"Royal Knight...?" Nitra muttered with a puzzled expression, "And... Only one..."
Magnus, Alf, and Sara looked at each other. Each of them was a Knight, which meant they were the only ones who had a chance to get promoted.
"I'll pass." Magnus shrugged with a nonchalant face.
"What...?" Sara's eyes went wide with surprise, "Is this some kind of cunning plan?"
Magnus shook his head, "No, I'm serious. I don't want to fight with any weapon other than my hammer, so this option doesn't work for me."
"Hmm? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? If a Knight can use a weapon, then so can a Royal Knight!" Nitra frowned, she didn't believe Mangus's words.
"Agh... You're as obnoxious as you are stupid." Magnus shook his head, "Obviously, the Royal Knight will have a special weapon, losing it would be a big mistake."
Nitra was surprised, and she didn't say anything since it was better for them.
Then, she looked at Ethan, 'Well, even if Magnus refused it doesn't mean we have a chance... He'll definitely want to take the role for himself and I won't be able to resist him.'
"Fine, then it's settled." Ethan said in a deep voice, "Sara, you will be our Royal Knight."
No one said anything, everyone just turned to him with a dazed expression. Nobody understood why Ethan did that.
"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" Ethan smirked, "I'm just trying to pick the best option as always. Sara is the perfect fighter, especially in that armor. What's more, you've already been through the black veins, right?"
This question caught Sara off guard, but after a while, she nodded cautiously.
"Yeah... I've absorbed a few cores. I assume you did too, didn't you?" Sara looked intently at Ethan, Magnus, and Alf.
"Sure." Ethan waved his hand, "Let's not focus on this too much and just do it."
Alisa and Nitra glanced over, then they activated their cards again, trying to figure out which one of them was supposed to promote Sara.
Tap.
At the same moment, Alf approached Ethan. He looked calm, but puzzled, there was no irritation on his face because of the choices Ethan had made. He just wanted to understand.
"Oh, Alf. Don't worry, everything is under control." Ethan said immediately before Alf could ask anything.
"I mean... Sara is actually more suited for the role of Royal Knight because of her armor and tower effect, but won't that get us in trouble later?" Alf suggested.
"You're talking about the tenth wave, right?"
Alf nodded.
"Well... I'm 99% sure that at the very end, all the towers will unite to defeat the strongest monster or something like that. I was thinking that before, but now I'm sure of it.
First four teams, then two, and at the end there will be one since we are one Area. Fifth Trial separated us only temporarily, so until the very end of Trial, Sara will be on the same team as us." Ethan said calmly.
Then, his gaze became much colder, causing Alf to shiver slightly.
"However... If I am wrong, I will fix it. I have a way to do that, no matter what her role is."
Alf didn't bother to ask more. It was clear to him from Ethan's absorbing gaze.
Then, a pillar of light fell on Sara, as the poleaxe in her hands disappeared, disintegrating into white particles.
In place of her previous weapon, a massive axe with a red, flaming blade appeared, the heat of which was felt even by Ethan and Alf, who were standing quite far away.
"Unbelievable... This weapon... No, that's not the most important thing... I also got regeneration!" Sara exclaimed in excitement.
Step. Step. Step.
Ethan walked over to Sara and gazed at her, "Hah, flaming axe, special armor, regeneration and strength effects, and also you absorbed some cores... That's a crazy combination."
Sara nodded, "I can easily defeat Commander Monster now." Then, Sara pointed her axe at Ethan, "Hey, maybe I should get revenge for what you did? Thieves should be punished, don't you think?"
Ethan smirked, "You are a warrior, not a leader, so you will obey orders, my orders, just like Alisa and now Nitra."
Hearing this Nitra frowned but didn't say anything. Whether she wanted to or not, Ethan was superior to her, and they had to learn from him so they wouldn't have any more casualties.
Sara's face grew more serious, "Just promise me you'll do whatever it takes to make sure no one else gets killed! That's my only condition!"
"Fine, you have my word."
[Princesses! Choose where the portal opens!]
A mechanical voice suddenly sounded, then six blue beams appeared on the north and west sides of the academy.
One beam was in front of the tower, reaching the boundary of the barrier, and the other two were to the left and right of the tower.
"Honestly I was worried that the portal would be random like before, but the rules of the Trials are truly logical, at least for now." Ethan muttered as he turned to Nitra, "What reward did you choose after the third wave?"
Nitra pointed upwards, at the amber sphere that was at the top of her tower. It was several meters in diameter, reflecting the sunlight and sending a sparkle around it.
"I can use it once to launch a destructive laser." Nitra shook her hand.
"Hah, I knew that shit was a one-time use. Well, on the bright side, it's a good thing you didn't think of that." Ethan said mockingly.
"Agh... Okay, jokes aside, we only have twenty minutes left." Ethan abruptly became serious and pointed at the walls.
"We'll be fighting within our tower, as I've spent many points on various traps. Our tower is not a defensive fortress like yours, but an arena of death, for monsters. Move all the turrets to our tower, as well as anything similar that you bought with points. Also, remove this orb and bring the corpses of the monsters." Ethan quickly handed out instructions. Nitra had a hard time remembering everything.
Before Nitra could ask anything, Ethan turned to Alf, "Go back to our tower and bring half of them here. Nitra's people will need help, we have to make this quick."
"Sure!" Alf quickly replied and immediately began to execute.
Sara and Nitra glanced over, they were slightly puzzled, but they were also pleased that Ethan knew what to do.
...
So, fifteen minutes later, Heart Tower was ready for the sixth wave.
The people were tired, but they still had another five minutes to rest, they could be calm since they were now ready to fight any opponent.
"Damn... Considering how much stuff is in here... How powerful do monsters have to be to become a problem?" Nitra muttered in a thoughtful way.
Ethan shrugged, "I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough."
He stared at the blue portal that would burst into bright flames in a few minutes, and they would have to go through another trial.