After reaching my pavilion room, I changed into my combat attire before stepping outside.
I left Sera undisturbed as she continued to soundly sleep on the sofa and locked the door. I must say, she's quite lazy, even more so than myself.
Despite being a phoenix— the creature associated with light— she appears to be a nocturnal creature. But surely, her messed up sleep schedule is not my fault, right?
...Right?!
Ahem, anyway, as I walked toward the Arena, I spotted Amelia heading out of the pavilion building toward the audience stand.
She tried to hide it, but I could easily tell that she was in a dejected mood. It looks like losing her match affected her more than it did in the novel for some reason.
After chatting with her for a few minutes, I finally made my way to the stadium as the announcer called my name.
I had no doubt that she would recover; Anastasia and Aster would be there with her in the audience stand to lift her spirits.
Also, it's better for her and Anastasia to stay far away during the final match, considering they're both archeresses.
They can provide better cover fire from that vantage position in case something goes wrong with my plan.
And let's be honest, at this point, I'm completely certain that something will definitely go wrong. Or maybe it's just my paranoia.
But still, having archers positioned at a safe distance will be crucial when the vampire attacks.
With those racing thoughts in my mind, I once again made my entrance, walking out onto the field.
The jubilant crowd erupted into a loud cacophony of cheers and whistles as I reached the center of the field, their eyes filled with joyous glee, eager to witness the hyped match between Kai and me.
I glanced around to survey my surroundings and found that the crevices and fractures from the Triple Threat match between Nero, Elijah, and William had already been repaired, giving the whole field a fresh look.
Summoning my spear, I rested its shaft on my shoulder, patiently waiting for the arrival of my dear opponent.
Right then, Kai emerged from the shadows engulfing the entrance tunnel, the falling evening sun casting a dim glow around him as he approached.
I wished to wrap up this event before dusk, but Nero still had one more match before qualifying to face me in the finals and the evening was already approaching.
Achieving my desire seemed like a highly unlikely scenario at this point.
The thought of facing several elite squads of high-ranking vampires in the shroud of darkness provided by the night sent a shiver running down my spine.
Yet, I couldn't help but only let out a sigh of resignation. This was the only way. I can not turn back from here.
Besides, this was necessary to actually change Nero's mindset.
Damn him. Damn it all.
As I silently cursed the world and everyone in it in my mind, Kai stepped forward, summoning his imposing, lusterless black greatsword.
The contrast with his slender figure made the sword seem almost impossible to lift. He brushed back his dark shaded hair, gazing at me with his bright cyan eyes.
"Ready?" Kai asked, and the announcer repeated the rules in the background.
In this one-on-one duel, the way to win was to make your opponent surrender or render them unable to continue the fight.
Meeting Kai's gaze, I gave him a solemn nod and inquired, "Are your preparations complete?"
Kai nodded back in response and lifted his sword, which, for some reason, triggered a very loud reaction from the crowd.
It appeared they had mistaken our actions as a symbol of provocation, thinking we were taunting and beckoning each other.
Well, that's exactly what we wanted them to think.
Ding, Ding, Ding—!!
Soon, the match bell rang, and Kai and I sprang into action. In the blink of an eye, we closed the distance between us as our figures turned into blurs, and...
In the next instant, the cold, crimson blade of my spear found itself pressed against the warm, pale skin of Kai's neck.
The match was over.
For a moment, the whole Arena fell into confused silence. Then, a loud murmur of puzzlement swept through the vicinity like a flood of singular emotion.
"[Th-The Fallen Angel… Lucas Morningstar has won… the first round of the semi-finals is over with his victory.]"
As the announcer's voice echoed to break the silence, causing the crowd's reaction to shift. Instantly, thunderous boos erupted from almost everyone present in the stand.
I couldn't blame them, to be honest.
After all, our rivalry made the news. People were hyped up for this match. Everyone, even those in the outside world, had been eagerly looking forward to this moment.
But in the end, all they received was nothing but a deja vu from my face-off against Quinn.
Poor souls.
A sheepish smile appeared on my face as I turned around and quickly headed back to the pavilion building before they might start throwing eggs at me.
†
A few minutes after returning to my pavilion room, I felt tremors coursing through the whole Arena.
The ground visibly shook, and loud clangor could be heard even from where I was. It was evident that Nero's match was underway.
He was fighting the third-year cadet named Alfa Zenith. The novel depicted their match in great detail, so I knew just how destructive it was going to be.
Part of my mind wanted to see the scenes I read in the novel coming to life and watch the match. However, another part just wanted to laze around until the start of the final match.
Hey, I was not being lazy! I just wanted to rest as much as possible before all hell would break loose.
Anyway, after a few minutes, the tremors stopped, and the clangor died down. Nero had prevailed once again.
The semi-finals were over.
The final contestants were Nero Dekrauf and Lucas Morningstar.
To pass some free time before the start of the final match, I attempted to meditate for a few seconds… yeah! I can't meditate, okay?
Anyway, after that, I opened the search engine and ego-surfed my own name again.
It looked like people were still hating me for pulling some strings and taking an easy way out of the match. Some called me a coward, while others labeled me as fake.
However, some people were amused by my tricks and wanted to see how I would perform in the finals.
Of course, some people were still supporting me, acknowledging that I possessed both wits and power, evident from my performance in the Triple Threat match.
Others were just curious about what I said to Quinn and Kai that made them surrender so easily.
After around an hour passed, and the sun started to hide behind the horizon, introducing the arrival of the twilight hour, I received a knock on my door.
It was a third-year cadet. She called me and said that I should proceed to the arena as my match—the final match—was about to start.
Nodding, I got up and let out a final sigh.
All my preparations were finished.
I only had two tasks at hand: surviving the vampire attack and doing whatever it takes to fix Nero's mentality.
The first task was rather simple albeit not easy. To achieve the second task, however, I needed to accomplish three things in my match against Nero.
First, I must exhaust him.
Second, I must make him use his gift.
Third, I must set up a trap during our duel.
There's also an additional fourth step, which is the promise I made to myself for this match: Beat the everlasting hell out of Nero.
The fourth step is not necessary for my future plans, it's just to content my own heart.
Nodding, I got up and clenched my fists.
"Okay, let's do this."
