Chapter 041:

Alec Moroe’s Point of View:

It was outside Alec’s expectations for the young prince to voluntarily jump into his spell’s way. Truthfully, he did not know why he had done it; Alec liked to think that he had a comprehensive understanding of Clive Dune’s overall combat capability. So at this moment, he understood best that Clive’s actions were basically suicide.

‘I need to end my spell now!’ he thought urgently. Though he and Clive did not currently get along, to the point that others would gratingly call them rivals, Alec had absolutely no intentions of killing his ‘rival’.

The political backlash alone was not something he was willing to bear at the moment, likely ever.

But just as he was about to will his spell away, his eyes caught a glimpse of something strange.

‘A twinkle?’ He thought, stunned. Within the controlled, roaring flames of his spell, he caught sight of a single speck of light.

‘What is that?’ He asked before panic set in as he finally noticed that the speck was growing larger with each passing second.

“Alllleeeeecccc!” Prince Clive’s roar fully pierced through the flames before his figure showed itself. Sword making way, Clive ripped through the flames, forcing them apart; indeed, his current visage was reminiscent of an arrow as it parted winds, earnestly gunning for its target.

It was like Clive’s entire body was folded into itself, making him as aerodynamic as possible, with the apex being his sword’s tip which shone white hot, paralleling the prince’s own burning eyes.

The logical side of Alec’s mind noticed how the prince was actually slower than he was a few moments ago, but that didn’t matter now, nothing mattered now.

‘How?’ Alec asked no one as he witnessed his flames be ripped apart with callous disregard.

Logically he understood, he had enough time to dodge away, or even to cast another spell but still, he did nothing.

Even though Clive was now so close he could feel his breath on his skin, he did nothing.

Even as the Prince’s sword made contact with the fragile skin of his neck, he did nothing.

Closing his eyes, Alec waited for the sword with all the momentum in the world, to pierce through him like tofu.

Unexpectedly, the tip of the blade was not burning hot as he had expected, instead, it was ice-cold.

Fortunately, it was not death that greeted him when the time came, instead, it was Clive’s voice, filled with mockery and childish glee.

“I win!”

………………………………………………..

Clive Dune’s Point of View:

Clive could barely keep his blade from shaking, he was so dead tired.

Frankly, if it weren’t for the fact that it was currently leaning against Alec’s neck, he feared that he didn’t even have the necessary strength left to lift his sword up.

But that didn’t matter, nothing mattered now. He had finally done it, he had finally beaten the rotten bastard who had left him all those years ago.

“I win!” He declared, his voice dripping with all the venom he could muster.

His Wisker winked out of existence and his shaking sword drew blood from Alec’s nape.

“Fucking say something. Or what, are you too scared?” Clive taunted after noticing the red-headed magician’s prolonged silence.

That finally got Alec to open his closed eyes.

Clive felt his heart clench as he met the bastard’s warm gaze.

“You’ve grown stronger, Clive,”

Memories of the past flooded his mind, but Clive batted all of them away. There was so much to say but he wanted to do nothing.

He had won, that was enough.

‘Father,’ Clive thought, his gaze shifting toward the crowd outside the arena. ‘Are you watching?’

Alec, noticing Clive’s thoughts let a rueful smile mar his face.

It was then that a loud applause disrupted them.

………………………………………………..

“Beautifully executed, Prince Clive, my hats off to you!” Timothy declared loudly, feeling like a proud dad.

To think that the young brat would learn to compress his Wisker after seeing Alexander do it once or twice. He had talent. Fitting for someone who was bound to be young Hero Rus’s eternal rival.

He did think that there was something odd about the atmosphere he had intruded upon, but he didn’t care, he was amused.

Timothy’s smile was broad as he approached the pair, leading an assorted gang of students.

If there was something to complain about, it would be Alec’s face. It looked too cool; what with the calm smile even as his life hung on the line with a sword to his neck and blood dripping from the wound it formed.

