Free Web NovelChapter 112: Before The Storm
[Seems like the match concluded.]
"..."
Mika looked at the arena, where the loud cheers came from.
He was still in the streets.
Everyone else was also looking in the direction of the arena.
However, among those people, someone in a coat was approaching Mika.
"!"
Mika noticed the person’s presence too late.
The person was already within arm’s reach.
"Oh, you noticed me? And I thought this coat would hide my presence..." the person said disappointedly.
As the person lifted their head, the black eyes of a woman were revealed.
She leaned closer to him.
"But I guess, I know why." she added with a wide smile.
Mika immediately tried to move away but was stopped by her.
"Don’t make a commotion here if you don’t want me to go on a rampage here." she whispered slyly.
"Tch..."
He gritted his teeth.
"Let’s settle this somewhere else." she said, looking at the dark alley beside them.
"Or I will kill you here and now so fast that you won’t even be able to realize that you died." Mika responded with cold eyes.
"Hm~"
She seemed amused.
"Do you really want to try it? Then, let’s see if you can kill me before I cause a mass murder here."
"..."
Mika shifted his gaze to his surroundings as his hand was slightly trembling on his sword’s hilt.
He loosened up and sighed.
"Let’s go there." he gave in reluctantly as he signaled to the alley.
"Wise decision." the woman remarked with a smile.
Thus, the two headed inside the alley until they completely disappeared from the public’s eye.
"So? Why did you approach me? There’s no way that you really think that you can get rid of me." Mika stated sharply the moment they were alone.
"Do you think so? I think I’m plenty capable enough to kill you." she responded with an innocent-looking smile.
"..."
He could tell from a glance that she was another C-rank demon.
"Were you ordered by your comrades?"
"Which comrades?"
"Don’t play dumb with me."
Her smile turned into a thin line.
"You know too much, brat."
"Now did they really send you out to kill me? If yes, then it’s a bad joke."
"I will leave it up to your imagination."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"..."
Mika was glaring at her.
He was kidnapped by Xander, demons kept an eye on him, a group of demons was in Loogam and to top it off, someone was seeking his head.
Especially the last part made him believe that they learned about his existence and his abilities.
"You know about me, right?"
"..."
"Feigning ignorance, huh? Well, that’s also an answer."
He drew his sword.
"I still don’t understand why you’re facing me alone despite knowing about me."
From his time as a hostage, he did not get enough information out of the two demons.
"I guess, I will beat the answers out of you."
Then, Mika’s hair turned golden, his eyes blue and a bright halo appeared above his head.
Excalibur also took on its true form.
[2 minutes and 50 seconds remaining.]
The alley was dark but the moment Mika transformed, the alley got even darker, especially around the woman.
"..."
The woman did not seem surprised by his appearance, meaning that she indeed knew about him.
She looked at her arm watch and sighed.
"This is easier said than done..." she muttered exhaustedly despite still smiling.
Then, her gaze shifted to Mika.
"I hope I will get compensated for my hard work."
Meanwhile, a break was announced right after Lily won the final match against Sylvia.
Both Lily and Sylvia were carried away by the teachers and sent to the infirmary.
Even if they were to consume potions, their injuries and fatigue were so great that they still needed to rest in the infirmary for the time being.
"Lily Hayth, huh...?" Xander muttered with a smirk.
After the match ended, he headed outside and sat down on a bench, where no one was in the vicinity.
He took out a small notebook and went through a few pages.
There were names, which he seemingly crossed.
Among those names were also a lot of names of the current second-year students. However, they, too, were crossed.
Then, he took out a pen and wrote down ’Lily Hayth’ right beneath the name ’Belian Ziva’.
"Hmm... But that Sylvia was also not bad..." he pondered.
"Oh well, I’ll take a look at her after I’m done with those two." he stated carefreely as he closed his book.
From his peripheral sight, he noticed Cail, his little brother, approaching him. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Xander sighed before he put away his things.
In the meantime, in the public stands.
"It was nice to meet you all. But I have to go see after my daughter now!" Lena stated with a smile before she left.
