Free Web NovelChapter 186: Chapter 186: Who Landed First?
Chapter 186 – Who Landed First?
The Entrance Exam was watched by the entire Badur Kingdom. It was literally an event during which no one was permitted to work.
Every single person was either at home watching through their runic TV, or if they couldn’t afford one, clustered around shops that had them.
Snacks and soda were freely distributed, adding to the festive atmosphere.
They were all excited to witness the new generation supposed to protect them from the monsters and other hostile powerhouses across the Khatab Continent.
Even knowing how bloody the Exam usually was, it didn’t change the fact that it was one of their few entertainments.
And for a Kingdom that worshipped the Lord of Death, their relationship with death was a strange and peculiar one.
Many children stared at the blank screen waiting for it to begin, with deep longing, wondering if one day they would be among those people.
It was an honour few would ever experience.
But when the screen flickered on, showing participants plummeting from the sky toward the ground at a speed so great their skin was literally being cut by the air, every watcher’s eyes went wide with shock.
"This...this has never happened before! Is this really the Entrance Test?"
"How are they going to survive falling from that height?! At this rate all of them will die before the show even begins!"
"I-I can’t watch this! I am literally shaking just from looking!"
Throughout the Kingdom, young and old, men and women, rich and poor — all of them watched with aghast faces.
Those who had children or relatives participating were in an even worse state, with some faint-hearted people literally losing consciousness at the thought of their children being smashed into the ground.
No one entertained the idea that the Academy would save them.
They had been warned.
Not once, not twice. But three times. And the Elysia Academy never did anything more than three.
...
Meanwhile, three minutes before the Entrance Test began, a floating arena had been constructed in seconds high in the sky.
It was ridiculously large, the size of more than half of Desde City.
Sitting within its rows of seats were the students of the Academy, mainly second, third and some fourth years.
No fifth years were present. All of them were busy elsewhere.
Isolde could be seen sitting there alongside the twins, Lucian and Lilien.
At the centre of the arena was a wide floating screen divided into dozens of smaller screens showing different angles.
The runic cameras — invisible at that point — were undoubtedly focused on the most important participants. The most promising ones.
And one of those screens showed Cassius Desdemona with his maid, about to be thrown from the flying carriage.
It was that same screen that Sefira, Aldrin, Dorian and Morgan were all focused on, their faces splitting into smiles.
They were sitting inside a wide VIP room filled with other nobles of the Kingdom.
Ulrich Stormblessed was there, sitting with a gentle smile on his face. Sophia and Cole Amaris were also present, acting like the perfect couple despite the horrendous tension brewing beneath the surface.
The Patriarch of the Tier Two Castria Family, Stanley Castria, alongside the Patriarch of the Tier Two Safara Family, Boris Safara, were also present in luxurious suits.
The mother of Klaus, Theodora Handoff, was there as well, her worried black eyes fixed on her troublesome son. She was the exact image of Klaus, except she had none of his arrogant flair.
Norman Silver, father of Keisha, sat beside Mirror Glassscion, mother of Natalia.
The Knight of Grace, father of Jonatha, and two other Knights from the Deathless Crusaders — their faces hidden behind masks — were also present.
They were deadly silent.
And above all of them, the King and Queen of the Kingdom sat at the very back, just beside the Desdemona and Stormblessed...and, surprisingly, the Wealth Family, with Willow Wealth — a stunning dark-skinned woman with pink eyes and braided black hair adorned with jade rings — and her firstborn, River Wealth.
The room was thick with noble aura, and an undercurrent of tension hung in the air like a taste.
And it was in that tense atmosphere that Sefira let out a cold, amused, arrogant chuckle, causing every noble in the room to narrow their eyes instinctively, knowing trouble was coming.
And indeed...
"Who will dare this time?" Sefira said, entirely unconcerned by the presence of the King and Queen. One was her younger brother, the other was her mother. She was safe as long as she provoked these nobles without using her power.
Ulrich smiled, sparing her a glance. "This year is different, Sefira. Are you confident your family will still hold the Palatine spot?"
"Is there any year where my children participated and were not Palatine?"
"As I said, this year is different."
"Why, of course it is. My baby is participating after all." Sefira shrugged. "Do you perhaps believe your son will win against mine, Ulrich? I hope you are not that delusional."
"It would be a grave sin not to believe in my own son."
"Oh really." Sefira threw a rapid glance around at the other families. "They don’t look like they believe in theirs, though."
Morgan and Dorian smiled.
"Don’t involve me in your pointless games." Stanley said flatly, his sword-shaped pupils glaring at both Ulrich and Sefira.
"My daughter will certainly not be Palatine." Boris Safara said with a chuckle that sounded like a growl. He was a large man. "But top five is definitely possible for her. Now, who dares to say otherwise? Come, let’s wager! Hahahah!"
"Then," Sophia said boldly, "I shall wager on my own daughter placing in the top five. The top one and two seem quite impossible, I admit that."
"Oh." Willow whispered, looking at her son River with a lazy smile. "What rank do you think our youngest can reach?"
"Realistically?" he asked.
"Of course."
"Top ten, mother. If she uses what we gave her correctly, I should add."
"About right, yes." Willow laughed demurely, the sound like gold scraping against gold.
All of them began predicting where their children would place.
Only the King and Queen refrained from saying anything, even though Morenna desperately wanted to.
However, none of them dared to claim the Palatine spot. Not because they lacked faith in their children, but because it was simply impossible.
The first spot was going to be between Stormblessed and Desdemona, by every reasonable account.
And many of them, silently, already knew which was more likely.
"I recently obtained an item related to the Blood Path." Ulrich said, looking at the Desdemona family as a whole. "I have no real use for it. But it is still a Tier Three item. I cannot give it away for nothing."
"I suppose you want to wager?" Sefira guessed.
"Yes." Ulrich said, looking at her with confident eyes. "I wager that my son Emrys will be Palatine. If I lose, the Tier Three artifact is yours. The King and Queen can bear witness."
"Then I wager that my baby, Cassius, will be Palatine. As for the item..." she trailed off, and Aldrin continued immediately, his voice resonating through the room. "It will be the origin blood of a Deathless Butterfly Turtle, an Irregular category monster of the Death Path."
A silent collective gasp moved through the room, eyes widening slightly. Even Ulrich and Willow.
Aldrin’s face remained still, as if carved from stone.
Ulrich looked at him deeply, then his face split into an amused smile.
"How generous of you." He laughed. "Who am I to say no to such a gift? I accept the wager!"
They looked in unison at the King and Queen, waiting for confirmation.
Morenna glanced briefly at her daughter, then sighed inwardly and nodded. "We bear witness."
The wager was official, and as if waiting for precisely that moment, the three minutes expired, and the participants of the Exam were all trying to survive the Great Fall.
...
Hundreds of students were falling.
All of them had been stunned and dazed at the start, their minds refusing to accept the situation.
But rapidly, the most adaptive, strong-willed and talented among them began to act to reach the ground safely.
At that altitude, oxygen was becoming more available, causing their lungs to hurt less.
Numerous Skills flared to life, painting the sky into a canvas of colours and phenomena — beautiful, but dreadful.
Fire raged wrathfully, ice spread out in silence, and the air itself cracked and shuddered under the unleashed power.
The most bloodthirsty among them decisively killed others to use them as tools for survival. Shouts, curses, pain, fear and wicked delight could be seen and tasted.
Amidst the chaos, however, a handful of participants stood out for their unusual methods.
There was Meadow Wealth, with Omm beside her. She took out a small metallic sphere from her space ring, smiled sweetly, and injected her essence into it. It glowed and spread out like the maw of a beast, enveloping both her and Omm in protective armour.
Their weight increased dramatically as a result, and they began falling faster than most. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Love de Bayard’s body glowed with numerous runes of different kinds. She whispered under her breath, and those runes gathered behind her back, forming wing-like tattoos. Using more of her essence, literal wings made of multicoloured flowers appeared behind her. She flapped them and dove in.
