Chapter 53 Glitch Frame

By sunrise, Lucas occupied two positions across six million paused screens and denied both through one beautifully lit interview.

He sat inside Halcrest’s medical wing wearing a white shoulder wrap, with dust carefully preserved along his golden tournament collar.

"Yesterday’s equipment failure endangered everyone, so assigning blame through damaged footage would be irresponsible," he said, facing three sympathetic reporters.

Damien watched from Mina’s workshop while comments praised Lucas for defending the opponent who had nearly exposed him.

’Polished humility after an impossible frame, damn, he turns getting caught into another reason people admire his character.’

Bram managed eleven campus channels across separate tablets while notifications multiplied faster than his fingers could close them.

"Half the reaction accounts call Damien a cheater, while another group thinks Lucas teleported," he said, opening two argument trees, "both are threatening sponsors."

"Stop moderating strangers who consider punctuation a political weapon," Mina replied, aligning the original crystal beside committee footage.

"One user posted my dorm location after I corrected a frame count," Bram said, deleting another direct message with visible distress.

"Man, rumor management requires less honesty than you keep bringing into it," Damien replied, taking three tablets from his overloaded hands.

’He handled battle inventory calmly and internet comments nearly killed him, fair, beasts rarely create anonymous accounts.’

Mina’s workshop release showed the decisive exchange at one frame per second beside timestamped barrier diagnostics.

The committee version skipped frame 18,442 entirely, moving Lucas from Damien’s front toward the north anchor without any transition.

Her analog crystal preserved both bodies at the first location while another Lucas appeared beside the failing ward.

"This is not compression damage," Mina said inside the technical clip, enlarging separate shadows beneath both golden figures, "the missing frame contains two light sources."

She followed with the black residue opening inside the anchor one image before fate bent the exchange.

The clip reached one million views before Lucas’s humility interview completed its first broadcast loop.

’People trust a numbered frame more than my accusations, good, evidence can do the shouting while I keep dangerous guesses private.’

"You defeated professional public relations using several numbered pictures," Damien said, watching sponsor sentiment reverse beneath their feeds.

"Physics defeated them," Mina replied, marking her workshop seal across all three originals, "I only prevented expensive liars from editing it."

’Give her the credit publicly and keep my speculation away from the evidence, the facts already slap hard enough.’

Damien posted one statement beneath her release identifying Mina for lead analysis and Bram as preservation coordinator.

He offered no theory about Lucas, the Benefactor or Fate’s Favorite, leaving millions of viewers to argue without his help.

Lucas’s camp responded within seven minutes through a laboratory claiming analog crystals often doubled high-mana subjects during barrier collapse.

Mina searched its registration and found the laboratory occupying one empty office above a sponsor-owned bakery.

"Their lead researcher received certification yesterday at midnight," she said, displaying a profile copied from an unrelated alchemist, "even the portrait belongs elsewhere."

"At least inventing fake experts creates paid employment somewhere nearby," Damien replied, preserving the bakery address before its page vanished.

Bram groaned when reaction channels discovered the fake laboratory and began asking him for live interviews.

"I cannot explain fate residue on camera without mentioning evidence we refuse to disclose," he said, pulling his collar away from a sweating neck.

"Then explain local storage clearly and mention nothing remotely supernatural," Damien replied, returning one tablet with four safe talking points.

"What happens when they directly ask whether Lucas cheated yesterday?" Bram asked, reading the points twice before opening his camera.

"Tell them a recording displays what it shows, then let analysts injure each other through interpretation," Damien answered, moving outside the frame.

’Do not announce a conclusion we cannot prove, fear grows better when viewers discover the impossible part themselves.’

Across Averill, Tovin Reed replayed Mina’s technical clip inside Halcrest’s breakfast hall for the thirty-fourth time.

His sandy hair fell over a narrow face while an oversized academy coat hid both hands beyond its blank cuffs.

"Camera duplication does not create separate shadows from independent ward lights," he said, turning the frame toward three older students.

One student stopped laughing when Tovin aligned the committee feed and found Lucas missing from both transitional positions.

Screens around the crowded hall changed from admiration edits toward slow compilations of earlier golden miracles.

Clips showed falling objects missing Lucas, judges overlooking boundaries and opponents slipping on clean arena stone.

"He always gets lucky whenever something should completely ruin his chances," another student said, lowering his voice when every miracle began looking less comforting together.

"That stopped looking lucky around the sixth impossible recovery," Tovin replied, saving Mina’s original to an offline crystal.

Fear moved through the hall without any official accusation, which reached Lucas’s public image harder than Damien calling him a cheat.

’They started fearing the miracles instead of worshiping them, damn, that shift might starve Fate more than any direct attack.’

Back inside the workshop, Mina examined frame 18,441 through a fate filter built from their captured Benefactor fragment.

Black residue flickered inside the broken barrier before Lucas’s golden spike, carrying the same hook found beneath Cassius’s hall.

"The mark entered the ward one frame before his miracle," she said, bringing Damien toward the enlarged image, "then disappeared inside gold."

"The Benefactor sabotaged the barrier and used Lucas’s luck to hide its activation," Damien replied, watching both colors overlap.

"Or Lucas’s luck fed the mark enough power to wake," she answered, separating each layer through copper filters, "the direction remains unclear."

’Important difference, do not make Lucas the mastermind just since punching him would feel satisfying.’

Verdict reacted when Damien placed its gold tally near the frozen residue, making one black pixel crawl toward the recording edge.

Mina disconnected the crystal before that movement reached any stored copy across her workshop network.

"It can rewrite recordings after local preservation if we expose them to the live fragment," she said, locking all three originals inside separate safes.

"Keep one copy beyond Halcrest and another outside all Sterling property," Damien replied, handing the analog crystal toward Bram.

"My aunt owns a grocery vault beneath three mundane locks," Bram said, placing it inside his coat, "nobody powerful visits her neighborhood."

"Perfect, boring little security finally receives its deserved heroic moment," Damien replied, closing the final safe after Mina added a mechanical key.

’Three recordings in separate places, good, make reality expensive to edit even for something faceless.’

The tournament committee released its final statement at noon, maintaining the technical draw and voiding the championship bout.

Public comments rejected the ruling faster than sponsors could close them, demanding Damien receive either victory or another match.

Rhea entered the discussion through one short live feed filmed beside the repaired outer arena.

"The committee removed both semifinalists to protect a bracket nobody respects," she said, resting her greatsword against one shoulder, "I still want my fight."

The crowd outside answered through a chant loud enough to reach Mina’s workshop windows across campus.

"She challenged you while officials still argue whether standing near that arena is safe," Bram said, returning from the grocery vault route.

"Rhea considers major structural collapse another minor scheduling inconvenience today," Damien replied, reading the final arena inspection beneath her feed.

Mina pulled that report onto her central screen and found all ward cores certified clean after overnight replacement.

Her fate filter disagreed, showing one black hook moving beneath the final arena’s central seal.

’Same mark and a repaired arena full of spectators, shit, the Benefactor expects public demand to drag me toward another trigger.’

"They replaced every damaged component except the core carrying Benefactor residue," she said, enlarging its hidden pulse.

[Final arena status: Operational]

[Benefactor residue: Active]

[Crowd demand: Damien versus Rhea]

’Another arena wants me dead while Number One demands an honest fight inside it, damn, refusing gives the committee control of both stories.’

Damien took Verdict from its cradle while millions of viewers repeated Rhea’s demand across every channel.

The final arena woke beneath black residue, and he headed toward it before the committee could decide what his draw meant.