Chapter 436: Choosing Sides [I]
Chapter 436: Choosing Sides [I]
Within minutes, the arena was entirely sanitized for the television cameras.
The break ended and it was time for the next fight to take place. Spectators in the bleachers erupted as this coliseum’s final combatants for the night walked out.
From the western tunnel emerged my sister, ink-black hair pulled back into a high ponytail and brilliant golden eyes carrying a glint of egoistical indifference.
Even from this high up, I could tell by looking at her stride that she wasn’t in a good mood. Well... she was rarely ever in a good mood, to start with.
Her opponent was a tall guy, lanky frame but wired muscles rippling beneath his sleeveless black vest. He was bouncing on his heels, trying to appear confident but to no avail.
The stadium announcer’s voice boomed over the speaker system, introducing him as some prodigy from the East, Rank 8. Then, my sister was introduced.
When the hype died down and the announcer finally called the match to begin, both combatants instantly donned their own magical armor.
Gauntlets and vambraces and pauldrons, visors and breastplates and greaves — all condensed into coherent shapes over their bodies from motes of light. Several Cards appeared above and behind the two Cadets.
A long vermilion cape was attached to my sister’s shoulder guards. It billowed behind her like the plume atop her helmet, contrasting with the golden sheen of her full-body plate.
She held a large kite shield in one hand and a heavy longsword in the other.
Her opponent was clad in black and silver, brandishing twin spears — one slightly shorter than the other, both tips humming with a high-frequency electric vibration.
The moment the overhead barrier flashed green, he didn’t waste a second to rocket forward, his lanky frame blurring into a zigzagging streak of silver static.
From my vantage point, the raw speed was impressive. He was using a combination of wind, lightning, and far too many Enhancement Cards to minimize air resistance, rounding in to pierce the joints of Thalia’s armor before she could even establish her defensive perimeter.
I turned away from the fight and sat back down on the couch, away from the redhead young woman this time. "So anyway, why are you here?"
Alice was now quietly looking at the display screen mounted on the opposite wall, running the same fight that was going on down below in real time. She faced me, raising both eyebrows.
And it was only now that I noticed a long scar running up the side of her chin — a jagged, silvery line that broke the otherwise flawless porcelain of her jawline.
"You know why," she sighed, though that irritating frisky arrogance from her voice was gone. "We came to ask you not to go ahead with what you’re planning. Don’t challenge Thalia to a Mock War. We are also already trying with the Cadet Council to retract our challenge. Also, don’t challenge her to a duel either. Just don’t go after her title until the Golden Duke issues his quest to the Academy."
I couldn’t keep a scowl off my face. "You’re joining. Why would I do that?"
She gave me a skittish smile. "I suppose because your princess is asking you nicely?"
I didn’t even know how to respond to that for a second there. "My princess? Ali, the only thing you’re the princess of right now is the land of complete delusion. I’m not even your subject!"
Alice frowned as if not quite following me. Then her mouth widened in a surprised ’O’ as she realised something.
"He doesn’t know," Willem choked back a laugh. When I looked at him, carrying the same scowl as before, he told me, "Alice is getting married to Crown Prince Raigan V. Kallith after graduation. You know the guy, the future Monarch of the West. The current Sword Saint."
...Fuck.
"No, no, no, no, no!" It was an effort not to pull at my hair. "This can’t be. The other Monarchs would never let that happen."
There was a reason no single Royal Family had ever been allowed to hold more than one of the world’s five Great Thrones at a time.
The fragile geopolitical balance of Earth was built entirely on the threat of mutually assured destruction.
If Central Safe-Zone — the undisputed heart of military and administrative power thanks to the Apex Academy — united with Western Safe-Zone — the kingdom that literally bred the continent’s finest warriors thanks to the noble houses of Zynx and Theosbane — the result wouldn’t just be a new empire. It would be a complete, bloody monopolization of the incoming generation’s greatest assets.
