-706- The unexpected opponent

As mentioned before that during the Night Party, higher-ranked participants have the privilege of voluntarily demoting themselves. This privilege is granted to higher-ranking individuals to allow them the right to participate earlier in the Night Party.

The Night Party is a sequential free-for-all battle, and regardless of the outcome, a participant appears the following night.

However, that participant must wait their turn to be called. In other words, they can't participate before their scheduled turn unless they choose to voluntarily demote themselves to a rank that hasn't appeared yet.

Two conditions must be met to demote oneself during the Night Party:

1. You must have a rank higher than the one you intend to demote to.

2. You can only demote to a rank that hasn't participated yet.

In summary, to demote yourself during the Night Party, you must currently hold a higher rank than all the participants scheduled to appear and can only demote to an available rank.

And last night, the 87th rank had already participated, so Rozen naturally had to demote himself to the 86th rank.

However, when Rozen submitted his demotion request, the Night Party's executive committee gave an unexpected response.

"Another higher-ranked participant has already voluntarily demoted themselves to the 86th rank."

Yes, there was already another participant who had chosen to demote themselves to the 86th rank before Rozen.

This took Rozen by surprise, and he furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

"Why did this happen?"

Even Yaya was quite surprised and didn't anticipate such a turn of events.

On the other hand, Rozen quickly understood the situation.

"They probably anticipated the action I was about to take, right?"

In other words, Alice had likely predicted Rozen's plan to force her out through self-demotion.

This wasn't too hard to predict. As long as they couldn't find Alice, and Rozen was determined to locate her, anyone at the Night Party would become a target, trying to catch her.

Alice had already foreseen this and arranged for another participant to demote themselves, thwarting Rozen's actions.

"This 'Elf Speeder' doesn't seem to be an easy opponent."

Being able to act ahead of Rozen, even with a hidden adversary, showed that Alice possessed not only exceptional strength but also unexpected strategic thinking.

This proved that Alice had more than just extraordinary power; she also possessed a remarkable cunning mind.

"If they intend to provoke me both in strength and intelligence..."

Rozen admitted that his interest was piqued.

"Although I don't know who this person applying for self-demotion is, since they were arranged by Alice to obstruct me, they're probably not just an ordinary individual, right?"

Why such a person would obey Alice's arrangement and what kind of relationship exists between them is currently unclear.

Rozen thought with such a person, "I'd like to see what you've prepared for me."

With this thought in mind, Rozen once again applied to the Night Party's executive committee for self-demotion.

"I want to demote to the 85th rank."

This way, even if it's not his turn to participate tonight, the mystery will be revealed tomorrow night.

Rozen successfully demoted to the 85th rank, giving up the hard-earned 2nd rank.

That night, the higher-ranked participant who had self-demoted to the 86th rank did not participate, resulting in the 87th rank not participating either. Even Frey and Veyron did not participate, creating an unusual situation where no one participated in the Night Party, a rare occurrence.

Rozen had already anticipated this outcome, so he wasn't surprised at all.

"For Frey, this might be a good thing."

If the 86th rank had participated, all participants ranked below them would have a one-hour standby obligation, and failing to complete it could result in disqualification. But Frey was not in a condition to participate yet, and even with a medical leave certificate, things could get tricky once she woke up.

Now, with the 86th rank not participating and the 87th rank also missing, as the highest-ranked participant that night, Frey would be excused from participating.

Veyron probably anticipated this development, which is why he also chose not to participate, creating a deserted Night Party, a calm before the storm.

"Let's see how it goes tomorrow night."

Rozen decided to participate tomorrow night, ensuring that both the 86th and 87th ranks would have to join in.

Unfortunately, Rozen miscalculated. It wasn't because he was outsmarted by the other party, but simply because he never expected that the person Alice had sent to interfere would be this individual.

...

The next day, at the Night Party battlefield:

"The 85th rank, 'Fimbulvetr's Winter,' takes the stage!"

When the female student from the Night Party's executive committee made this announcement with the grace of a songstress, the entire audience was shocked.

"Fimbulvetr's Winter...!?"

"Isn't that the 2nd rank...!?"

"He...he demoted to the 85th rank...!?"

Students who had come to watch the event began to buzz with disbelief, causing quite a commotion in the Night Party battlefield.

Rozen, accompanied by Yaya, slowly stepped onto the stage, ignoring the tumultuous crowd. He wasn't dressed in the academy's uniform but still wore Kinu's coat. The Night Party had no rules requiring participants to wear uniforms, except for the opening ceremony on the first day.

It didn't take long for another announcement:

"The 86th rank, 'Tyrant Rex,' takes the stage!"

This voice resonated through the entire Night Party battlefield like a bell.

"What...!?"

Rozen was taken aback.

"No way..."

Yaya's eyes widened.

Naturally, all the students in the audience seats once again erupted in astonishment, unable to believe their ears.

And then...

"Whoosh!"

A colossal black shadow suddenly soared from one side of the sky and arrived at the Night Party battlefield.

People raised their heads in unison to look at the sky.

There, the black shadow revealed itself.

A menacing appearance.

Steel-colored scales.

Claws, teeth, and a tail – a complete package.

It was unmistakably an iron dragon.

And atop the dragon's head stood that girl.

Her eyes were surprisingly cold.

"Charl....."

It was Charlotte Belew.