Festival (9)
Festival (9)
Two days had passed since the losers' revival match.
[ The long-awaited Round of 16 has finally begun. ]
[ Those were the longest two days of my life. ]
[ I feel the same. A legendary record is about to be born! How could anyone wait two days after witnessing such a spectacular scene... But wait we did. Hahaha. ]
[ Truly an agonizing wait. But you needn't worry about that anymore, yes? ]
[ Yes!! From today until the finals, it's non-stop all the way!! ]
[ Normally, Association rules mandate a two-day rest period between the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, but in a truly unprecedented move, we'd like to inform you that with the consent of all participants, we will be proceeding without breaks. ]
Tap.
The smartphone screen went black.
With it, the broadcast and the commentary ceased.
"It seems everyone's got a hidden card up their sleeve."
Arthur Philip.
The First Prince of the British Royal Family and the king of the Royal Academy murmured quietly from his seat in the waiting room.
A non-stop run from the Round of 16 to the finals, with no rest.
The one who had proposed it was none other than Arthur Philip himself.
The reason was simple.
Overall victory.
'Baek Ha-na is already a monster beyond discussion. Yoon I-seul, right below her, has long since surpassed the student level, and even the first-year Nam Seo-hee is on a higher plane than we are.'
Na Ju-hee and other students with unique abilities were further down the roster, but they all had identifiable counter-strategies and could be subdued. In fact, below the top twenty, the skill level dropped off almost suspiciously fast.
'The bottom ranks aren't even worth considering... if only the upper-mid ranks perform well, we can seize victory just as First Academy did.'
If they could pull that off, the opportunity to steal the title of the world's top academy would present itself.
'If we can just take down Arena, we'll cruise through to the finals.'
He had already pulled a few strings to ensure that any team they faced in the quarterfinals or semifinals would be at a stylistic disadvantage.
Conversely, he had arranged for First Academy to be bracketed with the teams ranked 3rd and 7th from the previous year—Arena Academy—as well as every other team up to 10th place.
'We and Arena were both knocked out early by First Academy last year. But this year is different.'
If they could just manage to get past today, they'd likely meet a thoroughly exhausted First Academy in the finals.
'I don't know what secret weapon they're banking on to accept this proposal... but first we have to climb the wall right in front of us.'
Just as Arthur Philip finished organizing his thoughts, the waiting room door opened.
"Your Highness. It's time to enter."
The head professor, a count granted his title by the Royal Family, bowed respectfully to Arthur.
"Everyone, on your feet."
At Arthur Philip's command, the seated students rose with military precision. All but one.
"Jossi."
"...I was just about to get up."
The Second Prince.
The one who had been humiliated at the airport trying to approach Baek Ha-na rose to his feet with a scrunched-up face.
"Fix your face. Do you intend to show such an expression to the people?"
"...Of course not."
Jossi's twisted face gradually smoothed out, and as if by magic, it was replaced with a look brimming with confidence and resolve.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
Arthur and Jossi followed the head professor out of the waiting room. They walked down a long corridor and then stepped into the Grand Auditorium, where hundreds of thousands of spectators and hundreds of cameras were fixed on them.
[ At this very moment, the pride of England, Prince Arthur, is entering at the head of the Royal Academy students!! ]
[ Even their gait carries the dignity of royalty. ]
Arthur Philip offered a gentle smile and lightly waved toward the audience.
-Kyaaaaa!!
-Prince!! Look over here, over here!!
-Pride of England!!
The cheers erupted instantly.
Watching it all from the side, Jossi kept a confident front while grinding his teeth behind his smile, clenching his fist tightly.
Half-brothers.
It was a known fact. But only a tiny handful of people knew that First Prince Arthur Philip's father was an Awakened from America. And Second Prince Jossi was one of those few.
'Rootless garbage....'
He was the true crown prince, the one with pure noble blood flowing through his veins!!
This goddamn trash was merely born two years earlier and was now usurping everything that should rightfully be his.
That was Jossi's assessment of Arthur.
"No need to rush. And don't blindly charge in just because you see an opening. Slowly. Treat it like bleeding them dry."
