“That kid stole Noel’s move after seeing it just once,” Wolf said.
Logan was equally appalled. “I don’t—I can’t believe it. I just don’t understand…”
“Because it is unbelievable,” Veronica said. “Nobody should be able to so easily replicate a technique like that.”
Keith didn’t have nearly the experience of Wolf, Logan, or Veronica, yet he had shown them a glimpse of his overwhelming potential. That sneak peek alone had them reeling.
As silence settled over their locker room, the preparations began for Block A’s fourth match. This time, Pandemonium clan master Leo Edin was running up against Cave of the Universe’s star rookie, Jonnie Yen, a Scout-class Death Apostle.
Though both Pandemonium and Cave of the Universe were on the regalia, the former was third tier while the latter was second tier. When it came to the individual Seekers, Leo was at a superior level—he was one of only three in the entire empire to have attained EX-Rank. Everyone in Mirage Triad knew what frightening power EX-Rankers held. No matter how they thought about it, Leo’s victory was assured.
“There’s no way we see an upset here, right?” asked Wolf with a tense grin.
Veronica and Logan answered with similar awkward grins of their own.
Leo and Jonnie had both entered the ring. On one side, a Death Apostle. On the other, an EX-Rank War God clad in a lion mask. The match between the two lasted a mere instant.
“We have a winner!” Luna announced from the commentary box. “Masked clan master, Leo Edin! What a frighteningly powerful performance! It’s like the heavens cracked open to reveal the gods themselves! To be completely honest, I have no idea what just happened! Big sis Finocchio, can you break it down?”
Luna looked over to Finocchio but was met by silence. The clown was like a statue, frozen with his eyes wide in shock.
“Did either of you catch that?” Wolf asked his clanmates, who shook their heads.
Luna wasn’t the only one who’d missed it—so had Wolf, Veronica, Logan, and perhaps everyone else watching. None of them had even been able to see Leo’s attack. They didn’t know if it was a punch or a kick. All they knew was that the bell had rung to signify the start of the match, and then Jonnie had disappeared from the ring and ended up stuck in the far wall. Everyone knew that Leo’s attack did it because they could see its effect on the ring—the shock waves had gouged a straight line through the ring itself, starting from where Leo stood.
The members of Mirage Triad could only gape at the aftermath of it all. They had seen the strength of an EX-Ranker in the battle between Wild Tempest and Lorelai, but it hadn’t had nearly this kind of impact. It was all too clear that the innate skill level on display was prodigious.
Leo, with his extraordinary talents, far surpassed them all: Wolf, Veronica, Logan, and Keith. They believed they had the makings of a paragon, yet now they knew there were levels upon levels beyond what they even thought possible.
“Oi,” said Logan. “Look up there.”
He motioned with his chin to Noel’s locker room. Noel was watching the match from the window, but his reaction was entirely different from those of Mirage Triad.
“He’s smiling…”
There was a bloodthirsty grin on the Talker’s face as he stood with his arms crossed, looking down at Leo. It was like a beast staring down at its prey with fangs bared.
“He sees their insane match and that’s his reaction?”
Leo was scary, but Noel was utterly terrifying. Wolf felt himself growing pale at the thought. It was the sort of fear that made one dizzy.
“Wolf,” said Veronica, her voice snapping him back to reality. Her eyes bore into him as she asked, “Can you really beat him?”
Wolf couldn’t answer. Noel had surpassed him, and even then Wolf still saw the Talker as his rival. But the reality of the gap between them felt like it was impossible to breach.
Another long silence settled in the locker room.
Suddenly, Lycia piped up. “I think…I might have come up with a strategy,” she said.
Wolf and the others whirled on her in surprise.
“What is it?” he asked her.
“Um, well, hear me out,” she said pensively. “What if, at the start of the match, we…”
By the time she finished explaining her idea, the other members of the clan couldn’t believe what they’d heard.
“Lycia, are you for real?!” Veronica asked.
“She’s right! The hell are you thinking?!” Logan said.
As was evident in their cries, both balked at the idea.
