Chapter 337: Celebration Event

———Lynda———

<9: 27 am>

“We’re back here earlier than I would’ve thought.” Kroin remarked as the stadium got loud from everyone talking over each other very quickly.

“I mean, it beats having to worry about school. Guess the event is going to be for the entire day today.” Rousi commented.

Right now nothing is really happening outside of the field below being raised up to look like a battle arena instead of a giant football field. I wonder if they’re going to do the terrain thing again. Also, we still can’t order our food yet.

“What is it gonna be this time? The last time was already pretty flashy with all the guests.” Trener asked.

“No need to be hasty with guessing, I’m sure they’ll tell us in a little bit.” Kroin said. It’s still super early in the morning and there’s like half of the stadium left to fill… Actually, how many seats are there anyway? I don’t quite remember how much of it was filled last time. It’s not full, at least. This place is absolutely massive.

“Surprised they are willing to host an event like this after what happened yesterday.” Trener remarked.

“Bet they saw it coming a mile away and didn’t think it’s going to interrupt this event.” Histon speculated. That’s very likely true. I mean, why else would they even come to a place like this if not for an anomaly like this school? Maybe that billionaire that also lives here? But surely they can fleece off other billionaires here if they’re that desperate. This place is way too secure.

“Most likely. If nothing else, they are very confident in this campus’ security.” Kroin replied. “...That reminds me, who was it that warded them off? And by that, I mean turning them into a sea of red.”

“Beats me. There are multiple candidates for that.” Trener pointed out. “Crazy to say, but this small town is full of lunatics who could easily wipe a city off the map without issue. You remember how Emmie was moving? Bet she could actually do that.”

“Yeah, but it’s inside a simulation so it’s a bit different, right?” Histon chimed in.

“Not by much, and it has been a while since then. The final area is massive, even if we didn’t get to explore much of it because we were planning and resting before the final day.” Kroin explained. “Her being able to blow up a city in one move isn’t far-fetched, and the same applies to the idea of her being able to slaughter an entire army, and therefore anyone relative to her or even only slightly weaker can also do the same.”

“...Does that include the entire class?” I asked, wondering if that’s where he’s going with this.

“Unlikely, but at least the top five aside from her are in that conversation.” He answered. So that duo… Karra… Jennla… and Kenni. Those five.

Before we could continue with the conversation, something rang out and held everyone’s attention. The giant screens that are littered across the stadium lit up and the audience quickly went silent in anticipation.

“<Test… test… Alright, everything is all set!>” Rico’s voice rang out of the speakers. “<Looks like almost everyone is present! We’ll start the main show in a few minutes, but for now how about a bit of an appetizer to start off with? Viewer’s discretion is advised.>”

“What bullshit are they going to start now?” Histon said, understandably wary of their intentions. While nothing actually harmful has been done to our knowledge, it does feel like they are teetering on that line of shits and giggles.

The screens flickered before finally settling on a footage of a field filled with…

“Damn, I should’ve guessed that as well.” Kroin remarked upon realizing what they’re showing us. The battlefield with soldiers marching forward and surrounding the town. Where did they even get this footage from?

The town then gets surrounded by a barrier just as we know, and suddenly a second barrier was erected to cover a wider area as well.

A figure then crashed onto the scene, descending from high above and landing without their knees even buckling. Clad in light blue with even lighter blue hair, it’d be crazy for no one here to not recognize who that was.

“It’s her.” Trener muttered in slight shock. She’s definitely a suspect for the whodunnit case, but to think she’d be revealed in this fashion.

“Quite an unorthodox way to reveal the truth of the matter.” Kroin remarked. “Still, I can see why she warned us about the contents. We already know how ugly this ends.”

“So do they care about parents complaining or not?” Histon said in confusion. They have been pretty weird about how much they want to present themselves with decency and not looking shady. It’s like they don’t actually know what they’re doing half the time, or just doing things based on vibes.

“Who’s to say? It seems like as long as a very specific line they have in mind isn't crossed, they can do whatever they want.” Kroin speculated. Just what even is that line anyway?

The footage shows her easily cleaving through the entire army which is… I don’t know, it looks like there are thousands of them, but who can even get a good estimate just from the video?

She tore through them with the level of swiftness that looks like it was from some sort of parody. Like when the punchline is when something just abruptly ends unceremoniously.

“Why show us this?” Rousi said in confusion and slight fear at the carnage on display. Thankfully we can’t really hear the wailing of soldiers being torn into pieces. I really don’t want to hear and see everything in its gory detail.

“Is it to hype us up? No, that can’t be it. This sort of carnage is meant to set a tone for something, and the only plausible one I can think of is…” Before Kroin could finish speaking, the footage has already come to an end. I can’t even tell if it’s been sped up for not, but that doesn’t matter right now.

