Emil and Ricard crawled on the ground on all fours like bugs and climbed one step after another under everyone's watchful eyes.

Their clothes were soaked with sweat, their mouths gasping for breath and their eyes sometimes looking ahead and sometimes looking at each other.

At times Emil would get a lead, some other times Ricard would gain one, but they were on equal grounds for most of the part.

They had a lot to say to each other, mostly nothing nice, but they couldn't bring themselves to speak.

Not when even breathing was considered a challenge.

The extreme gravitational force made their bones crack ever so slightly with each movement.

One step, two steps, three steps...

After a good five minutes, the two made it to the final step.

Beyond that was victory. Beyond that was the title of number one.

Looking at each other again, with their eyes almost popping out, they put the last bit of their strength into crawling and moved for the final step.

"Here it comes, the finishing line, the two are a hair's breadth away from each other, which one will make it up first?"

The students, the staff, the Academy's residents, everyone else composing the spectators, all five judges, Helen, her sister and her friend, Mr Pewterschmidt, as well as all remaining participants within the sixth stage looked on in anticipation, their hearts banging against their chests.

The two reached out for the finish line simultaneously, so in sync in fact, that none of the onlookers could tell who won.

"Huff, Huff."

Upon passing the finish line, gravity returned to normal and the two could catch their breaths.

"Huff, i won you little, Huff, you little bastard."

"Huff, Kekeke, listen to yourself. Huff, i was the one who won."

If possible, they would've liked to give one another a taste of their fists.

However, with both their mana, stamina and physical strength exhausted, all they could settle for was bickering like little children.

Outside of the competition venue, the square was bustling with noise.

"The trash won, i saw it."

"You saw what? I saw Ricard's hand pass first."

"Yeah he's right, Ricard's hand passed first."

"Well the two of you should get your eyes checked, cause clearly you'd have been able to tell if you paid enough attention."

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?"

"What? Trying to make back the Merit Points you lost earlier?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Pewterschmidt, paying no heeds to the clamor started chanting a spell.

Soon, the largest screen which was showing Emil and Ricard started rewinding back, straight to the point where they touched the finish line.

The image paused, zoomed in and started playing in slow motion.

Everyone went silent, their full attention of the screen.

Apparent to the eye, was Emil's hand touching the finish line just a few milliseconds earlier than Ricard's.

Few milliseconds or not, the rules were the rules.

And according to them, Emil was the winner.

"And the winner is... Emil Ashdown! With just a few milliseconds difference!"

The news set off another wave of conversation among the crowd.

"Hmph, winner my ass. Didn't he cheat his way to victory?"

"Yeah, from the first stage to the sixth, all he did was cheat and use tricks.

He didn't play fairly."

"How's this fair to everyone else who competed with skills and hardwork?"

"We don't accept it, Ricard is the winner.

The trash should be disqualified!"

"Yeah, gotta be disqualified!"

"Disqualify, Disqualify, Disqualify!"

The crowd's voice united once again, raising it in protest.

Emil and Ricard who were teleported back to the square could hear their chants immediately upon arriving.

Ricard gave him a smirk, but didn't say anything.

He had to get back into character. The talented yet humble young prince, the apple of everyone's eyes, the man of every girl's dreams.

About ten minutes later, all the participants were teleported back to the square with Alfred, Max and Eric passing the finish line and the rest giving up halfway through.

At this point the crowd had quieted down and after a brief discussion with the other judges, Piers saw it in himself to stand up and disclose the situation to the participants.

"Emil Ashdown, you're the winner by definition, but are accused of suspicious behavior during the competition, hence the crowd believes you should be disqualified.

However, that will be up to us, the judges, and you, depending one what you have to say for yourself."

Emil was first elated to find out he won, but his face turned sour upon hearing the following lines.

Trouble always seemed to rear its ugly head to him.

He'd went against all odds and won the race, yet he still wasn't off the hook.

"Yes, i understand."

Emil responded firmly, his face calm but his heart racing with anxiety.

The pressure from the crowd, their scornful looks, it wasn't easy to deal with.

He only found it in himself to act calm because Piers was here. He knew he was gonna be there to defend him no matter what.

"Alright then, we shall start without further ado."

Piers stated.

"Firstly, how could you tell the trees apart in the first stage."

He asked Emil, his voice not too gentle, not too pressing.

"The haunted trees had a slightly darker shade, i could only tell after observing them carefully since I couldn't pass the stage with my own strength alone."

Emil responded, his emotions indiscernible.

His answer was firm and came quick, but not quick enough for people to think he'd already come up with it beforehand, adding credibility to his words.

"Miss Lain, is that possible?"

Piers asked a middle aged woman standing not too faraway.

"Yes, the haunted trees, despite very much resembling normal trees, are not 100% accurate. Only by observing them long and carefully would you be able to tell the difference."

Miss Lain responded without missing a beat.

She was the caster of the spell responsible for the Haunted trees, no one would know better than her.

"Thank you Miss Lain."

Piers looked at the other judges to see if they had anything to add.

Everyone remained quiet, the explanation was viable.

"In the second stage, the golem that was supposed to spawn and be your opponent didn't appear, allowing you to pass through without a fight. Do you have anything to say about this? Did you have anything to do with it?"

Piers moved on to the next question.

"No sir. i, much like everyone else made it to the second stage and was waiting for my opponent to spawn, but nothing came up no matter how long i waited, so I just moved on."

Emil's response sparked conversations among the audience.

He was denying all allegations of cheating, and coloring himself innocent.

However, no matter what the audience believed, allegations were only allegations. With no evidence to back them up, they couldn't prove Emil wrong.

This matter, it was for the judges to see through.

"Mister Nesta, do you have anything to add as the person who laid the formation?"

Piers asked Gerold Nesta, the judge, Inscriptions and Formations teacher who was in fact, A Formation Grandmaster, and responsible for the second stage's formation.

All eyes locked on Gerold as they waited for his ruling.