Chapter 42
In the shadowed VIP seating, he sat on one of the thrones — each throne set at a distance of a foot.
The pressure died down slowly as a woman walked over to the throne next to the one Lucious Redhart sat on.
He smiled softly.
"So that's why he was late," said Lucious without looking at the girl.
She sat in the throne.
He continued, "You must be in quite a complicated situation."
"How so?" she replied.
"One is your fiancé, and the others are your students. It truly makes me wonder whose side you're really on, Miss Aria," asked Lucious.
Aria chuckled before replying, "I don't need to choose sides just yet. I already know who the victory is gonna yield to," stated Aria.
"Interesting."
While this conversation was held, Lugh had made his way between the Headmaster and Riley — the spot of the first.
The female crowd erupted into fangirling for Lugh.
He passed a sharp glare to the Pope.
"Been a minute… Pope Anacard."
There was no reply from that side as the Pope seemed awkward, cold sweat dripping from his face.
A voice pierced the awkward silence.
"I'm glad you didn't run away, Lugh. That would have just been disappointing," said Hero Alexi mockingly.
"Mock me and we'll see who runs with their tail between their legs," said Lugh.
The Hero clicked his tongue. "You—"
Anacard stopped him.
"I believe it's time to begin," said Anacard.
"Right… bring the slots," said Jessa, gesturing to nearby staff.
It was then that a sudden chill ran down Lugh's spine.
He turned in the direction of misfortune, creeped out.
Ursula stood there. In a provocative pose, she winked at Lugh.
(My prince's ~)
This time, both Riley and Lugh bent their spines backward, hitting their heads on the ground — barely dodging the deadly attack.
Their spines sprang back in place as both of them started panting.
Riley side-eyed to his left, where Lisa and Sreya had covered Merlin's mouth.
Lugh side-eyed to his right with mana sensory vision, where immense mana erupted from the VIP seating.
Lucious sat in an awkward position.
"Miss Aria, calm down. She's your student, isn't she?"
Aria smiled cryptically, her eyes glowing with killing intent under the shadow of her mana.
"Of course. She's my student, and I'm her teacher. When a student misbehaves, they deserve punishment."
"Punishment?" asked Lucious in an awkward tone.
"Yes… punishment," replied Aria.
A voice cut through the tension:
"PARTICIPANTS WILL NOW DRAW SLOTS FROM THE BOX. THAT WILL DECIDE THE ROUND AND YOUR OPPONENT. ONLY EXCEPTION BEING LUGH AND ALEXI FOR PRETTY OBVIOUS REASONS. STUDENTS SHALL BEGIN."
After a while, participating students had drawn their slots, and thus the rounds were decided.
"Everyone, look above. The round structure is displayed in the mana hologram."
As Jessa gave a sign, a blue hologram with pale white font appeared, displaying to the whole audience:
『 Iron Wall Cup
Round 1
Riley V/S Mors
Round 2
Merlin V/S Catla
Round 3
Lugh V/S Alexi
Round 4
Lisa V/S Ursula
Round 5
Sreya V/S Rana
Round 6
Simon V/S Mrigala 』
"That's quite an intriguing matchup," said the Headmaster.
"Isn't it? Too unfortunate that it's this way," said Anacard, showing fake concern.
"I have an idea."
"Idea? What kind of idea?" asked Kiero.
"Let's make this an Extreme Rules match," answered Anacard.
The Headmaster glared at him.
Jessa was taken aback by this development.
The bustling crowd went silent.
"You realize it could mean life or death," asked the Headmaster.
Anacard smiled.
The Honoured Six held up their arms, gesturing their agreement.
"Decide, Kiero. You surely won't disappoint me now."
The Headmaster was perplexed.
"We accept!"
A voice in unison broke his confusion as the rankers held their arms up.
"You guys sure?" asked the Headmaster.
"But Simon's hand is down," said Jessa, perplexed.
Simon stood there with his hand down.
(There's no way I'm gonna play in this death match. You guys should be grateful to me. Especially Sreya.)
"Well, that settles it! A death match it is!" announced Jessa.
The crowd started cheering.
Simon, confused:
"But I haven't—"
He noticed that his hand was held up by Riley.
"No!!!! Frikkin wayyyyyyy!!!"
…
Participating students were given a few minutes to analyze while further preparations were taken care of.
Simon's face slowly drained of color.
"…We're screwed."
He glanced to his right, hoping to find shared panic — some emotional support.
Instead:
Lugh stood completely unfazed, arms crossed, staring at the board like it was beneath his notice. Not even a twitch of concern.
Riley leaned back lazily, yawning, casually humming as if he were waiting for lunch, not a life-or-death tournament.
Lisa smiled cheerfully, almost excited.
Not comforting at all.
More like "I can't wait to watch chaos."
Merlin shrugged, completely monotone.
"Against Catla? Mm. That's manageable."
As if Catla wasn't immune to water attacks — Merlin's only affinity.
Sreya stepped forward, her expression softening with concern.
"Oh no… this looks dangerous for us…"
But her mana remained steady — too steady.
Her voice trembled just enough to sound worried, but her eyes were calm, sharp, analyzing the match-ups like a strategist.
Simon stared at them all, betrayed.
"Does nobody see how bad these matchups are!? Am I the only one mentally preparing for death!?"
Riley tapped his shoulder.
"Relax, Simon. Worst case, you die — and you only die once."
"That's NOT comforting!"
Lisa giggled.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine. Probably."
"'Probably'!?" Simon clutched his hair.
Merlin, nonchalant:
"Before you die, can you sign this giving me permission to enter Impia Library?"
"THAT'S NOT— YOU KNOW WHAT, FINE! HAND IT OVER, I DON'T EVEN CARE ANYMORE!"
Lugh finally turned his head slightly, speaking in a calm, flat tone.
"Stop crying, Simon. Your opponent is way weaker than the dungeon floor boss we faced."
Simon froze.
"…Wait. For real?"
"It was an earth dragon."
Lugh looked away.
Simon collapsed to his knees.
A stone-sliding sound grabbed attention toward both ends of the arena, where six small thrones rose up from the ground.
"Combatants, please take your seats, as Round 1 will begin shortly," Jessa guided the participants.
The Headmaster and Anacard both went to the VIP seating.
The Honoured Six walked toward the seating thrones on one end.
Five rankers went to the other end, but Riley quickly came back and dragged the "I'm done with this life" Simon.
.
.
.