Chapter 213: A Way Out! (1)

She briefly closed her eyes.

Then she released a thin stream of guiding energy through her fingertips.

A soft light seeped between them.

Her guiding energy was weaker than usual. After fighting in the contaminated zone and rescuing Zenick, she was still exhausted, and it would take time for her strength to recover fully. Even so, she had enough left to help Vesper. She allowed only a small amount of energy to enter his body, focusing on stabilizing his breathing and easing the immediate strain on his system.

Gradually, his labored breathing became steadier.

The blood remained on his face, and his injuries didn’t disappear, but his chest no longer rose and fell with the same alarming irregularity.

Sabel watched in silence.

As Vesper’s breathing finally steadied, some of the tension left her shoulders. The fear in her heart, however, remained.

Aisha opened her eyes, and the light faded from her fingers.

She couldn’t undo the damage from the blast here. She didn’t know the extent of his internal injuries, and attempting anything beyond stabilizing him might cause even more harm.

He needed medical treatment immediately.

Just then, Kane returned with two medics carrying a portable stretcher and a medical kit.

"Move aside!" one of them called as they approached.

Aisha and Sabel quickly stepped back, allowing the medical team to examine Vesper. The medics worked swiftly, attaching monitoring devices to his chest and wrists before carefully lifting him onto the stretcher.

One of them frowned at the readings on his terminal.

"His psychic energy readings are unstable. We need to take him to the infirmary immediately."

Kane went pale.

"What do you mean, unstable?"

The medic didn’t answer. He was already instructing his companion to prepare additional equipment as the stretcher’s containment field activated around Vesper’s body.

Aisha stood aside, her hands hanging at her sides.

She watched as they carried him away.

For a moment, she wanted to follow them. But she still had a duel to finish, and leaving the arena now would only give Corwin another opportunity to exploit the situation.

She had to remain here, at least until the next round began.

Sabel rubbed her face with the heel of her hand, trying to force her emotions back under control. She couldn’t fight properly while worrying about Vesper, but neither could she ignore what had just happened.

"It doesn’t make sense," she muttered. "Vesper was doing well. He hadn’t even used his ability until the second match, and he was still in good condition when it started. How could he lose like that?"

Kane lowered his head, his expression troubled.

He’d seen Vesper’s performance with his own eyes. Even after winning the first round, Vesper had remained strong enough to fight again. The second match had been difficult, but not so difficult that he should have ended up in such a terrible condition.

Kane clenched his fists and looked toward Aisha.

She had remained silent since the medics took Vesper away. Her expression was calm, but something in her eyes made him hesitate.

Before he could ask what she was thinking, the announcer’s voice echoed through the arena again.

"The third round is about to begin! The next contestant from Class 7-D is requested to step onto the stage."

Sabel straightened.

It was her turn.

Kane placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Don’t let what happened to Vesper get inside your head. Fight carefully, and don’t let them provoke you into making the same mistake."

Sabel nodded, forcing herself to take a steady breath.

Aisha finally turned toward her.

"Use a weapon this time. Don’t face him head-on, and watch out for hidden weapons."

Sabel looked at her, surprised by the suggestion, but then nodded again, her expression growing more serious.

"Don’t worry. I’ll win."

She turned and walked toward the arena.

Aisha watched her leave before shifting her attention to Kane.

"Corwin’s team cheated."

Kane turned sharply toward her.

"What?"

"The gauntlet Jayden was wearing contained foreign Sentinel energy. It was much stronger than anything he could produce himself. They must have stored that power inside the weapon and saved it for a single attack during the match."

Kane’s face paled.

"You mean—"

For several seconds, he couldn’t speak.

The implication was difficult to ignore. Jayden had won with a sudden surge of power far beyond his actual rank. If Aisha was right, the attack had been prepared specifically for their match.

And they had no idea whether Corwin’s team had any other tricks up their sleeves.

"We have to report this," Kane said at once, his voice tight. "The academy can’t just ignore something like that. If the gauntlet was loaded with stolen Sentinel energy, they need to investigate where the power came from and who supplied it."

Aisha shook her head.

"We don’t have enough evidence."

Kane stared at her.

"What? But the gauntlet is right there!" He pointed at Jayden’s hand.

"The gauntlet is useless now. The moment Jayden activated it, the stored energy was discharged, and the internal components burned out. I can still sense a few remnants, but not enough to identify whose energy it was or prove what the weapon contained before it was triggered. Now, it’s just an ordinary gauntlet."

Aisha paused and glanced toward Sabel on the stage, worry flickering in her eyes.

"If we accuse them of cheating without being able to produce evidence, do you think they’ll let us off easily?"

Kane’s face grew even paler.

He’d thought they might at least have some evidence to use against Jayden, but Aisha’s words crushed that hope before he could consider their next move.

With the stored energy gone and the gauntlet’s internal mechanism burned out, they had no physical evidence proving what it had contained before the attack. They had nothing concrete to rely on.

And even if they managed to convince someone to investigate, the dean and Corwin’s family could still interfere.

Kane lowered his head.

"Then how are we supposed to fight back against them?"

Aisha didn’t answer.

Her gaze shifted toward the arena, where Sabel had finally stepped onto the stage.

The students were still talking, and Corwin stood among his companions, looking pleased with himself.

Aisha watched him for several seconds.

Then her eyes grew colder.

She had already made up her mind.

They had come here to settle a wager between students, but Corwin had deliberately turned it into something else. He had used his family’s influence, the dean’s backing, and an illegal weapon loaded with another Sentinel’s energy to nearly destroy Vesper.

Aisha didn’t care how much money his family had or how many people were willing to protect him.

They had dishonored the duel and nearly destroyed Vesper.

She wasn’t going to let them get away with it.