Chapter 190: Chapter 190 – Hidden Agendas

Outside the Simulator.

The host, who had just finished commenting on Adam’s overwhelming victory in his zone, suddenly shifted his attention to another screen that had just split the feed. Camera spotlights and the simulator’s sensitive microphones captured two figures standing opposite each other on a ruined city street.

“OH! LOOK! TWO REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE SAME ACADEMY HAVE FINALLY MET!” he shouted with full enthusiasm.

“ADAM SOCHERON AND MAXIMUS TREYBERN! TWO YOUNG MONSTERS FROM NINE STARS! IMAGINE IF THEY JOIN FORCES! WITH THEIR COMBINED STRENGTH, THEY WOULD BE ALMOST UNSTOPPABLE IN THIS SIMULATOR! THEY COULD DOMINATE ANY ZONE AND RACK UP POINS INCREDIBLY FAST!”

The audience cheered.

But then, the host fell silent. Because on the screen, Adam and Maximus did not greet each other, did not exchange nods, showed no signs of unity.

Instead, they advanced on each other, and from the giant screen above the arena, they could hear their conversation. The distance between them shrank. Twenty meters… fifteen meters… ten meters…

Their postures were tense, their gazes locked with unmistakable, real hostility. The atmosphere around them, even through the screen, felt incredibly charged, crackling with electricity ready to explode.

“W-Wait… what’s happening here?” the host spoke again, but this time with a confused and wary tone. “They… they don’t look like they’re about to cooperate. They look like… like they’re about to attack each other!”

And indeed. When the distance was just five meters, Adam raised [Mindrender] in a ready stance. Maximus clenched both fists, a visible aura of physical strength beginning to emanate from his body, scattering the dust around him.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” the host almost screamed, his voice full of disbelief. “ARE THEY REALLY GOING TO FIGHT?! FELLOW TEAMMATES?! IN THE MIDDLE OF A TOURNAMENT WHERE COOPERATION IS KEY?!”

The camera showed a close-up of Adam’s cold, disdainful face, then Maximus’s face, filled with anger and determination.

“THE ATMOSPHERE BETWEEN THEM… IS INCREDIBLY TENSE! SO MUCH HISTORY AND CONFLICT IS VISIBLE BETWEEN THEM!”

The host shook his head, still in disbelief. “BUT… WHY?! WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON BETWEEN THEM? AND WHERE IS THEIR ACADEMY HEAD? OPHELIA THE BLAZEWALKER? WHY ISN’T SHE INTERVENING OR AT LEAST GIVING ORDERS TO HER STUDENTS NOT TO FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES?!”

The camera panned frantically across the academy heads’ stands, searching for Ophelia’s face. But her seat among the other academy heads was empty. Ophelia Blazinger was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, she wasn’t. Because the Head of Nine Stars Academy was currently lying exhausted in a luxury hotel room, fast asleep—or more accurately, passed out from exhaustion—after a “special treatment” session lasting the entire night from one of her students, none other than Adam himself. Her body was now recovering from a very… intense therapy session.

Meanwhile, in the Nine Stars contestants’ stand, Instructor Violet Albestorm sat with a stiff, upright back. Her usually cool, beautiful face was now contorted with real anger. Her purple eyes stared sharply at the screen showing Adam and Maximus on the verge of fighting. Her hands were clenched in her lap.

“Instructor Violet,” Ace whispered, “should we do something?”

Violet shook her head, her jaw locked.

“There’s nothing we can do from here.” But her voice trembled with frustration. She had warned them in the locker room. She had told them to settle their affairs later. But they clearly weren’t listening.

On the screen, Adam and Maximus were very close. Only three meters separated them. The fight between Nine Stars’ two stars was about to begin—in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators, and it would be a disgraceful spectacle for the academy’s reputation.

The host, after a moment of confusion, finally returned with even more excitement.

“WELL… AS THE HOST, I CAN’T INTERFERE. BUT THIS… THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY INTERESTING. WHEN WILL WE EVER SEE A SHOW LIKE THIS AGAIN? TWO OF THE BEST STUDENTS FROM THE TOP ACADEMY, NOT FIGHTING MONSTERS OR OTHER ACADEMIES… BUT EACH OTHER. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? WHO WILL WIN? AND WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR THE NINE STARS TEAM?”

He paused, making the atmosphere ominous.

“WE’LL FIND OUT SOON.”

Zephyr sat in a posture that looked relaxed, but in reality, every muscle in his body was alert. His black leather-gloved hand pressed against his temple, fingers massaging slowly as if trying to relieve unseen tension.

His eyes were tightly covered by a layer of white cloth. But sight wasn’t an issue for Zephyr. His consciousness spread outward like an invisible spiderweb, reaching every corner of this giant Colosseum.

