"Such... SUCH POWER!!"
"AIYAHH!!"
"WHOO!!"
"WE LOVE YOU GRIM!!"
All over the Clover kingdom, the peasants and commoners roared with cheers as they saw Grim deal with the magic knights of noble descent.
For too long had they been oppressed and looked down upon by the so called elites of society. Seeing someone like Grim who was a person of common birth just like them standing up and defeating nobility made them feel like they were finally able to fight back.
His speech during the Star Awarding Festival seemed to have resonated with every commoner who heard it. After that day Grim's name had spread throughout every corner of the kingdom, even the residents of Hage village had heard about it. There were even talks about forcefully taking back the kingdom from the hands of the royals and giving it back to the people.
[A/n: La Révolution!!]
To make matters even weirder, these extremist groups used Grim as a symbol for their cause. It was actually starting to become a problem as they were turning into fanatics more than anything else.
---
While the commoners were celebrating Grim's victory, the nobles, magic knights and wizard king couldn't see it in the same way. For the nobles it was the fact that he heavily injured people of noble birth. To them this was an act of defiance and treason.
For the magic knights it was the fact that Grim had done such a thing to fellow magic knights. As people who were supposed to protect the kingdom together, there existed a line that should never be crossed. But Grim... He leapt right over that line without even sparing a glance.
The person whose mood was the worst of all was Julius's. He knew that Grim only took it this far because he wanted to show the wizard king that even if he was confined by the rules, nobody could stop him if he wanted to do something. And to make matters even worse, he wasn't in the wrong. While he was certainly heavy handed in his actions, he followed the rules to the letter and couldn't be punished. Not to mention that it was natural that there would be some injuries in battles so he could just say that he did what he did because he felt threatened.
*Sigh*
Sighing loudly, the wizard king felt a headache coming on as he looked at the black haired boy in the distance.
One fight... It only took one fight for him to completely suppress the onlooking magic knights. His reputation for base hopping and cursing out royalty already made him look like a madman that people should steer clear of. But after seeing the way he fought... who would have the guts to face him now?
"T-THAT BASTARD!!" A random magic knight just yelled.
"Y-YEAH!! HOW DARE HE BE SO BRUTAL TO HIS COMRADES!"
"DISQUALIFICATION!! HE SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED!!"
While the magic knights ranted and raved about kicking him out, the man in question watched as his opponents were moved to the infirmary.
'I wonder who's fighting next?'
---
After having the results announced, Grim and his team returned to the viewing platform with the other magic knights. But for some reason everything outside of the black bulls, Yuno, Klaus, Mimosa and Leo kept their distance.
"While you were pretty heavy handed, congratulations on your win." Noelle smiled.
"Yeah! You looked really cool when you did that last attack!" Mimosa cheered ignoring the brutality of his actions.
Looking at all the people gathering around him, Selena and David were at a loss for words. Forgetting the fact that her teammate had ruthlessly beaten and almost crippled a member of her squad, Selena was sure that normal people wouldn't congratulate someone who sent three magic knights to the infirmary.
Then again, compared to how he looked when he was fighting, no one would imagine that the boy who was smiling and laughing with his friends would be capable of such acts of violence.
*Sigh*
'I wonder how captain Charlotte is gonna react.'
---
Out of all his friends, the only one who didn't congratulate Grim was Asta. While he was happy that his friend made it to the next round, he couldn't support the way Grim handled things. In response to that, Grim merely shrugged his shoulders. While he might see Asta as a friend, he wasn't gonna change the way he did things just because he didn't approve.
Standing with the others, Grim watched as Asta, Mimosa and "Xerx's" match began.
---
(5 minutes later)
"Oh?"
Firing their magic off from three different directions, Mimosa watched in horror as her opponents magic was about to hit her and the crystal. But just as she was prepared to take the hit, 3 magic circles appeared around her figure and absorbed all the magic.
'What the-
*BANG!!*
Releasing all the absorbed magic outwards and back at the other team, Grim and the others watched with great interest as a huge explosion took place.
'What just happened?'
Confused by the outcome, Grim's eyes locked onto the battlefield as he forced himself not to blink in case he missed something.
Watching the dust settle, "Xerx" placed his hands in his pockets and walked towards the intact enemy crystal.
"To be able to prevent the crystal from being destroyed while remaining conscious, well done Mr magic knight."
"Ughhh." Laying in front of the crystal, a magic knight from the enemy team grit his teeth as he refused to lose.
Stepping on the magic knight's body, Xerx approached the crystal with the intention of destroying it and ending this farce of a match.
"Gyah! As if- an insolent person like you would ever destroy our crystal-GYAAHHH!!"
Stomping down on his head, Xerx crouched down so that he was looking at the downed magic knight in the eye.
"How does it feel to lose to such an insolent person?"
!!!
"Do you lack the ability to envision magic you've never seen before!? Magic knights should be able to consider all possibilities when fighting right? There's no way you'd be able to win just by idiotically releasing large a scale magic attack with your passion alone! Losers like you don't deserve to call yourself magic knights."
"What!"
"Its time to end this." Grinding his foot deeper into the man's face, "Xerx" stood in front of the crystal while covering his hand in ash magic.
"Oi Mr magic knight." He called out without turning back. "Go re-train yourself then challenge me again you trash."
Watching Xerx's hand approach the crystal, the magic knight couldn't help but scream "GODDAMIT."
*SHATTER!!*
Destroying the enemy crystal, Xerx ended the match.
'This guy... I like his style.' Grinning at Xerx handling of the fight, Grim couldn't help but feel like this tournament would be interesting.