"… Young man, you should not be here." The demigod frowned when he saw Bloed on the stage.
Bloed smiled apologetically and nodded. However, he continued holding Aya and using his eyes to verify that nothing was wrong.
Seeing that, the demigod could only sigh.
"The winner of this round is Flying Leaves."
With that announcement, cheers erupted from the stands.
Bloed could see the students of Flying Leaves smiling in relief and pride, at the same time, he could see the complicated expressions of his friends.
However, he did not care about that right now. Instead, he continued observing Aya.
Only when he was sure that nothing was wrong with her, he sighed in relief.
Just then, he felt the cat girl opening her eyes. She was barely conscious, using her willpower to not fall asleep.
"… Sorry... I failed." She whispered in a voice that Bloed barely heard, sobs mixed with her words. Then, her consciousness faded out completely, and she fell unconscious.
Bloed sighed with a complicated expression.
"Silly girl." He said and kissed her forehead. "You did great."
He could not have asked more of her. In fact, Aya was stronger than he expected.
It was only that her enemy was even stronger. Aya could not be blamed for that.
Just then, the healing mages arrived to take Aya away. Bloed was a bit reluctant about leaving Aya in their hands, but in the end, he agreed.
After that, he returned to the place where the rest of his club was.
"How is Aya?" Liu Ying asked worriedly, and Bloed smiled to calm her down.
"Don't worry, she is alright. She just exhausted her mana and had some surface burns. She will be fine after resting for a few days."
"Is it so? That is good." Liu Ying and the other girls sighed in relief, looking in the direction that Aya left with a complicated expression.
To be honest, Aya's performance had been amazing. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was way superior to her opponent.
Unfortunately, the young man that she had faced was a bad match for her. Plus, she had still not familiarized with her domain. Otherwise, perhaps she could have used it to stop the explosion.
In the end, though, the result was a defeat for Machine Revolutio.
Right now, the score was 2-1, with Flying Leaves ahead.
"What now, Bloed?" Princess Elwha asked, and the other girls looked at Bloed to ask him who was going next.
Before he could reply, though, someone stepped forward.
"Let me go, My Lord."
"Sara?"
"I want to go, My Lord. I promise to bring you victory."
"… Just don't get injured, okay?"
"… Understood." Sara said, but judging from her expression, anyone could see that she would not mind being injured if it meant winning the battle.
While they were speaking, the demigod in charge asked the two clubs to send their next combatant. Sara then nodded to Bloed before walking towards the stage expressionlessly.
When she reached the stage, her opponent reached it as well.
It was another young man. He was around twenty-five years old, with brown hair and a white robe covering his body.
Anyone could see that he was a mage, just like the last contestant, however, Sara was not paying attention to that.
Instead, she paid attention to the intensity of his mana.
Late A-Rank.
The short-haired girl frowned.
'… He is stronger than me.'
She was just at the early stage of A-Rank, two stages weaker than the enemy.
Even so, Sara was confident.
She could win. No, she was going to win.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and calmed down her mind.
Right then, the young man in front of her spoke up.
"I heard about you. Sarah Sviel, right?"
Sara furrowed her brows without replying.
"My name is Alvin." The young man continued. "I have seen you fight before, and to be honest, I was impressed. Unfortunately, you don't have any hope of victory today."
Seeing the confident expression of the young man, Sara's eyes narrowed.
"… You look very confident."
"I am." The young man said. "There is no reason to fear an attack that can't touch me."
Sara snorted, her eyes burning with fighting intent.
At that moment, the demigod spoke.
"Are you ready?"
Sara and the young man called Alvin nodded. The demigod then grunted.
"Very well, start!"
Instantly, Sara moved.
She took a step forward. With a thought, her body faded out of sight, and her presence disappeared completely.
The unexpected scene surprised all the people observing the battle, including the demigod.
"… It's amazing no matter how many times I see it." Bloed could not help but mutter, and the girls around him nodded.
Sara's ability was called [Hiding Presence], an A-Grade ESP ability that allowed her to move undetected by her enemies.
Different from other abilities that hid the user, though, Hiding Presence worked differently. Instead of hiding Sara, it twisted the perception of the enemies, making them unable to detect her.
Due to that, even if Sara was jumping in front of her enemy, it would be as though she was not there.
Bloed could not help but admit that this was the perfect ability for stealth and assassination.
And right now, she was using that same ability against the young man called Alvin
Sara moved calmly. Her short, black hair fluttering with the wind as she walked towards him.
Her eyes were completely tranquil, and her emotional fluctuations were close to zero. She was like a killing machine whose only goal was to bring victory to her lord.
In just a few seconds, she had walked in front of the young mage. Then, she raised her dagger.
And putting mana into it, she swung it down.
*Clank!*
Only to be stopped by a multicolored barrier that suddenly appeared around the young man.
"I told you, didn't I?" Alvin's voice reached the surprised Sarah. "There is no reason to fear an attack that can't touch me."
...
Follow me on P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels