Chapter 300 – Opening Ceremony [7]
Since the Team Battle began, Cassius hadn’t moved from his bloody chair.
In fact, a small, flickering white flame burned in front of him, just beneath his feet, soft and dangerous at once.
Atop it sat five sticks of meat that Meadow had given him before the battle started. Cassius was genuinely surprised to learn the young tycoon always carried enormous provisions in her storage ring.
As she’d put it, "You can never be too careful. Anything can happen at any time."
Cassius had to admit there was truth to that. He chuckled, lifting his head just in time to see William deliver his final attack.
His sword skill was so powerful that even from his seat, the Last Born could feel the severing essence, an essence only the Castrias could wield.
He let out a chuckle watching Meadow hastily grab Diaila and leap into the void to dodge the strike, clearing the second-years’ island just in time for William’s attack to cleanly sever both crystal and island in two.
Cassius lowered his eyes back to his meat sticks, noting they were perfectly cooked now, the smell so delicious Laya was drooling.
"Want some?" He said, using his Second Skill simultaneously to catch both Meadow and Diaila, hurling them onto his island.
He then formed a chain platform to catch the second-year students in time as well.
Laya didn’t hesitate at the offer, "Yes." She said, already reaching for a dripping, meat-laden stick.
Cassius took one himself.
Three remained.
BAAM!!
"Cass, damn it!" Meadow shouted, coughing as dust filled her mouth and nose from the impact, "Couldn’t you have found a different way to do that?!"
She pushed herself up, groaning, stretching her back before irritably dusting off her clothes.
Diaila also forced herself upright, bones aching from the rough landing. But unlike Meadow, she didn’t dare plain to Angel.
William landed next, gliding down from the sky as softly as a feather, not disturbing so much as a ripple.
"There wasn’t really another way, Meadow. And it wasn’t that bad, was it?"
"You mean there was no method as convenient as this one?"
"Is there a difference?" Cassius chuckled, gesturing toward the sticks of glistening meat, "e on, why don’t you try some? I might not match your personal chef, but I manage."
Meadow didn’t push the issue further. She approached the white fire along with Diaila and William, each taking a stick and eating without much ceremony.
"You all worked hard." Cassius said, smiling at them, "Good job."
As though waiting for exactly those words, the space around them wavered, and suddenly both teams found themselves back on the rocky field.
Team Angel remained gathered around the white fire, meat sticks in hand. Cassius still sat in his chair, surrounded by his four teammates, eating calmly.
Both the second-years and the first-years stared at them, speechless, faces frozen in disbelief.
They couldn’t decide whether to address the fact that Cassius hadn’t moved once during the entire battle, choosing instead to cook meat...or the fact that despite doing something so utterly unserious, nothing they’d acplished would have been possible without him.
He’d used only one Skill — his crimson chains, capable of appearing anywhere — and that alone had been enough to secure the first-years’ win in three attacks flat.
Even the Faye Twins looked stunned. They’d assumed Cassius must have been confident to propose such a bet...but the way he’d actually executed it was beyond anything they’d anticipated.
"Now that’s a different kind of Desdemona." Aaron mented, grinning wildly, "I remember when we faced the Desdemona Twins in our first year."
"Ah, that dreadful memory. Vorn’s breath, they crushed us without mercy." Nicole added with a giggle.
"Aye, my dear, no mercy at all. We lost the first three battles as easily as breathing."
"But that was because the twins fought together in the first battle, and then swapped in different players for the second and third." Nicole grimaced, "We never stood a chance."
"Devious bastards, they were." Aaron laughed, "but Angel’s a different flavor of devious. And his Second Skill is thoroughly unpredictable."
"Which makes it all the more annoying."
"Oh, indeed, my dear. But now I wonder?" Aaron whispered, tilting his head toward Copycat’s smile, "Will Angel fight the next battle to seal the win? Otherwise, I don’t see Copycat losing."
That was the question on everyone’s mind.
Even Theophane and Emrys, standing apart from the crowd, watched Cassius chatting with Team Twins’ Winter about their bet.
The Forbidden Seer gritted her teeth, though her face stayed carefully blank.
Cassius’s victory dredged up memories of her own defeat. And the more she dwelled on it, the more certain she became that something was wrong.
’It’s not possible. I don’t make mistakes that careless. What could have pushed me to think Emrys should fight alone?’ She thought restlessly, ’No matter how much faith I have in him, I would never make a decision like that mindlessly.’
There was only one explanation: something had pushed her into that decision.
And when she looked at the flickering panels in front of her...
[The gods of the Greek Empire are watching you.]
[The gods of the Greek Empire frown upon you, wondering how the Blessed One could have lost with you at his side.]
...Theophane arrived at a chilling truth.
’They’re manipulating me.’ She thought, hiding the horror beneath a carefully still expression, refusing to let it leak into her thoughts too visibly, ’They’re influencing my mind, strengthening my faith in Emrys past my own logical judgment. I...am being shaped to serve Emrys...by the gods themselves.’
That realization clicked with chilling clarity. Because Theophane knew herself, she knew she would never make a decision like that.
And that realization opened a far more unsettling question about this entire world...
’Is this what a Heroine really is?’ She mused, heart pounding, ’Someone quietly shaped, manipulated, influenced by the gods until she submits to their Chosen Hero? Is that all we are? Tools for the Hero? Tools meant to kneel, beg, spread our damned legs wide for the Chosen Hero to fuck?’
