Chapter 35: Defeat Her, and She’ll Treat You to Ice Cream!
As the gigantic fist descended from the sky like a meteor, Lucius, the dean sitting high in the stands, slightly raised his hand, casting a translucent magical barrier over the audience.
Along with the attack of the Mountain Giant, a strong hurricane swept through the entire arena, sending countless stones of all sizes flying. Each piece held immense kinetic energy, and if the students were not careful, they would be hit.
The rolling dust and smoke took a long time to gradually dissipate.
A deep pit in the shape of a fist appeared on the ground, with large sections of the surrounding earth sunken in, spider-web-like cracks embedded deep into the ground, making the entire arena uneven and radiating outward.
Shaya found himself at the edge of the arena, staring at the rugged ground ahead, silent.
Facing the attack of the Mountain Giant, he felt like a small boat on a storm-tossed sea, swaying uneasily, and with a single misstep, he could be smashed to pieces by the giant waves.
At this stage of the battle, many had already made up their minds.
This had far exceeded the level of combat that students could handle. Faced with such a giant magical creature, the empire would typically send entire knight squads to exterminate it, and even then, casualties were not guaranteed.
“Duelist Shaya, do you choose to forfeit?”
At this moment, the urgent inquiry of the adjudicator came from the competition passage.
With things developed to this extent, it had already exceeded their expectations.
One wrong move awaited Shaya with a fate of utter annihilation.
They did not blame Angelica for her despicable actions, for her ability to possess such a level of ancient spellcasting artifact and summon the Mountain Giant at a severe cost did not violate the duel rules.
“……”
Shaya did not respond.
He directed his gaze toward the distance, watching the majestic figure striding heavily toward him.
The ground trembled with a clear resonance, and fragments of stone shook.
Extraordinary Knight?
Two-star or three-star?
Given his current strength, defeating the opponent seemed somewhat difficult.
Shaya silently contemplated in his heart.
He was waiting for an opportunity.
……
“Where are you going?”
Xivista looked surprised at Deyora, who suddenly stood up.
Taking a deep breath and clenching her fist, Deyora slowly said, “I’m going to cheer for my master. This situation… shouldn’t be borne by him alone.”
As she spoke, she turned and ran down the steps leading to the passage.
“Hey, wait for me!”
Xivista anxiously stamped her foot, looked around, then lifted her black cloak from behind to cover her delicate and beautiful face, chasing after Deyora.
Ignoring the staff’s admonitions, the two girls arrived at the contestant passage beneath the arena one after the other.
Looking around, the destructive force of the Mountain Giant was even more vividly presented to the two girls, making Xivista cover her mouth in shock.
“We can’t win this…”
“Of course we can! I believe in my master.”
Deyora turned her head, revealing a bright smile to Xivista.
Then she stepped forward and reached the edge of the competition passage.
Her gaze fixed on Shaya in the distance, her hands formed a small trumpet shape, and she shouted loudly, “Master!”
“?”
The youth in the arena turned at the sound and locked eyes with the smiling maid.
Frowning, he waved his hand as if to say: It’s dangerous here; you should leave quickly.
But Deyora ignored his warning, reached up to untie the hair tie from her ponytail, and her long black hair began to flutter gently in the wind.
“Master, if you defeat that woman, I’ll reward you tonight!” She looked at Shaya with shining eyes, slightly leaning forward with her hands on her knees, her pink tongue licking the corner of her lips. “How about wearing white stockings for ice cream?”
“!!”
Xivista’s face instantly turned bright red.
So that’s their relationship!
A sense of inexplicable disappointment welled up in her heart.
“Miss Xivista, you should join in too!”
Just as she lowered her head with a gloomy expression, she suddenly felt Deyora gently grasp her hand.
“Eh, eh? Do I have to wear them too?”
Hearing this, Xivista raised her head again, feeling a bit flustered.
She actually had many pairs of white stockings—ankle socks, knee-high socks, thigh-high socks, leggings, footed socks… but she didn’t know which type Shaya preferred.
