(At the start of the fight between Matt and Kai: Leo’s POV)
The news of a group of students disappearing ca as a shock to many. Their friends, with whom they had spent ti with, were suddenly gone, as if they never existed, with the only remnants of them being their nas.
As the class still struggled to process the information, that was when Kaiser stood up.
I couldn’t claim to be friends with Kaiser, nor could I say he was my enemy, but all that trivial labeling didn’t matter much to since, in my heart, everyone was a friend and companion.
Soon enough, we would be entering dungeons together, and given the fact that I wasn’t physically strong, I always tried to stay neutral and avoid taking sides.
But this ti, I was completely on His Majesty Matthew Von Silver’s side.
It wasn’t solely because he could offer everything I needed and protect if I aligned myself with him, but also because I found it foolish to beco emotional over soone else.
Even if Ella were among those who were abducted, I still couldn’t envision myself going out of my way to rescue her.
Yes. The most important person in one’s life is oneself, that was the harsh truth life had taught .
But... what in the world was this absurd situation?
Kaiser Vanguard, the boy who was rely a point ahead of in combat, was fighting on equal footing with the second-strongest first-year and the proclaid prodigy of the century.
Was it jealousy I felt at that mont? Yes.
Kaiser was handso—no, "handso" didn’t even begin to describe his appearance.
Before I enrolled in this school, I never imagined soone could look like that.
Most girls in the class either liked him or thought he was cool. He already had a fanbase consisting of girls from both our year and upper years, after barely a week at Noctis.
But even knowing that, I still had one consolation... he was just as weak as .
Yes, as long as that remained true, he was just as inferior as I was, regardless of how impressive his grades or appearance were.
"Tch." I clicked my tongue in irritation and opened my mouth, preparing to shift the bla for the incident onto Kaiser.
All I needed to do was incite hatred toward him, then he would be just as insignificant as an unattractive guy like .
"What are you doing, Adams?"
I heard a soft voice from behind : a voice I had co to recognize. I forced a smile and turned toward the princess.
’Yes, the princess would surely side with . I’ve heard she despises Kaiser.’
I cleared my throat as the battle escalated. "It’s nothing, princess... But don’t you think what Kaiser did was wrong? I’m not trying to cast bla, but the students that were kidnapped are our friends too, isn’t he being overly dramatic? I bet he had sothing to do with it."
’That should be enough.’
And just as I anticipated, the princess smiled and told to follow her.
I knew she would appreciate my insight. Everyone else was simply watching the fight in amazent.
Who cares how strong he’s beco? All I have to do is gather a group that will bring him down to my level.
As the princess and I exited, I glanced briefly at Lady Alia and Lady Anica, who were preventing anyone from interfering in the fight.
Even our horoom teacher did nothing, because he was her disciple.
"Damn playboy. He just gets everything handed to him on a silver platter."
The princess didn’t respond to my comnt and led into a secluded room.
"Princess, why..." Before I could finish speaking, she was inches from my face.
She was breathtaking, more beautiful than any other girl in our class, or even in the entire school, though that was a widely accepted fact—she was the beauty of a millennium afterall.
But she also slled incredible. ’Does the princess like ? But this isn’t the right ti... Should I accept?’ I mused, grinning uncontrollablely internally.
My face flushed red as she smiled, this ti, though, my instincts scread at to run. Still, I didn’t want to listen. "Princess, I don’t think we should—"
At that mont, my mind went blank as a surge of excruciating pain tore through .
I dug my nails into my thighs as a loud scream escaped my lips.
Looking toward the door, my heart sank even further. It was soundproof. I was led into a trap—there was no physical injury on , but blood kept on rushing out of my mouth.
The princess was grinning, as though she found sothing amusing about my bloodied state.
It wasn’t a physical blow but a soul attack, an assault from one of her spirits, since she wasn’t only a spirit user, but also one of five individuals in history to possess dual talents.
"Princess, why...?"
