"You put up a nice effort and it was a very close match. Nice try." — That was all that Trish managed to utter clearly, stuttering through her sentence a few times, before abruptly turning around and leaving the field.
Kent, Amelia, and I looked at her receding figure for a few moments in an awkward silence left by her before they turned to me.
I, of course, had no idea what that was so I just shrugged and we all talked for a few moments.
"But it was really a nice try," Amelia said, changing whatever topic Kent had brought up. "If not for Nero's Gift or the rule against the use of armour-type relics, you could've won."
"Please," I chuckled with a bitter expression. "There are a million other variants I could add to give myself an edge over Nero. And I would defeat him in all of those hypothetical situations. But the fact of the matter is that I lost, and you know what, to be honest, I'm fine with it."
I wasn't lying. Not totally, at least. I really was fine with the results. After the attack in Silveserine City, I came to a dreadful realization.
Not everything will go according to how it was written in the novel. Fiction and reality are different.
The Vampires in Silveserine attacked a few minutes before they had done so in the novel. That threw most of the preparations I had done beforehand into shambles.
I was caught off-guard.
But I learned from my mistake and this time I was ready for them to attack in the midst of my match with Nero.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. Now, it could only mean that the events today will hopefully, for once, follow the plot.
What does that mean? That means the Vampires are going to attack in about a few minutes from now.
Nero is about to head to the infirmary. As soon as he steps away from his friends and a little farther from the VIP stand where the instructors are, the vampires will jump out of the shadows.
Then, all hell will break loose.
Right now, both Amelia and Anastasia are on the ground. I thought if the Vampire attacked early, both of them and several of the other archers would be able to provide cover fire from above.
Well, it's fine. Even though both of them are here, other archers are still in the audience stand.
Surrounded by so many cadets, even the elite vampire platoon would have to face some difficulties to carry out their attempt of assassinating Nero.
"Well, I still think your performance was excellent," Amelia shrugged, trying to console me. "You went toe-to-toe against Nero and nearly emerged victorious. Not many people can claim that."
Tsk.
Though I knew Amelia meant well, her words left a bitter taste in my mouth for some reason.
I refuse to settle for almost winning against him. If I start accepting that… If I start to find consolation in almost succeeding, I won't be striving for true success; I'll merely be trying to avoid failure.
In my past life, I settled for almost and stopped trying, and looking back now, I have nothing but regrets.
I take pride in my efforts. Just six months after transmigrating, I challenged the protagonist of this story, and I came close to winning.
Sure, that's a remarkable accomplishment, worth celebrating even, but it won't be the defining point of my story. It won't be the climax of my life.
Nero is merely a stepping stone for me. So what if I stumbled and failed now? I'll overcome that obstacle too.
Amelia frowned, noticing the strange look of defiance in my eyes. Before she could speak, I asserted:
"I will surpass him. His Gift can only aid him for so long, and my armour won't remain an excuse for my failures forever. The next time we clash... and we definitely will... I will win."
Amelia slightly widened her eyes, even Kent, who was grinning until now, grew silent at my serious proclamation.
After a few long moments, Amelia let out a deep breath and nodded silently. She then started moving in Nero's direction.
Seeing that, a sudden scowl appeared on my face as I asked, "Wait, where are you going?"
She stopped and looked at me strangely before replying, "To congratulate him, why?"
I shot my head to my right and looked at Nero only to see him already moving away from his group toward the infirmary.
I looked back at Amelia and said, "No, you can't."
Nero could stop a horde of elite Vampires hell-bent on killing him on his own, but I doubt Amelia's capabilities to be able to do the same.
I'm not calling her weak, but she's an archer. There's no way she would be able to survive the wave of elite Vampires by being on the frontline.
"Uh… Huh? What do you mean I can't?" Amelia cast me a mix of confused and dubious gaze.
"You just can't go there," I said, shaking my head, knowing full well how crazy I was sounding.
Amelia lingered for a moment and narrowed her eyes before her lips slightly curled up, "Huh? Is it that the young master doesn't want me to congratulate Nero on his win?"
My eye twitched slightly at the way she referred to me, but ignoring it to the best of my abilities, I gnashed my teeth and said:
"Sure, I don't want you to congratulate him. Now, don't go there."
Kent whistled as I shot him a death glare, prompting the blue-haired elf to avert his gaze.
Amelia, meanwhile, raised her eyebrows in surprise. She didn't expect this level of honesty from me.
After a few seconds of startled silence, she cleared her throat and said, "Okay, Lucas, whatever it is between you two, I don't know. But he's my friend, so I should–"
Before she could continue, I shook my head and said, "No, you don't understand!"
Amelia's brows furrowed, but before she could even utter a single word, a sudden high-pitched blood-curdling shriek echoed through the arena.
Following it, in rapid succession, several terrified screams erupted throughout the building as grotesque creatures emerged from the shadows surrounding the crowd in the audience stand.
Those creatures had humanoid forms with charcoal-like skin, sunken cheeks, and glowing, ominous blood-red eyes.
Tall and menacing, these creatures had four limbs, with obsidian black nails and sharp fangs protruding from their hands and mouths respectively.
Donning black armour which were adorned with intricate blood-red patterns, each one of these grotesque abominations wielded various weapons.
In the blink of an eye, they materialized in the audience stands as if they had been there from the start.
There was no need for introductions; everyone knew these vile beings were the dreaded creatures of the night—Vampires, and judging by their armour, they all seemed to be of noble rank.
I saw Nero standing at the far end of the field. Yes, the attack on the Global Academy was about to start.