Seeing the delicate face of the cloak girl suddenly tinted with a blush, Deyora waved her hand, “What I mean is to have Miss Xivista cheer for the master too.”
“……”
Xivista’s face turned even redder, her hands clasping gently over her chest.
So she had overthought it.
Encouraged by Deyora’s gaze, Xivista took two steps forward, adjusting her cloak to obscure her features, ensuring that people in the stands wouldn’t recognize her.
After all, she was a member of the Algeia family, openly supporting the opposing party in a public setting would certainly earn her a scolding when she returned.
She looked at the figure in the arena, took a deep breath, her heart racing.
Having always been the good girl, this was her first time doing something so thrilling.
“Shaya, Shaya!” she shyly extended her little hand, slightly raising her voice to ensure Shaya could hear, “If you win this duel, I, I will…”
“Boom——!!!”
In the distance, the giant fist of the Mountain Giant struck down again, drowning out her words.
……
“Shaya!” After seeing Deyora and the cloak girl’s actions, Tilius, who was already fired up, suddenly stood up and shouted loudly with a voice that everyone could hear, “Since it has come to this, you must win!!!”
“If you win the duel, I’ll show you my secret journal I’ve treasured for ten years!!!”
He excitedly waved his fist and paced back and forth.
After saying this, surrounding eyes turned curiously toward him.
It felt like this guy was not from the same dimension as them.
They all distinctly sensed the somewhat immature energy radiating from Tilius.
“How interesting, how interesting!” At this moment, the girl in the violet dress sitting in the back suddenly clapped her hands while laughing, unable to contain herself. “It’s so entertaining to see that woman get her comeuppance!”
“Since it’s like this, I’ll join in the fun too.”
Amidst the stunned gazes of all Blood Rose Association members, Selly lifted her skirt, put on her high heels, and quickly walked to the edge of the stand.
Grabbing the railing with both hands, she leaned down, through the rolling smoke, faintly locking onto Shaya’s position.
Her dark eyes twirled a couple of times, and she extended a small hand to shield her forehead, striking a pose as if to peer into the distance, her voice soft and alluring as she called out, “Lord Adelaide!”
“Do you want to date me? If you defeat Angelica, I’ll accompany you for three days and nights!”
The bold and explicit remark shocked everyone around them, instinctively wanting to look over but stopping in their tracks, sweating profusely upon remembering her identity.
What a woman who’s always digging pits for others.
So ruthless.
Even if Shaya wins this duel, it will inevitably attract the attention of His Highness, the Fifth Prince.
After all, his fiancée had publicly made such a statement. Even if it didn’t concern Shaya, would that noble prince care about the details?
Watching the smile on Selly’s lips, those around shivered in terror.
When it came to the art of pranking, Angelica was far inferior to this eldest daughter of the Violet Family.
To attract her interest was only digging a deeper hole for Shaya to climb out of.
……
“What youth this is.”
Sital crossed his arms on the stand, smiling ruefully.
The Judgment Head, Rod, furrowed his brows. “Are you not going to step in to save that little guy?”
Sital shook his head. “Let’s wait and see. I have a feeling this kid’s current state isn’t just hanging on.”
“Of course, I could be overthinking it, as ordinarily, a Grand Knight would never be able to cross a rank to defeat such a giant magical creature.”
However, Shaya had already given him too many surprises today.
Why not look forward to it just a little this time?
He mocked himself with a smile and then stood up, taking a deep breath as he called out with a strong voice, “Kid, you better listen closely!”
His booming voice spread throughout the arena.
“The Mountain Giant’s fatal weakness is its single eye, provided you can deal damage comparable to an Extraordinary Knight!”
“You have gone mad.” Rod shook his head. “Even if he is a five-star Grand Knight, you know how far he is from an Extraordinary Knight.”
Sital laughed heartily, “Just treat it as me being crazy.”
After all, even he didn’t hold out much hope.
It was just a spontaneous, carefree suggestion.
But what neither of them expected was that after the dust began to clear, Shaya, with his back to them, seemingly heard Sital’s cue and raised his right hand high, giving a thumbs-up.
As if to say—
Got it!
