Chapter 367: Inter-Academy Tournament (XIX)
The first challenge of the Inter-Academy Exchange came to a decisive end as the last remaining students from the eliminated academies were teleported off the island.
The projection screens in the grand viewing hall showed the final moments of the battles, and the entire hall fell into a stunned silence for a few seconds before erupting into loud cheers and discussions.
The referee, standing on the central floating platform, raised his hand to quiet the crowd. His voice, amplified by powerful magic, echoed through the entire hall.
"The first challenge of the Island Survival has officially ended! Let us announce the number of surviving students from each academy!"
The crowd leaned forward in anticipation, the screens showing close-up views of the remaining students from each academy.
"From Gloria Academy... only the main core students have survived. Twelve students remain."
A murmur ran through the crowd. Gloria’s face remained cold, but her fingers tightened on the railing in front of her.
"From Clementine’s Sword & Magic Academy... the entire Phoenix Class has survived. All forty-nine students remain."
The hall erupted in loud cheers. Aurora’s smile widened as she looked at the screen showing Gray surrounded by his group of girls.
"From Dragon Slaying Academy... twenty-one students remain."
The crowd clapped and cheered for the strong performance.
The referee continued announcing the other academies, each with fewer surviving students than the top three. The final numbers showed a clear gap between the strongest and the rest.
The referee raised his hand again, his voice booming with excitement.
"And now, a special announcement! Clementine’s Sword & Magic Academy has single-handedly eliminated the other academies in this challenge! Their students, led by Gray Vireux, have shown incredible coordination and strength. This is a historic performance!"
The crowd went into a loud uproar. People stood up, cheering and clapping as the screens showed highlights of Gray’s fights and the girls’ coordinated attacks.
"Clementine! Clementine!"
"Gray is insane! Did you see that technique?!"
Aurora smiled proudly, her red eyes shining as she looked at the screen showing Gray being group hugged by the Phoenix Class girls.
The girls were laughing and cheering, surrounding him with excitement as they celebrated their victory.
Gloria frowned very deeply, her golden eyes locked on the same scene. She clenched her fist tightly, her nails digging into her palm as she thought to herself.
’...Gray... was it really a mistake to let you go?’
Her eyes stayed fixed on Gray, who was standing calmly in the middle of the group hug, his expression as lazy as ever.
The sight of him being celebrated by so many talented girls made her jaw tighten even more.
The referee waited for the cheers to die down before continuing.
"Due to the results of this challenge, we will now have a day break before moving on to the next trial. The 2nd year will not compete in the next round since only three academies remain in the 2nd year. The other years only had one academy eliminated from each year. In conclusion, the 2nd year will have a three-day break before the tournament for them begins again!"
The crowd went even wilder.
This was the first time something like this had happened in all the tournaments. People were shouting, cheering, and discussing the unexpected results excitedly.
"This is historic! The 2nd year has three days off!"
"Clementine really dominated this challenge!"
Aurora laughed softly as she looked at Gloria.
"It seems your students put up a good fight," she said teasingly.
"But Gray and my girls were on another level."
Gloria didn’t reply, only rolling her eyes.
She simply stared at the screen, her mind still lingering on Gray.
In the viewing box, the Northern Duchess watched the scene with great interest, her eyes fixed on Gray as he stood in the middle of the celebrating girls.
No one could tell what she was thinking.
Meanwhile, Gray stood awkwardly in the middle of the celebrating Phoenix Class girls, their excited voices and laughter surrounding him as they hugged him and patted his back.
One of the girls, a tall beauty with long dark hair, pulled back from the group hug with a bright smile.
"Leader! We won! Let’s celebrate with lunch! We deserve it after all that fighting!"
The other girls quickly agreed, their voices overlapping with excitement.
"Yes! Let’s eat something good!"
"I’m starving after all that exploring and fighting!"
"We can go to a nice restaurant in the city. There are so many good ones near the arena!"
Gray looked at the large group of forty-nine girls surrounding him. He gave a small nod.
