of the fight, didn’t seem happy.

Well, it was understandable.

After all...

"If the little princess survives, I’ll propose to her."

"There’s a line, idiot."

"As if you can beat someone like Lord Yoan."

"I heard the little princess is obsessed with looks. Yes, Lord Yoan is strong. But he’s not the most handsome, is he?"

Neoma wanted to scold those bastards commenting on Ruto’s appearance, but...

"I’m not letting you bastards come near my daughter," Papa Boss growled at the audience. Ah, yes, her father also had sharp ears. "If you want to die, then be my guest."

Aigoo.

That shut a part of the crowd up.

Anyway, Ruto quickly used that chance to introduce Helstor’s team.

Again, aigoo.

Are they trying to advertise that they are the villains or something?

After all, Helstor and every single one of his team were wearing a black cloak.

To be fair, it suits them since Helstor is the God of Eternal Darkness.

"Now I’m going to introduce the judges of this fight. They will enforce the rules that Princess Neoma and Lord Helstor have agreed upon in advance," Ruto said formally. "We have Lord Levi as the head of the judges."

Neoma was pleased that his divine father-in-law was helping them that way.

He’s clearly not happy, though.

Oh, well.

"Next, we have Lord Arien, the God of War."

It was only natural for the God of War to be involved in a war, so Neoma wasn’t surprised.

I don’t think Arien would pull some shitty tricks since he wants the fights to be as fun as possible.

"Next, we have Lord Dio, the God of Festive Entertainment."

Neoma raised an eyebrow when she saw a young man who looked quite... uh, na?ve?

Like he only knows how to play?

Ruto glanced at Neoma before explaining. "Lord Dio loves games, and he can’t stand cheating."

Oh.

Neoma nodded subtly.

That’s why Ruto chose the kid.

Of course, that ’kid’ was definitely way older than Neoma.

"Finally, we have the twins Lady Thelma and Lady Therra— the Goddesses of Fairness and Contracts, and the children of the Goddess of Justice and Divine Order, who can’t join us today."

The twin goddesses looked like they were around Neoma’s age.

But, obviously, they are way older than me.

Anyways, aside from Arien, Neoma was satisfied with the panel of judges.

If any of them try to favor Helstor, I’ll make them regret it.

"Now I’ll explain how we’ll choose the fighters for the first round," Ruto said, and then he opened his palm. "We’re going to use these dice."

Two pretty huge decagon-shaped dice, with ten sides (and each side was shaped like a kite) each, appeared floating above Ruto’s palm.

One was black, the other white.

"These dice were created by Lord Dio himself."

Oho.

Neoma felt proud of Ruto.

After all, his man was the one who worked hard while she was training with her people.

Ruto really prepared everything well for this fight.

"These dice were checked by the judges in advance and confirmed that they hadn’t been tampered with," Ruto continued with his explanation, and then he glanced at Neoma and Lord Helstor. "Princess Neoma, Lord Helstor, please come forward. And, yes, you can bring your advisors with you."

Neoma walked towards Ruto, with Trevor walking behind him.

Helstor and the Ancient Devil did the same.

After that, Ruto handed the black die to Neoma and the white one to Helstor.

There are numbers on each side of the die.

Ah, the number represented their Battle Representatives.

"I want you both to roll the dice," Ruto said to Neoma and Helstor. "Princess Neoma’s die will determine who among Lord Helstor’s Battle Representatives will fight first, and Lord Helstor’s die will determine Princess Neoma’s representative for the first round."

Aha.

Neoma and Helstor both nodded after Ruto’s explanation.

"Then, now, please roll the dice at the same time."

Alright, let’s do this.

Neoma threw the black die in the air at the same time Helstor threw his black die.

And then both dice started rolling on the floor.

Her die was the first one to stop rolling— the side facing the sky glowed, emphasizing the number engraved on it.

It was number 10.

Neoma immediately lifted her head and found the child who stepped forward.

It was the kid with unsettling eyes.