The other Royal Houses wouldn’t just idly sit by and let that happen. Two Safe-Zones could not unite under a single throne!
It would start a—
...Ahh.
A realisation dawned upon me.
"Oh, no!" Willem made a wavy gesture with his hands, face deadpan, badly pretending to look terrified. "What are the other Monarchs gonna do, start a world war? Well, that’s already going to happen since someone’s father practically spat in the face of a Southern Prince and an Eastern Duchy."
I suddenly felt the need to hide my face. "Hey, I think I already established that my father’s a sociopath."
"Sociopath or not, the guy has balls of steel. Pardon the language," Alice chuckled. "To wage a war on two fronts while knowing you’re starting a conflict with a Monarch... goodness."
"And not just any Monarch. The Asim al-Zaman. The Unkillable One. The Immortal King of the South, Kaelen Halfborn Starless himself," Willem whistled through his teeth as the display screen behind him flashed with an explosion of golden light.
Down in the arena, Thalia had just shattered her opponent’s left spear with a well-timed bash of her kite shield. The lanky Rank 8 prodigy was sent skittering across the concrete.
But I couldn’t care less about my sister’s immaculate parry windows right now.
"Well, whatever," I said dismissively, looking at Alice. "Good for you. You’ll make a beautiful bride. Please do not invite me to the wedding. Now all that aside, it still doesn’t explain why I should not challenge my sister for the title I never technically lost."
Alice seemed a little displeased at having to spell it out for me.
"Because by forcing them to choose sides, you’ll be dividing the noble Cadets and all the other talented first-years into two factions. I want as many powerful prospects to join my circle as possible before shit hits the fan. Pardon my language," she coughed embarrassingly. "Thalia is the perfect figurehead. She’s clean and the nobles respect her pedigree. Above all, she’s strong."
As if on cue, I saw Thalia on the screen dashing in to deliver the final blow. Her kite shield was destroyed but her opponent had lost a good chunk of his armor, leaving practically all of his torso and neck exposed.
Dozens of wolf-like creatures protectively surrounded the guy, seemingly made out of shadows. Moreover, a thin, translucent barrier shimmered in the air all around him.
Thalia used some kind of Spell Card to summon a deluge of radiant golden fire that consumed the shadow beasts and her opponent’s magical barrier in a violent flash.
Through the rising smoke, the lanky boy then flashed forward to close in on my sister and snake his spear from around her guard. He wanted to take her by surprise.
The tip of his weapon licked out toward the exposed seam at Thalia’s gorget. It was a thrust as beautiful as it was lethal.
I wasn’t entirely sure if even I could’ve successfully dodged it. Though I wouldn’t have overextended as much as my sister did in the first place.
Thalia didn’t seem worried at all.
She let her opponent’s blade come to her, then leapt and twisted so that her body was briefly sideways, horizontal over the top of the swing.
Riding the momentum of her spin, she came down and brought her longsword with her, smashing the flat of the blade against the side of the lanky boy’s shin.
The poor guy’s leg buckled as he stumbled forward. It was all the time my twin sister needed to introduce her knee to his face.
The wet CRUNCH of bone breaking against the steel plate was loud enough to make me wince.
The Rank 8 prodigy was lifted off his feet by the sheer force of Thalia’s knee. He collapsed onto the pulverized concrete of the arena, the remains of his silver armor dissolving back into glowing dust.
Overhead, the holographic banners turned a glowing red.
[Match over. Winner: Thalia Kaizer Theosbane.]
With that, she was through the quarterfinals of her group.
What a fucking showoff.
Her victory could’ve been achieved way earlier and way more easily.
From the looks of it, that guy’s combat style was all about counters and evasion, meaning she could have just spammed a continuous area-of-effect attack as she did by the end there.
But she only brought out a Spell Card when he did.
And how did she beat him at last? By evading and countering.
She wasn’t satisfied with winning alone. She wanted to beat him at his own game, on his own terms, purely to break his spirit.
Classic Thalia.