Suspense story
Chapter 2 Half face

369 Pressure

"What the hell happened there?" Damian said as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"It looked like Raelyn Whiteheart was winning, but something changed the last movement," Amelia replied.

Both of them had no idea what had happened because, for them, the speed at which these two were fighting was simply too much.

"She fell into his trap," Asher replied.

His eyes stopped glowing as he stopped using mana to improve his eyesight.

"Trap?" Damian asked.

"He made her stand in the spot where he could use multiple of those spear traps," Asher said as his indifferent eyes looked at the stage.

It was hard to notice for others, but he was focusing on Leonard the whole time.

Even in his previous life, Leonard Tarvian had won the match, so he wanted to see if anything would go differently this time.

But the duel remained the same, with a few things that went differently.

Both of them were more desperate to win because, in Asher's memories, there was a separate tournament between the Blood Faction and the Student Council.

So, the fight between Raelyn and Leonard wasn't this intense.

"But she had Rank A Armor, right?" Amelia said after thinking about how the fight went.

The armor blocked many of Leonard's attacks, including the spears.

"He calculated the limit of the armor while fighting her," Asher replied.

Damian and Amelia squinted their eyes because it didn't seem that way.

But Asher saw the duel differently from them.

Even though his senses were stuck at Rank C, he had reached a much higher rank than this.

And just like him, the Seat Holders also saw it coming before the match ended.

"He purposefully let her attack him just to count the limit of that armor artifact," Dexter muttered.

Osbert was quiet as he already had high expectations from his only Son.

"Tch, it's just using the artifacts to your advantage," Xarax muttered.

"But he placed Raelyn exactly at that position on that whole stage. That's quite impressive in my eyes," Dalton spoke out.

In Xarax's eyes, Raelyn was stronger than Leonard, but she got outsmarted by his tricks.

And the clear winner of this Duel was Leonard Tarvian.

"But that last attack, he paid the price for it," Dexter added as he looked at Leonard's condition.

Even though he was standing proudly on the stage, his right arm was a mess, but it was fine because it would be fully healed in a month.

It resulted from executing a move beyond his abilities, which was the price Leonard needed to pay for it.

That move shocked Raelyn and broke her sword and her defenses, making Leonard the winner.

And that shock that Raelyn showed wasn't unwarranted.

After all, from what she knew, the Fifth Remer Art was something that Leonard shouldn't have been able to use at Rank B.

Even the Fourth Remer Art was him pushing his body to its limit, but only a few here knew what happened exactly.

The A Rank Sword had the ability to allow Leonard to use techniques that would have been possible only if he was an A Rank Hunter himself.

Asher knew about it because he had used the System to know the effects of the sword.

| Midnight Star - A Rank Artifact |

| Type - Sword Artifact |

| Ability: Amplifies Aura and Mana to allow the user to initiate a technique as powerful as the strength of the artifact itself |

| Limits: Host will experience backlash after the technique is performed |

It was a sword to initiate a technique, but after that, it depended on the wielder's ability to handle that much power and its effects on their body.

With the match done, Farnus appeared on the stage and gave Leonard his rewards; the crowd loudly cheered, but some students were silent.

They belonged to the Student Council, and Leonard's win wasn't a piece of great news for them.

But on the other hand, the members of the Blood Faction were already seeing their victory.

After all, Raelyn Whiteheart was the biggest obstacle in their path to victory over the Student Council, and she was finally defeated.

Before the crowd got carried away, everyone heard the sound of a horn going off.

Suddenly, many small flames appeared all around the Arena, which was the sign of the final battle of the Fourth Year.

Unlike others, for the Fourth Year Students, it was their final tournament in World Academy, and this was the last battle to decide the strongest Fourth Year.

Farnus, who was on the Stage, didn't go back as he himself was going to announce the start of this duel.

"We have seen a lot of interesting battles today," Farnus said.

"As the Principal of World Academy, I am proud that we could teach and guide this talented young generation for a better path," Farnus's voice made all the students settle down on their seats.

Everyone who was talking about the last battle stopped as they listened to Farnus Calmort.

"Although the End Tournament will go on, this will be the final battle for the Fourth Year Students," Farnus spoke.

"The Final Duel between the two strongest students of the current World Academy," Farnus said as he raised his finger, and flames around the Arena started making a pattern.

Suddenly, the insignia of the World Academy appeared just above the stage.

"Jayden Hargrave vs Reece Williams," Farnus said as he disappeared from the stage.

The crowd loudly cheered as this was the final duel of the Fourth Year, among the strongest.

But before it started, the First Years were told to sit a bit away from the stage.

Because some of them were E- Rank Hunters, and for them, experiencing the mana waves from the clash of A Rank Hunters wasn't good.

Unlike Reece's duel with Kiara, where both of them were not going all out against each other, this particular duel would not be that way.

And the reason behind that was Jayden Hargrave and the tradition of the Hargrave Family.

He was the current Heir of the Family, and Xarax Hargrave was here to witness the tournament.

Losing in front of Xarax would be the last thing Jayden would want.

Xarax Hargrave was obsessed with winning, even if it cost him his life. It was one of the reasons he kept fighting the SSS Rank Monster despite his nearly depleted mana.

Jayden and Reece walked towards the stage as their mana clashed.

Jayden had a wild smile on his face, and Reece still maintained his appearance because a lot of eyes were on him.

But those who remembered their battle last year knew that this calm sight of them walking on the stage would become a mess.

World Academy didn't stop the students from fighting if they still had the will to fight.

Only if the Professors and the Judges on the side thought that the fight was over would they stop it.

But that only happened when there was a big gap between the two students, but Reece and Jayden were equally matched right now.

Jayden, who was walking among the loud cheers, looked directly at Reece.

"Don't blame me for today's match," Jayden said, smiling at Reece.

"Ohh, we will see about that," Reece said, raising his eyebrows.

"This match is more important for you than me, Jayden. Don't mess this up," Reece said with a low enough voice that only Jayden could hear him.

It was a taunt, and seeing how Jayden's wild smile vanished, it seemed to have worked quite nicely.

'You will regret walking on this stage,' Jayden thought in his head, looking at Reece.

For Jayden, losing this duel wasn't an option.

Not only would he lose the support of the Elders, but there was a chance that some people could question his qualification as the Heir of the Hargrave Family.

This was the best chance to solidify his position once and for all.

But Jayden didn't know one thing.

Reece also needed to win this duel for the plan he and Leonard were working on.

But apart from the whole crowd, there was one more person who was quite interested in the result of this duel as well.

And surprisingly, it was Asher himself.

He had his suspicions about a few things, and depending on the result of this match, he could confirm it.

"On your Positions," The Referee said as he looked at Jayden and Reece.

They took their positions with the swords in their hands.

No artifacts were allowed in this duel.

All they could use to win in this duel was their own strength.

In one of the VIP Rooms of the Elite Families,

"The pressure on him will be great," A woman said as she swirled the glass of wine in her hands.

"You seem quite invested in this duel, Casie," The Head of the Hargrave Family spoke out.