Chapter 100: Team Ironhearts Vs Team Million

Team Ironhearts l Team Million

All eyes in the clearing shifted back to the grand stone arena rising from the lake. The first matchup was chosen at random by the drawing stones. Princess Molly’s team, the Iron Hearts, stepped forward onto the stone path, facing off against a lone Ally; she had no team.

Aina watched from the sidelines, her eyes widening as Ally stood entirely by herself against a team of four incredibly strong girls, she was definitely fucked. Ellie possessed a modest total of 5,000 points she had scraped together all on her own, while the Iron Hearts proudly sported a massive 35,000 points.

Down on the stone platform, Princess Molly crossed her arms, looking down her nose at the lone rogue. "You should just save yourself the embarrassment and give up now, Ally"

Ally smirked, rolling her shoulders. "Nah, I don’t think I will."

The moment the gong echoed across the lake, the four members of the Iron Hearts moved like a coordinated pack of wolves closing in on a cornered deer.

Ally didn’t wait. She dropped low, her boots skidding across the slippery, wet stone as she ducked beneath a heavy swing from Beatrice. Her rogue agility flared as she feinted to the left, planting her heel to spin past Cleo, her hand darting out to snatch at the leather pouch hanging from Cleo’s hip.

"Not today!" Cleo spat, throwing a hard elbow backward that caught Ally straight across the cheekbone. Ally winced as pain exploded behind her eyes, but she didn’t stop. She ducked under another swipe, her fingers brushing the leather strings of Cleo’s points, until a heavy boot slammed directly into her ribs from the side. "Get you!" Beatrice barked, grabbing Ally by the back of her collar and violently hurling her toward the center of the ring.

Ally hit the damp stone hard, sliding across the rough surface as her knees skinned bleed-raw. She scrambled to push herself up, her chest heaving, but Molly was already towering over her. Before Ally could even plant her feet to shift, Molly slammed her foot down onto Ally’s hand, grinding her heel into her fingers with a cold, cruel grin.

"Sorry for this but I really need that pouch!" Molly sighed, leaning in close so only Ally could hear her reason. " Sort of trying to prove to my parents, my brothers ain’t shit."

With a ruthless tug, Molly yanked the pouch of 5,000 points straight off Ally’s belt, snapping the leather straps clean off.

"Toss her," Molly ordered flatly.

Beatrice and Cleo grabbed Ally by her arms, dragging her across the stone and dumping her over the edge onto the narrow stone walkway. Ally hit the ground in a bruised heap, her breath tearing out of her lungs in a sharp, painful gasp.

PA-CHING!

The buzzer blared across the water, signaling the official end of the match. "Victory goes to Team Iron Hearts!" the announcer’s voice boomed. "Total points updated: 40,000 points!"

A polite, reserved scatter of applause rippled through the high-born spectator stands, but it was quickly drowned out by a wave of cruel, venomous taunts thrown from the crowd as Ally slowly pushed herself up, clutching her bruised ribs and limping back toward the edge.

"Get off the platform, you dirty stray!" a male student from a non-moonside academy screamed, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Go back to the gutters where you belong, rogue!" a noble girl shrieked, sneering as Ally passed. "You’re embarrassing the whole academy just standing there!"

"Imagine losing all your points in under two minutes!" another yelled, throwing a crumpled piece of paper that bounced off Ally’s shoulder. "Pathetic!"

Ally kept her jaw tight, ignoring the burning sting of shame in her chest as she dragged her bleeding foot off the bridge, her eyes fixed strictly on the floor.

"Next match!" the announcer’s voice boomed. "The Iron Hearts versus Team Million!" A murmur of surprise ran through the crowd. Team Million consisted of three members: Max, Dax, and... Jax. Max and his team stepped onto the stone platform, the tension between them crackling in the air.

"Oh, you are going down, Max," Molly sneered, pointing a finger at him. Max laughed, stepping into a combat stance. "Unfortunately for you, princess, you’re the one going down. I’ve been waiting all day to do this."

Team Million stepped up with a meager 2,000 points to their name, largely because they had spent most of the first hunt searching frantically for Jax when he had mysteriously vanished. Which proved to be stupid cause he reappeared and was now standing quietly in the back corner of the platform but there was something deeply unsettling about him.

No one could quite put their finger on it, but his pale skin and unnatural, glowing blue eyes seemed to radiate a cold, dead energy that made the hairs on the back of everyone’s neck stand up.

Clang!

The starting whistle blew.

For the first few seconds, no one shifted. It was a chaotic, violent scramble of human-form combat, boots skidding against the wet stone as bodies slammed into bodies. Students dived across the slippery floor, clawing desperately to grab at the leather point-pouches hooked tightly onto their opponents’ belts.

Molly broke through the fray, eyeing Jax as the easiest target standing motionless near the edge. She lunged forward with explosive speed, her fingers reaching out, inches away from snatching the point-sack straight off Jax’s waist—

Then, the speed of light took place.

