Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires-Chapter 223: Crushing Fists

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Zaroth asked with an innocent smile as he gazed at Elysia.

He didn't know why she had called him into her mansion and late at night at that, but he didn't mind as he even dressed himself in a suit.

He was trying to court her, so he wouldn't miss any chance he got to present himself in the best possible way.

She, in turn, noticed the way he was dressed but didn't comment on it.

"You have reached the finals, and you will be going against David next. Because I want to be sure that you are going to win, from now on until the start of the final round, I will be personally training you."

Zaroth's eyes widened for a second. Sure, spending time with Elysia was pleasant, but training with her sounded like pure torture.

After all, he didn't need Luna to tell him; he instinctively knew that Elysia could single-handedly erase him from existence.

"I… am honored that you will be training me from now on, but what brought this change? Aren't you busy as always? How could you find time for more?"

Even though he knew that wasn't the case, he still felt warm inside. She had so many things to do, yet she decided to spend time with him and train him. Maybe, just maybe, his courting was slowly working?!

Elysia looked at him for a few seconds, then sighed as she motioned with her finger for him to follow.

As they began to traverse her mansion, she began,

"You know that David must be prevented from winning at all costs, as this will negatively impact the emperor. So this takes priority."

Zaroth opened his mouth for a second and then closed it, but in the end, decided it was better to push past the hesitation as he asked,

"This is something that I do not understand. How does me winning and preventing David from marrying the princess screw over the emperor?"

A few silent seconds passed between them.

"...Fine, I guess it is right for you to know. In short, the emperor is in power not only because of his own strength but because he also relies on the powerful families in the empire."

"Relying on them comes with benefits and downsides."

"And the biggest one to the emperor is blood purity."

Zaroth couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Blood purity?"

For a moment, he was reminded of Midnight, but he guessed that this was something separate.

Elysia nodded. "That is right, blood purity. Now, you probably don't know exactly what it is, so let me tell you."

"It is nothing."

"Nothing?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing—at least from our perspective. But to the great families, it is everything. It defines status, a mark of one's birthright. People like you, born outside the great cities in poverty, are seen as nothing more than tainted blood—discarded, unworthy. Meanwhile, their own bloodlines are revered, almost god-like in their purity."

"Naturally, the emperor and his children are seen as the pinnacle of pure blood. Because of this, the great families seek to marry their heirs into the imperial line, securing their status and influence."

Zaroth scratched the back of his head. He knew that the aristocrats disliked the poor, but to that extent?

"For some reason, the emperor has repeatedly delayed the marriage of his most well-known daughter, Amara. It seems he intends for her to marry David, but to make that happen, he needs an excuse. After all, the great families would erupt in fury, demanding, 'How could he wed her to a commoner instead of one of their own pure-blooded heirs?'"

"So the tournament is merely an excuse. The emperor's plan is for David to win, and David, in turn, would seek to marry Amara. That way, the emperor could avoid the wrath of the families, claiming it was the result of the tournament, not his own decision."

Elysia's eyes began to glow even darker.

"That's where you come in. If you win the tournament, the emperor will be in a tight spot. He'll either have to marry his daughter off to one of the great families—something he definitely doesn't want to do, as it would leave him more vulnerable—or he'll marry her to David anyway and face the fury of the great families."

Zaroth listened to her closely. It seemed that the political world was more complicated than he thought.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

At this point, he was grateful he wasn't born into one of these families. The headache from all the political maneuvering wouldn't be worth it, no matter how much wealth and power came with it.

She turned around abruptly, and because Zaroth wasn't paying attention, he collided with her.

Funnily enough, because she was taller than him and wearing black heels, his face hit her breasts. That was probably why it didn't feel like hitting a wall, but rather a soft pillow instead.

After staggering back from the shock, he took a moment to recover and realized what he had done. He muttered a quiet apology as he wondered why they had stopped.

A moment later, he saw that they had entered some kind of training ground. It was larger than the ones he had gone to before, as this one had a ceiling of at least fifteen meters and was about fifty meters in length and width.

He turned his head to Elysia.

"So we are going to train here?"

"Yes. Get prepared," Elysia said as she cracked her neck and knuckles. Her voice sounded just a bit more menacing than before, which made Zaroth gulp audibly.

'She isn't mad that I bumped into her breasts, is she?' he wondered.

It was hard to tell, as Elysia rarely showed emotion.

"Because your opponent is David, I will mimic the way he fought in the semi-finals. Meaning no weapons, just fists. You can use whatever you want to attack."

Hearing Elysia's words, Zaroth took a deep breath as he unsheathed the odachi, and his eyes began to shine.

He began to summon his beasts, which wouldn't take longer than a second—

Before he realized it, Elysia disappeared from view as a fist obscured all of his vision.

Zaroth wasn't even able to comprehend what had happened.

'So fa—'

Before he could finish the thought, her fist collided with his face.

'Overwhelming power!'

Zaroth was pretty sure he heard multiple cracking sounds from his skull as he was sent flying back with such force that, when he hit the wall of the training ground, he briefly thought his spine had broken from the impact.

It hadn't, but that didn't mean he could move. His face had a dent, almost like it was hit by a great hammer.

And this was done by Elysia's fist alone! Not to mention she was surely holding back.

Laying on the ground for a few seconds in agony, Elysia approached him as she took out a bottle and poured it onto his head and body.

The healing potion took about a minute to heal him, which was a pretty painful process.

Once his wounds had healed, Zaroth lifted his head, only to see Elysia's imposing figure standing before him, casting a shadow over him.

'Ah… I guess she is mad that I bumped into her earlier.'

'...Strangely enough, from this angle, she looks pretty stunning.'

After that, Zaroth's most painful training up until now began.