Free Web NovelChapter 192: Standing Straight
Rachel jumped to Belian’s side.
"How’s it looking?" she asked.
"Not much better than your situation."
They stood with their backs facing each other.
While Belian was pointing his sword at Sara, who was on her way to him, Rachel summoned new vines and roots from the ground around them. Payl, too, still had his sight on Rachel.
Despite finding themselves at a disadvantage, Rachel and even Belian wore a nervous smile.
"..."
Completely focused on Belian and his sword, Sara was about to take a swing, whereas Payl stretched his arm forward, pointing his dagger at Rachel.
However, before they could harm Belian and Rachel, the two swiftly turned around, switching their positions.
"!"
Both Sara and Payl widened their eyes in surprise.
And then in a heartbeat, Rachel restrained Sara by wrapping multiple vines all around her body while Belian just had to stretch his arm out.
"Ugh..." Payl groaned caught off guard as he found himself with a blade lightly poking his neck.
Even if he had a dangerous ability, it could not help him overcome the size difference between a dagger and a longsword.
"Haha, seems like you’ve got me there..." Sara laughed awkwardly.
She was too focused on Belian and the thought of a pure sword fight that she forgot that this match was originally a three-on-three match, which made it possible for other teammates to help each other out. Ruling out the possibility that Belian would accept the help of his teammates for their fight was Sara’s biggest mistake.
And now she was paying the price for ignorance.
"I give up." she admitted, losing her will to fight despite still smiling shyly.
"Tch...!" Payl clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Belian’s blade was still poking Payl’s neck
"Did you plan this?" he asked with a grim expression.
But Belian did not answer him. In turn, Payl only heaved a sigh.
The truth was that it was indeed a part of their plan. Expecting that their teamwork was almost nonexistent, the Loogam students made use of that fact and laid a trap for them. And after training for days together, the white class improved their own teamwork by a lot, making the plan even more doable.
In the end, it was just a simple but effective plan considering the people they were up against as they only had to switch their opponents in the midst of the battle when they would expect it the least. Rachel would switch with Belian to restrain Sara while Belian would take down Payl, who had a disadvantage over swords.
"Fine... It’s my loss." he stated, raising both his arms in the air.
The crowd erupted in gasps.
"Damnit... Just you wait and see...!" he muttered full of spite as he walked away.
"..."
Mika had a strange feeling when he watched the unsatisfied Payl leaving.
"What? Did they really lose just like that?"
"Well, they were caught off guard, right?"
"But still... I somehow expected more from Payl..."
"Yeah... His performance today was indeed disappointing."
"Does it also seem to you like he kind of lost his edge in the past weeks? Since the Loogam students arrived, he got constantly embarrassed by them."
The local students were chatting among themselves. And Mika, who was right behind them, overheard everything. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"This may be an unexpected turn of events but now Loogam is the clear favorite to win!" Cylia announced after heaving a sigh of disappointment and embarrassment due to her daughter’s performance.
Asak was the last one standing for the Youra team but it appeared like neither he nor Harik perceived Cylia’s announcement as they were focusing all their senses on their match.
"Who do you think will win?" Rachel asked indifferently.
She wrapped her shoulder in vines to stop the bleeding temporarily and Belian put his sword in its sheath back as the two decided to not get involved. Instead, they stood on the sidelines and watched the fight between the two as if they were a part of the crowd.
"..."
Belian squinted his eyes.
Currently, Asak was still having the advantage over Harik, who was more beaten up than Asak, who only received a few hits.
"If it’s a pure one-on-one, then Harik would unfortunately lose." he said.
Rachel nodded her head softly in agreement.
"To be honest, I don’t know if I would have been able to beat Asak in hand-to-hand combat." Belian added.
"Yeah... Even though I’m not experienced in that field, I can tell that Asak is in a league of his own." Rachel said sternly.
Harik was already hitting his limits as he received one hit after another. And yet, he would not fall down, which in turn, agitated Asak more and more. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"Why won’t you give up already?!" Asak shouted.
"..."
Harik remained silent as he took the damage.
"Hrngh!" Harik groaned bluntly when Asak slammed his knee in Harik’s face.
The ground around them was stained with blood. However, it was mostly blood coming from Harik.
He was bending back as if he was about to fall but he regained his balance in the last second.
"!"
With clenched fists, Harik threw a heavy punch.
"Ugh...!"
Despite putting up his arms, Asak still felt the impact as he was pushed back.
"Tch!"
Harik followed after him and launched a barrage of punches aimed at the same spot.
Asak was walking backward as he was pressured by Harik.
"Uff!"
And after he finally loosened up his defense, Harik landed a clean strike to the face, making Asak stumble even further away.
"!"
He lifted his face when he saw Harik jumping high with his fists balled up together.
Just in time, Asak jumped away before Harik hammered his fists down on him.
"Enough!" he yelled with gritted teeth.
Asak rotated on his heel before he hit Harik’s temple with his heel.
After that Harik was on the ground.
"Haa... Haa..."
Asak’s breathing was ragged as he, too, neared his limits.
"Just what are you trying to pull...?" Asak muttered in disbelief when Harik was showing signs of slowly getting up.
"Seems like it was worth it to train his endurance by letting him fight every day until he would collapse." Mika muttered pensively.
"You did what...?" Cail murmured taken aback.
Harik was on his feet again.
"Today... No... From today onward, I won’t let anyone trample over me nor will I ever run away again... No matter how many there are and no matter who it is..." Harik murmured.
"You monster..." Asak remarked at the sight of Harik, who was covered in big bruises and was bloody all over his body.
"Call me whatever you want... I don’t care anymore. After all, I have finally found people, who won’t judge me for my appearance."
Harik’s gaze turned firm.
However, his body could not keep up any longer as it was crying in pain.
"..."
With a stern expression, Asak was already in front of Harik again without him even noticing.
"I see. Looks like that training changed your personality, too, huh?"
And with a sound resembling a loud bang, Asak landed a clean kick to Harik’s abdomen. As a result, Harik crashed against the wall.
"Should we step in now?" Rachel asked worriedly.
"There’s no need for that." Belian replied calmly while looking at Asak, who was still grim and stern.
From the dust, which was created from the crash, Harik emerged.
After all his injuries and damage he received, Harik still stood with his back straight.
"This is truly the look of a person, who won’t shy away from anyone anymore." Belian commented with a smile.
Harik stood straight and emitted confidence, however, his legs were shaking whenever he took a step forward and his eyes were about to shut.
"..."
Asak took a deep breath.
He did not seem annoyed or stern anymore.
"I give up." he stated apathetically.
Following that, the crowd got even louder in disbelief.
He turned his back on Harik, who was not even in the state to completely grasp his words.
"As if I could win against all three of them..." he muttered relaxed.
It appeared like Asak had some time to get a grasp of the overall situation after letting Harik crash into the wall earlier. It was then that Asak noticed that his two other teammates had already lost.
He quickly knew that it would not matter if he would win against Harik. After all, Rachel and Belian were waiting for him and considering their combat styles, Asak could not see even a small possibility of winning.
"Hey, what are you doing?! I was betting on you guys!"
"How could you all just give up?!"
"Is this scripted?!"
The crowd was anything but happy with the result, which was understandable after each one of them just gave up.
"Well, then. Let me honor the winner of the match-"
Cylia was stepping forward.
"Hm? Where are you going?" Lily wondered, seeing Mika stand up.
"Just going to the toilet." he replied.
However, that was just an excuse to leave without having to explain himself in detail.
In reality, Mika was planning to head to Payl.
