Meanwhile, the crowd was watching Vione Lucius and the actions she had taken, yet no one could understand how she ended up in such a state. Kin Light couldn't comprehend all the violence.
"Why don't they just cooperate? Wouldn't it be better to try passing the exam together instead of fighting each other?"
Second Princess Jina replied:
"There are many reasons—arrogance that seeks superiority, despair that seeks validation, some wish to prove themselves, and others simply try to eliminate those they deem unworthy. The academy only searches for talent. As for morals or values… they don't exist in a competition this fierce."
When she finished, she cast a brief glance at Shion, who looked relaxed, then toward a balcony where a woman was sitting, before turning her eyes back to the arena. At that moment, Baro Ferrer hurled his spear at Fioni, who barely dodged it, leaving a scratch on her cheek.
"Is that all you've got?"
"It would've been better if it struck your head!"Baro replied
The spear hit a hornet's nest, and swarms the size of a hand burst forth, rushing at Vione. She quickly wrapped herself in an icy barrier, forcing the swarm toward Fiore and Baro instead.
"Leave them to me!" shouted Fiore, swinging his sword and scattering them with his wind-element strikes.
As the swarm dispersed, Baro dashed toward his spear, grabbed it, and unleashed his aura right by the nest, drawing the hornets' attention.
"What are you doing?!" Fiore exclaimed, shocked at his friend's recklessness. But Baro only smiled faintly.
"It's foolish to come here unprepared!"
He began pounding on Vione's ice barrier, which she tried desperately to restore, but Baro was too fast. His relentless strikes shattered her defenses, and as the swarm closed in, Baro evaded them with speed, leaving Vione struggling to flee under the swarm's assault. When she attempted to redirect them toward Fiore, Baro shouted from behind to draw her attention.
She turned to see his spear lunging toward her. She blocked it, but her barrier broke again, and she cursed furiously:
"Damn you both, you filthy bastards!"
"We're only teaching you a lesson. But don't worry, once you soak yourself in this liquid, the hornets will retreat," Fiore said, holding a small vial filled with a red substance. When he uncorked it and brought it closer, the hornets immediately drew back.
Vione, her body covered in swelling stings, pleaded as soon as she saw its effect:
"Please, save me this time! I won't do it again!"
Fiore looked at Baro, who spoke firmly:
"Return the plant to that girl. We won't stoop to your level. Then you'll get the vial."
Vione quickly threw the plant toward Baro, and after his signal, Fiore handed her the vial. She tore it open and drenched herself, and the hornets scattered at once. She considered attacking them again, but they had already uncorked their own vials and poured the liquid over themselves.
In the stands, the audience erupted with whispers and shock. Some were stunned by Vione's humiliation, others impressed by Baro's cold confidence, and a few couldn't believe the tables had turned on a Lucius daughter so brutally.
The rescued girl froze when she recognized the red liquid. Before she could speak, Baro said with pity:
"These are the consequences of your actions. But I'll give you a chance. Head north—you'll find a cave with a red plant that can cure your condition. As for how to use it… discover that yourself."
Baro, Fiore, and the girl quickly left, abandoning Vione. Once they were far enough, Fiore burst into laughter:
"Hahaha! Baro, you devil! You sent her straight to a tier-three beast's cave—the very creature obsessed with the smell of that red liquid! Hahahaha!"
Baro remained cold:
"Don't act like some kind village elder. You gave her the vial that suppresses both magic and aura… she's going to suffer because of you."
The girl asked anxiously:
"But she's the daughter of Feri Lucius, a five-circle witch! She isn't someone to toy with. Can your master even face her?"
Baro paused, then answered with strength:
"My master taught me swordsmanship and how to deal with others. If I ran to him for something as trivial as this, he'd kick me straight out of the kingdom."
In the stands, Shion nearly choked on Baro's words.
"Trivial?!" he gasped.
Beside him, Sol asked in disbelief:
"What did you ever do to make Baro say such a thing?!"
"Believe me, I have no idea… I taught him, trained him, guided him—but I don't know where he gets all this confidence!" Shion muttered.
Meanwhile, down below, though the pain eased thanks to the red liquid, Vione's heart boiled with rage. "Baro… Fiore… I will never forget this. Soon, you'll learn what it means to stand against the true daughter of Lucius."
While Shion was lost in thought, he noticed a gaze fall upon him—Kin and the Second Princess Jina were staring at him in shock. He gestured with his hands, "I really don't know!" But even as he waved them off, their eyes did not leave him—especially the princess's.
