Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Screwed One

I was now looking at Angelica who had been watching the entire time like a spectator enjoying the show from the sidelines.

“I’m sorry for the interruption.” I rolled my shoulder. “So can we continue where we left off?”

Her face was unreadable. But she was definitely hiding it. The surprise. The disbelief at the overpowering, one-sided beatdown I had just delivered to her partner. Even the crowd had gone completely silent.

But she showed none of it.

Just your typical cold princess. And I didn’t know why, but she reminded me of Freya.

Then a small smile cracked through. “You’ve become quite stronger. Stronger than I thought.”

She pulled her holy sword from the ground and started walking toward me. “So that’s where the confidence was coming from.”

Her steps were steady. Unhurried.

“I do respect your confidence and effort. But I’m sorry. I will have to crush it. Because I can’t afford to lose.”

She charged.

I moved to meet her. But before our weapons clashed, I stacked everything I had. Two debuffs fired. The first hit her directly. The second landed on her sword, weakening its holy output. Then I buffed myself and poured enhancement into my axe.

CLANG.

Metal met metal and the sound ripped through the arena. The crowd that had been dead until this moment finally erupted. Gasps. Whispers. Shouts.

They would be talking about me now. About how wrong every single one of them was about the real Deculein. But I wasn’t done yet. I needed to give them more of a spectacle than they could ever imagine.

And standing on that path was this overpowered woman.

Angelica was a monster.

Each strike sent me sliding meters back. The vibration that traveled through my arms after every block was sickening. Even the hardest metal in this world was losing its shape against the purity of her swordsmanship.

Every move she made was precise. Fatal. Calculated to perfection.

And every single one of them made me admire her beauty.

The way she would strike and then immediately take a few steps back. Turn on her heel showing the curves hidden beneath that armor. A sword maiden dancing across the battlefield with lethal grace.

I could feel my other weapon stirring from below.

’Not now.’

My focus snapped back but it was a fraction too late. Her next strike came in and I couldn’t position my block properly. The impact jarred my fingers loose.

My axe slipped from my grip and hit the ground.

CLANG.

But Angelica didn’t capitalize. She moved back instead. Because she didn’t need to finish it.

She was toying with me.

She knew the power gap between us. She could end this whenever she pleased. But she was testing me. Studying me. Treating this like a sparring session rather than a duel.

And that was exactly what would cost her this fight.

I picked up my axe and dusted the handle. “You made a big mistake, Princess. You just let your only chance to win slip out of your hands.”

She smiled. “And what makes you think that was my only chance?”

“The next attack will tell you. Because it will decide the winner.”

Her smile deepened. “Then I will honor your words and make them true by ending this match in the next attack.”

We both charged.

She was pointing her sword directly at my chest. A posture that was perfect for both offense and defense. A sword aimed forward like that could easily deflect side slashes from an axe while maintaining a lethal thrust position.

She would be expecting an offensive swing from me. My statement all but promised aggression. And she was ready to block, counter, and punish.

So I did the opposite.

I adjusted the angle of my axe edges and used them to guide her blade. Not away from me. Into me. Directly between my right chest and shoulder.

Her eyes went wide.

Her own momentum betrayed her. The sword pierced through my flesh.

SCHICK.

Before she could pull it free, my left hand shot forward and grabbed her sword grip along with her fist. I locked them together, trapping the blade between my grip and my bones.

The sword wasn’t going anywhere.

I grinned through the pain. Blood was already soaking through my shirt.

“What will a swordswoman do without her sword, Your Highness?”

My axe swung.

Aimed right at her throat.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t panic. Because she already knew.

I stopped the blade a few inches from her neck.

Her composure cracked. Not from fear of the axe. But from what she saw beneath it.

“What have you done?” Worry bled through her voice. “Why did you take the blow directly?”

“Don’t you see? To win.” I kept the grin despite the sting. “And don’t worry about me. I made sure to avoid the vitals. This just stings and will disappear the moment I get healed. The pain was a mere cost for the victory.”

