"Crieek~!!"
As soon as I entered my pavilion room, a lithe black-haired girl was waiting for me. A black bird perched atop her shoulder, chirping merrily upon noticing me.
In the next moment, Sera jumped from Amelia's shoulder to mine, softly grabbing it with her talons.
Since Amelia already knew Sera's true identity, I entrusted her to Amelia.
Even though I'd been cautious and changed Sera's appearance, one can never be too careful.
"Yeah, yeah," I smiled, gently caressing the beautiful bird on my shoulder.
Sera replied by rubbing her head back against my hand.
"Thank you for taking care of her," I turned to Amelia and expressed my gratitude.
Amelia simply waved her hand before asking, "What was that, though?"
Even without asking, I knew what she was talking about. Everyone was thinking the same thing after witnessing my match, more or less.
Why did Quinn let me defeat him so easily?
Shrugging, a smile played on my lips. "I'm full of tricks, what can I say?"
Amelia lingered for a few moments before she shook her head and started walking away. It was her match next.
"Good luck," I wished and walked away myself. I already knew who was going to win the Battle Royale in her bracket.
It was going to be her. Although Anastasia was also present in her bracket, she was not going to use her full strength.
After all, she had no interest in joining the council. In fact, aside from being able to support her siblings, she had no big goals in life.
That and hiding her true power – God's Eyes from the government. This is one of the reasons why she's always so reluctant to show her martial prowess.
Well, it doesn't matter to me. As long as I don't have to face her in her domain – close combat – I'm all good.
With that thought in mind, I went inside my waiting room where a tray full of different kinds of snacks and refreshments was waiting for me on the center table.
†
Just as expected, Amelia won the Battle Royale and moved on to the next round to face off in a triple-threat match.
I have no interest in her bracket since I knew she was going to lose because a guy named Alfa Zenith was going to be one of her two opponents.
Alfa Zenith was a powerful second-year cadet. He was a minor character in the first few arcs of the novel and a major character in the Civil War arc.
Unfortunately, due to his timely death in the War Of Union, he wasn't able to participate in the Final War.
Anyway, I was more interested in my own bracket.
Since I've taken Quinn's place, who was originally supposed to move to the second round, I had a general idea regarding who was going to be my opponents next, but I still decided to watch their Battle Royale matches.
Just as I expected, one of the cadets who won her match and moved on to the next bracket to be in my match was a girl named Trish Zenith.
She was also a very, very powerful second-year cadet and a major character during the last few arcs of the novel.
Next up to win his match and be my second opponent was, to my delight, none other than Chase Woods.
A small giggle escaped my lips as I saw Chase delivering a final blow with his shield gauntlets to one of the cadets.
I couldn't help but hide my excitement as I murmured, "I'll certainly enjoy my next match."
†
It didn't even take the full afternoon before the Battle Royale matches were over. The results were more or less what I had expected.
In the first bracket for the second round, the participants were yours truly, Chase Woods, and Trish Zenith.
In the second bracket, the participants who moved up to the second round were Ella Bright, Grace Goodwill, and Kai Wiseman.
Initially, instead of Kai, Aster was destined to win the Battle Royale of her group. But I asked the scion of the Wiseman family to change that and win himself.
The third bracket for the Triple Threat match consisted of Alberto Okoro, Amelia Black, and the guy named Alfa Zenith I was talking about earlier.
Finally, for the fourth and last bracket, the cadets who would be participating in the second round were going to be William Sinoath, Elijah Steelforged, and Nero Dekrauf.
Now, I know I shouldn't be applauding the guy I was seething to face in a duel, but I had to admit, Nero was indeed a monster.
He fought every cadet present in his group single-handedly. He alone eliminated them all! Instead of a Battle Royale, by the end of it, his match looked like a One vs All.
And he still won that in under measly ten minutes! Yes, ten minutes was all it took for him to squander not only every single first-year cadet who dared to step in front of him but also all the second-years too!
Those witnessing that spectacle of a one-sided massacre couldn't help but shudder involuntarily.
How… How can a single person be so powerful?
How indeed. While everyone else was surprised at the display of his prowess, I was bewildered for an entirely different reason.
While everyone else feared his beasteal strength, I couldn't help but question his unquenchable thirst for victory once again.