"Yes."
At the crisp reply, Arthur gave a stoic nod and took his seat.
'Damn it, damn it....'
Jossi's insides, on the other hand, were burning black with fury.
If Royal Academy actually beat First Academy and took the world's top title, all the credit would obviously go to Arthur Philip. The truly infuriating part was that the honor and glory of success were immense, yet there was practically no personal risk to shoulder in the event of failure.
'Son of a bitch!!'
He was dying to overturn the board, but because of the incident at the airport, his mother had commanded him to stay quiet until the end of this event. There was nothing he could do but sit and watch, twiddling his thumbs.
It was while the Second Prince was inwardly sharpening his knives.
[ Supernova!! It's the Supernova entrance!! ]
[ Commentator Demyua? You should say it's the entrance of the Arena Academy students, not Supernova. ]
[ H-ha, haha!! I was just about to say that!! ]
[ Of course. A veteran among veterans like Commentator Demyua would never make such a mistake. More importantly, the looks in the Arena Academy students' eyes are rather vicious. ]
[ Ahem... Y-yes, indeed. They have the eyes of battle-worn knights who've just barely staggered back from the brink of death. ]
'Battle-worn knights?'
Jossi scoffed under his breath as he looked into the maddened eyes of the Arena Academy students.
'Ridiculous.'
Since when did battle-worn knights have the eyes of rabid dogs?
"Jude."
"Yes."
The male student Arthur addressed rose from his seat and walked onto the stage.
In response, a male student from Arena Academy also stepped onto the stage.
The match began.
[ Aah! They're charging at each other the instant it starts!! ]
It was exactly as the commentator described.
The two on stage drew their swords the moment the signal was given and lunged at each other.
Clannng!!
Their blades collided, and their mana clashed.
[ Both Ju Yeong-hun and Jude possess the Strength Enhancement ability!! ]
[ It looks like this has unintentionally turned into a battle of pride!! ]
Neither gave a single step as they locked blades and began a test of strength, causing commentators from each country to buzz with excitement.
Then, just as Ju Yeong-hun's sword began to be pushed back ever so slightly—
[ Aah! Is Ju Yeong-hun being pushed...? ]
The highly agitated Demyua stopped mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open.
-Ptoo!!
-Gahk?!
Just as he seemed to be giving ground, Ju Yeong-hun spat directly into Jude's eyes, tossed his sword aside in an instant, and lunged like a wild animal.
Smoothly slipping into the now half-blind Jude's guard, Ju Yeong-hun headbutted him square in the face.
-Kuff!!
Twin streams of blood flowed from Jude's crushed nose.
His stance collapsed instantly.
Staring down with maddened eyes at Jude as he toppled backward, Ju Yeong-hun launched himself forward and drove another vicious headbutt directly into Jude's solar plexus.
-Gwrghk?!
The sword in Jude's hand clattered to the floor.
But Ju Yeong-hun paid it no mind, straddling the fallen Jude on the stage floor and ruthlessly hammering his fist into Jude's solar plexus over and over.
-Grrrrr!!
-Guhk!! Hgk!! Y-yo... Gwroooghk?!
With both arms pinned under Ju Yeong-hun's knees, Jude was helpless, forced to take the relentless barrage of punches.
[ St-stop!! ]
The referee, who had frozen for a moment at the utterly abrupt turn of events, hurried onto the stage and halted the match.
He checked on Jude, who was unconscious and foaming at the mouth, and then spoke with a dumbfounded expression.
[ ...Jude is unable to continue the fight. Victory, Ju Yeong-hun. ]
-.......
-.......
The spectators, who normally cheered with genuine enthusiasm no matter who won, just kept blinking vacantly.
[ ....... ]
[ ....... ]
The commentators were no different.
Even the veterans who had commentated for many years had never seen a student claim victory in such a manner.
In that moment of silence that followed this shocking win in more ways than one—
-What are you standing there posing for, you bastard?! Crawl back in here right now if you won!!
A young female professor from the Arena Academy student section shot to her feet and shouted at the top of her lungs.
And the sight of Jaden hiding his face in both hands became a real-time trending topic.