The one who asked me why I didn’t save her.

And...

The most dangerous one among the kids.

Haaah.

But Neoma suddenly froze when Helstor’s die finally stopped rolling.

The side of the die facing the sky glowed.

And the number showing was...

Ah, fuck.

Neoma immediately looked over her shoulder and met Greko’s gaze, as Greko stepped forward.

The enemy’s die showed the number 8, after all.

Dammit!

***

NERO stood in front of the Hellgate.

Haaah.

It was an eyesore.

Will you die if you don’t dye your stuff pink, Neoma?

Haaah.

Anyway, Nero couldn’t stand looking at the giant pink gate any longer, so he placed his hands on the door.

And, just like that, he felt his skin getting pricked.

The Hellgate then started sucking his blood and divine power.

Tsk.

Thankfully, after a while, the Hellgate finally stopped feeding on him.

When Nero stepped backwards, the giant doors finally burst open.

Then the Silver Foxes started coming out one by one.

Wow.

Nero raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed when he felt the Mana coming from the Silver Foxes.

They’ve grown this strong in such a short time?

***

"EOMMA, don’t worry too much about me!"

Neoma smiled, relieved that Greko didn’t seem nervous or scared.

She had already braced herself for this moment.

I knew my shitty luck would turn out like this.

"Greko, what’s the thing that I always tell you and your siblings?"

"No mission is worth dying for!"

"Very well," Neoma said, and then she gently patted Greko’s head. "Go and take our team’s first win, Greko."

Greko looked surprised by Neoma’s words.

And she knew why her ’son’ reacted that way.

He probably expected me to say that it was okay for him to lose the fight, as long as he didn’t die.

But saying that would be a disservice to Greko, who trained as hard as everyone else.

Neoma did well because her ’son’ instantly beamed with pride and joy.

"Yes, Eomma!" Greko answered cheerfully. "I will win for you!"

Neoma just smiled and nodded.

Greko’s siblings then started cheering him on.

"Good luck, Greko!"

"Thank you, Hyungs and Noonas!" Greko said cheerfully, and then he bowed to everyone politely before he ran towards the ’stage.’ "I’ll be back!"

Neoma let out a sigh after Greko turned his back on them.

Our youngest...

"Are you okay, Neoma?"

"I’m okay, Papa Boss," Neoma answered her father in a quiet voice. "I have faith in Greko."

***

GREKO knew that Princess Neoma, his eomma, was truly worried about him.

Yes, he knew that the princess had faith in him.

But I also know that Eomma can be overprotective sometimes.

It wasn’t because his ’mother’ didn’t trust him.

She just cares about us too much.

That was why he was determined to win.

I want to show Eomma how much I’ve grown, so she won’t worry too much about me anymore.

"It seems like the princess cares about you."

Ah.

Greko faced his opponent, who appeared to be younger than him.

But, despite that, he didn’t lower his guard.

"I wonder if the princess will cry if you die."

"Eomma won’t cry," Greko said, smiling. "Because I’m not going to die, Miss."

His opponent, who went by the sad name ’Crowell’s Birdbrain #5,’ just tilted her head to one side while observing him with those unblinking eyes of hers.

Her eyes are a bit scary...

"Greko, #5," Lord Ruto said, glancing back and forth between Greko and his opponent. "You may fight now."

But, even after Lord Ruto had left the arena, neither Greko nor ’#5’ moved.

Should I attack first?

Greko was contemplating when his opponent suddenly clutched her head.

#5 then started pulling on her very short buzz-cut hair.

Then, in just the blink of an eye, the little girl’s hair suddenly grew long— it grew past her knee, almost touching the floor.

But the length wasn’t what shocked Greko— it was the opponent’s hair color.

Pink hair?

***

NEOMA gasped when the little girl’s hair grew long instantly.

She was shocked not only because #5’s hair color was the exact same shade as the Rosehearts’ hair color, but also because the child now exuded the same aura as Mama Boss.

The little girl is a Roseheart!

***

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