At the arena the speed in which Eclipsa finished her match caught everyone's attention, as in eight seconds' time no one moved from his place yet, and Eclipsa simply turned to the hostess in the sky, asking,
"Now that my match is already over, what do I need to do?"
Lana was lost in thoughts; when she finally realized she was the one Eclipsa was talking to, she finally replied, "Um...oh...you can just stay and watch the other matches since everyone can have only one match per day."
"I am leaving then."
Eclipsa didn't wait to hear anything from anyone and jumped from the flying arena and left through the door where she came from. With what she said and done, Lana was caught off guard; she never expected to hear this answer.
"Did I see that right?"
"BOOM"
An explosive sound came from behind, disturbing her. When she looked back, two of the contestants had already started their fight. Not long after, the other arenas started engaging in their own battles. It looked like the scene of Eclipsa leaving just like that angered the other contestants, so they started pouring their frustration on each other.
"That motherfucker—did she just ignore the other matches and leave? She's just too arrogant," Jarvis said with hatred clearly showing in his eyes as he looked at her empty arena beside him. He didn't realize Ray was closing in on him with her sword.
"Pay attention; I am your opponent, not her."
She said that while her hands holding the sword slashed at his neck, at the last moment before her sword injured his neck, he quickly used his magic to wrap his hands with a green stem and stopped her sword between two of his fingers, while using the other hand to aim for her neck, almost suffocating her.
He kept strengthening his grip on her neck. He was already furious because of Eclipsa, but she had to come at him. "Does she think I am an easy option?" he thought.
"What the fuck do you think you are doing... huh?"
His golden eyes were full of murderous intent. Ray, who was hiding behind her mask, felt terrified looking into those eyes; it's as if he had killed her hundreds of times over in his brain.
"You weaklings, how dare you make a move in front of me?"
He snapped his fingers at her sword, shattering the magical weapon into small pieces. The stem on his arms made them harder than steel itself, so the sword couldn't help but break under his finger's pressure.
But once the sword broke, he let go of Ray's neck, but the next second he delivered a heavy blow to her stomach with his other hand.
"Bang"
She crashed hard into the ground with a loud bang; the hit was so hard that she made a hole in the ground, and blood came running from under her mask.
"Bleegh...ugh...cough, cough…"
"Give up, you weakling; you have no chance of winning."
"A...I...w...won't...huff...huff...stop dreaming."
Jarvis grabbed her by her left foot and lifted her high into the sky, landing a hit again into her stomach, smashing her hard into the ground with all his might; her mask cracked from the shock afterward.
"Bwagh...haa...haa...haa..."
Jarvis looked at her with a smug smile, asking her again,
"Are you still not giving up?"
"N...no...never."
She tried to get up, but Jarvis fixed her to the ground and kept hitting her with his fist over and over again till her mask fell completely, but her face was covered in blood completely; it's hard to recognize the person.
He was so angry; she clearly had no chance of winning, but she was still resisting in vain, receiving one punch after another. Since he only saw Eclipsa's leaving as her looking down on him, and Ray's behavior was giving him the same feeling, he couldn't help but lose his mind at her.
Lana finally noticed what was going on behind her; she started commenting on the scene before her eyes, quickly saying,
"Contestant Ray, if I were you, I would give up the match already. You didn't even get the chance to cast a single spell, and yet you're already heavily injured. You are clearly no match for him. Better give up."
"...n...never"
With all that was left from her energy, she only managed to say this before she passed out
Jarvis was about ready to land his next punch, but the barrier of his arena started to go down; only then did he get up from the ground, but hearing what the hostess said after that made him furious again.
"With the barrier down, the winner of this match is Jarvis, which makes him the third to finish."
"Wait, what?...the third…aren't I the second?" Jarvis shouted at the hostess in anger, declaring his dissatisfaction with what she said.
"No, you're not...the second to finish was Dem, with a duration of one minute only, another one minute ahead of you. His opponent seemed to have run into him before he announced his defeat on the spot, saying there's no point in fighting a lost match," Luna said.
Jarvis looked at Ray, who's covered in her blood on the floor, in anger and kicked her off the stage, shouting in anger, "It's all your fault!"
"What the hell?!"
