Chapter 309 E-Rank Match



Hearing Samuen's words, Cael and the others finally grasped his intentions.

Samuen had no intention of manipulating Raydon into seeing things from their perspective or tying him down to their family in any way. He understood that Raydon had no inherent ties to their world, let alone their family. Therefore, participating in meaningless games or attempting to exploit Raydon for their own benefit or the benefit of their world would be absurd and would, in the long run, have unfavorable repercussions for them.

"It matters not whether he has a desire to assist us or our world. Even his mere presence, once he attains sufficient power, will benefit our world to an extent we cannot ignore," Diam expressed her opinion as well.

Upon reading the diary, each of them discovered a world that surpassed their own in power and had faced numerous perilous situations. They gained an understanding of the challenges that were faced by the people who lived in that world and how those people were able to triumph over adversity without giving in to hopelessness.

Therefore, in the event that their world was going to face an unsurmountable catastrophe in the future, the simple knowledge that they had someone within their midst who was capable of providing assistance would serve as a ray of hope for them.

"Is that why you lied about the invitation scrolls? Are the battle maids accompanying him part of the challenge you presented to him?" Zephyr posed a thoughtful question.

It turned out that the previous assertion made by Samuen, namely that the entire group needed to be present in order for the experience buff to continue working, was completely made up of information.

In reality, even if the battle maids did not join Raydon in the match, the buffs they received would continue to be in effect for 24 hours unless they perished. The scrolls granted a 35% experience increase to each individual independently.

Furthermore, even if the battle maids made no contribution to the slaying of mobs, it would be a win-win situation as they would still gain 35% experience points without affecting Raydon's share of the slain creatures.

"Well, that's not entirely incorrect, but it is not the primary purpose. I simply wanted them to witness firsthand the capabilities of their young master, whom they have regarded as useless until now," Samuen explained with a laugh.

The entire Demugen family had viewed Raydon as worthless and an embarrassment, but that perception needed to change. Samuen believed that the fastest and most effective way to achieve this transformation was for them to witness Raydon's abilities with their own eyes.

"Moreover, regardless of his divine nature, he is still fundamentally human and has been raised as such. So, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to have an audience while he showcases his powers," Samuen remarked, recalling Raydon's past.

Raydon, when he was a child, was constantly trying to get someone's attention but mostly failed because of the interventions of others; now, Samuen was offering him the opportunity to do so without any outside influence whatsoever.

Samuen had no doubt in his mind that Raydon had the capacity to enthrall and win the admiration of anyone and everyone who crossed paths with him in the foreseeable future. Until that time came, however, he was adamant that Raydon receives within the Demugen family the respect and acclaim that his accomplishments deserved. 

He desired, at the very least, for Raydon to be acknowledged for his efforts now.

—

"Damn, it feels like it's been months since I last participated in a match," Raydon exclaimed as his vision returned.

'But this sense of déjà vu isn't very reassuring,' he thought, inspecting his attire.

The majority of Raydon's non-bound clothing, including the trash items he wore in matches, was among the items that were lost along with his dimensional storage. Now, he found himself clad in nothing but the black boxer shorts provided by the system, along with black gloves, forearm vambraces, and a single plus-shaped earring adorning his right ear.

Raydon had entered the current match—his first E-Rank—almost completely naked, as he had done in his very first match.

'Damn, that old man could have at least given me some trash items to wear,' Raydon grumbled momentarily in frustration, but he wasted no time in surveying his surroundings.

As soon as Raydon began the match, the first thing that greeted him was a gloomy and ominous environment. The sky was completely covered with pitch-black clouds, which prevented even a single ray of hot sunlight from reaching the earth's surface and appeared as though they could initiate a tumultuous downpour at any given moment. 

However, despite the ominous appearance of the clouds, it was evident that no rain had touched these lands in a considerable time. The ground beneath Raydon's feet looked parched and fragmented.

In addition, he was encompassed on all sides, as far as the eye could see, by bushes that were dry and thorny, as well as trees that had shriveled up and died.

But despite all of this, there was nothing in the area that could affect Raydon physically or mentally, and this is without taking into account the fact that his stats were currently very high.

Therefore, the appearance of Raydon's current match region was not all that dissimilar to that of his previous matches. At least the difficulty level of the region did not seem to have changed much.

"But this is something entirely new. Just what is that?" Raydon's attention was immediately drawn to the structure in the sky that resembled a dome. It appeared white and transparent, spanning across the entire area, enveloping it within its grasp.

Curiosity compelled Raydon to turn around and investigate further. There, before him, stood a see-through wall, prompting him to approach and examine it closely.

Fascinated, he uttered, "This is interesting," as his fingertips made contact with the solid and unyielding barrier.

Raydon's mind pondered the purpose behind this enigmatic enclosure, shrouding the entire region like a cage. Could it be designed to prevent the item holders from escaping their designated match area?

With contemplation, Raydon concluded, "I believe its purpose is to facilitate encounters between opposing teams and ignite the competitive spirit within them, urging them to engage in fierce battles."

At that precise moment, a voice from behind him validated his deduction and offered an explanation.

''Your guess is correct. These transparent walls keep shrinking as the 3-hour match time progresses, making it easier for all match participants to find each other and engage in combat.''

Raydon turned his attention toward the familiar voice and saw Mell, who had her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail in a very neat and tidy manner. She was wearing a maid outfit now, which caught his attention rather than the previous thin training uniform she had been wearing. 

Despite the fact that this maid uniform appeared to be a standard black and white maid uniform, Raydon noticed that she was wearing a few items that caught his attention.

In addition to the iron-like breastplate that she wore on her chest that coordinated with the maid uniform, she also wore additional items that appeared to be made of metal on her forearms and knees.

'It's interesting that they really care so much about their looks,' Raydon noticed that Mell and the other five battle maids were staring at him in an odd manner and thought about it while he was examining their garb.

Although they all seemed to be wearing similar uniforms, Raydon noticed that each of the battle maids had distinct details that showcased their individuality.

For example, Verda, who has blond hair just like Mell, made it clear that she had no intention of concealing her enormous and milky white breasts. There was no item on her chest, and her alluring breasts almost seemed to protrude from her maid uniform, which had the ends of it lace-embroidered and had a quite open collar.

Another battle maid, this time with blue hair, who had a facial expression almost as emotionless as Diam's, was obviously very proud of her legs. Due to the fact that she was donning a very short skirt, she was able to show off her long, beautiful legs in all of their splendor.

The other two lilac-haired and black-haired battle maids each wore a two-piece uniform that showed off their toned abdominal muscles and exposed their unprotected bellies.

It appeared that the person with red hair was the only one who was not overly concerned with what she was wearing. Her entire body was covered with metallic protective items from head to toe, but despite the fact that she did not show any skin on her body, she was still able to attract attention due to the beauty of her facial features and body lines.

While Raydon was going through the motions of carefully and rapidly inspecting each one of them, the battle maids were doing the same thing to him.

"Why are you naked?" the redhead asked, her expression furrowing with puzzlement.

They had the impression that Raydon must be quite formidable based on what they had seen up to this point, even though they were still unable to understand everything that had happened. But when they saw that he was carrying nothing more than four separate items, they began to wonder if he was joking or if there was something else going on.