Lucian always knew what a massive coward Adrian was. Ever since they were young, he would always just use their father’s money to go to auctions and collect artifacts, back when Lucian still had talent and commanded respect in the Valemont house...

Later, everything changed. Duke Valemont lost all hope in Lucian, tossing him into a corner and focusing all his attention entirely on Adrian.

Seeing his brother pushed into a corner, Adrian never once extended a helping hand. He had been waiting for this exact opportunity for years, just so he could use his daddy’s money to buy artifacts and shine in front of him...

As far as raw talent went, Adrian didn’t have anything more than an average student. That’s why Lucian was still holding himself back. He hadn’t smashed his head in yet. Adrian should have been thankful for that, but instead, it was just complain after complain...

"So Adrian, have you learned your lesson about your big brother—"

He shook his head frantically. "No no no no—"

"I mean... how to give respect to your elders..."

Adrian’s whole face had veins bulging out, his eyes had turned completely red... but he still just kept gritting his teeth, grabbing onto Lucian’s wrist...

It was clear he didn’t feel an ounce of remorse.. for whatever he did...

Sigh.

Now Lucian’s face turns completely, deadly cold as he gives him just one single glare, releasing his raw aura...

"I said... you are sorry..."

Adrian’s entire face contorts into a disgusting grimace. He was completely terrified, and then shakily... words finally manage to escape his throat...

"I-I am s-sorry..."

Lucian’s pupils shrink even more.

"I didn’t hear you."

"I-I AM S-SORRY! SORRY! SORRY!"

Even then, Lucian doesn’t let go of his grip, as if years of pent-up anger were just about to burst out. That mocking gaze, the looking down on him, the bullying... he wanted to let it all out right here, all at once...

But just then, a giant grip comes from behind... and grabs right onto Lucian’s gripping hand...

Seeing this, the three girls sitting on the white floor quickly stand up...

That giant grip belonged to none other than Adrian’s team member... Viktor Ashford.

The man was twice the size of Lucian and Adrian, and as he looked down towards Lucian, his expression was completely darkened...

"Let go of his hand..." Viktor muttered.

Lucian turned his head up.

"And what if I don’t..."

One second passed.

"Then you die...."

A black punch came hurtling forward straight at his face...

But the moment it happened... it actually never happened. The punch stopped right in mid-air..

Elira was right there, her pale hand holding back that giant, muscly fist, making it shiver right in the middle of the air..

Viktor wasn’t standing alone; Zenith was standing there too with a neutral face, carrying no weapons...

The rest of the team members were standing there too. Cassian, Dante Solari—another noble-looking prodigy—and Selene Varya, a short, pink-haired girl whose facial expressions were like a carbon copy of Kaelen’s. She looked like she could barely stand, leaning heavily on her staff while chewing the fingers of her other hand...

"H-hey g-guys, maybe we should stop, that—"

She turns around and just randomly points her finger towards the back...

"Umm, yeah, that timer... look at it, there’s only 5 minutes left on it, and it clearly says that all of our teams have to fight the upcoming battle together..."

"So... so please stop..."

Saying that, she straight up hides behind Cassian... and grabs onto him tightly...

Cassian glances at her with narrowed eyes, looking totally annoyed by this cute-looking pink-haired girl...

"Tch..."

"Hey Valemont, I mean Lucian... let him go... it could cause problems for our academy later on..."

Lucian didn’t reply...

"Hey you moron, are you listening to me..."

Drawing her sword, Sera stepped forward..

"Hey you bitches from Sovereign, how dare you all interrupt our peaceful meal..."

Selene squeaked and grabbed onto Cassian’s pants even tighter...

Just then, another team makes their entry from the other gate—the Blackmire prodigies... As soon as they stepped inside, all the entrances closed shut. It was clear they were the final team and no one else was coming... though the members of that team were completely lost in their own vibe, casually chatting as they walked in.

"Hey boss... if Nyx wasn’t there, who knows how much more we would’ve gotten our asses kicked by Instructor Kael..." Cain muttered.

"Yeah, and if you weren’t there, maybe we wouldn’t have gotten our asses kicked at all..."

"Yeah, scold him boss," their team’s another prodigy, Morven, barked.

"Because of his big mouth, we got stuck. Otherwise, Nyx had almost controlled that damn berserker instructor with her shadow magic..."

"Yeah, still, stop crying now. In the end, the instructor did give us the badge, didn’t he..." Vesper said flatly.

The tension in the room was already high. The other team, Eryx’s from the Blood Oak Institute, was already watching everything with wide eyes. Now, the Blackmire team’s banter stops abruptly too. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Hey boss," Cain gestures... "Looks like something is happening over there."

Their entire team’s eyes were already fixed on that tense scene...

And right ahead of them, the auras of all the strong ones started erupting... first Viktor’s, then Elira’s, then Sera’s, and then Zenith’s...

Lucian was suppressing his aura, his grip still holding on as tightly as before...

Just then, Sera takes two more steps forward, and Lucian finally lets go of his grip...

Adrian drops to the ground, clutching his hair... he was just crying with his face down like some whimpering boy...

Somehow, Lucian didn’t feel bad at all... even if he was his brother.. he was completely cold towards him after hearing him spout all that filthy trash about his girls...

Zenith doesn’t apologize this time. A few more seconds pass in pure tension, then Zenith sighs...

"Viktor, pull your hand back," she said calmly...

Hearing his Commander, he slowly pulls his hand back...