It was the morning of the fourth day since the start of the year.
Today, the two-day tournament will start.
After finishing school yesterday, Danny took four students with him to a small family restaurant.
"Tomorrow, I want us all to join the tournament."
Danny said, and after a short pause, continued.
"None of you have to. I'm a big believer that no one should force others to do their bidding."
He clarified.
"Why is this tournament so important to us?"
Alaparos, the bull-headed second year, asked.
"Yeah, aren't we supposed to be secretive?"
Mira joined him in her questioning.
"I don't want people to know who we support, but I do want them to notice us. Once we reveal who we support, the recognition we would get beforehand would take effect."
Danny knew they'd ask that and thought of an answer already.
They nodded their head in understanding.
"Are there any specific targets during this tournament?"
Chaos asked.
What he truly wanted to ask was why the senior who fought Danny and some female senior with them, but he already understood Danny probably knew what he was doing.
"I want to defeat the clan heirs and Ishtar."
Danny answered.
When he mentioned Ishtar, his tone was a mix of disappointment and anger, and Chaos couldn't help laughing, even now, on the morning of the tournament.
There was a spell he wanted to try. If he could use it, they'd win.
He reached with his hand forward and focused on controlling the chaotic energy that constantly engulfed him.
Doing this reminded him of how scared he was when he was a kid, and this chaotic energy manifested.
Back then, he didn't know that every few generations, the male heir of the Chaos bloodline would receive this power and, with that, an inherited spell that only they could use.
"Evocatio Chaos."
The chaotic energy engulfing his body moved through his arm and started conjuring into a tangible form at the palm of his hand.
'Yes!'
He tried using it so many times, but it never looked like he would succeed.
But unfortunately for him, soon after his certainty at the success of the spell, he felt the magic working against his control and pushing back.
With great force, the chaotic energy engulfed his body again, and he was thrown back against the wall.
Bam!
Someone slammed on his door.
"What?!"
he asked.
His door was kicked, and the person who slammed the door was revealed.
It was Chaos's cousin and the heir to the Greek Demon Clan, Kronos.
"You are quite a useless servant. Why do I need to wait for you? Especially if you already finished dressing up."
He spoke with the same pretentious tone as always. Damn, if Chaos could give him a good beatdown, he would, but he is not ready to get kicked out of the house just yet.
Chaos grabbed his bag and his cousin's bag, and they headed to school.
********
At school, Chaos saw Danny waiting at the gate and decided that whatever scolding he would get later was worth it, so he threw his cousin's bag at the family heir's face and went to Danny.
"Yo."
Danny greeted him.
"So, what hour is the tournament?"
Chaos asked his white-haired leader.
"All day long. Mira is up first, and you are second. Based on the bracket, you'll fight during the fourth round against..."
Danny said and looked in Kronos's direction.
Chaos swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his eyes couldn't hide his worry.
"If you don't wanna fight, then bail out. If you want to fight, and this will cost you your home, then I swear I'll let you stay at my house."
Danny said with surprising earnestness. It was for moments like this that Chaos decided to support his purple-eyed friend.
"Thanks for the invitation. I think I'll need it."
They went into the main building, down a flight of stairs Chaos never knew was there. They saw a giant arena with enough seats for the entire school and then some.
They went into one of the preparation rooms, and Chaos was surprised to see Marcuse there.
Before he could ask, Marcuse stood up from the chair he sat on and strode toward him.
"This is my preparation room, and I'm letting you guys use it. Because Danny trusts you, I'd like to trust you too. I know we'll be rivals, but let's have a healthy competition."
The young prince put his hand forward for a handshake, and Chaos happily obliged.
"Don't bother, Marcuse. He won't be fighting."
Jennie said and looked with anger at her brother.
"Uh? Why not?"
Marcuse asked in confusion.
"Because he is a lap dog for the main branch of the clan."
She answered.
Chaos bit his lips with anger. He couldn't tell her the truth.
Throughout their childhood, she only ever saw him do what the family told him to do, and he worked hard to make sure she never saw the treatment that brought to his "loyalty."
Marcuse looked at Danny's face to see any signs of his scheming and was delighted to see his wide smirk.
"Doesn't matter. I will wait for after the tournament to see how serious you are."
Marcuse said as he looked at Chaos.
********
The first fight was, unfortunately, Mira versus Momotaro.
This was a massive mismatch for the first round.
Mira attempted to use vampiric magic to give hallucinations. But to no avail. Momotaro was an experienced swordsman. The moment he saw her position in the ring, even if his eyes betrayed him, he knew exactly what moves he needed to do to defeat her.
He closed his eyes and dashed in her direction.
With a clean swipe of his sword, it rested against her neck.
"Out of respect to Daniel, I'll let you filthy demoness live. Withdraw from the tournament."
He said with a merciless tone that made Mira feel as if she was at death's door.
"I quit!"
She announced loudly, and Danny sighed.
He knew this would be the outcome.
The next match will be Marcuse against the heir to the Greed Clan.