His drive to win outweighed his menacing, borderline overbearing strength.
As I witnessed the crushing defeat that others suffered by the edge of his blade, I helplessly raised a silent question in my head.
Will I really be able to change his mindset?
Well, it's not a matter of whether I will be able to or not. I'll just have to… I'll have to do it.
With a determined nod, I finished the can of an energy drink that had been in my hand for quite some time now and sighed.
I then got up and headed down to the Arena. Sera was already asleep so I gently placed her on the sofa and did not disturb her sweet slumber.
†
"Huaaa~"
Even though it was only the afternoon, I couldn't help but sluggishly let out a yawn.
I hadn't been able to sleep well last night or for the few nights before that.
The Tournament's excitement and nervousness were only partially to blame; my messed-up sleep schedule was the real culprit.
Haaa.
Goddamnit, I have to correct it one of these days. Should I start cutting coffee after the evening?
As I pondered such thoughts, a deep, almost irradiating voice reached my ears.
"Didn't get good sleep last night?"
I turned to my right to look at the owner of the voice, though I already had an idea about their identity.
And sure enough, it was Chase Woods.
Upon seeing the tall young man, with long dark brown hair tied into a back bun, dressed in the same combat attire as me, an urge to roll my eyes welled up, but I suppressed it.
"Don't worry. Soon, I'll knock you out, and you'll get that sleep, fuckface," Chase said with a polite smile that contradicted the contents of his statement.
I looked at him with a ludicrous expression and then decided against speaking to him.
I wasn't retreating. No, I was sparing him.
The poor guy wouldn't be able to cope after not only getting verbally obliterated but also physically beaten by me in a few moments.
However, Chase seemed to mistake my benevolent restraint for cowardice and smirked with a triumphant look on his face.
Oh, this pitiful fool.
What's even his problem with me? Is it because I opposed him during the Mock War and made Kent the leader of the spearhead squadron?
Is he that petty?
Or maybe it's just as Elijah once told me. Maybe he hates me because I brandished my knife at him the same day during the Mock War.
Well, whatever the case, we seemed to have started on the wrong foot. Still, I can't fathom how a person can be this petty.
Just as I was about to shake my head, the voice of the announcer shook me awake.
Chase and I had been waiting for the third member of our match to arrive in the arena for a few good minutes now.
The crowd, just like us, was growing impatient, waiting for the match to start.
So when the announcer spoke, the whole stadium fell silent.
"[She's here! The daughter of the Zenith Clan and the princess of Mount Hua Sect has made her appearance! Trish Zenith has entered the King's Arena!]"
I quickly whipped my head toward one of the entrances and saw the figure of a young woman walk out of the darkness.
The lithe girl had silver hair and matching eyes with a cold glint in them. Instead of the usual black body-fitted battle suit with red lines, she donned a white and blue suit that complemented her porcelain skin perfectly.
Her waist-long hair swayed along with the gentle breeze as she gracefully walked our way before finally reaching us.
The crowd erupted into loud cheers and for a good reason.
Let me say this, I'm not a simp. I repeat I'm not a simp! But aside from being alluringly arresting, this girl in front of us was a member of the Disciplinary Committee— one of the Top 16.
Those cadets in the top 16 had been said to surpass the realm of geniuses and were considered monsters now.
In the novel, after taking out Chase in the first thirty seconds of the match, Quinn, another one of the Top 16 cadets, had to practically use every weapon in his arsenal except for Shiya to defeat Trish Zenith.
Trish met Quinn's onslaught head-on, going toe to toe against the perfect Necromancer, for twenty-seven minutes straight before finally losing, only because she had exhausted her mana pool.
After Nero, she was the only cadet who came so dangerously close to defeating Quinn.
And now that Quinn is not here, and Chase is a dead weight, I'm the only one who'll have to defeat her if I want to move on to the next round.
Instinctively, I felt my body tremble slightly.
Insane… I've finally gone insane in this accursed world, huh?
Instead of trembling out of fear, I was struggling to keep my excitement from bursting out.
Yeah, this match was indeed going to be fun.
I didn't even notice that the announcer had finished going over the rules for the match. My daze was only broken upon hearing the match bell ring to life.
Ding, Ding, Ding—!!