This time, however, Shion felt a third presence watching him. He turned his eyes toward another balcony. When he fixed on the source, the feeling vanished. He couldn't make out the features, but he noticed the silhouette belonged to a woman seated behind curtains inside her balcony. Shion had no idea who she was, so he looked back at the Second Princess, gesturing again toward the veiled woman. Realizing what he meant, the princess signaled one of her guards to deliver a message.
As expected, after Vione's retreat, her clothes—soaked in the red liquid—had lured the attacks of a Level 3 monster in the cave she'd entered. She had no choice but to discard them. Naturally, that part was not shown. The displays of the other contenders continued, but none were as brilliant as Baro and Fiore, nor the top three. By the time it ended, Shion had already received the princess's reply and began to ponder:
So that woman is Feri Lucius—the mother of Vione Lucius. In her eyes, my disciples humiliated her daughter. Though a part of me feels proud, this is not a woman one can easily offend.
The announcer then revealed the numbers: of the 500 initial candidates, 400 remained.
Shion's thoughts raced: A hundred eliminated… But that doesn't mean the rest are truly elite. Some are hiding. Some survived by sheer luck. Some even died twice yet weren't expelled. That means in the next trial—or the next day—or the very next hour—the test will shift to a narrower area, with harsher conditions. More accidents. More eliminations. At least two hundred could be gone in the next round.
Soon after, the new rankings were announced. Shion's eyes widened in shock—there had been a change.
4th place: Baro Ferrer.
5th place: Fiore Tai.
He noted that, despite their points, the two were still far behind the top three—the third place alone held more than both their scores combined.
Then his gaze shifted to Vione's name. To his surprise, she was in 9th place. Shion couldn't understand this turn of events, so he waited for the highlights. When they appeared, he noticed a change of setting: the first stage had been a forest, but the second stage was a desert.
"That's why she's in ninth place!" Shion exclaimed suddenly. He hadn't expected the testing ground itself to be the cause of Vione's decline. Still, he admitted: "She's truly talented, holding a top-ten spot despite such conditions…"
But then Shion felt a surge of rage burning against him. He immediately knew where it came from—Feri Lucius, Vione's mother. Of course, it wasn't as if he had chosen the second day's location himself.
At that moment, Sol tugged at his sleeve. When he followed her finger to the leaderboard, his mind froze.
9th place: Fiony Locius
Number of deaths: 1
Killer: Fiore Tai
Shion: "…"
He couldn't say a word. A powerful urge welled up in him—to strangle that boy to death.
The broadcast continued, showing the 1st place: Cole Leon clad in his black armor that enveloped his body. Though his frame was not massive, it was perfectly built. In his hand, a long sword radiated dark aura. He deserved the first place without contest—none could withstand his strikes. And when night fell, his abilities reached an entirely different level.
2nd place: Pyon Sik, a mage wielding two elements—wind and earth. The desert environment perfectly suited his abilities, allowing him to unleash his full potential.
3rd place: Rose Gard, who inherited the legacy of the Flower Duelists. She held her ground in third, though the harsh desert kept her from surpassing the top two. The forest of the first stage had been her natural domain, yet she could not advance further.
Then came 4th place: Baro Ferrer. Surrounded by many competitors, he first told them to leave. When they refused, he had no choice but to cut them down—claiming their lives and part of their points. In this stage, the rules were looser: you did not take all points, only a portion. His spear pierced any who stood against him.
5th place: Fiore Tai. The shocking part was that his first opponent was none other than Vione Lucius, who attacked him in ambush. But they were in the middle of the desert, and Fiore seized the environment as a wind-element duelist. He swung his sword, raising sandstorms that blinded Fiony's vision. Then he struck, severing her neck—making her the first among the top contenders to fall. She lost part of her points to Fiore, raising him directly behind Baro.
The rest of the rankings were displayed, and after a short wait, it was announced that this time 300 more had been eliminated, leaving only 100 candidates.
The announcement of the new top ten was not shown in the usual way. Instead, platforms of varying heights appeared—each marked with a teleportation circle. The tallest belonged to the 1st place, and the smallest to the 10th. Soon, shadows emerged from the circles.
1st place: Cole Leon
2nd place: Pyon Sik
3rd place: Rose Gard
4th place: Baro Ferrer
5th place: Fiore Tai
…
10th place: Vione Lucius
The platforms displayed not only their points but also special notes. For the top five, the scores were fairly close. But on Vione's platform, an additional note appeared:
Number of deaths: 2
Killers: Baro Ferrer & Fiore Tai.