The princess straightened her posture, the smile vanishing from her face, replaced by her usual composed expression. "Weren’t you the one speaking ill of darling?"
My eyes widened. ’Darling? Who the hell is darling?’
Only then did I realize just how much trouble I was in. If the princess truly despised Kaiser, she would’ve acted back there, but instead, she led to a private room.
"Don’t tell ... You too?" I struggled to ask, but the scowl that followed made my blood pressure spike.
"What do you an by ’too’? I’m the only one Kai loves. And you, my friend, just insulted my fiancé. How should I punish you?"
At that mont, the truth hit . I had really fucked up.
-----
(In the rubble of the first years building where crackling of light could be seen moving from the ground to the sky at incredible speed: Kai’s POV)
"Boom!"
Another loud explosion reverberated through the sky as Matt and I, now airborne and engaged in combat, collided.
Zones clashed against zones while crackling mana particles created a spectacular display reminiscent of fireworks.
Matt had long since transford into a new form.
His hair was now golden, as were his eyes, and his clothes seed more like a ghostly apparition than fabric.
He spun the staff he wielded, which extended forward toward . Like an extension of his arm.
I quickly leapt onto the long red staff, dashed two steps along it, then vaulted higher into the air.
We were both bloodied, and at this point, our mana reserves were nearly depleted.
I especially, could no longer utilize any of my talents, except clairvoyance, since my mana pool was nearly exhausted.
From Matt’s body language and sluggish responses, I could tell he had reached his limit.
But his eyes still flickered feriously, so did mine, though, unlike his: mine had a large star—though it was usually small, it now covered my pupils, as if my pupils contained a astral black star.
My original plan at the start of the fight was to use Star Of Ruin to finish quickly, but... I got sowhat caught up in the battle. It’s not every day I get to fight like this.
I needed to learn from it too, and I also understood that was the reason Neko-sensei hadn’t stopped the fight yet.
Even my aching body could sense it—I was evolving. That was also why Matt had been changing his talents so drastically.
Because each ti he used a single talent or attack thrice, my body, skin, and zone adapted, reducing its effectiveness significantly.
The winner of the battle was going to be determined by a single factor: who could fight the longest without weapons and limited access to mana.
If it had been before, I might have resigned myself to fate. But... Matt didn’t know much when it ca to hand-to-hand combat, and considering I possessed one of the few cheat skills in this verse, I was confident of victory.
We still remained high in the air as Matt thrust his foot toward my side, which I quickly caught before impact.
I hurled him upward, as he flew like a kite caught in a sudden gust of wind, soaring as if not intending to return.
He gritted his teeth and deactivated his blessing, as his hair slowly returned back to its original colour, his golden mana shifting back to blue.
Falling like a drill, with one foot raised to his chest and the other extended forward, he aid for my unbalanced body.
It felt as if a truck had struck , and I was on my way through another reincarnation cycle.
I crashed into a nearby building, sending dust swirling into the air and debris slamming onto the neatly trimd grass.
Without wasting a second, Matt condensed his mana into a spinning orb in his palm and aid it at my stunned silhouette.
Fortunately, I saw it in ti and coated myself with my saints, which danced in my shadow.
The mana orb caused tremors to erupt through the building as I infused mana into my feet by expanding my zone just enough to encompass my entire body.
I lunged forward, landing blow after blow as we both clung to the exterior wall of the white, three-story building.
Shockwaves erupted with each clash, causing the ground beneath us to rupture. We were both nearing our limits.
I struggled to regulate my breathing, gasping for air; the forty seconds I had saved in Fifth Ti had long been spent.
As our vision blurred and our punches lost power, we heard one last sound just as we prepared to expend our final mana reserves.
We settled things not with words, but with action. He looked at , a crooked smile tugging at his lips.
"And you called a monster. You win, Kai."
I couldn’t help but smile back. "You’re still an idiot, though."
Mana surged over our arms as our zones collided, shockwaves exploding in all directions. In an instant the loud snap reached our ears
"Snap."
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