"…" Everyone was stunned when they saw the result. They all dropped their jaws, not believing what just happened.
"Did… Did Theo just throw his own flag?" Sheira's voice echoed in their ears as she seemed to be as perplexed as most people in the stadium.
Only a few people actually understood Theo's tactic.
"He is only a first-year student, but he is already this good?"
"This one is so nasty."
"His intent may have been discovered, but no one will know who is going to fight in the remaining battles."
"Indeed. He doesn't behave like a normal student as he seems to not care much about his fame and reputation. He simply wants to win."
"Recruiting him may be harder than we thought."
"But if we succeed, the reward is big."
All those who understood Theo quickly reconsidered their offer, wondering how they could invite Theo. A loner like him should be easy to change nationality, but they required more information about Theo, especially as an individual.
While those people talked, Theo and the others had returned to their room with a poker face.
"Hahahaha! I truly love that move. Did you see your cousin's expression? It's so satisfying!" Phyrill laughed out loud.
Theo looked at him with a serious expression to shut him up.
After feeling his glare, Phyrill took a deep breath to stop his laughter.
"I'm sure you have understood her level right now. It's impossible for us to challenge those B Rank Skills. Although it looks like one upgrade from C Rank Skill, you should still look at the difference between D to C Rank and C to B Rank.
"From D Rank or Champion Rank Monster to C Rank or Hero Rank Monster, there is only a 100 levels gap. Meanwhile, from C to B Rank, there is a huge 250 levels gap. Those two skills are too powerful." Theo shook his head. "It's close to impossible to defeat her."
"Hoh? Close to impossible?" Alea frowned and looked at Theo.
"The plan is the same. I'm going to fight her one-on-one. After all, the only one who can handle her is me… Don't you agree?" Theo shrugged.
"I guess your Teleportation Skill is the only way to escape from it…" Phyrill noticed the hidden meaning behind his arrogance.
"Exactly. I don't need to take it head-on. Just use Blink together with my clone, which adds up to two. Two B Rank Skills against two Teleportation Skills… I think this is the best chance against her."
"You have exhausted her a bit after all." Phyrill nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. That's all. We don't have any change in the basic plan. We can only respond to what they throw at us during the brawl."
"Roger." Phyrill nodded and rose from the chair. "Let's go."
Laust and Alea agreed as they couldn't waste any more time.
They quickly headed to the arena.
Before entering the arena, Phyrill added, "Theo's request. We are to end this fight within five minutes."
"Can you do something like that?"
"Yes. Alea will handle Clark. Laust and I will aim for the flag. We both are speed-type fighters, so we should be able to do it better than the previous match."
Alea fell silent, falling into deep thought.
"What? Do you have any objections?" Phyrill asked while squinting his eyes.
"No… It's just that…" Alea hesitated for a moment and soon shook her head. "Never mind. I'm going to check it first."
"Is that so?" Phyrill nodded and turned back to the arena as they stepped outside, making their appearance in front of the audience.
Hearing the cheers, the opposite team also came out.
Clark sighed as soon as they stopped before them. "Our princess is still mad, you know."
"You should tell Theo, not us. Besides, she seemed to be happy whenever she met Theo… It's surprising to hear she is angry." Alea smiled while raising her vision. Clark seemed to be their target, so they understood what they needed to do.
"That's the thing. We can't really understand what's in her mind. I guess puberty hit her hard." Clark shrugged.
"Well, I don't want to waste any more time… Can we start?" Alea smiled and pulled her sword. Laust and Phyrill followed her movement as they raised their swords, preparing to move right away.
Because of Alea's confirmation, Diego glared at Clark and his team, preventing him from buying more time.
"I guess you are right." Clark nodded and summoned his robotic arms while his teammates, Scarlet and Laura, prepared to receive an attack.
The black-haired girl was the one who stopped Sihan in their first meeting in front of the hotel, so Laust decided to be her opponent, considering she also used a sword.
Meanwhile, Phyrill took the other one. She was with Ellen if he remembered correctly, so since he was scared of Ellen's second personality, Phyrill decided to end her personally.
"Match starts!" Diego announced as he leaped back, giving them the place to fight.
"Lycanthrope Transformation." Phyrill released his transformation as his hands and feet were covered with fur and nail. His pink hair changed to grey as Phyrill's eyes became sharper.
Releasing his lightning, Phyrill waved his right sword down. The lightning in his sword ran through the ground and made its way to Laura.
"Channeling."
Laura snapped her finger as a wall emerged from the ground, dispersing the lightning.
Scarlet, on the other hand, waved her sword to Phyrill, but Laust already appeared before her, striking her sword to the ground.
Clink.
"…" Their eyes intertwined as if they seemed to understand what each other planned to do in this battle.
"I will be your opponent, I guess." Scarlet smiled sweetly.
However, Clark didn't let anyone talk as he struck the ground with his fist.
It was the same Ice Technique that covered the arena with Ice Crystals.
"Inch Slash." Alea sent her strike and destroyed all the Ice Crystals that came at her group and took a deep breath. Her expression turned grave as her gentle eyes gradually became colder, matching the atmosphere.
It was a direct challenge for Clark.
"So, that's how it is." Clark smiled as he raised both hands. Killing intent started emanating from his body as Clark waved his hand provocatively. "Let's see if you are stronger than them?"