Dozens. That’s how many surrenders and yields I’d collected throughout these duels. Not a single one had even come close to being challenged.
Trish won every match. Anna won all of hers. Naturally, Lucius and the others had dominated as well.
If it weren’t for Anna sitting beside me, keeping me entertained between rounds, I might have dozed off halfway through.
"Reyn Brimstone, a proposal has been submitted."
The head trainer’s voice suddenly boomed across the arena, jolting my attention back to the center.
"Lady Aqua, Lord Lucius, and Lady Celeste. All three at once. Are you willing to accept the challenge?"
The amphitheatre quickly descended into chaos the moment the crowd heard the absurd proposal. Three against one? That was ridiculous, and I thought so too.
Who in their right mind would even...?
No, that didn’t matter. Whoever came up with that idea, I’d have to thank them.
Win or lose, I’d still come out ahead. If I win, then I win. If I lost but put up a good fight, I’d still technically win.
That didn’t mean I wouldn’t ask, though.
"May I ask who made the proposal?"
"She wishes to remain anonymous. As for your challengers, they have already agreed. What do you say?"
A woman...? Well, that was interesting. Guess it would be rude to refuse now, wouldn’t it? Can’t disappoint a potential villainess, after all.
"I accept."
I stood, and Anna’s hand caught mine. When I looked back, she was wearing a faintly disapproving expression.
"Are you sure about this, Reyn?"
"If I get hurt, you’ll be there for me, right?"
Anna sighed, crossing her arms in exaggerated irritation.
"You use that excuse every time!"
"And every time, it works."
"You... sigh."
Still, Anna rose with me and raised a hand to the head trainer, signaling that she wished to speak regarding the arrangement.
"I wish to stand at the edge of the arena, just in case anything happens to Lord Reyn."
The head trainer raised a brow.
"Not Lord Lucius?"
Anna shook her head. At the mention of his name, her eyes sharpened, and a look of clear disgust crossed her face.
"No."
✧ ✦ ✧
"I didn’t expect you to arrange something like that."
I said to her while I prepared myself in the amphitheatre’s equipment room, one of the advantages the academy had given me for this outnumbered matchup.
"Of course I would. You’re strong, Reyn, but three people are three people."
Anna helped me into mage robes she had found on the side, along with fetching me a wand she judged to be the strongest.
"How do you feel about me fighting Lucius?"
"Lucius...? Well, I don’t have strong opinions about it."
"Then what happens if I injure him?"
"He’s strong enough to tend to his own injuries."
Interesting...
"Then what if he injures me?"
Anna’s hand tightened around my wrist as she adjusted the sleeves of my robe, her pink eyes locking onto mine with a serious look on her face.
"If he does, then he’ll regret it."
Talk about a double standard. And fortunately for me, I find that extremely hot.
"Guess you do have double standards, huh?"
"It isn’t a double standard. It’s perfectly normal to favor your childhood friend over someone who’s merely a ’friend’ like Lucius."
She really wasn’t lying about replacing him with me, was she?
She finished adjusting my sleeves, stepping back with her hands on her hips, one eye closed as she scanned to see if I was fully ready.
When she found it satisfactory, she smiled warmly and hugged me.
"Good luck, Reyn. I’ll be waiting for you. Don’t hold back, okay?"
✧ ✦ ✧
I stood at the center of the arena, the stone platform cool beneath my boots. Across from me, three figures stepped into position.
Lucius, his blond hair catching the afternoon light, expression unreadable.
Celeste, the heroine, her stance already shifting into something combat-ready, mana flickering at her fingertips.
And Aqua, blue hair tied back, arms crossed, watching me with those sharp eyes like she was still trying to figure out what I was.
The barriers shimmered to life around us, sealing the four of us inside. The crowd’s murmurs faded to a tense silence.
"Three against one."
I said, rolling my shoulders.
"Hope you’re not expecting me to go easy."
Lucius stepped forward first.
"We’re not."
He raised his hand, and light gathered in his palm, bright and familiar. The same attribute as mine. Though his came from a different source entirely.
Divine light, although no one other than me knew that yet.
"You’ve changed, Reyn. I’ll give you that."
His eyes flicked toward the edge of the arena where Anna stood watching, arms crossed, her expression cold whenever it landed on him.
"But I still don’t trust you with her."
"And I don’t think she trusts herself with you."
Lucius visibly scowled at my reply.
I raised the wand Anna had picked out for me. It wasn’t anything special, just a standard academy-issued focus, but with my reserves, I didn’t need anything special.
Even a simple wand with a multiplier was enough to be a game-changer. And I definitely needed that.
Even with my rank of King.
Two Sages and a Grandmaster were still overwhelming, being only one and two ranks below me. If it came down to it, I’d have to rely on Titania’s artifacts to force my way through to victory.
"Anything else before we start?"
Aqua uncrossed her arms.
"I suggest you back down before it’s too late."
"I refuse. And you?"
I glanced at Celeste. The heroine I’d barely interacted with, the woman who’d unknowingly helped push Anna into my arms.
She met my eyes without flinching. If I wasn’t mistaken, she seemed to have developed a particular distaste for me...
As for the reason? It certainly wasn’t a mystery. Stealing someone else’s childhood friend, especially from someone she was close with, was enough to make her reasonably dislike me.
Even if she knew Anna was a rival love interest, she still didn’t like seeing Lucius get hurt.
"No comment."
"Fair enough."
I spread my arms wide.
"Then come at me."
Lucius moved first. A beam of condensed light shot toward me, fast enough that most students wouldn’t have been able to track it, let alone react.
I didn’t bother dodging.
The ward I’d kept active all day flared, and the beam splintered against it, scattering into harmless shards of light that rained down around me like broken glass.
"Impressive, but maybe a bit too lacking."
I smiled. Time to make this fight into a performance no villainess watching would ever forget!