Anesthesia Amaris was falling beside Raven Hood and Esmeray Hood. Sarah was there too, but Anesthesia ignored the maid entirely.
Anesthesia looked at Raven and smiled tauntingly.
"Don’t die, Prince. It would be embarrassing." She said, under the howling wind, before turning toward a young girl not far from her who was already bleeding from her eyes and ears from lack of oxygen.
She reached out and grabbed the girl tightly, causing her to gasp in shock.
"You—!"
"Shut up. You are going to die anyway. Be useful before your death." Anesthesia said coldly, pushing the girl’s power to its absolute limit with her Skill, then stood on her back, using her as a landing platform.
The spectators in the arena and across the Kingdom watched with chills in their hearts.
Raven looked at his sister and pointed at Sarah. "Help her, sister."
Esmeray nodded. "Of course." She grabbed Sarah’s hand, activated her Skill, and they vanished.
Raven, meanwhile, crossed his arms over his chest and let himself fall. His eyes were closed, as if asleep.
On the other side, Keisha was with Natalia. The Glassscion Heiress simply created a mirror beneath them, causing them to step through into another layer of reality.
Klaus moved like wind. With his Spirit, Windy, he was flying straight toward the ground with ridiculous ease.
The spectators watching were all flushed and roaring, blood pumping, as the sky was painted and rained in blood.
Soon after, the screens in the arena and across the Kingdom split into two equal halves.
The right showing Emrys Stormblessed. The left showing Cassius Desdemona.
The two favourites had not yet acted.
That changed immediately.
Both commoners and nobles watched with bated breath, and the next few seconds surpassed the imagination of nearly all of them.
In one frightening instant, Emrys Stormblessed — who had been sitting cross-legged while falling, expression unbothered — snapped his eyes wide open, burning with golden lightning so bright the heavens darkened.
At that exact same moment, as if sensing what was coming, Cassius grabbed Océane in his arms and screamed:
"Brace yourself!!"
Océane barely had time to register the words before Cassius dove headfirst toward the ground.
Using Bloodflame, Cassius summoned wide crimson wings of flame behind his back.
Added to that, he gathered the blood of the fallen beneath his feet and at the edges of his wings.
He drew a deep breath, his eyes blazing with crimson fire, then flapped his wings with everything he had — while simultaneously detonating the blood beneath his feet and at the edges of the wings.
All of that while activating his crimson flame in the midst of it, and detonating even the blood inside his own body.
The speed created from all those different applications of Bloodflame compounded with horrific results.
He tore through the air so fast the runic cameras filming him lagged behind, catching only his afterimage and the sea of fire left in his wake.
Before anyone could gather their thoughts, Cassius was an inch from the ground. Only then did the sound of the explosion echo outward, creating blistering shockwaves strong enough to evaporate numerous clouds.
It was at that exact moment that a golden thunder struck down from the heavens — in less than a millisecond — landing straight on Emrys Stormblessed and continuing on to the ground in under a second.
When the thunder vanished, Emrys was no longer in the air.
He had already reached the ground in the yellow forest, and had already killed a Ravager in the same motion, now sitting atop the charred corpse of the monster.
But he was not the only one. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Cassius had also landed with a cataclysmic impact on the black dunes, creating a pit thousands of metres deep from his point of impact, and killing numerous Tier Seven and some Tier Six sandworms in the process.
All of this happened in three seconds.
Thus, Emrys Stormblessed and Cassius Desdemona were the first to reach the ground safely.
<PHENOMENAL!!!! PHEEEENOOOOMEEEENAAAAAALLL!!!>
<IN THREE SECONDS! IN THREE BLOODY SECONDS!!!>
"OHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The spectators roared with everything in their lungs. The arena shook as if about to collapse, and the Kingdom itself trembled. Yet amidst the deafening cheers and flushed faces, one question echoed inside the mind of every single one of them:
"Who landed first?"
—End of Chapter 186—
