Chapter 384: Inter-Academy Tournament (XXXVI)

Time skipped forward.

The final day of the Grand Dominion Siege arrived.

More precisely, only three hours remained until the trial officially ended.

Inside the main stronghold, Gray’s eyes slowly opened. He lay still for a moment, staring at the high stone ceiling above him, before sitting up.

He rubbed his eyes lightly with the back of his hand, then stretched both arms above his head until his shoulders made a soft cracking sound.

"Haaaah..."

A quiet yawn escaped him as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His black robes were still perfectly clean.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the communication stone Seraph and the others had been given.

Surprisingly, it hadn’t been activated even once during the entire time he had been asleep.

There were no emergency signals nor requests for help.

That meant everything was probably going well.

Gray walked out of the main stronghold at a leisurely pace.

The heavy stone doors opened for him and then closed behind him with a deep thud. Outside, the area in front of the stronghold was completely empty.

Not a single student from Gloria or Dragon Slaying Academy remained nearby. The cracked ground and damaged walls were the only evidence of the earlier battle.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked out across the middle layer of the floating island.

Then he raised the communication stone and poured a small amount of mana into it.

"Seraph."

A moment later, her voice came through clearly.

"Gray? You’re awake?"

"Yes. Report."

There was a short pause on the other end, followed by the faint sound of wind and distant movement.

Seraph’s voice came through again, quieter than before and carrying a clear hesitation.

"...We lost all the strongholds."

Gray’s steps slowed instantly.

"Most of our students have been eliminated. Their tokens were taken. Right now... we’re in last place."

The communication stone was silent for a moment as Gray processed the words.

"Why didn’t you contact me?"

Seraph stopped talking for a few seconds. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and almost ashamed.

"The girls... really didn’t want to disappoint you. They decided not to contact you and tried to recover by themselves. I... also chose to do it this way. But unfortunately, it only got worse."

Gray let out a quiet sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So how many people do we have left?"

"...Besides me... only two girls."

Gray’s eyes widened slightly at her reply.

’Did I overestimate their strength and teamwork? Or did something else happen...?’ he thought inwardly.

"How did you guys lose the strongholds?"

Seraph answered softly.

"Gloria Academy and Dragon Slaying Academy joined forces completely. They decided to take us out of the exam first. The 4th-years and 3rd-years from both academies started tackling every stronghold we held. We really couldn’t do anything against them. One by one, the strongholds fell... and most of our people were eliminated."

Gray closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"...You guys should’ve contacted me."

His voice was calm, but there was a clear edge of frustration underneath.

On the other end of the communication stone, Seraph remained silent.

Gray opened his eyes again and looked out across the floating island.

He remained silent for a few seconds after Seraph’s last words.

"How many tokens exactly do we need to qualify for the final phase?" he asked lightly.

On the other end of the communication stone, there was the faint sound of Seraph checking the rankings.

A moment later, her voice returned, still carrying a trace of hesitation.

"...28,500 tokens. That’s equal to two thousand eight hundred and five Great Grandmaster-level creatures."

Gray lifted his gaze toward the sky. The floating island’s artificial sun was already beginning to lower.

Only three hours remained.

"Three hours... huh?"

He closed his eyes.

His senses expanded outward in a wide, invisible wave, sweeping across the forests, ruins, and open plains around the main stronghold.

In his mind, he quickly counted the density and strength of the beasts within range.

"...Not enough," he mumbled under his breath.

He opened his eyes again.

"Seraph... do you know the location of the people who have the most tokens at the moment?"

There was a short pause.

"Gray, they are buffed by a lot of strong..."

"Seraph. Just tell me."

Seraph gritted her teeth on the other end.

For a few seconds only the wind could be heard through the communication stone. Finally she let out a quiet, reluctant sigh.

"I do know where the person who holds the most tokens is... and the second and third as well. One of them is..."

"Tell me."

After another brief hesitation, Seraph gave him everything she had: locations, estimated token counts, the number of remaining students guarding each of them, and the buffs they currently possessed from the strongholds they still controlled.

Gray listened in complete silence until she finished.

Then he spoke one last time.

"Stay put with the other two. Try not to get eliminated."

Crack!

He closed his fist.

The communication stone shattered into glowing fragments that scattered across the cracked stone at his feet.

Gray didn’t hesitate after hearing the information granted by Seraph.

"[ Swap ]."

In an instant, his body vanished from the front of the main stronghold.

Space twisted, and he reappeared at one of the positions he had previously marked with his unique skill.

The scenery around him changed completely, turning into a dense forest, broken stone ruins, and the faint glow of a secondary stronghold in the distance.

He began moving immediately, following the exact path Seraph had described.

Within less than two minutes, he reached the edge of a small clearing and directly found his first target.

Lyria, the silver-haired fastest student of Dragon Slaying Academy, stood in the center of a group of about a dozen students.

Most of them were from her own academy, with a few mixed in from Gloria.

Their auras were not particularly strong, but they were clearly relaxed and in good spirits.

They were laughing and talking without any real tension.

"...I’m telling you, we’re actually going to take first place," one of the boys said, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

"Clementine’s been completely wiped out. Their only real threat was Gray, and after that performance at the main stronghold, even he has to be tired."

A girl with short brown hair nodded in agreement as she counted a pile of glowing tokens in her hands.

"Yeah. As long as Gray doesn’t show up again, we’re safe. We’ve got the highest token count right now. Second and third place are also on our side. The rankings are basically locked."

Lyria herself was sitting on a large rock, spinning one of her short swords idly.

She smirked.

"Honestly, I was a little worried when he survived that last attack... but he hasn’t moved since. He’s probably resting inside the main stronghold. Perfect for us."

Another boy laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Man, can you imagine if he suddenly appeared right now? That would be the worst possible timing."

The group chuckled at the joke.

Step... step...

Just then, the sound of steady footsteps reached their ears.

Everyone froze.

Gray stepped out from between the trees, his black robes fluttering slightly as he walked into the clearing.

His rapier was already unsheathed and resting loosely in his right hand. He made no effort to hide his presence or his mana.

The students turned toward the sound almost at the same time.

"Who’s there?!" one of them shouted, raising his weapon.

The moment their eyes landed on the black-haired figure walking toward them, the entire group locked up.

Especially the boy who had just spoken.

His face went pale as he slowly turned his head toward the others.

"...Did I just jinx it?"

He looked back at Gray.

"Fuck..."

Gray stopped a short distance away from the group. His black eyes swept across them once before he spoke in a calm, almost indifferent voice.

"Hand over your tokens."

The students tensed.

"Or you will all be eliminated."

For a moment, no one moved.

The pile of glowing tokens in the brown-haired girl’s hands suddenly felt much heavier.

A few of the weaker students exchanged nervous glances, clearly considering whether compliance would be safer.

Lyria was the first to break the silence.

She gritted her teeth, then scoffed loudly as she stood up from the rock, both short swords spinning once in her hands.

"You don’t have that crown now... nor do you have the other buffs!" she said, forcing confidence into her voice. "You cannot win against us!"

Several of the students around her nodded quickly, though their expressions remained tense.

"Y-yeah... she’s right. Without those buffs you’re not the same."

"There’s more than ten of us. Even if you’re strong, you can’t take everyone at once."

"We just need to hold out. The trial is almost over!"

Their words sounded firm, but the slight tremor in a few voices betrayed their nervousness.

Gray listened in silence.

Then his eyes turned colder.

The faint, almost lazy atmosphere around him vanished completely. The air itself seemed to grow heavier.

"...Alright then."

He raised his rapier slightly, the tip pointing toward the ground as he took one slow step forward.

The group of students instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons.