Chapter 99: Chapter 99

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: The Preliminary Rounds

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A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

Before me, a member of Preliminary Group 2 lay sprawled out, having taken a punch.

By this point, my stamina was definitely significantly depleted.

"Wangnon!"

At that moment, I looked up at Cade's call.

I saw the bracelet on Cade's wrist glowing.

Looking at my own wrist, mine was glowing identically.

This was it.

Ding, ding, ding—

A sound echoed from everyone's bracelets.

It was the signal that the preliminary rounds were over.

Sixteen participants.

We had advanced to the main tournament, the Round of 64.

Cade and I met each other's gaze.

Our hands crossed and high-fived in an instant.

"Wow, we actually made it through, didn't we?"

Grantony rushed over too, waving both his arms.

His pale wrist bones were clearly visible.

Soon after, we heard instructions to move out of the forest.

The light shining from our wrists guided us, making it impossible to get lost as we exited.

As we emerged from the forest, instructors approached us at a rapid pace.

They checked our injuries, treated them, and then pointed towards a resting area.

At the same time, I saw other people walking out of the forest.

They were the participants who had passed the preliminary rounds.

And among them,

was a man whose eyes met mine.

The Son of Shadows.

Solbas Umbra.

Perhaps due to being caught in my explosion, Solbas looked charred in places.

The moment Solbas's eyes met mine, he flinched.

Then he glared, his eyes contorted in a sneer.

It seemed he was embarrassed about flinching from the shock ingrained in his body.

He looked like a hedgehog bristling its quills.

Now that I think about it, he does resemble one a bit.

From now on, I should call him Sol-Hog.

Solbas abruptly turned his head and walked away.

"You really scared him. That'll probably affect his next match."

Cade chuckled, coming up beside me.

Since it's come to this, I hope he gets eliminated in his next match.

"I'm going to go check the results of the other preliminary groups."

"Oh? I was thinking of eating first."

"Eat with Grantony. I'm just going to check the results and then leave anyway."

"Heheheh, food! Food!"

Cade nodded and casually went off to eat with Grantony.

That Cade, seeing how comfortable he is even with Grantony, his sociability is truly outstanding.

Even in the 'Flame Butterfly' arc, the results of the international individual preliminaries were always random.

So there was no telling who would make it this time.

I immediately moved to another spot.

Upon checking, I saw that other groups, not just ours, were also mostly finished.

People were murmuring as they watched the matches.

Even the students who were eliminated in the preliminaries could watch the matches.

Perhaps that's why there was a considerable crowd.

On the wall, unfinished matches were being displayed.

I could see students letting out gasps and exclamations from various places.

First, I checked the preliminary results.

'The main contenders passed without issue.'

It seemed everyone had done well in the preliminaries.

Among them, one name caught my eye.

Group 3, Eve of Ordo Academy.

The Unyielding Azure Flame.

"As expected, you passed as well."

At that moment, the person herself appeared.

When I turned my head, a blue-haired woman stood there.

Eve looked pristine, without a single scratch.

The time she spent in her preliminary match couldn't have been much different from mine.

Her perfectly fine appearance meant she had completely dominated her preliminary match.

"Yes, it would be embarrassing to be eliminated in the preliminaries, wouldn't it?"

"...And you can say that so brazenly after what you did to me."

"Thank you for the compliment."

She glared at me with a chilling intensity.

It seemed she had heard a lot of talk about the previous incident.

It had gotten so bad that rumors of Eve's passionate love confession had even spread to Jerion Academy.

It must have been hard for Eve to show her face.

I felt a little bad, but I had already decided to be brazen about it.

I would maintain my thick skin to the very end.

"From my perspective, I was suddenly attacked, so I had no choice."

I couldn't tell her right there that I attacked Eve because of the Ancient Dragon's Remnant.

So, I chose something that could reasonably defuse the situation.

"Regarding the surprise attack, I apologize."

I hadn't expected her to apologize here.

"However, I still believe the Ancient Dragon's magic is dangerous.

If you don't fully comply with removing the magic, even I will have no choice but to use force. Therefore, I will erase your Ancient Dragon's magic."

Eve left, turning away after delivering her warning.

Was there really a need for her to deliberately come and warn me like that?

Typical of a spin-off protagonist.

'I probably couldn't emulate that.'

That's something you're born with.

"Ah."

"There's no way around that."

At that moment, the students' exclamations of dismay could be heard.

I too unconsciously turned to look at the screen, following their dismay.

"Huh?"

Soon after, my eyes slowly began to widen.

Because Seron appeared on the screen.

Seron's opponent was a familiar figure.

The Sky Palace, Parazon.

Parazon Academy, built within its grounds.

The sole prince, Ergo Parazon.

Seron was in a head-on battle with one of the Six Stars.

But Seron was a complete mess.

Her opponent was one of the Six Stars; naturally, Ergo was not an enemy Seron could handle.

Seron swung her axe, not yielding an inch before him.

However, in everyone's eyes, Seron's victory seemed impossible.

She was already covered in blood, having been hit by Ergo in many places.

〔You're making meaningless struggles before me. It would be easier to just quietly accept defeat.〕

Dozens of swords swirled around Ergo.