Lana was surprised by what he did, but luckily she moved her hands fast, casting a wind spell and catching Ray in midair on time before she crashed to the ground.
"Huff…thank god I caught her on time, or she would be dead by now."
She genuinely felt relieved that she caught her on time, but she turned at Jarvis with an angry face, and she started questioning him.
"Why the hell did you push her?... You know she was unconscious; falling from such a height will surely kill her."
"So what?"
"Huh?!"
Jarvis started talking arrogantly, not caring a damn about her life.
"So what if she died, that weakling, knowing full well she can't win but still struggling, wasting my time, making me lose my ranking? She should be relieved I didn't finish her with my own hands."
Lana, after hearing that, felt a little bit scared.
"You psycho," she said, but he totally ignored her and looked at them, who took his second place as he was standing in his arena still watching what he did; his eyes were full of anger.
Jarvis gave him a creepy smile, as if saying, "You are next," then he got off the arena and left. Unknowingly, a form of rivalry formed between the two of them at that split second.
"What's wrong with that lunatic?" Lana wondered.
The rest of the games, on the other hand, everyone was busy in his own world.
Baison's head was trapped in a water ball; apparently at the beginning of their match, Manao threw a magical spell at his face. When he tried to cut through her using his sword, it split into two but reattached again over his head. Holding his breath, he was attacking Manao with his sword from far away, but using her magic, she made sure he never got the chance.
She cast a spell to summon a water dragon, attacking him with bullets of water every time he gets closer.
'I can't keep this pace forever; with the lack of oxygen, if I keep going like this, I will lose my consciousness sooner or later...I need to find a way to get closer…'
The most common weakness of a magician is obviously close attacks, so he spins around her several times before finally finding his so-called perfect chance.
'Found it.'
When he found a blind spot, he thought he could finally land a hit on her, but he didn't realize he walked right into her trap. About two feet from her, she placed a magical circle; the moment he stepped on it, a column of water pinned him to the ground.
"Uagh...what the hell?"
That move took him by surprise; he lost his grip and dropped his sword. Now he is fully immersed underwater. Manao slowly advanced toward him, bent down, fished his sword, and placed its tip over his neck.
"You lost."
He looked so helpless as she resolved her magic; she extended her hand at him and helped him up, then handed him his sword back.
He was convinced by his loss; it was clearly shown on his face as they shook their hands.
"That was a good match; I really enjoyed it."
"Likewise"
The audience clapped for them as they healed from the shock from the previous matches.
"Wooooohooo"
"Now that's the spirit."
"Nicely done."
Sylvia and Belladonna looked confused, as the audience's reaction was a bit much with that kind of match.
"They're a bit overdoing it, right?...Isn't it just a normal match? Is it really that impressive?." Sylvia questioned their reaction.
"Hmm...If you ask me, I would say it was pouring compared to the others." Belladonna nodded in agreement with what Sylvia said, and Baial was sitting beside them questioning her existence.
"It was a great match if you ask me."
"HOW? " They both asked at the same time, startling her.
"I don't know what's normal for you when you are saying that , but what i really know is that as a normal person after witnessing ,ray's match against that tyrant and Eclipsa's match they couldn't even process, let along dem's match that ended withought a sound no one saw when did it start or end in midest off all this mess this one normal match was a healing light after the cruel and unreasonable fights before " baial said
"So that's all?...Is there nothing else? Give me the real thing; I've come specifically to witness the real thing unfold."
"Real?...What real?...I don't see something more true than their ethical standards; that was a healthy fight."
"What a healthy fight, huh?" Belladonna got angry from Baial's words and started retaliating against her on the spot, "If you were in a real fight, those ethnics would only get you killed."
"What—"
" let me give you a small lesson young lady the only rule in a fight is survival of the fittest, the first move is crucial , whether you're resilient, have a strong will power or connection, non of these things will help you when you are dead, got it?"
Belladonna's gaze after saying those words ran a chill down her spine. Baial felt afraid of her; that feeling was still fresh in her head. She had already felt it when dealing with Serenity before coming to this stadium. She turned at Sylvia, demanding an answer.
"Do you really think the same?...Should we really abandon our ethics when fighting?"
"..." Sylvia stared at her for a while in silence before finally answering, "Fifty-fifty, although I agree with the part including no ability, certain death awaits, but abandoning my ethics...?"