‘Tch,’ Alexander clucked, feeling offended. ‘I looked cooler when I did it,’

Seeing that Timothy was here, Clive could no longer hide his exhaustion and collapsed to his knees unwillingly. Timothy’s praise had made him violently angry but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment.

‘I’ll take care of that bastard next! I promise!’ He seemed to be thinking.

Alec’s smile froze upon seeing Timothy and his guard was instantly up again, especially after seeing the thirteen or so students following after him.

“Prince Clive!” A couple of students who had been following Timothy cried out. They were those belonging to the Graveclaws kingdom.

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‘Whoah, unloyal bastards, instantly running to aid their prince,’ Alexander thought huffily. He himself didn’t care much, it wasn’t like Clive was going to die or anything he had just overused his Wisker which was already unstable from the awakening.

Interestingly, the first three students he had subjugated took under his wing stayed put behind him, even when facing their wounded prince. ‘Well, at least these guys got brains,’

“Timothy Baek, we meet again,” Alec’s cold voice sounded then, bringing Alexander’s attention to him.

“Yo,”

“Though it is quite cowardly for you to amass a force in an event focused on individual merit, I must admit that you are quite charismatic to have been able to do so in such a short amount of time,”

“Wasn’t in the rules, bud,”

“What?”

“The staff did not say anything against ganging up on other students,”

“It’s about the principle of the matter,”

“Sure,”

“...”

Alec snarled, growing annoyed by the conversation. “And you lot,” He addressed the group of students following behind Timothy.

“Have you no sense of loyalty? Joining ranks with those from another kingdom, you should know better,”

This surprised Timothy. It also delighted him ‘I knew this bastard was fucked up. He’s racist!’

It now made sense as to why King Gregory had entrusted Timothy with the task of uniting students from both kingdoms, the leading figurehead among the youths of Iron-Wall was a racist!

He registered nervous shuffling around him as hesitant students began distancing themselves. Those from Iron-Wall who had been influenced by Alec and those from Graveclaws who became wary of being backstabbed.

In a few moments, Timothy’s army of roughly thirteen became six.

Some even joined either Alec or Clive’s side, others stood by the sidelines, too nervous to even move.

Seeing the clusterfuck of a situation surrounding him, Alexander’s smile only widened.

This was contrasted by Rus who looked ever so nervous.

“Well, perhaps not as charismatic as I thought initially,” Alec’s mocking voice buzzed against his ears like nails on a chalkboard.

“Oho,”

“Well come then Timothy, let’s end this farce, one on one,”

Rus was now sweating profusely, he knew that Timothy was strong, stronger than even Prince Clive, though he was no longer sure about that, but was he strong enough to win against the monstrosity known as Alec Moroe? Rus doubted whether anyone could. The rumors of Alec’s accomplishments alone made him an intimidating foe. ‘But at the same time, Timothy isn't someone who would back down from a fight. This is trouble!’ Rus thought, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Ohohohoho,” Contrary to everyone’s worried expressions, Timothy laughed fully and with heart. “One-on-one? What kind of sissy, baby-faced, newbie do you take me to be, dumbass? I don’t need to muddy my hands fighting a shit-stain like you,”

Alec scowled after hearing Timothy’s words.

The students surrounding Timothy looked relieved by the fact that he wasn’t going to face the magician alone and head-on as that would be suicide; they were also worried by the fact that they would soon have to face said magician alongside Timothy.

As everyone prepared for all-out war, Timothy continued “In fact, I could beat you up without even lifting a finger, be gracious I’m letting you live with your face still perfect!”

This statement made everyone beside Timothy roll their eyes despite themselves. It was understandable for him to admit that he stood no chance against Alec, but to also lie about the reasons why he needed an army to fight the magician. That was low.

Even Rus couldn’t help but feel his face warm up in shame.

Alec’s mouth hung agape by this point and he couldn’t help but curse over how shameless Timothy was being.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, the young Baek kept going.

“In fact, that runt over there will be enough,” He announced proudly, pointing toward Zackery Moore.

The crowd turned their attention toward an awkward youth who had been trying to lay low.