The Forbidden Seer felt an unsettling depth of hatred toward the gods stir within her, almost instantly.
She’d already despised them since Ananke killed her Fate; now, with this revelation, that hatred deepened to something that threatened to choke her.
She turned her attention back to Emrys, breathless, watching him seethe as he stared at Cassius’s latest win.
No matter how much she hated the gods, they remained gods. Theophane knew there was nothing she could do to touch them directly, no matter how hard she tried.
And she never would be able to. After all, with her Fate destroyed, Theophane would die automatically the moment she reached the Third Rank.
Because someone without a Fate couldn’t awaken a Soulblade.
But Theophane Celeste was not the type to give up. If she couldn’t touch the gods, she’d strike at their Blessed instead, and it would be something even every god in existence couldn’t prevent.
’Patience, Theophane. Patience.’ She steadied her heart, ’Patience. Before you die, you’ll bring them all down. All of them!’
She clenched her fist and refocused on the present.
The last and final team battle was about to unfold, after all.
And watching Cassius and Klaus talking, Theophane and everyone else sensed this one would be close.
Which turned out to be accurate.
"e on, Cass." Klaus said, "As the winner, you have the right to join a team that hasn’t fought yet."
"Someone actually agreed to let me in?" Cassius asked, raising an eyebrow, only to spot Julaibib peeking out from behind Klaus.
"Me." He said, shrugging, "Watching my poor Diaila fight so bravely made me feel like a proud father. I’m so satisfied I could die in peace now! I don’t want to fight!"
Diaila’s face erupted in crimson, then she stomped her foot, "Stop your nonsense! You’re not my father!"
"True, but I’m your future stepfather. I’m so proud of you, my daugh—! ARGH!"
Julaibib’s words cut off as Diaila plowed headfirst into his stomach, sending them both crashing to the ground.
"H-Help! My daughter’s trying to kill—!"
"Bastard, stop!" Diaila slapped her hands over his mouth, then glanced around, mortified, as everyone stared at her and Julaibib with confused expressions, "I...it’s not what you think, I promise."
"moners really are strange." Klaus muttered, shaking his head sympathetically, "must be a hard life, being born into that. Can’t relate, though."
"And pitiful." Love added, shaking her head too, "miserable. How does anyone accept living like that? Praise Vorn’s balls my parents were privileged."
"Praise those balls, indeed." Klaus added.
The two of them nodded at each other, agreeing on something for the first time ever.
Cassius watched the two of them, lips twitching, "These damn things..."
Once the farce finally wound down, Cassius was talked into joining the team, and he agreed, well aware of their slim odds of winning.
Team Klaus now consisted of Klaus himself, Natalia, Keisha, Cassius, Love, and Omm Min Jambar.
Meanwhile, Copycat ruthlessly cut Naomi from his team — literally, kicking her off in her ass — and brought in Atomic, now fully healed.
Alongside the two men stood the fourth, fifth, and eighth rankers.
It was now a team posed entirely of the second year’s top 10 students.
Watching the two lineups take shape, Cassandra, seeing her two new friends about to face off, focused intently, curious who’d e out on top.
’Should I place a bet? I could use the EP for my wine.’
Everyone else focused just as intently as the two teams faced each other on the rocky field.
"I told you, didn’t I?" Copycat smiled at Cassius, his blind eye pulsing, "I won’t be holding back today."
"Then I suppose I should get serious too." Cassius replied.
To his right stood Klaus, to his left Natalia, with the sweet-faced Keisha standing in front of her.
Omm stood beside Love, while Love herself positioned behind Klaus.
Atomic looked over the lineup and smiled, flashing his two gold teeth.
"This is going to be so bloody atomic, my dear babies!"
"Fuck them all, Captain!" ChinChin bellowed.
DING! DING! DING!
"This is the fourth and final team battle!" Teacher Jade said, "If Team Klaus wins, the first years win the day! If Team Copycat wins, it’ll be a 2-2 tie, and a coin flip will decide the overall winner! You know how it goes, right? Luck’s a skill too, folks. Better be ready to kiss Lady Luck’s feet!"
Teacher Jade paused there, letting the second-year teacher take over,
"And as tradition dictates, we always introduce both teams for a match like this. So, here we go!"
She gestured toward the second-years:
"On the second-year side, we have Team Copycat, posed of Copycat himself, the Palatine; Atomic, the second ranker; Joykiller, the fourth ranker; Fat Bastard, the fifth ranker; and finally, the Whore of the Academy, the eighth ranker!"
’The what...’ the first-years thought collectively, while everyone else acted like it was entirely ordinary.
The teacher continued.
"And on the first-year side, we have Team Klaus, posed of Klaus Silicin Handoff, Natalia Glassscion, Keisha Silver, Love de Bayard, Omm Min Jambar, and finally, Angel, the Palatine himself, also known as the Bloody Devil!"
Cassius’s eye twitched at that last title, ’Damn you, Watcher!’
"Now, if both teams are ready..."
The teacher’s voice dropped to a whisper, and both teams eyed each other, expressions hardening.
"...let the Final Team Battle begin!"
DING! DING! DING!
—End of Chapter 300—
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