She sharpened her gaze, giving Belladonna a death stare.
"Never in a million years in my family is losing principles equivalent to death; it's a taboo."
"Aha...eh?" When talking with Sylvia Belladonna spotted something.
"Move aside for a bit, will you..."
She shoved Sylvia's head to the side and seemed surprised with what's in front of her. She pointed with her finger at the people standing down.
"What is wrong with you?...What are you even looking Aa~... what the hell?"
Sylvia joined her in shock once she turned her head and saw those people wearing white coats down the arena.
"What is she even doing there?...Did you know about this?"
Belladonna turned at Sylvia, questioning her in clear shock, but she was shocked as much.
"You ask me? Who should I ask?"
Seeing their excessive reaction, Baial turned to see what was going on, but her reaction was normal, unlike both of them.
"That's the medical team. Why? What's wrong with them?"
"Are you kidding me?...Can't you see Mariana down there?...Or am I just blind?" Sylvia asked.
"Yes, I see her; she's with the medical team. I don't see the problem here."
"I can see it's the fucking medical team ... I am asking, why is she down there?" Belladonna asked as she was about to lose her temper on both of them. Seeing her like that, she gave Sylvia a strange look, and she got her question.
"Siblings"
"Oh…no wonder." She then looked at Belladonna and said, "Mariana came to the teacher herself asking to join the medical team. She said something about increasing her experience in practical situations. She even revealed she is a 'Valerie' royal for the teacher to agree at the end, can you believe it?"
"What?...She really did reveal herself...unbelievable."
"See, I was so shocked hearing that. Who would believe we have a healing fairy at our school?"
"That foolish kid," Belladonna murmured to herself as she watched her younger sister treating the injured ray alongside the head of the medical team. She felt somewhat proud, but she was more scared; a complex of emotions was circulating inside her at the time, but she still wished her luck.
"Wait a second..." A sudden realization hit her; she looked pale as she turned her head slowly toward the people sitting beside her. She pointed at Belladonna, saying in a trembling voice, "You said they're...s...siblings."
"Yes"
"And Mariana is a royal, then she..." pointing at Belladonna.
"Yes, she is also a royal," Sylvia said so indifferently, dropping a huge weight on her soul. She then looked at her in worry.
"Will you be okay?"
"Why are you saying that?"
"Just now you talked to her in that manner; won't she retaliate against you later?"
"Eh?!...don't worry, we are used to it," Sylvia said that to reassure her, but Baial became even more tense as she pulled herself together to ask,
"Um ... Sylvia, can I ask you something?"
"Huh...What is it?!?!"
"Are you also a...royal?"
"Guess…" Sylvia didn't answer that and just settled with a sly smile.
"Took you long enough to realize...you're quite stupid, aren't you?" Belladonna said, mocking Baial.
Baial quickly asked, "Hey, wait...what about Dan? Is he also a royal?"
"You bet."
"Your class president choice is worrying me."
"Shut up."
"Eww, you meanie...but jokes aside, the fact that your year has many royals is as clear as the sun; future interactions are unavoidable, and past grudges will slowly appear."
These words planted the seed of fear in her; she didn't pull anyone aside from Serenity in the past, but she still asked to put her mind at ease.
"Umm...Sylvia, do you think I offended any royal in the past three years? Although I don't think I did, just to be sure."
"Hmmm...did you offend a royal, huh?" Sylvia's face drew a creepy smile, saying, "You did...you provoked the worst one possible."
Baial's soul cracked from hearing Sylvia's answer, "Can you tell me who she is?"
"I am sorry, but no can do."
"Why?!"
"Simply because she didn't reveal herself...even if we're both royals, there are still ranks and agreements. It's not children's play to pry into the royals' secrets, right?"
"Remove that smile, please; it's not funny. See for yourself." Pointing at the people behind them, their jaws were literally on the ground, as they felt their life nearing its end. "See!...That's the normal reaction."
With those words coming out of her mouth, Baial's soul finally gave up. She thought to herself, 'What the hell is wrong with me today, huh?!...' I just keep digging up more and more secrets—first Mariana's lineage, then Serenity's fake love, and now this... Am I getting involved in something I shouldn't?... This is driving me crazy;