For several long seconds after Celeste’s declaration, the field remained silent. The crowd of hundreds of students, from Human to Elf to Demon, could only stare at the collapsed form of Valerian Duskveil and the calm, unbothered silhouette of Albedo as the fight had co to an abrupt end.
The victory Albedo obtained felt overshadowed compared to the unbridled humiliation he put Valerian through. After all, Albedo hadn’t even lost a drop of blood.
Back at the Professors’ Platform, Arannis leaned back slightly in his seat, folding his arms over his chest. His sharp, hawk-like eyes hadn’t left Albedo since the boy had whispered those two words.
Crimson Moon.
"That was no ordinary domain skill," he murmured, his voice carrying the gravitas of soone who had lived long enough to witness countless legends rise and fall. "It was sothing... older. And it did not feel borrowed from any school or teacher I recognize."
Kayle Belair, radiant as the sun even in silence, narrowed her golden eyes. She didn’t speak right away, her lips pressed into a thin line as she replayed the duel in her mind. Finally, she exhaled.
"He suppressed Valerian without killing him, and without a single excess motion. That... was restraint. Calculated restraint." She tilted her head slightly, her long white-gold hair shifting, "But restraint born from absolute superiority. That’s what makes it dangerous. As soon as the Domain activated, Valerian froze, like he was under a world of pressure.
Raphaeline, who until now had been lounging in her chair with amused detachnt, chuckled softly. Her coral lips curved into a smile sharp enough to cut glass.
"Maybe it was actually a world of pressure," Raphaeline said, leaving all of them thinking for a couple monts before she continued speaking.
"Terrifying, isn’t it?" she purred. "The boy isn’t simply strong. He knows how to wield strength in a way that makes his opponent feel powerless. That’s a rarer quality than raw talent. It’s the difference between a fighter and a conqueror. People like him often beco leaders of their Generation."
Arannis didn’t disagree. He stroked his chin, the wrinkles at his eyes deepening, "He’s young, but his ntality is already that of a predator who knows the kill is his. He treats combat like inevitability, not a contest. He’s just like that Prince,"
Raphaeline glanced at Arannis as she heard that final part, "You an Neptune?"
"That’s right," Arannis confird, "Prince Neptune hasn’t appeared in public in quite so ti. But let’s not forget he was the clear prospective leader of this Golden Generation. I wonder how the r-King will react to soone potentially able to challenge his Golden Boy,"
"I’m more interested in his daughter. We know she exists, but all we have is a na....ra," Raphaeline said, thinking.
"Well, let’s hope they all sohow cross paths," Arannis said, both of their attentions returning to the field.
Back on the field, the Demon students were no longer sneering or jeering. The confidence that had burned so bright at the start of the duel had withered into unease, replaced with hushed whispers and darting eyes.
"He defeated Valerian..."
"No... not just defeated. Crushed. He couldn’t even resist."
"What... what did he do at the end? It felt like sothing pressed down on my chest, but then it was gone."
The murmurs grew, a tide of disquiet. So looked at Albedo with grudging awe, others with open fear. The more proud-born among them clenched their fists, pride bristling at the humiliation of their kin, but even they couldn’t deny what they had seen.
Valerian Duskveil had been treated like a puppet, and Albedo had been the one pulling the strings.
On the other side, for the Human students, it was vindication. For the Elves, who had expected a spectacle of humiliation, it was a stunning reversal. Regardless of race, one truth took root in the minds of all:
Albedo Neverwinter had just beco the most dangerous student in Zephyr Academy, and that fact alerted many people.
Off to the side of the Human ranks, Lucian stood frozen, his black hair brushing against his brow, green eyes wide but inwardly clouded.
He didn’t clap. He didn’t cheer. The duel’s result thundered in his chest like a bitter truth he had been refusing to face.
From the start of the Academy, he had believed himself destined to rise. He was the protagonist of his own story, blessed with the Gift of Transcendence, the one who would push past limits, who would one day lead the charge against the Abyss.
