The Sword-in-Water Tournament arena stretched across a massive forest lake 🌲🌊.
Students crowded the edges, shouting and betting 💰.
Teachers hovered on floating platforms, watching carefully.
Crystal screens displayed every angle across the academy ✨📺.
Aren stood beside Ben.
Dozens of teams prepared.
Weapons checked.
Buckets ready.
Spells whispered.
Then—
A booming voice echoed.
⚔️ Tournament Rules — Final Review
"ATTENTION, STUDENTS!"
The rules lit up across every screen:
• Teams or solo allowed
• Battlefield: forest, mountain, and central lake
• Your sword is sealed inside a stone pillar
• Blue water is located on the opposite side
• Blue water melts the seal
• No water → no sword
• No sword → no victory
• The more water you use, the stronger the sword becomes
• Strongest awakened sword earns bonus points
• The team with the strongest sword wins
• All tactics allowed — except killing
Ben whistled 😮.
"Brother… this is madness."
Aren nodded.
"…Hm."
📖 Brutal Tradition — History
Aren skimmed the booklet one last time.
1. Origin
Created 200 years ago to prevent war over a legendary sword.
Teamwork required.
(Or intelligence.)
2. Casualties
First tournament injured 73 students.
People drowned.
Platforms collapsed.
Monsters attacked 🐉.
One idiot drank the water 💀.
Aren blinked.
"…Idiots."
3. Blue Water
Sacred liquid from the lake.
More water → stronger sword.
Some swords became too powerful and were confiscated.
4. Weight Increase
Last year: 400 kg
This year: 410 kg
5. One True Rule
Anything is allowed.
Except killing.
Aren closed the booklet.
"…Good."
🔥 Teams Enter
Six major teams stepped forward.
1️⃣ Team Emberheart 🔥
Princess Rias's elite team. Perfect coordination.
2️⃣ Team Elven Gale 🌿
Lyris and her archers. Forest specialists.
(Lyris glaring directly at Aren 😡)
3️⃣ Team Ironblood 💪
Pure strength. No thinking.
Ben saluted them.
"Good people."
4️⃣ Team Mindweavers 🧠
Illusions. Strategy. Dangerous.
5️⃣ Team Shadowfox 🦊
Silent assassins. No noise. No mercy.
6️⃣ Team Rockhold 🗿
Ben.
Aren.
And a problem nobody understood yet.
Ben grinned.
"Brother! We rush the blue water!"
Aren shook his head.
"No."
Ben blinked.
"…No?"
Aren looked toward the forest.
"First—we go to our sword."
"But we need water!"
Aren turned.
"Ben."
"Yeah?"
"Who's the boss?"
Ben stood straight.
"You are."
Aren nodded.
"Good."
He handed Ben a shovel.
"Start digging."
Ben paused.
"…Dig what?"
Aren replied calmly:
"The ground."
Ben froze.
Then—
He smiled 😈.
"…I like it."
🔥 The Plan That Broke the Academy
They ignored the water route.
Ignored the crowd.
Ignored the shouting.
They walked straight to their pillar.
"On three?" Ben asked.
Aren nodded.
They began digging.
Earth cracked.
Stone shifted.
Roots tore apart.
Ben frowned.
"I don't get it."
Aren spoke calmly:
"Simple."
Pause.
"Instead of taking water to the sword…"
"…we take the sword to the water."
Silence.
Then—
Explosion 💥
The entire stone pillar broke free.
Birds fled 🐦💨.
The arena erupted.
"WAIT—WHAT ARE THEY DOING?!"
"THEY'RE MOVING THE WHOLE PILLAR?!"
"THIS IS INSANE!!"
"…This is genius."
Rias grabbed her head.
Lyris screamed:
"THAT'S CHEATING!!" 😡
A teacher panicked.
"STOP THEM!"
Another shouted:
"…WE CAN'T!! THERE'S NO RULE AGAINST IT!!"
No one moved.
No one stopped them.
Because no one understood what they were seeing.
🌊 The Lake Solution
Aren and Ben lifted the pillar.
Seven hundred kilograms.
Stone.
Soil.
Sword inside.
Two giants.
Carrying the puzzle itself.
They walked into the lake.
Water rising.
Waist deep.
Aren counted.
"One."
"Two."
"Throw."
BOOOOOM 🌊💥
The pillar crashed into the lake.
Water exploded skyward.
Half the arena got soaked.
The sword reacted instantly ✨.
The seal melted.
The entire lake—
counted as blue water.
The commentators screamed.
"THEY USED THE LAKE ITSELF!!"
"THEY COMPLETED THE PUZZLE IN ONE MOVE!!"
Every team stopped.
Frozen.
Rias went silent.
Lyris dropped her bow into the water 😡.
A teacher whispered:
"…I hate that boy."
Another whispered:
"…I love that boy."
The stone cracked.
Aren reached in.
Pulled the sword out.
One hand.
No effort.
The blade shone like a star.
The barrier trembled.
The screens flashed—
TEAM ROCKHOLD — VICTORY 🏆
Silence.
Then chaos.
And the Academy learned something terrifying:
If a rule does not forbid it…
Aren will break the game itself. 🧠🔥