“<Thrilling battle isn’t it? Oh who am I kidding, that was more of a horror show than a battle, but that’s nothing something you lovely students need to worry about.>” I do not trust Rico when she uses those words at all. “<Now let’s welcome the woman of the hour!>”

*CRASH*

Very suddenly, someone descended down from the sky and onto the elevated field below, landing without her knees even buckling, unflinchingly standing straight despite the landing impact.

She stood on one side of the platform with no one else to accompany her.

“<To celebrate our little heroine here, we held an event to let everyone just see how impressive she is firsthand! Everyone is welcome to challenge the current king of the arena!>” Rico explained what we are actually meant to do here.

The murmurs from the crowd became louder as the purpose of the event became clear. Everyone is naturally bewildered and dreaded what this all means.

“What the heck? Who is gonna be crazy enough to fight her?” Trener pointed out, clearly not raring to go himself.

“I could think of a few, but even then does it justify using such a grandiose stage?” Kroin replied. He’s right to call that out. How likely is it that there are enough people for it to last even an hour? If the event ended in such a short period of time it would feel extremely underwhelming after the earlier display.

“<I see you’re all raring to go! So let me announce a few more incentives to get your blood really pumping!>” Ah, here comes the bait. “<There is a point system! Based on how many people have fought her and how well their performances are, everyone will get a reward based on both their individual and collective amount of points! What those are will be revealed shortly, but make sure to get yourself ready for a fight of a lifetime! Make sure to check the points progress on the device!>”

Must’ve been talking about the tablet we all get with the seat. I don’t think it had a lot of use last time we were here.

“Great, so we just all go up as tribute so we can all get whatever these rewards are?” Trener groaned at the idea.

“...That seems to be the case.” Kroin said, not liking the idea either with his tone. Most people here have already experienced fighting her, and it was a harrowing experience as the power of most students combined still pales in comparison. Sure, two heavy-hitters were missing, but the rest of them weren’t doing that much individually either.

“<Also, for the sake of fairness, she will be prohibited from using her main weapon. We’re not so heartless as to let you fight someone with a giant scythe that could cut you in half like a hot knife through butter. Professionals have standards, you know?>” Rico continued explaining as Emmie caught a bamboo sword being thrown her way from… I don’t know, I didn’t catch where it came from. I guess at least we’re likely not gonna have multiple freak accidents.

“That’s like putting a cutesy sticker on a gun.” Histon said with a sneer. That’s definitely accurate. It’s not like it was solely the scythe that killed those soldiers, it was the force behind the swing being so tremendous that they are more akin to an explosion. While most of us can withstand it during that fight it was still a reason why we can’t be too comfortable getting near her, let alone within her scythe range.

Also the impact of getting hit by that stick is still gonna be within the ballpark of her using her signature scythe. I know good equipment changes how well mana multiply your damage output but even then her baseline alone is freaking terrifying.

“<Come on now, folks! Just come and test your mettle! Use whatever you have to contest the champion! You all have fought her before, where is that courage now?>” Rico said to rile up the crowd, but no one is biting yet, even those that aren’t really afraid to test their luck. Were they waiting for someone else to go on stage first? “<It’s a friendly match! She’s not gonna try to kill you. You know you get participation points if you just stepped in, right?>”

“<Stop trying to say meaningless words to get their attention, that won’t be enough.>” Another voice within the casting booth rang out. It’s Coach Wana. “<Why didn’t you mention this? The first person to step on the stage gets a massive points bonus.>”

“<What? That wasn’t in the script! Did you add that just now!?>” Rico's voice rang out lacking the earlier composure and condescending tone. Hmm… That does make the big button on the tablet tempting, acting like the ones during a quiz show but for… violence show.

“<Also, whoever gets in first can order meals before everyone else by thirty minutes.>” What kinda- “<Oh? Looks like we got our first challenger already.>”

That was fast, no way that was the tipping point for someone to challenge her.

*Zoom*

That person was quickly teleported to the other side of the arena, looking surprised at how quickly he was thrown into the spotlight.

“<Alrighty! We can finally get this show on the road!>” Rico said with a hint of excitement. “<Make sure to put your valuables away, kid. She’s definitely gonna smash those to bits!>”

He quickly takes out his phones and other items onto the platform that rises up from the ground, keeping the items secured as it goes back down beneath the platform.

“<Looks like he didn’t settle on using any weapon, it seems! Certainly a bold one, or perhaps a martial artist in the making? We’ll soon see!>” Rico commentated while the guy still looked out of his element. On the tablet it does allow us to set what weapon we wanna use during the match, I guess he didn’t notice that. “<Whatever might happen. This will be the first match to start things off! Where is the cheer from the crowd! We can’t start without one!>”

The crowd grew louder in response, though not entirely with enthusiastic cheer. I don’t even remember this guy’s name. I've seen him from time to time, but he’s not really someone popular in or out of school, so people aren’t gonna be that interested in the match.

“Well, let’s pray for his safety, if nothing else.” Kroin said with sympathy. I mean, who really knows how this will go. Maybe she’ll pull enough punches for it to be an actual fight? We can’t be sure about that until the match finally starts.