He could wield swords without holding them in his hands.

The legendary sword art that only the chosen ones of the Parazon royal family could wield.

Sky Swordplay.

Swords flew, chasing Seron as she dashed through the forest.

Seron's axe continuously parried the swords, but they bent back and returned again.

Each and every one of them was considered a renowned sword.

Even with Seron's artificer skills, not a single crack appeared on the swords.

She was increasingly driven into a defensive position.

Seron gritted her teeth, seeing the swords blocking her path.

A red flash gleamed from her axe.

CRASH! BANG!

Explosions continuously erupted from Seron's axe.

She put so much force into it that the swords were flung away by the explosive power.

Thick, black smoke, churned up by the explosions, filled the forest.

The moment Ergo slightly furrowed his golden brows and looked into the smoke.

WHOOSH!

Something shot out from one side of the smoke.

Ergo's swords all shot out in that direction.

THWACK!

The moment Ergo's swords embedded themselves, his eyes shot wide open.

There, a single log lay rolling, impaled by the swords.

It was a tree Seron had broken while running.

THUD!

At that moment, massive trees began to collapse towards Ergo, all at once, through the smoke.

〔Huh.〕

Ergo unconsciously gasped.

He finally realized what Seron's axe, which she had been diligently swinging out of sight, was aiming for.

The area above Ergo's head began to darken.

The collapsing trees swung their massive bodies, intending to crush Ergo.

WHOOSH!

Ergo's swords all shot upwards.

Sky Swordplay was unleashed towards the trees falling from above.

The moment the trees were completely severed by Ergo's swords.

THUD—

Beneath the splintering trees.

Seron swung her axe with all her might from below, upwards.

Ergo and Seron's eyes met.

The only chance for victory she had gained, even as her body became a wreck.

〔URAAAH!〕

To seize this chance, Seron poured all her strength into her axe.

However, the gap in talent was an insurmountable obstacle.

Just before Seron's axe reached Ergo.

CRACK—

From the sky above, a house-sized sword obliterated the trees and cleaved the space between Ergo and Seron.

KRA-THOOOOM!

Caught in the wind pressure, Seron was flung back and rolled across the ground.

She tried to brace herself with her two feet, but the size of the descending sword was simply overwhelming.

The sword was so absurdly large that its form could be seen even from outside the forest.

Sky Swordplay

Giant's Blade

It was Ergo's strongest sword.

Seron tumbled through the dust.

The moment she hurriedly tried to get into a stance and rise.

THWACK!

Ergo's foot kicked Seron's stomach.

〔Gah!〕

Seron rolled on the ground.

She couldn't get up immediately due to the pain surging from her stomach.

〔Why won't you give up against me?〕

But as she continuously struggled to get up, Ergo stood before her.

CRUNCH!

Ergo's foot brutally stomped on Seron's solar plexus.

Seron swallowed the scream that tried to escape.

〔You, of all people, should know this struggle is useless.〕

Ergo's foot pressed down with even more force.

A sneer had by now settled on his lips.

〔Indeed, someone like you must find it an honor just to face me, a prince. I can understand that sentiment.〕

Ergo possessed a unique trait: Sadism.

That's why, seeing Seron struggling, he punished her even more thoroughly.

At that moment, Seron raised her hand and gripped Ergo's ankle.

〔Why won't I, give up?〕

Seron gritted her teeth.

〔The guy I, like, is incredibly stubborn. To make a good impression, on him, I have to fight, in the preliminaries.〕

Seron spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned, baring her teeth.

〔And damn it, honor my ass, you fake prince. My real prince is someone else entirely!〕

Ergo's expression turned blank.

FLASH!

At that moment, light appeared on both Seron's and Ergo's bracelets.

Preliminary Group 1's match had just concluded.

Ergo lifted the foot that was crushing Seron.

The moment everyone watching the match let out a sigh of relief.

〔Yes, I see.〕

Ergo brought his lifted foot straight back down.

CRUNCH!

Seron's body twisted into a grotesque angle.

The horrified shouts of the students echoed.

A red light flashed on Ergo's bracelet, and an instructor who rushed into the arena forcibly restrained Ergo, who was still raging.

Seron was hastily lifted by an instructor and carried away.

And I watched the entire scene, my eyes wide open.

DRIP—

Drops of blood trickled down my hand.

I had clenched my fist so tightly that wounds were carved into my palm.

I became aware of my current state.

This was, without a doubt, rage.

But I couldn't fully unleash that rage.

My chest felt suffocatingly tight, to the point of pain.

Even with such surging emotions, I couldn't voice them.

I realized, belatedly, what was causing this.

'The Veil Bandage.'

The Veil Bandage I had used was suppressing my anger.

More precisely, my anger was slowly fading away.

'So, the emotional suppression wasn't limited to just one feeling.'

This was a fact I hadn't known.

Thanks to it, my head cooled down instead.

Ergo's raging figure, even amidst the instructors, was burned into my eyes.

Whether Seron had crossed a line with her remarks or not, I didn't care.

This world is full of double standards anyway.

My friend was treated like that.

"Ergo."

I'll definitely crush that bastard.