He didn’t push to his maximum limit—unlike the night when his consciousness expanded to two hundred kilometers to face that monster. This time, it was enough to blanket the entire arena, detecting every strange energy vibration, every hidden malicious intent among the spectators.

And because of that, he easily found Yumi.

’It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her,’ Zephyr thought to himself, a vague sense of nostalgia touching his heart. ’After this tournament is over, maybe I could—’

But he immediately shook his head, dismissing the thought. ’No. Not now. Today is too busy. This tournament… is actually the perfect time for me to strike and carry out my plan. I must stay focused.’

He let out a slow breath, then shifted his full attention back to the main screen, where a much hotter scene was heating up inside the Dungeon Simulator.

.

.

.

Inside the simulator, the air between us felt like a steel wire stretched to its breaking point.

I narrowed my eyes, looking at Maximus who stood opposite me in a fighting stance. He did the same—his dark brown eyes stared at me with equal intensity, full of unhidden determination and hatred.

No more words. No more warnings.

We charged at the same time.

My steps shot forward, [Mindrender] in my hand swinging from overhead down with the intent to cleave him from shoulder to hip. But Maximus didn’t dodge. Instead, he stepped in, his clenched right hand sweeping sideways, parrying my sword slash with the side of his forearm.

CLANG!

The loud sound of metal clashing echoed like two blades meeting. The vibration traveled through [Mindrender]’s hilt up my arm. I was surprised—but not completely.

Maximus gave a thin smile, a smile full of superiority. “My arms and legs are trained like steel, Socheron. Don’t expect to cut through them easily.”

As he spoke, his low kick was already shooting towards my knee. I jumped back, avoiding the bone-crushing kick, while simultaneously swinging my sword horizontally towards his stomach. Again, Maximus parried with his left arm and used the momentum to drive his body forward, his right fist swinging for my face.

I parried with [Mindrender]’s hilt, then pushed him back with a counter-kick to his chest. He absorbed my kick with a strong horse stance, only shifting half a step.

We retreated simultaneously, back to a safe distance, watching each other with breaths starting to grow slightly heavy.

’Impressive,’ I thought, reassessing. His speed, strength, and endurance had drastically improved compared to the locker room earlier. Maybe he was still holding back then.

Those iron-like hands were clearly not just a metaphor—whether it was a hardening skill, extreme physical training, or maybe a relic. Whatever it was, it allowed him to fight directly against sharp weapons without injury.

In the back of my mind, the quest I had just received reappeared. Defeat him shamefully. What did that mean? Did I have to defeat him and then strip him naked in front of thousands of spectators? Or force him to surrender in a humiliating way?

Then, Sonya’s image appeared in my head. Maximus’s sister. Right now, she must be watching on TV at their home. I wondered—what was her expression as she watched the younger brother she was so proud of face me? Would she support me? Or would she hope for Maximus to defeat me?

’Defeat shamefully…’ I pondered again. Maybe it had to do with his pride. Maximus was the type of person who took immense pride in his physical strength, his prowess as an Awakener, his position as the top representative. So, to shame him, I had to tear that down. I had to defeat him in a way that shattered that pride.

I took a deep breath, then I raised [Mindrender]. The black saber glowed for a moment, then vanished from my hand.

Maximus furrowed his brow, wary. “What’s your meaning?”

I extended both my hands, palms open, showing I was now unarmed.

“I thought this would be more fair,” I said, belittling him. “I’ll defeat you with just my bare hands. That seems to be your pride, right? Your physical strength?”

Maximus’s expression changed instantly. His face, which had been full of wariness, now flushed with boiling anger. His eyes narrowed, veins pulsing at his temples. You could almost hear his teeth grinding.

“You… you’re looking down on me?” he hissed, his voice low and dangerous.

“Not looking down,” I countered, still with the same tone. “Just thinking that if I use a weapon, it’ll be over too quickly. And I want to enjoy this.”

It was a direct insult. And it worked perfectly.

“Heh!” Maximus couldn’t believe the loser he used to beat up had become this daring.

He didn’t answer with words anymore. He answered with action.

With a roar of anger, he charged. This time, his speed was even higher. His right fist shot out like a cannonball, targeting my face. I didn’t dodge completely. Instead, I pivoted my body, letting his fist pass by my cheek by mere centimeters, then my hand caught his wrist.

The strength behind that punch nearly broke my grip. But I held on tight. Then, using his own momentum, I pulled him towards me while placing my foot behind his leg.

Maximus stumbled, losing his balance. But he didn’t fall. With quick reflexes, he twisted his body, breaking my grip with a spinning motion, then his back kick swung towards my ribs.

THUD!

I blocked the kick with my arm, but its force pushed me back a step. It felt like being hit by a large rock. But the smile on my lips didn’t fade.

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