As the countless blade lights approached Javier, he twisted his palms to the side and a large golden ring manifested right around his hand, and shot out, aiming at the incoming blade lights!

The golden ring glowed so brightly as it collided with the blade lights, creating a loud burst of air as dust and debris filled the restaurant building. A quick figure moved through the dust and appeared right in front of David, who was caught off guard by the sudden appearance.

"I told you, didn't I?" Javier said as he pressed his palm against David's chest, and a bright light enveloped him. "You're not worthy of dying by my sword!" David could see an apparition of a giant palm right in front of his chest, following which he felt time slow down, and his eyes weakening.

And then everything turned black, and David felt as though he was going into a deep sleep.

Forever.

BAM!

A crisp sound drifted out as David Moriarty, who had been completely enveloped by the white light, disintegrated right in the middle of the restaurant in front of everyone's eyes, slain just like that in the span of a few seconds.

Silence!

The entire restaurant turned dead silent. Everyone was staring at Javier as though he was death himself.

After all, it wasn't just nobody that he had defeated just now. That was a powerful cultivator that he had just sent to the afterlife as if it was nothing!

"Hooo… That took longer than I expected," Javier let out a long sigh of relief as he breathed in and out. He then walked towards the table where Claude, Russell Davies and Senior Beldon were sitting and sat down next to them.

"So, shall we continue eating?" Javier said with an indifferent expression and Claude and the rest looked at each other before sighing.

"Yeah, sure." Claude said as he snapped his fingers, calling for the terrified waiter who was hiding behind one of the tables. "Let's eat for now.."

-----------------

"You've got to be sh*tting me.." Gaston lowered his spyglass down and clicked his tongue. "That's one hell of a strong student."

He was watching the fight between Javier and David from afar, and was both amazed and terrified at the display of pure strength from the young man.

"Not only is our little thief part of the Royal Academy, he's also friends with a lot of powerful people!" He folded his hands and said to himself. Retrieving the White Dragon's tooth was already going to be a difficult task once he realised that the culprit behind the incident was a student of the Royal Academy, and now, it seemed as though it had gotten even harder.

"Gaston… fail?" Barris leaned forward on the rooftop and poked Gaston's shoulders, who rolled his eyes, annoyed by his actions.

"No, I did not fail, you nincompoop!" Gaston said as he swatted Barris's hand away. "It might take a while. But sooner or later, I'll find a way. I always do."

He raised his spyglass and continued looking through it, clenching his fists tightly. "I'll get that tooth. No matter what it takes."

------------------

'Ah, to think that didn't work,' Russell Davies clicked his tongue as Claude and the rest of the group stepped out of the restaurant after finishing their meals, ready to return to the training ground sectors for the remaining matches.

'I really thought that he'd end up showing all of his abilities in order to defeat David Moriarty. But to think he actually stuck to his body strengthening technique to finish him off…' Russell thought to himself.

When he had received information from his servants about the fact that David Moriarty, one of Javier's enemies, had arrived in Dawsbury city, he was initially extremely thrilled. After all, he was aware of how much hatred Javier had for David Moriarty.

Even though Russell annoyed Javier a lot, he never actually told him to leave outright, and as a result, did hear a lot about Javier's life and the journey he did last year around the country. On this journey, he met a lot of good people, some of whom joined him on the journey, as well as some not so good people. And one of them was David Moriarty.

According to Javier, David Moriarty was an evil man who wreaked havoc in the small town of Dragons Moore. Javier and a few cultivators with whom he was travelling tried to stop him. However, at the time, Javier wasn't exactly strong enough to stop a powerful man like David Moriarty, who killed all of his companions as well as the villagers, and left him for dead.

Russell knew that Javier wanted revenge, and he also knew that if he brought the two men together, they'd most definitely end up fighting with each other to the death. And if this man, David Moriarty, was as powerful as Javier told him, then he'd most definitely force Javier to utilise all of his abilities and skills.

Which was why he had his servants follow the bald man around, to try and figure out the places that he usually went to, so that he could create a chance encounter with the two of them.

However, what he didn't expect was Javier trying to take David down only by using his fists and the body strengthening technique. He didn't even take out his sword, which made him even more powerful.

He remembered what Javier told him while they were eating. "David never used his sword against me when we previously fought against each other. I was simply returning the favour." That was what he said.

'God damn it! To think that plan didn't work out..' Russell wasn't having it. After all, he was given a glorious opportunity to bring out all of Javier's abilities. It was as though even god was on his side, handing him everything on a silver platter. And yet, it had all gone to waste.

'Well, at least he was injured by him,' Russell looked at Javier's stomach as he thought to himself. He remembered David's attack that struck Javier right in the gut. It didn't look like an issue at first, but Javier was defending his stomach afterwards from every attack that came after it.

Perhaps the injury was a bit too much for normal healing to handle. Injuries that are amplified by the spiritual energy of the weapon responsible for the wound will usually take much more time to heal, especially if the spiritual energy released during that time is at a high level. If that's the case, then it might take him a few more hours to completely heal.

'If it really is as serious as I think it is, then it might not complete the healing process by the time the final match rolls around,' Russell thought to himself as he placed his finger under his chin, glancing at Javier every now and then.

Maybe this wasn't such a waste after all, he thought to himself.

Unbeknownst to him, Claude Rayforth, who was walking next to him, was monitoring his actions, keeping an eye on him.

-------------------

After the short break, the students of Royal Academy returned to the training ground sectors to witness the last two rounds of the sparring contest.

Elder Kennet was waiting for them, standing right in the centre of the arena, with both his hands behind him. His eyes were scanning the entire audience, as though he was studying each and every one of the spectators.

"Welcome back, my dear students," He said with a smile and he clapped his hands once, and the sound echoed throughout the spectators stand, making every one of the students silent in just a split second. They knew that the clap was the sign to shut their mouths and listen to the Elder.

"Now that you're all back here again, let us waste no time and return to the contest!" Elder Kenneth was still smiling as he spoke.

Claude, Russell Davies, Javier Banderas and Senior Wilfred Beldon were also standing amongst the crowd of students, watching the Elder with curious eyes.

Claude eyed both Russell Davies and Javier Banderas. As there were only four people remaining in the contest, he knew that there was a chance that he could get either one of them as his next opponent.

The other option was Leroy Wayne as his next opponent, which would be an incredibly lucky pick, as Leroy wasn't nearly as strong as the other two.

"Well, even if I win against Leroy, I would still have to fight one of them in the final." Claude said to himself. A difficult fight was just inevitable.

"And the match ups are..." Elder Kenneth pulled out an envelope from his pocket and held it up to his face. He opened it and pulled out the paper from the inside, and read it aloud for everyone to hear. "Claude Rayforth vs Leroy Wayne and Javier Banderas vs Russell Davies!"

As soon as the fights were declared, the whole crowd went wild. Claude turned his head to look at Leroy, who was far away from him, and the two locked eyes for a brief second.

Javier and Russell turned to look at each other before nodding their heads.