It was so impossibly fast that human and wolf eyes alike failed to register the movement. A dark, terrifying blur flickered across the platform like a displaced shadow. A violent, icy gust of air swept over the stone ring, whipping Molly’s hair straight into her face.

Before anyone could even blink—

PA-CHING!

The final whistle blew, echoing sharply across the silent lake.

Absolute silence fell over the entire arena. No one understood what had just happened. Molly froze mid-stride, her hands still hovering uselessly in empty air where Jax’s belt had been a fraction of a millisecond prior. Max stood frozen in shock, his mouth hanging wide open.

Standing dead in the center of the stone platform was Jax. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. In his pale, claw-like hands, he wasn’t holding just one pouch, he was holding all four of Molly’s team pouches. A massive, game-changing accumulation of 40,000 points was casually draped over his broad shoulder.

"Oh my... how did you get that?!" Max shrieked, his voice pitching up into a hysterical squeak as he stared at his teammate in utter bewilderment. Molly’s jaw practically hit the stone floor. She looked at her own empty belt, then back at Jax, her eyes wide with horrified disbelief. "How did you do that?!"

Jax didn’t smile. He didn’t gloat. He simply stood there, staring down at the heavy, leather-bound pouches in his grip with those terrifying, luminous blue eyes, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly rasp that made the skin on Molly’s arms prickle with cold terror.

"I do not reveal my secrets."

Max snapped out of his shock and burst into a loud, obnoxious roar of laughter, strutting right up into Molly’s stunned face. "Ha!" he cackled loudly, slapping his own knee. "You’re out, princess!"

Molly grumbled a furious, low curse, her face burning red with humiliation. She slammed her hand against her own chest, grunting in sheer frustration before turning on her heel to stalk off the stone ring.

As she brushed past Jax to reach the exit walkway, Jax’s head tilted slightly. His dark nose twitched, deeply inhaling the subtle air around her shoulder.

"Next time," Jax murmured softly with a smile. Molly rolled her eyes, scoffing loudly. "Whatever."

But as she took her first steps down the narrow bridge, Molly suddenly paused. She glanced back over her shoulder, her dark brows pulling into a deep, uneasy scowl as she stared at the boy. There was something profoundly, unnaturally wrong with him.

A strange stench clung to his skin beneath the cold air, something she couldn’t quite pick off or name. Shaking the cold shiver off her spine, she rolled her eyes once more and hurried off into the crowd.

Aina, standing in the front row of the crowd, felt a violent shudder run down her spine. She stared at Jax, a cold feeling of dread pooling in her stomach. He feels wrong, she thought nervously, pulling her collar tighter. There is something deeply wrong with that boy.

Match after match progressed, and Team Million refused to lose. They tore through opponents like a scythe through wheat, systematically dismantling the top teams. And every single time, it was Jax doing all the heavy lifting even vampires couldn’t complete with his speed. Beside her, Vance whistled low through his teeth. "I never knew Jax was that skilled."

Malric stood quietly, his arms crossed, watching Jax with a dark, suspicious scowl. Theo chuckled, shaking his head. "Me too. Honestly, it’s going to be fun taking them down." Finally, after hours of relentless combat, the magical drawing stones spun furiously, projecting the final name onto the grand board.

"Team Fang!"

Vance grinned wildly, cracking his knuckles. "That’s us! Come on, guys, this will be a quick five minutes." The four imperial princes and Aina made their way toward the long stone bridge leading out to the lake arena. As Aina walked, keeping her head down, she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone walking past in the dense crowd.

"Oh, sorry," Aina muttered automatically. "No problem," a thick, heavily accented voice rumbled right beside her ear.

Aina froze. She spun her head around, her eyes darting through the crowd, but she saw no one matching the voice. For some unexplainable reason, a sickening weight dropped into her stomach. Something is not right, her instincts screamed.

Suddenly, a voice echoed clearly inside her mind, not through the air, but straight across her consciousness.

Is everything all right, sweetheart?

Aina gasped aloud, stopping dead in her tracks on the stone bridge. She whipped her head around, staring back toward the stands in the distance. There, standing near the edge of the pavilion, was Roiner, watching her intently.

Oh my gosh... I can hear you in my mind! Aina thought back frantically, her eyes going wide. ℴ

Of course you can, Roiner’s calm, smooth voice replied gently in her head. It is the bond. It has been fully set.

Really?! This is so cool! she marveled internally.

Roiner’s voice hummed with quiet affection. I felt your nerves. Are you ready for the match?

Yeah... I’m a little nervous about this round, she admitted mentally, deliberately keeping her encounter with the strange-accented stranger to herself. She didn’t want to worry him needlessly.

I am sure you will do fine, Roiner encouraged her.

Yeah, I hope so too—

"Hey! Get your head in the game, Travis!" Vance barked, grabbing her arm and jolting her back to reality. Aina blinked, frantically thinking back to Roiner: I don’t know how to turn this mental talking off, but I have to go now!

Good luck, my love, Roiner’s voice faded away as she slammed her mental barriers shut. They reached the center of the stone platform.