Chapter 209: Unexpected Result of the Second Round!

Luther had never felt so humiliated.

He lowered his head as he approached Corwin, hoping that explaining himself might soften the young man’s anger.

"Corwin, I did everything I could," he said, his voice hoarse. "But I couldn’t beat him. He’s an A-rank Sentinel. There’s no way I could win against someone like that if he gets close to me."

Corwin grunted.

"You’re right. He’s an A-rank Sentinel, and you’re only a C-rank. It was already difficult for you to begin with." He tilted his head slightly, then added with an almost generous expression, "Fine. I’ll forgive you this time."

Luther’s face immediately brightened.

"Thank you, Corwin!"

The relief had barely settled in before Corwin lifted his foot and planted it on Luther’s head, forcing him to bend forward.

Luther’s expression froze.

The sole of Corwin’s shoe pressed against his hair, keeping his head lowered in front of the spectators who were watching from the other side of the arena.

"Don’t misunderstand," Corwin said quietly. "I’m forgiving you because we’re friends. Don’t make me regret it."

Luther’s hands tightened into fists, but he didn’t dare utter a word.

He could only endure the humiliation, keeping his gaze lowered until Corwin finally removed his foot.

The next moment, Corwin turned toward his remaining companion.

"You heard the announcement," he said, his voice still carrying the irritation he had tried to hide. "Don’t disappoint me as well."

The other Sentinel immediately straightened.

"Don’t worry. I’ll defeat him."

Unlike Luther, he didn’t look particularly nervous about facing Vesper. He had watched the previous fight carefully and had already noticed the differences between their abilities. His expression carried a confidence that was almost excessive, but Corwin seemed satisfied with it.

He stood up and walked closer to him, leaning down to whisper something into his ear.

Luther, who remained kneeling nearby, lifted his head.

His eyes widened.

For a moment, he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

He stared at Corwin, then at the companion who had agreed to his instructions, disbelief slowly spreading across his face.

What had Corwin just told him to do?

***

Aisha’s terminal vibrated against her palm.

She had been watching the opposing group from the corner of her eye when the notification appeared, and the name displayed on the screen immediately caught her attention.

Nykos.

She hesitated for only a moment before opening their conversation.

[Where are you?]

Aisha glanced at the arena around her before typing a reply.

[At school.]

She deliberately left out the fact that she was attending an official duel. There was no need to tell him everything, especially when she had only intended to ask him something unrelated to the match.

His response came almost immediately.

[Busy day at school, little bird?]

Aisha’s fingers paused above the screen.

She could almost imagine the expression on his face as he typed those words. Nykos had a way of making even an ordinary question sound strange. He probably should already know the answer anyway.

She chose not to indulge him.

[Can I ask you for a favor?]

The reply came so quickly that she barely had time to lower her hand.

[You make it sound serious. Go on.]

Aisha glanced toward the stage once more.

The duel was still ongoing, and the audience remained focused on the next match. Since the announcer hadn’t called the participants forward yet, she had a little time to send her message before the next fight began.

She took a breath and typed what had been weighing on her mind for the past few days.

[Can you find a way to smuggle my brother and the pod out of the planet? Somewhere the Association won’t be able to reach them easily.]

Her finger hovered over the screen for a moment before she sent the message.

It was a difficult request, even for someone like Nykos.

The pod was Association equipment, and transporting it beyond the planet’s borders without authorization would attract far more attention than moving an ordinary piece of cargo. Anyone who inspected the equipment would immediately recognize what it was, and if the Association traced its disappearance back to her, there would be no excuse she could use to avoid the consequences.

But leaving Zenick here was no longer an option.

Ares had given her only two days before they returned to retrieve the pod. Once they came back with greater authority, she might no longer have the freedom to refuse them, and even if she managed to hide the equipment elsewhere on the planet, it would only be a matter of time before they found it.

She needed to move both Zenick and the pod somewhere beyond their reach.

And the only person she trusted to handle something so troublesome was Nykos.

He had already proven that he could infiltrate places that even high-ranking Sentinels struggled to access, and he knew how to conceal himself from the Association’s surveillance systems. If anyone could accomplish this without exposing her involvement, it would be him.

Aisha waited for his response.

It arrived within seconds.

His name flashed across the screen, indicating that he had replied, but before she could open the message, a sudden roar erupted from the audience.

The noise was far louder than the cheers that had followed Vesper’s victory.

Students began rising from their seats, while others leaned forward to see what had happened on the stage. Aisha heard someone shouting in disbelief, followed by a wave of commotion that quickly spread across the arena.

Then the announcer spoke.

"Th-the winner of the second round is—"

His voice faltered.

Aisha’s fingers stopped moving.

Something had gone wrong.

She immediately lifted her head toward the stage, but a cloud of dust had already spread across the battlefield, obscuring most of what was happening inside. The energy-dampening barrier flickered faintly around the arena as the remaining traces of released power dissipated into the air.

For a brief moment, nobody seemed to know what to say.

Then the announcer finally managed to continue.

"Vesper of Class 7-D has lost the second round!"

Aisha froze.

She had barely processed those words when the dust began to clear.

The figure lying on the arena floor gradually came into view.

It was Vesper.

His body was sprawled across the combat alloy, his uniform torn and stained with blood. His face was swollen beyond recognition in places, and blood trickled from several wounds across his body. One arm lay at an unnatural angle beside him, while his chest rose only faintly.

He wasn’t moving.

He wasn’t even conscious.

For a moment, Aisha simply stared at him, unable to reconcile the sight before her with the man who had been roaring in victory only minutes earlier.

Then her expression changed.

Vesper had lost.

And judging from the condition he was in, this was no ordinary defeat.