But watching Albedo dismantle Valerian... watching him unleash many new techniques and mastered skills, it felt as though soone had ripped the world’s script out of his hands and set it on fire.
’I’m falling behind.’
The realization was a knife. Lucian clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms as the thought echoed rcilessly as he stared at Valerian collapsed on the dirt like a broken idol, his hand clinging to his blood soaked spear as his blank eyes stared into the sky.
Albedo stood tall, his figure the only calm point amid the storm of whispers, and the invisible crown of dominance settled neatly upon his head, but Albedo wasn’t done.
He holstered Havoc and Ruin with a deliberate slowness, returning them to the storage as he had a never-ending smirk on his lips.
His eyes swept the crowd, across the humans who looked at him with awe, the elves who watched with narrowed, cautious stares, and finally, across the demons, whose pride had been most wounded by the sight of their noble heir crumbling in the dirt.
The tension was a raw wire stretched across the courtyard. All it needed was a spark, and Albedo provided it.
In the blink of an eye, his form shimred. One mont he was standing a few paces from Valerian’s collapsed body.
The next, the air warped as Blink Step carried him through the circle of hushed students. Before anyone could even gasp, he appeared behind a certain demoness in the crowd.
Lilian BloodHaven.
The heiress of her clan stiffened instinctively as his presence enveloped her. A dozen gazes snapped in their direction at once.
Albedo’s arm slid smoothly around her waist, pulling her back against his chest as though she belonged there. Her eyes slightly widened and she wanted to reprimand Albedo for his actions, but rembering what she did and the fact they were in public, she just tired to remain calm.
And then—slowly, deliberately, he lowered his head, his breath brushing against her neck.
The gathered demons froze, as if lightning had just struck through their ranks. Lilian’s lips parted in a gasp, her body tensing between resistance and heat, but she didn’t move away.
She couldn’t, not when the weight of every noble eye burned into her, not when his presence coiled like fire and gravity around her slender fra.
Albedo’s lips brushed her pale skin, and before anyone could process it, he kissed the curve of her neck.
It was not a gentle kiss. Nor was it lustful. It was sothing sharper, a declaration, a theft of pride carried out in front of every single demon noble watching.
And it detonated the crowd.
"WHAT!"
"Did he just...did he kiss her?!"
"He dares touch Lady Lilian, like that?!"
"Whos gonna stop him? Valerian is still half dead!"
The Demon students erupted in outrage, so half-stepping forward before catching themselves as they rembered what Albedo did to Valerian.
Lilian’s crimson eyes fluttered shut briefly, her fangs glinting as her throat bobbed with the heat of his touch. When she spoke, her voice was low, husky with restrained chaos.
"You..." she whispered, trembling between anger and sothing else entirely.
Albedo’s lips curved into that devil-may-care smirk, his voice a low murmur against her ear, "This is just so small payback."
The words were private, ant for her alone, but every demon saw the intimacy of his gesture and every human heard enough to imagine.
Payback.
The word echoed like a brand across the courtyard.
Lilian’s fingers twitched at her side. She could have shoved him away. She could have clawed his face and restored her pride before the crowd. And yet... she didn’t.
Perhaps it was the weight of his aura, the suddenness of his actions, or perhaps, beneath it all, the tiniest spark of reluctant intrigue lit within her chest.
Her lips curved, just faintly, into the dangerous smile of a predator acknowledging another predator.
"You’re playing a dangerous ga, Albedo Neverwinter," she murmured back, her voice soft enough only he could hear.
"And you’re enjoying it," he countered, releasing her as suddenly as he had seized her and beginning to walk back to the various students as though nothing remarkable had happened, despite everyone staring at him intently and whispering countlessly.
The Demons felt both outraged and humiliated, yet couldn’t do anything, and as for everyone else, they were lost in imnse intrigue for Albedo’s relationship with Lilian, though none of his class-mates were bold enough to directly ask him.
As for Albedo, he had only 1 thought in his mind at the current mont,
’Am I building a Harem?’
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