She stared at me like I had lost every shred of sanity.

“You… you’ve gone this far for just a win?”

“For you it must be just a win.” My voice dropped.

“But for me it was something more than you can imagine. It was my way of showing the middle finger to this entire world. My way of telling every person who ever looked down on me that the next time they see me, their pitiful stares, their mocking whispers, they should tremble to even look at my foot. Forget meeting my eyes.”

I paused.

“And most importantly. It was my way to tell a certain someone that humiliation will not be answered with mere humiliation.”

My gaze drifted toward Charlotte sitting on the ground. Shocked. Pale.

“It will be answered with their absolute ruin.”

Angelica smiled. Something shifted behind those composed eyes.

“You’ve changed, Deculein. Changed far more than I could have ever imagined.” Her voice softened. “Now I’m even afraid. With this type of attitude, how many will you destroy before you end up destroying yourself?”

“Oh come on.” I scratched my head. “You’re exaggerating things.”

An awkward silence settled over the moment.

My axe was resting against her throat. Her sword was still lodged inside my chest. Two warriors frozen in the most absurd Mexican standoff this academy had ever witnessed.

Then she spoke. “I yield.”

The fight was over. I won. And I won it single-handedly.

I loosened my grip on her fist. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt carefully and began pulling the blade free. Slowly. Each inch drawing more blood.

She looked horrified seeing my state. But then she caught the grin plastered across my face and something in her expression hardened.

She turned her back to me. “Get healed. Get back to rest. Don’t torture your body anymore.”

She stopped mid-step.

“I didn’t know you were this good with axe mastery.” A brief pause. “However, I noticed many weak spots in your technique. Likely from a lack of real experience.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “You can ask me anytime. I’ll train you.”

Then she was gone.

My vision was getting blurry. The fatigue finally sinking its teeth into every fiber of my body. My legs felt like they were filled with wet sand.

My axe slipped from my fingers first.

THUD.

Then I was going down too.

But someone caught me.

An arm hooked around my back and pulled me into their support. I blinked through the blur and saw the figure.

Aria.

My arms were draped across her shoulders. My body pressed against hers for support.

And feeling her this close. Smelling whatever scent clung to her hair from this distance. My heart started pounding for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with blood loss.

I smirked. “We won.”

Her response was instant. Furious.

“We? It was you, you… well forget it. You absolute psycho. What the hell were you thinking? Have you completely lost your mind?” Her voice climbed higher. “Actually I already knew the answer. You’ve had serious brain issues from the very start.”

I replied, “And I knew you weren’t the ruthless, arrogant, cold, and cruel bastard the rumors made you out to be.” I tilted my head closer to hers. “I mean look at you. Carrying a dead weight like me. Something that would be nothing more than a pest in your eyes.”

She dropped me.

I hit the ground.

She turned away and refused to even show me her face. Then she spotted a medical staff member standing nearby and erupted.

“Hurry up! What are you waiting for?!” She was practically scolding the man to death. “Take him away and patch him up before I change my mind and contribute to his death myself!”

She stormed off without another word.

I was being hoisted up by the staff and guided toward the medical wing. But then I heard something.

“Miss Aria! Now that you’ve won the fight, what reward will you choose from the Imperial or Royal households?”

I turned my head. Some students from the press department were holding up a magic circle like a microphone, chasing after Aria for a statement.

She responded in her coldest tone. Didn’t even slow her pace.

“I didn’t contribute much. I don’t deserve to be the one benefiting from this. So I’ll leave the bet to my partner.”

My mood brightened so fast it felt like every single injury on my body healed in an instant. This magic was awesome.

I turned my gaze toward Charlotte.

She had heard Aria’s words too. And when her eyes met mine, when she saw the grin spreading across my bloody face, the color drained from hers completely.

Terrified.

I shoved the staff member aside. “Let the fuck go of me.”

Then I dragged my broken, bleeding, barely functioning body toward Aria.

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