A dead silence enveloped the entire building.
The second years were shocked speechlessly.
What was supposed to be a battle royale was turned into two groups fight.
And the more surprising thing was that the group with the lower members won.
If it was any other time, such news wouldn't have been so shocking.
But this time?
The group that won only consisted of three members while the other group numbered about seventy.
Yet the three defied all logic and won the battle.
No, upon realizing an important point, some of the second years couldn't help but gasp.
It was two vs seventy, not three.
Joe was nowhere to be seen.
Looking at Arianne who helped Arlo up, one of the second years couldn't help but blurt out:
"Is this even possible?"
No one answered the students as they were unsure of what just happened.
If it wasn't for the fact that they saw it with both their eyes, they would never believe such a thing was possible.
"Doesn't this remind you of those two people?" asked another student.
Some of them couldn't help but nod their heads in agreement.
Arlo and Arianne could indeed be compared to those legendary figures.
"No!"
A student sitting above the rest of the second-year students suddenly spoke.
If it was an ordinary person who tried to contradict the group, they wouldn't have hesitated to lash at him.
But this person wasn't ordinary as even though he was a nobody worth mentioning among the second years, he was still the strongest among those present.
The boy who was in the beginner-level master realms crosses his arms together:
"These two are even more talented than Stefan. What made Stefan remarkable wasn't his talent nor his strength but his unyielding tenacity."
Stefan was a legend among the students of this generation.
From when he was a first year, he had always been targeted from behind by other students and even by those in authority; and this was all due to the purity of his bloodline.
However, no matter the challenge they threw at him and the obstacles they placed before him, Stefan was able to pull through them all.
Even though some of the students still abhorred him, the majority of the students grew to admire him, as he created one unbelievable feat after another.
The boy looked to the side where the teachers and principal were occupying, and with a relevant look etched on his face, he spoke once more:
"They are more comparable to the greatest genius to have appeared since the founding of this academy!"
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
The others followed his line of sight, their eyes falling on the grinning Evangeline.
.....
The principal and all the teachers furrowed their brows in confusion.
Moose finally couldn't take it anymore and asked what all of them were thinking about:
"Why didn't the elites use their mana?"
No matter how they wrapped their heads around it, none of them could come up with an answer so after a while the principal spoke:
"Let's leave that till after the ranking. We will be able to ask them personally. The more pressing issue is..." he paused as he looked at Arlo who stood with Arianne's help, "...how do we continue with the ranking war?"
The other teachers were also stumped.
Something like this had never happened before since the founding of the academy, so they were unsure of how to act.
What they didn't know was that the person responsible for all this mess; as not only did she allow the battle royale to progress as it happened, she was even the one responsible for the students not using their mana, was grinning right behind them.
'Seems my days will no longer be boring.'
Looking at the fools before her who were still oblivious to what was truly happening, she retracted her grin and put on a thoughtful expression:
"If I may..."
All the teachers turned behind as they remembered they were not alone.
Julian shuddered a little upon seeing Evangeline's light smile.
For some reason, that smile made his skin crawl. It was just like yesterday when Evangeline appeared in his class and told him to leave. He was intimidated to the point that he ignored the fact that she wasn't even a first-year teacher and got caught up in her flow.
The principal's mouth twitched a couple of times before he flashed an ugly smile:
"Please!"
Evangeline nodded naturally and continued:
"Since it has come to this, I suggest you grant the rewards of the top ten to these two. As for the first position, let the two fight it out to determine it."
The principal and the other teachers went silent.
But after thinking about it, they realized that was the only thing they could do.
So even though they felt like they were playing into Evangeline's palms, they had no choice but to.
The principal coughed as he faced the raised dueling ring, and then he spoke:
"Congratulations to the two of you. As you are the only ones still standing, the two of you are required to...."
"Stop!"
"Stop!"
A muffled shout suddenly cut the principal off. But as those present were powerful vampires, they heard it clearly.
As large as the dueling ring was, more than half of it was covered with the bodies of more than 150 students.
Suddenly a hand shot out from below a pile of bodies and immediately after, bodies were shoved away from underneath, before a person appeared before Evangeline, the teachers and principal, the second years, and finally Arlo and Arianne.
Joe slowly stood as he panted for breath.
"Seriously, that was suffocating!" he grumbled as he kicked the bodies beside him away.
One of the second-year students couldn't help but blurt out:
"Don't tell me he has been hiding underneath the bodies all this while?"
Even Evangeline couldn't stop the corner of her eyes from twitching. The same went for the others.
None of them knew when Joe hid, and that was something shocking as he was the main cause of why the battle royale turned out as it was.
But Joe seemed to not care about what the others were thinking, as he raised his hand and spoke:
"I am also standing!"
Now, even Evangeline felt a headache coming on.
Who was this boy?
She couldn't help but grumble in her mind.
Again, the principal and teachers subconsciously turned to her to ask how to continue with the current situation.
Evangeline seemed to grumble to herself and even with their super hearing, none of them could hear what she said.
Standing up, she spoke:
"Since they are three, just name them the winners and share the rewards among them! There will still be another ranking war next weekend, so it won't affect the students that much."
"This..."
The principal wasn't so sure so he asked, "What about the ticket?"
"Just give one to the three of them since there is no first."
After contemplating it for a while, the principal nodded.
Evangeline sent her spiritual energy into Arlo and Arianne's heads even from how far they were apart.
After leaving her message, which was different for the two, she disappeared.
She appeared quietly and disappeared the same.
On the raised dueling ring, Joe approached Arlo and Arianne.
"You guys are incredible. I didn't doubt for one second you would win."
"So why were you hiding?" Arlo couldn't help but refute.
Joe just smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Suddenly a kick landed on his rear causing him to yelp
"You coward..." Arianne gritted her teeth as she glared at him.
Joe quickly hid behind Arlo, as Arianne tried to attack him.
"Okay! It's okay!" After a while, Arlo decided to diffuse the situation.
How could he not notice the glint of happiness flashing within Arianne's eyes?
She just didn't want to admit it, after all, Joe was part of their group.
In other words, their group completely dominated the first-ranking war.
......
AN: If the novel receives 10 favorites and 1 review = I will release I bonus chapter
20 favorites and 2 reviews = 2 bonus chapters