“Time up!” Klaus declared.
The moment his voice registered, all the students stopped whatever they were doing.
All the Automatons around also ceased movements, hanging their heads low as though the power on them had been cut off. The hole where they spawned from also ceased to bring forth anymore.
“Hoo… that was fun,” I whispered.
Klaus told all of us to gather in a row while snapping his fingers to jolt the Automatons back to life.
Once they cocked their heads and began moving again, the constructs moved in the direction of their spawned site and fell into the hole they came from.
I watched as the last of them disappeared from sight and, shortly after, the tiles that vanished earlier returned to their spots. It was as if the holes that were spread across the stage never existed.
“Congratulations on making it this far. The results will be announced shortly, but before that, I will clarify that there was no bias in recording your scores.”
From his tone, I could already guess that the list was going to be quite controversial.
“Every Automaton has an ‘Image Capturing’ Magic embedded within. This allows them to capture the identity of whoever defeats them before they are rendered unfunctional.”
Klaus further explained that each Automaton transferred the information of those who defeated them to the records before they were vanquished, leaving an accurate testament to determine the winners of the round.
“Your faces, body structures, and even outfits, have been registered the moment you entered the ring. So, it is safe to say that all the information is one hundred percent accurate.”
I smiled in amusement, watching how Klaus diligently explained the process in order to ensure no doubt remained on our minds.
‘Even if you guys cheat us, it’s not like the students have any power to change the results… that is if we even find out, to begin with…’
Still, his efforts were admirable.
“Before the final results are displayed, I believe Jared Leonard was supposed to have two turns. Please get ready for your second—”
“Forget about that. I concede!” My voice interrupted the moderator.
Klaus nodded immediately, fortunately choosing not to probe further into my decision.
“Now, then, the results will be displayed now…” Klaus pointed at the screen that once showed the timer of the Automatons subjugation.
A different panel was now displayed, showing a list of names as well as numbers beside them.
I focused my eyes on the list to completely immerse myself in its contents.
[AUTOMATON SUBJUGATION RANKING]
[1st Place]
—Kuzon Midas: 300 Automatons
[2nd Place]
—Jared Leonard: 298 Automatons
[3rd Place]
—Anabelle Frederick: 208 Automatons
[4th Place]
—Stefan Netherlore: 119 Automatons
[5th Place]
—Maria Helmsworth: 118 Automatons
[6th Place]
—Ivan Smith: 89 Automatons
[7th Place]
—Rias Lendertale: 56 Automatons
[8th Place]
—Nil
[END OF INFORMATION]
A frown formed on my face as I noticed who was the lead among all of us.
‘He surpassed me by just 2 kills? Shit! I should have taken the subjugation more seriously!’ I gritted my teeth internally.
I had no idea why I felt so frustrated by the result—maybe I just didn’t want to lose.
Still, it was as though this match was foreboding how the Finals would go down.
There was no way I wanted to lose to anyone!
“A-amazing!”
“The Lower Class guys got both second and third positions.”
“Stefan scored above Maria?”
“What’s with that large gap?”
“Oh, shit! This is amazing!”
My hearing picked up several murmurs among the crowd. I sighed and took another look at the list, grudgingly looking past the first position.
I didn’t score too badly, and I was proud of Ana for trailing directly behind me. The most surprising aspect of the list was who got fourth place.
‘Stefan really beat Maria?’
No, I didn’t believe it. Especially taking a closer look at the points they both earned. Maria scored one point lower than Stefan, and I had a feeling it wasn’t just pure coincidence. If I had to guess, it would be that Maria actually…
“Why did you do it?” I suddenly heard Stefan’s agitated voice.
My eyes subtly moved in his direction as I saw a dissatisfied look on his face. He was glaring at Maria who maintained her usual cool.
“You intentionally scored below me, right? Why?!” He hushed, clearly upset at the girl.
‘Oh? So that’s how it is…’ I smiled softly.
“What proof do you have that I did that?” Maria finally responded, sort of giving herself away by her reply.
‘Pfft.’ I nearly laughed in amusement.
“Y-you… you’re always like this! Why do you always hold back because of me? Is it because you think I can’t keep up with you, or what?” Stefan said again.
A hint of pain reflected in his eyes. I could sense inferiority oozing from him, something that spurred on his anger.
“Stefan… that has nothing to do with this…” Maria whispered in a very soft and gentle tone.
Her eyes suddenly moved in my direction, stunning me a bit. Before I could remove my eyes away, she had already noticed J was watching.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind at all. No, now that I thought of it well, this girl had always been strange in that way.
Stefan seemed to follow her gaze and his line of vision reached me as well. I saw his scowl deepen, as though asking me ‘What are you looking at?’.
It was too late for me to pretend like I wasn’t observing their conversation, so I simply ignored Stefan and kept looking at them. This seemed to annoy the boy even more, though.
“You want to fight him, don’t you?” Maria’s soft voice suddenly seemed to cut through our tensed silence.
Stefan’s face sharply turned to her, as though trying to protest the matter.
“Then use this chance I’ve given you to do so… it won’t come again.”
Her tone seemed to contain a bit of seriousness, especially in the last phrase, before she finally fell silent again.
I saw as Stefan gritted his teeth and clenched his fist powerlessly, unable to argue any longer.
“F-fine…” The boy’s voice weakly trailed.
“… I understand…”