Moore’s head shot up after noticing everyone’s gaze on him and he suddenly grew anxious. He breathed deeply, trying to calm his raging emotions.

‘Damnit, that bastard is trying to get me killed!’ Moore cursed Timothy in his mind. And when he saw the young Baek smile radiantly at him, he grew even angrier, his breathing even more ragged.

Timothy looked like a kind mother, encouraging her child to make friends.

The surrounding students let out exasperated sighs over how Timothy was trying to pawn the fight off to Moore. At the same time, they also grew excited; after all, they all knew all too well of the monster residing within Moore. Perhaps if it was him, then he may stand a chance against fighting the red-headed magician alone.

Unbeknownst to everyone, however, was that Timothy was being sincere in everything he had said so far. Even the act of him passing the fight on to Moore was simply his desire to stimulate the young hero’s growth.

After all, now that he had taken a break from combat, he needed able bodies for when the asteroid would hit, and what better way was there for a hero to grow than to beat up their rivals?

Alec, initially furious due to Timothy’s words, looked like he had just been reminded of something unpleasant as he turned to look toward Moore.

“Though you might be a detestable wart, Timothy, I must thank you for reminding me of more pressing matters. Moore, seeing as you have yet to eliminate yourself, I will fulfill my duty as a representative of Unity Academy and rid you, a threat to its peace, from its campus.”

He conjured a magical circle and began chanting the words to a spell as he stared Moore down.

Feeling like he was about to cry, Moore resolved himself to a fight and was about to dash in when a commotion broke the atmosphere up.

A large youth came skidding into the center of the encirclement on his back. In his hands was a mangled shield.

“Yo, Ed, what’s up,” Timothy asked the youth lightly, using his foot to stop Ed’s skidding.

“Timothy,” Ed acknowledged, looking up from the ground, before rising to his feet. “That bastard is crazy,”

Alexander nodded.

Following Ed’s arrival, a howling youth barged into the encirclement as well.

“Why do you keep blocking!” Mark asked with extreme exasperation. The irony of him saying so while holding a shield was not lost on Rebecca who held back a sigh as her brother rushed toward Ed.

Fortunately, his rage did not blind the manic youth who stopped in place after seeing Prince Clive heavily injured.

“Clive! What’s wrong?”

The young prince of Graveclaws let loose a weary breath upon noticing Mark. He looked equal parts relieved and annoyed.

“Stop screaming, you fool,” Clive spoke, voice tired. “Protect Moore,”

This order surprised everyone, including Moore, Mark, and Timothy.

But the most crossed with this development was Alec himself who could no longer keep his anger at bay.

“You lot,” He spoke, voice dripping with malice, “I have been humiliated and interrupted more times during this brief conversation than I have in the last couple years,” The magical circle in his hands grew large enough to encompass the whole crowd of students. “And I have had enough. All those from Iron-Wall, jump off the ledge, even I cannot fully control what is about to happen,”

Nervous glances were passed around and shared but no one dared move.

“Good, at least you’re brave,” Alec said with a smile.

The ambient heat, which had been rising for some time now, grew to an all-time high.

Noticing the fact that Alec was faster in gathering Fire particles now than he was yesterday, Timothy sneered. ‘Well look at that, now that’s rival energy. Even if Moore transformed, he wouldn’t be able to finish him off quickly,’

Mark raised his shield and stood before the still-hesitant Moore. “Stay behind me,” His voice was uncharacteristically serious

Zackery nodded meekly, “T-thanks, Mark,”

Thinking on his feet, Alexander decided to help Moore a bit. “Hey, Fido,”

Moore looked over, confused and hurt,

“I don’t recommend waiting and seeing what spell that bastard is about to use, He can’t do shit while casting, so now’s the perfect chance to strike; unplug your thumb out of your ass and charge!”

Zackery gaped at the vulgarity coming out of Timothy’s mouth but before he could reply, Mark was already charging in. “Righto, let’s go, Moore. That pretty fucker’s right,”

And so, a reluctant hero faced off against his rival, under the protection of a madman and the advice of an even madder man.