Belian, Harik and Rachel waved their hands at her.
"She must be worried about her." Rachel said quietly with a slightly saddened voice.
"Naturally. She’s her mother after all." Belian added indifferently.
"On one hand she must be happy about her win but on the other hand it must be cruel to watch her daughter suffer such injuries." Harik elaborated sternly.
The three, however, dismissed their worries as they deemed it pointless to try to understand a mother’s feeling.
"Anyway, it’s your turn now, right, Belian?" Harik stated.
"Do you feel ready?" Rachel added.
"Yes. After seeing the match between Lily and Sylvia, I’m getting more eager to enter the field." Belian replied, showing a faint smirk.
"Heh, these two really are monsters. So what do you say, Rachel? Do you think you can beat Lily?"
"..."
Rachel was pondering.
"Didn’t it seem fishy?" she said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Harik asked. freewebnoveℓ.com
"So you’ve noticed, too, huh?" Belian said sternly.
She nodded her head once.
"As great as the match was, it felt kind of odd... I had the feeling that they couldn’t demonstrate their full power." Rachel stated with a sharp gaze.
Harik tilted his head, whereas Belian stared at the ground.
"Was it since the start of the fourth round when everyone acted weirdly?" Rachel wondered.
"Is there perhaps a magic tool involved...?" Belian muttered.
"Belian?"
"Sorry, it’s nothing. I will head to the resting hall for now. Let’s talk about this later."
Thus, he left his seat.
As he walked to the resting hall to prepare himself, he passed by a few guests.
Belian shifted his gaze slightly to them whenever he saw a family.
"That match was incredible! I may have lost my bet but I don’t feel upset at all!"
"I know, right? I still have goosebumps!"
"Are all white-class students so strong?"
A few guests were talking loudly about the last match, still feeling excited.
Belian smirked faintly again.
At the start of the term, he did not see his classmates as rivals or people who were stronger than him.
From the start, he was peerless, which was clear after he fought them all at once.
However, his mindset changed since then.
Now, he acknowledged Sylvia and perhaps Lily as worthy opponents.
And aside from them, there was another student, who occupied his mind.
Someone, who stood on equal ground with him, or someone, who was even superior to Belian.
Mika Elbar.
"It was a good decision to come here." he muttered, sounding satisfied.
But the moment he was about to open the door to the resting hall, his smirk vanished.
He was now focusing on his match against the Maystra brothers.
Everyone had reasons for becoming stronger.
Lily, for example, yearned for strength in order to get into the Grand Order and to be noticed by a certain individual.
Mika wanted to get stronger so that he could protect everyone he held dear.
However, Belian’s reason was nothing as chivalrous as theirs.
What he wanted was revenge.
At the same time, in the VIP lounge.
Everyone was waiting for the special match between the Maystra brothers and the duo of Belian and Mika to start.
"How can you still look like you’re over the moon, Bro...? The match is already over..." Sara asked, taken aback by her brother’s behavior.
"S-sorry, I can’t help it, hehe..." Yarjak apologized even though he was still grinning.
Sara sighed.
"It sure was a great match." Ophelia remarked proudly with crossed arms as she repeatedly nodded her head.
"Yeah, who thought that there were so many talents here?" Olivia responded.
"We’re in Loogam, you know? Of course the best of the best assemble here, you idiot." Elsa explained with a sharp glare.
"Huh? Want to throw hands, you bi-"
"Ahem!"
Norman cleared his throat exaggeratedly and nervously.
"Could you please mind your manners here?" Lereon said sternly while his eyes were closed.
"Stern as ever, huh? That’s why you don’t get any wom- Hm?"
Olivia suddenly narrowed her eyes and focused on the door.
Elsa and Lereon also noticed shortly after her that someone was coming.
Someone knocked on the door.
"It’s me."
"Mika?" Ophelia said, recognizing his voice.
Lereon opened the door.
It was indeed Mika.
However, he was covered in bruises and injuries with blood still dripping on the ground.