"Fine. Lunch sounds good."
The girls cheered even louder, but then one of them realized the problem.
"Wait... there are forty-nine of us. No restaurant is going to have space for all of us at once."
The group paused, thinking for a moment. Then another girl suggested with a grin.
"Then let’s go to the outside stalls and food carts near the arena! There are lots of them, and we can eat together in the open area. It’ll be fun, like a picnic!"
The girls quickly agreed, their eyes lighting up at the idea.
"Yes! The street food is delicious anyway!"
"We can buy a lot of different things and share!"
Gray didn’t mind the change. He simply nodded.
"Lead the way then."
The group of girls happily led him out of the arena area toward the busy streets nearby.
The place was filled with food stalls, carts, and open seating areas for visitors watching the tournament.
The smell of grilled meat, fresh bread, and sweet desserts filled the air as they walked.
The girls spread out a little, some buying food from different stalls while others found a large open area with tables and benches to sit together.
They brought back trays of food: grilled skewers, steamed dumplings, fresh fruit, and sweet pastries, and placed them in the center for everyone to share.
Gray sat down on one of the benches, Seraph sitting right beside him as the girls gathered around, chatting excitedly as they ate.
One of the girls handed Gray a skewer with a smile.
"Try this, Leader! It’s really good!"
Another girl offered him a steamed dumpling.
"And this one! It’s my favorite!"
Gray took the food calmly, eating quietly as he listened to the girls talk about the challenge, the artifacts they had found, and their plans for the break.
{Gray... can you hear me?}
Suddenly... a voice echoed inside Gray’s mind, but it wasn’t Jasmine. His eyes instantly changed as he calmly dipped a dumpling into the sauce and ate it directly.
’Telepathy... huh? Who are you?’ he asked inwardly, keeping his expression as natural as possible.
{Evelyn, the Northern Duchess.}
The voice stated its name, causing Gray to raise an eyebrow, though his lips curled up. He was waiting to make contact with her; he just didn’t expect her to initiate contact herself.
Gray had some "calculations" towards Evelyn. Her pure mermaid bloodline was extremely precious for his Law of Seduction.
And since she has a pure bloodline, there’s a high chance of her awakening a special physique once she gets strong enough.
The only problem for him right now...
He didn’t know why Evelyn had initiated contact with him.
Gray took another bite of the dumpling, chewing slowly as he replied inwardly.
’Why have you contacted me, much less using such a secretive method as telepathy?’
Evelyn laughed softly in his mind, but just as she stopped and spoke again, her voice turned slightly colder.
{Are you dating my daughter?}
Gray replied with faked confusion.
’You have a daughter?’
Then, as if remembering something...
’Oh... Selene is half-mermaid... are you her mother?’
{...Mhm, yes. It seems that she revealed her true form to you. Did you get sucked dry?}
Evelyn asked with a laugh, causing Gray to frown slightly.
Wasn’t she a little... too mischievous?
’She passed out during our mating, or whatever you call it. Your daughter didn’t even let me finish, tsk, tsk...’
{Oh my. It seems that you’re quite an experienced male, I assume...}
’You should know just from my reputation alone.’
Evelyn’s laugh echoed inside his mind again, to the point of becoming annoying.
{Your reputation does precede you, Gray Vireux.}
Gray took a sip of water and asked calmly.
’And what do you want from me, Duchess?’
There was a short pause before Evelyn replied, her voice turning slightly more serious but still carrying that playful undertone.
{I wanted to see what kind of man my daughter chose. And I must say... you are quite the specimen. Strong, calm, and dangerous. I like that. Perhaps we should meet in person after the tournament. I have... certain things I’d like to discuss with you.}
Gray’s lips curled up slightly as he ate another dumpling.
’I look forward to it.’
Ding...
The telepathic conversation ended there, but Gray could feel Evelyn’s presence lingering for a moment longer before fading away.
’Jasmine...’
[...Above the Monarch Realm.]
’I fucking knew it...’
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