"You put up a nice effort and it was a very close match. Nice try." — That was all that Trish managed to utter clearly, stuttering through her sentence a few tis, before abruptly turning around and leaving the field.
Kent, Alia, and I looked at her receding figure for a few monts in an awkward silence left by her before they turned to .
I, of course, had no idea what that was so I just shrugged and we all talked for a few monts.
"But it was really a nice try," Alia said, changing whatever topic Kent had brought up. "If not for Nero's Gift or the rule against the use of armour-type relics, you could've won."
"Please," I chuckled with a bitter expression. "There are a million other variants I could add to give myself an edge over Nero. And I would defeat him in all of those hypothetical situations. But the fact of the matter is that I lost, and you know what, to be honest, I'm fine with it."
I wasn't lying. Not totally, at least. I really was fine with the results. After the attack in Silveserine City, I ca to a dreadful realization.
Not everything will go according to how it was written in the novel. Fiction and reality are different.
The Vampires in Silveserine attacked a few minutes before they had done so in the novel. That threw most of the preparations I had done beforehand into shambles.
I was caught off-guard.
But I learned from my mistake and this ti I was ready for them to attack in the midst of my match with Nero.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. Now, it could only an that the events today will hopefully, for once, follow the plot.
What does that an? That ans the Vampires are going to attack in about a few minutes from now.
Nero is about to head to the infirmary. As soon as he steps away from his friends and a little farther from the VIP stand where the instructors are, the vampires will jump out of the shadows.
Then, all hell will break loose.
Right now, both Alia and Anastasia are on the ground. I thought if the Vampire attacked early, both of them and several of the other archers would be able to provide cover fire from above.
Well, it's fine. Even though both of them are here, other archers are still in the audience stand.
Surrounded by so many cadets, even the elite vampire platoon would have to face so difficulties to carry out their attempt of assassinating Nero.
"Well, I still think your performance was excellent," Alia shrugged, trying to console . "You went toe-to-toe against Nero and nearly erged victorious. Not many people can claim that."
Tsk.
Though I knew Alia ant well, her words left a bitter taste in my mouth for so reason.
I refuse to settle for almost winning against him. If I start accepting that… If I start to find consolation in almost succeeding, I won't be striving for true success; I'll rely be trying to avoid failure.
In my past life, I settled for almost and stopped trying, and looking back now, I have nothing but regrets.
I take pride in my efforts. Just six months after transmigrating, I challenged the protagonist of this story, and I ca close to winning.
Sure, that's a remarkable accomplishnt, worth celebrating even, but it won't be the defining point of my story. It won't be the climax of my life.
Nero is rely a stepping stone for . So what if I stumbled and failed now? I'll overco that obstacle too.
Alia frowned, noticing the strange look of defiance in my eyes. Before she could speak, I asserted:
"I will surpass him. His Gift can only aid him for so long, and my armour won't remain an excuse for my failures forever. The next ti we clash... and we definitely will... I will win."I think you should take a look at
Alia slightly widened her eyes, even Kent, who was grinning until now, grew silent at my serious proclamation.
After a few long monts, Alia let out a deep breath and nodded silently. She then started moving in Nero's direction.
Seeing that, a sudden scowl appeared on my face as I asked, "Wait, where are you going?"
She stopped and looked at strangely before replying, "To congratulate him, why?"
I shot my head to my right and looked at Nero only to see him already moving away from his group toward the infirmary.
I looked back at Alia and said, "No, you can't."
Nero could stop a horde of elite Vampires hell-bent on killing him on his own, but I doubt Alia's capabilities to be able to do the sa.
I'm not calling her weak, but she's an archer. There's no way she would be able to survive the wave of elite Vampires by being on the frontline.
"Uh… Huh? What do you an I can't?" Alia cast a mix of confused and dubious gaze.
"You just can't go there," I said, shaking my head, knowing full well how crazy I was sounding.
Alia lingered for a mont and narrowed her eyes before her lips slightly curled up, "Huh? Is it that the young master doesn't want to congratulate Nero on his win?"
My eye twitched slightly at the way she referred to , but ignoring it to the best of my abilities, I gnashed my teeth and said:
"Sure, I don't want you to congratulate him. Now, don't go there."
Kent whistled as I shot him a death glare, prompting the blue-haired elf to avert his gaze.
Alia, anwhile, raised her eyebrows in surprise. She didn't expect this level of honesty from .
After a few seconds of startled silence, she cleared her throat and said, "Okay, Lucas, whatever it is between you two, I don't know. But he's my friend, so I should–"
Before she could continue, I shook my head and said, "No, you don't understand!"
Alia's brows furrowed, but before she could even utter a single word, a sudden high-pitched blood-curdling shriek echoed through the arena.
Following it, in rapid succession, several terrified screams erupted throughout the building as grotesque creatures erged from the shadows surrounding the crowd in the audience stand.
Those creatures had humanoid forms with charcoal-like skin, sunken cheeks, and glowing, ominous blood-red eyes.
Tall and nacing, these creatures had four limbs, with obsidian black nails and sharp fangs protruding from their hands and mouths respectively.
Donning black armour which were adorned with intricate blood-red patterns, each one of these grotesque abominations wielded various weapons.
In the blink of an eye, they materialized in the audience stands as if they had been there from the start.
There was no need for introductions; everyone knew these vile beings were the dreaded creatures of the night—Vampires, and judging by their armour, they all seed to be of noble rank.
I saw Nero standing at the far end of the field. Yes, the attack on the Global Academy was about to start.
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