“I know how it sounds,” Lycia replied with a pained smile. “I know it’s not exactly a commendable way to get what we want.”
Then her face hardened. It was the expression she wore when she went into battle.
“But if we go with this plan, it doesn’t even matter what Noel tries to do.”
If Lycia’s strategy was successful, it would almost certainly give Wolf a chance at victory. There was only one big problem.
“I can’t deny it,” said Veronica, “and given Noel’s competitive nature, there’s a good chance he’d be willing to give us a pass on it too.” She pressed a hand to her cheek in thought.
Wolf shook his head. “We can’t think like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lycia’s strategy is worth considering, and your point about Noel is right too. The problem is whether we’re really prepared to go through with this. So here’s the deal.” Wolf scanned the faces in the room before saying, “If we’re gonna do something underhanded, and we think in terms of whether Noel will forgive us for it, then he’s practically giving us the win.”
“So…?”
“If we’re going to do it, we commit, no matter what people say. We have to win, even if that means we get disqualified. We stand in the same ring on the same playing ground as Noel—that’s what’s important. We make no excuses,” Wolf said, emphasizing the last sentence. “I’m prepared to go through with it. But this isn’t just my decision to make. We stand to lose more even if we win. If you tell me we shouldn’t do this, then we won’t.”
Lycia felt as prepared as he was. Logan and Veronica dropped into thought for a moment, but they eventually gave in.
“Do as you wish,” said Logan.
“What he said,” Veronica agreed. “The rest of the clan will understand.”
“Thank you.” Wolf bowed almost apologetically. “If worse comes to worst, I’ll own up to whatever happens out there. Just let me win this match.”
✦ ✦ ✦
With Block A’s fourth match completed, the next few matches would even out the competitor numbers. The Seven Star Cup had twenty-one competitors, so some competitors had to fight more than others if they hoped to reach the finals. In Block A, this affected Noel, Keith, and Leo. For that reason, Block A’s fifth match would be Noel’s second match and Sharon’s first.
Sharon left her locker room with her cornerman in tow and headed for the ring—the battlefield. Along the way, she thought back on the conversation she’d had with Supreme Dragon’s clan master, Victor.
“You want me to enter as the clan’s second competitor?”
Victor had called her to his office and asked her to compete in his stead.
“I do. You are far more suitable than me.”
Sharon’s head tilted, puzzled. “But you’re EX-Rank. Nobody is more suitable than you.”
“I am old,” Victor replied, chuckling. “I am no stronger than an A-Ranker now.”
“But—”
He raised a hand to stop her. “I know what you wish to say: as weak as I am, I could still beat most of the competition. Correct?”
Sharon nodded silently.
“But ‘most’ is pointless,” Victor said with a deep sigh, “for I do not wish to lose to anyone at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I was at my peak, no Seeker in the empire was stronger than me. You and I accomplished many a great feat back then. The fact of my strength was obvious to anyone. That is why I fear the consequences here and now. Were I to lose, my entire career would seem to me like a farce. This fear grips me. I no longer feel pride in myself as a Seeker…”
“Oh, Victor…”
It pained Sharon to hear him express his own weakness. They’d founded Supreme Dragon together, and it broke her heart that her most trusted companion was sharing his fears.
Victor was growing old, but he still outmatched almost all Seekers. In terms of his combat prowess and his leadership, he was still first class. But even then, he could not beat the clock, and his most valuable asset—the heart, which sustained all Seekers—was eroding. Sharon couldn’t comprehend the feeling, given that she was an eternally youthful elf, but she could at least sympathize after fighting alongside him for so long.
“I understand,” she said. “I will enter the Seven Star Cup.”
The memories swirled in Sharon’s mind as she reached the ring. Her opponent, the snake, had already arrived and was undergoing a mana check. For a split second, their eyes met. Noel grinned boldly, and Sharon’s face twisted with hatred. Noel symbolized youth and destruction, whereas she symbolized order and refinement. Theirs was a relationship that could not be. The only thing they shared was their choice of weapons.
Their silver flames hung in their holsters, dripping with the cold aura of death.