Kill The King.

"Wait!" Lucian quickly held on to Michael's arm before he could open the door of the Arena. "I.. I think this is a bad idea."

"Why?" Michael asked.

"Are you crazy?! You're going up against king! You may have won against a C-rank like Steven but king!" Lucian was yelling.

Not that Michael hadn't thought every odds through one too many times. But he had been able to decipher a conclusion, he was going to fight.

Reyy must've observed his martial arts technique during his fight against Steven, but what he didn't know was that his stats had leveled up now by alot, he had an assassin's skill that could as well give him a upper hand too.

There was no way Reyy was going to see him coming.

And about talents? Michael couldn't use any in this fight. He did not know what Reyy was really up to but he could tell that he knew that Michael had talents now.

And because of that, he would try to expose him to the whole school.

Hopefully, the system wouldn't select any compulsory class during his fight. Hopefully.

"I'll be fine." Michael assured. "Stop worrying about me, it's really cringe."

He opened the Arena's door, and an uproar blasted in his ears. The place was crowded, even more than it had been on the day of its opening. Wisteria's students flooded the place, all cheering on the fighters on the ring. Placing bet on wins.

It was chaotic.

"I guess a lot of people really want to see the school's king beat up a cripple." Michael smirked.

But he had the choice to change that fate. With his system, his redemption arc had been smooth enough to grant him wins in his fights so far. He had even be able to defeat an A-rank like Griffith.

Around now, he was probably at Rank A+ while Reyy was at a rigid A.

But still he couldn't underestimate the situation. Compared to the real world, Griffith was just an illusion, a program of the system. And who could tell whether Reyy was more powerful than he was?

If Reyy was even as powerful, then it would be a problem, knowing that he had to win his last fight with his necromancy talents.

But this was a wrestling ring, not a battlefield. He couldn't use weapons, and to maintain the system's secrecy, he also couldn't use talents.

The only thing he depended on to win at that moment was his assassin's buildup skill.

"And we have a winner! For the seventh time in a row!" The student referee screamed as a blue haired boy tossed another student to the ground, pinning him with force. "Who's going to get their heads bashed next?!"

"I'll go next." A voice replied in resonance from admist the crowd.

Elvis stepped up the ring, his hands shoved into his pockets. As usual, there was no emotion evident in his dark brown eyes, and he did not seem to care that his opponent was Zach; famously the fastest student in Wisteria.

"Jack against Zach? The rhyme is concerning." Michael heard someone say beside him.

"Elvis, you came just on the right timing." Zach said with a smirk, his sweaty blue hair draping over his lemon-green eyes.

"Let me guess, you too have been looking for me?" Elvis asked.

"I don't understand what's so special about you. They say you have talents but I've never seen you use them." Zach spat. "And yet you still claim the position of Jack."

Elvis sighed. "It's not like I don't want to use my talents, but unlike Ace, I'm used to holding back."

"Well, how about you hold back on this!" Zach dashed towards Elvis, bringing his hands to his face for a mighty punch, but it caught in Elvis's grip.

He brought his other hand foward but before he could land any hit, Elvis gave him a knee jab to the guts. Zach collapsed to the floor, the pain searing him.

"You're fast, and that could give you an upper hand in your fights." Elvis pointed out. "But you lack combat experience and attack logic."

"You think you've won?" Zach spiraled to his feet, vanishing from the spot he once was at. "You underestimate Zach!"

The speedster reappeared behind Elvis, reaching out a kick to his face, but Elvis dodged, his head bending over to the side.

Zach vanished again and appeared before him, sticking out his foot again for another kick, but this time Elvis caught it, the expression in his eyes unchanging.

"What the—!" How did he see me coming?

Elvis tossed Zach to the ground like a whip, his skull crashing into the floor cracks. The latter was an immediate bleeding from his mouth, his blood splattering warm onto the cold floor.

He was now disabled, unable to move an inch.

"This is boring." Elvis sighed again. "My mistake actually. After winning seven fights in a row, I just thought maybe fighting you would be worth my interest."

The Jack looked out the crowd, his eyes finding and dawning on Michael. Michael also stared back at him, and the invisible line of spark resurfaced again.

"Maybe I'll find a worthy opponent....someday." With that, he left the ring.

Michael shoved away the sudden scenery from his mind. What had he been expecting after all? Elvis was the Jack, fourth strongest student in Wisteria, it was quite expected that he would win against a cheap Haste User.

But above all, it made him wonder— if Elvis could be this powerful without his talents, then how much for Reyy?

"Don't sweat it." Reyy suddenly butt into his thoughts, speaking as he stood beside him. "It was your decision to be here after all."

Michael glared into his mindless gaze. "I don't know what you're up to, but you'd fail."

"That's supposed to be my line." Reyy admitted. "You accepted to this fight so easily, is there any reason you want to become king?"

"..." Michael didn't reply. He just kept up his stare of hatred.

"Look Michael, I understand your tormenting experience as someone who has been a victim of bullying." Reyy started. "I wish to relate to it, but unfortunately, my hands are tied.

As king of Wisteria High, I'm expected to discard such trivial issues."

Trivial?

"Trivial huh? You assholes not only make the weak suffer physical hurt, you also damage their mental and emotional health, leaving them probably scarred for a lifetime. And you call that trivial?"

"Wisteria is a power tussle. And where competition dominates at large, there are always people who are left inferior." Reyy explained. "The students board has made it quite clear that it's not a school for weaklings or cripples. But it's not like we have ultimate control over everything that happens around."

"That's shit." Michael cursed. "The Hierachy existed for that reason, did it not?"

"When you're King Michael, you'd realize that you alone can't make all the rules." Reyy was saying before the sound of the mic synchronized all over the room.

The referee spoke. "And up next! It's our most anticipated contestants! Our very own king of Wisteria High going up against the now infamous Michael Alastair. A.K.A Wisteria's cripple."

Infamous? Michael's mind exploded with rage as he hurdled towards the wrestling ring.

"This fight shall determine whether or not our King remains the same. Hopefully, by some hidden luck, a cripple would become the owner of Wisteria High. This is a stake. A risk! It eludes so much tension."

"Just shut up." Reyy said coldly to the referee. With a warm smile, he turned to face Michael. "Best of luck."

Luck? Michael thought, his fingers still flexing with rage.

"I don't need one."

* * *

NAME: ZACH

TALENT: HASTE

RANK: A

STRENGTH: 69 SPEED: 190 STAMINA: 34 SKILL: 120

_____________

NAME: ELVIS L. MATHERS

TALENT:??

RANK: A

STRENGTH: 214 SPEED: 170 STAMINA: 190 SKILL:??