Chapter 247: Alpha Dominates

The atmosphere inside Blackridge Tower changed immediately.

The S-Rank guardian was dead, and the temporary alliance was over. Two academies remained- Valecrest Academy, and North Pantheon Academy, and only one would advance.

The North Pantheon captain slowly raised his weapon.

"North Pantheon." His exhausted teammates gathered behind him. "Take your positions."

They moved quickly. Despite their injuries, their formation was nearly flawless. Neil watched them carefully.

They were strong- much stronger than most of the academies they had encountered during Stage One. Their coordination was excellent, and their abilities complemented one another perfectly.

They had just defeated an S-Rank monster without losing a single student.

Neil tightened his grip.

’This won’t be easy.’

The North Pantheon captain looked directly at him.

"You’re the leader?"

Neil nodded, eyeing Silas from the side. They had a silent agreement.

"Then I’ll make this simple." The captain raised his weapon. "We’re advancing."

Neil sighed. "So are we."

The system remained silent. There was no countdown or warning. The tournament had made its rule clear. Only one academy could activate the Ascension Gate.

North Pantheon moved first.

"CHARGE!"

The entire academy rushed forward, causing Neil to step forward, but before he could give an order... Alpha walked past him.

"Don’t bother."

Neil blinked.

"What?"

Alpha stretched his arms.

"I’ll handle it."

Several Valecrest students stared at him. Alpha was a shy, feminine boy, but after being friends with Silas, everyone had noticed some changes in him. And one of those changes, which was very obvious, was his presence. Everyone could tell... he was strong.

"Oh, this should be good." Christian grinned.

Neil sighed. "Alpha."

He looked back.

"Yes?"

"Don’t destroy the tower."

"I’ll try."

Then he disappeared.

BOOM!

The floor exploded beneath his feet.

North Pantheon barely had time to react. Their front-line fighter raised a shield, but Alpha appeared directly in front of him.

"Hi."

BOOM!

The shield shattered, and the student was launched backward. He crashed into three of his teammates.

"What?!"

Another fighter attacked from behind, but Alpha ducked, his elbow striking his stomach.

BOOM!

He folded instantly and flew across the chamber. Two more attacked together, but Alpha grabbed both by their uniforms.

"You’re working together?" he smiled. "That’s cute."

He swung them into each other.

CRASH!

They dropped. The entire North Pantheon formation stopped. Their captain’s eyes widened.

"Don’t let him break the formation!"

But it was too late. Alpha was already inside it. He moved like a blur. Every strike was controlled- he wasn’t killing anyone, and he wasn’t even using his full strength, but every hit sent another student flying.

North Pantheon’s strongest fighters attempted to surround him, but Alpha just walked through them. One student activated an A-Rank defensive ability; Alpha punched through it.

Another attempted to bind him, but he tore through the restraints. A third tried to attack him from above, but he caught him by the ankle and threw him into a pile of his teammates.

Silence.

The Valecrest students hadn’t moved.

Christian had his mouth open, Peter stared as though he had seen a ghost, while Darren slowly lowered his weapon.

Victor looked at Natalia.

"Are we supposed to help?"

Natalia shook her head.

"I don’t think so."

Christian nodded.

"Good." He sat down. "I’m tired."

Neil rubbed his forehead.

"We’re really just watching."

Silas, standing beside Chloe, smiled.

"Yep."

Neil looked at him.

"You knew this would happen?"

Silas shrugged.

"Alpha’s pretty scary."

Alpha suddenly appeared in front of another North Pantheon fighter. The student raised both hands.

"Wait!"

Alpha stopped.

"Yes?"

"Can we surrender?"

Alpha blinked.

"Already?"

The student looked around. His teammates were scattered across the chamber. Some were unconscious. Others were groaning on the floor. A few were still trying to stand.

"Yes."

Alpha looked toward the captain. He was still standing, but barely. He stared at her- then at his academy- and clenched his fist.

"North Pantheon doesn’t surrender."

