Chapter 84

The crowd roared as the two teams come out to the field, coming from opposite sides.

"And here are our matchups!" The commentator shouted as the participants took their positions, "at the long east side of the stadium, the red team as you already know... Hanazawa, Jiwo, Anya, Ash, and Yukina!"

The crowd roared.

"And the blue team at the far west side of the stadium, Jack, Ray, Jasper, Ryan, Layla, and Erina!"

The crowd cheered clapping their hands.

"Jeez you could definitely tell the difference of the people's reactions," Jasper said.

"Of course, they expect nothing from us since we're no one compared to our enemy," Erina said.

"Aw..."

"And now the discussion time shall begin! The battle will start in three minutes!" The commentator said.

Ray walked closer to Erina, " it's a pretty tough matchup for us, are we not changing plans?"

"Our plan has the highest chance of winning, despite any enemy,"

"I see, confident, aren't we?"

"Not at all,"

Ray tilted his head in confusion.

"You say it has the highest chance of winning, yet you're not confident?" Jack said.

"Because that highest chance of winning, isn't that high against our opponent, in other words, the chances of us winning from the start isn't that high,"

"I think I get what you mean," Layla said, looking worried.

"Is that so," Jack walked away.

Earlier.

"Hey! Layla wasn't it?" Ray said, approaching Layla.

"Oh! Ray, right?"

"Yep!"

"Eh... And the person behind you is..."

Jack glanced at her, with a frustrated expression.

"Umm, Jack am I right?" Sounding nervous.

Jack averted his gaze, not giving a reply.

"Haha! Don't mind him, seems like something has been bugging him ever since the first event,"

"Well, he suddenly lost to Yuji so..."

Jack glanced away, "Tsk!"

Layla shivered, "s... sorry,"

"Hm? Yuji?"

Layla nodded with a smile.

"Speaking of that lying bastard, where is he?" Jack said, looking at Erina.

"I don't know, and what did you mean by lying bastard?"

Jack walked closer, "you two were pretty close, weren't you? How long have you two been hiding his ability,"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Erina glared menacingly, sounding intimidating.

"Eh? What... Yuji?" Ray said sounding extremely confused.

Layla smiled, "they're talking about the Yuji who was with us back at City D,"

"Oh, Him! I see I see," Ray smiled, nodding his head.

"EEEHHH!!??"

Ray was baffled, "w... what do you mean? His alive!?"

Layla nodded, "it's kind of a long story,"

"A really long one, " Erina added, "shouldn't we focus on finding a team for now?"

"Eh? Umm, we walked here so we can suggest to team up actually," Ray said.

"He pulled me into this," Jack said.

"Eh? Well, in that case, that would make us six in total,"

"Six? " Jack looked at Ryan and Jasper, staring behind Erina, "ah, I see,"

Ryan scowled.

"When you think about it... Going with people who you already have a general idea of seems to be a good move, don't ya think?" Layla said.

"True," Erina nodded, "I assume you all already know something about each other?"

Layla nodded, "yep, we were the ones together at that time," with a sudden realization she walk up to Erina, "but Erina, you..."

"Just the gist of your ability is fine, tell me," Erina said.

Layla looked around

"Then I'll go first, mine is just a physical boost," Jasper said.

Ray stepped up, "and I can levitate by holding my breath,"

"And mine is..."

"Alright, got it, then let's head to the registration now," Erina said, interrupting Ryan.

"Eh?"

"Ah, don't worry," Erina glanced, "I already saw and remember what you and that guy's ability are," pointing at Ryan and Jack.

And so, they registered themselves.

Back at the present.

The crowd cheered as the timer for discussion nears its end.

Ryan took deep breaths, "too bad I wasn't able to meet Yuji, let me meet him some time," he smiled.

Focusing in front of her, Erina looked around, "sure... If we meet again,"

"That's... Kind of cold,"

Erina paused for a thought, "it's already the third match, and there's still no sign of Yuji... I should end this as fast as I could, we can probably go home after this. That being said, I can't let this opportunity to test myself go to waste too... So this time limit game is perfect,"

Layla stood in her position, dripping sweat with signs of nervousness, "we're up against the S ranks, in terms of ability and experience, it's clear that we don't stand a chance... Still, I have to do a good performance and not embarrass myself!"

Ryan and Jasper stood together, placing themselves on the corner of their side of the stadium.

"I guess we're doing this..."

Ryan nodded, feeling a sense of nervousness.

Erina observed her surroundings, "the others seem tensed, but I'm sure they'll be able to do their part," she glances at Jack and Ray, "these two..."

Ray was smiling, hopping with excitement.

Jack looked serious, emitting a raging aura.

"Jack you look too serious, don't go overboard on your own,"

"You seem too relaxed and having fun, don't go do anything stupid,"

Ray smiled, "got it, got it,"

Erina let out a sigh, "seems like I shouldn't be worried about them,"

"Thirty seconds till the game starts!" The commentator shouted, making the audience roar with excitement, "I just had a word from an anonymous source, saying that this is the best lineup for the S ranks yet!"

Jasper shivered, "are you kidding... They crushed all the other students earlier, and you're saying we're up against the best they have?"

"There are only eight of them, you could end up with a bunch of patterns for a five-man team... And it seems we got the jackpot..." Ryan began to sweat.

"Their best lineup..." Layla thought, trying to compose herself, "true, noticing the previous matches, it seems that the ones that stood out from earlier are in this team... It's ok..."

"Well, we had a low chance of winning from the start," Ray began stretching his arms, "so getting the best line up as an opponent might be good for us,"

"I might agree with you on that one," Jack nodded.

"And now, the countdown!" The commentator shouted as the crowd began to count down.

"10!"

"9"

"8"

Meanwhile at the treehouse.

"Look! There's no way I could miss this match-up!" Gabriela jumped with excitement, "this matchup is great! I'll get to see all I want to see!"

"Yeah..." Yuji said.

Sitting down on the floor with hands on the small table, his nerves began to shiver, feeling a sense of danger surrounding him as he looked around the treehouse, being covered by multiple fragments of luminous blue light.

"I'm not supposed to see this, aren't I?" Yuji thought.

"Stay calm... I don't know what she's planning, but it seems she won't be doing anything yet," Alicia said.

Hiding his uneasiness, he smiled and watched the TV, "it's an interesting lineup indeed..." He said.