Alpha smiled.

"I respect that. But you should’ve said that the moment you met us."

The captain’s eyes hardened.

"Everyone!"

The remaining fighters gathered. Despite everything, they moved again. The North Pantheon captain raised his weapon.

"FINAL FORMATION!"

The surviving students surrounded Alpha, while activating their abilities simultaneously. The entire formation radiated power, causing even Neil’s expression to change.

"That’s..." Peter stood up. "They were holding that back?"

Neil nodded.

"They’re strong."

The North Pantheon captain shouted.

"ATTACK!"

Everything happened at once. The chamber erupted.

BOOOOOOOM!

A wave of energy swallowed Alpha. For several seconds, nobody could see him.

Christian stood.

"Did they get him?"

Silas smiled.

"No."

The smoke cleared, and Alpha stood in the middle of the crater. His clothes were barely disturbed. He looked down at himself.

"That was pretty good."

The North Pantheon students stared at him in shock and fear.

One whispered, "Impossible."

Alpha crouched- and vanished.

BOOM!

He struck the ground, and the shockwave spread across the chamber, causing every remaining North Pantheon student to be thrown backward, their formation collapsing instantly.

Students crashed into the floor, and weapons flew from their hands. Only the captain remained standing, and even he was breathing heavily.

Alpha walked toward him and stopped in front of him. For a moment, neither moved. Then he laughed bitterly.

"I understand now."

Alpha tilted his head.

"What?"

"You weren’t part of the battle against the guardian."

"I was."

"Then you were saving your strength."

"Yes."

The captain looked toward Valecrest. Most of the academy was still standing exactly where they had been. They had barely moved.

The captain looked back at Alpha.

"And she wasn’t either."

His eyes shifted toward Chloe, causing her to smile awkwardly.

"Sorry."

The captain laughed.

"Don’t apologize." He lowered his weapon. "We never stood a chance."

The system finally activated.

[ACADEMY STATUS UPDATE.]

[THE FOLLOWING ACADEMY HAS BEEN DEFEATED.]

[NORTH PANTHEON ACADEMY.]

The remaining North Pantheon students froze. Then another message appeared.

[VALECREST ACADEMY HAS QUALIFIED FOR THE NEXT STAGE.]

The Valecrest students finally reacted. Christian threw both hands into the air.

"LET’S GO!"

Peter laughed.

"We’re through!"

Even Neil couldn’t hide his relief. Chloe looked toward Silas.

"We won."

Silas nodded.

"Yep."

"Without you doing anything."

Silas placed a hand over his chest.

"I contributed emotionally. I gave emotional support to my bestie, Alpha."

Chloe laughed as Alpha walked back toward them, his expression screaming murder at Silas.

"How much did you hold back?" Neil couldn’t help but ask.

Alpha thought for a moment.

"Quite a lot."

"Right. Good to know."

The system continued.

[VALECREST ACADEMY WILL ADVANCE TO STAGE THREE.]

[PREPARATION PERIOD: FIFTEEN MINUTES.]

[ALL QUALIFIED MEMBERS ARE REQUIRED TO REMAIN WITHIN THE DESIGNATED AREA.]

[STAGE THREE PARAMETERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AFTER THE PREPARATION PERIOD.]

A massive staircase suddenly emerged from the floor. The path upward illuminated one step at a time.

"That’s our way up."

Neil nodded.

"Everyone, regroup."

The students began gathering, while North Pantheon remained behind. Their captain watched Valecrest disappear toward the staircase. His eyes lingered on Alpha, Chloe, and Silas.

’Those three...’

He had initially thought the pink-haired student and the cold girl were the greatest threats. After all, Silas and Chloe were the S-Ranks, but now he wasn’t so sure.

They hadn’t even participated, and Alpha had defeated an entire academy almost by himself.

The captain slowly smiled.

"This tournament..." He shook his head. "...is getting ridiculous."

Above them, the staircase continued rising, and Valecrest Academy climbed toward Stage Three.