Chapter 207: One Last Chance

For a brief moment, the duel grounds weren’t the loudest place anymore.

The spectators were.

“…What the hell am I looking at?” one of the girls muttered under their breath.

Ellen had gone completely still.

Her fingers were gripping the edge of the observation platform so hard that her knuckles had turned pale.

Her eyes were locked onto the arena, jumping between Gray and Seraph, pupils trembling slightly as she tried, and failed, to keep up with the flow of the battle.

Mainly because of how surprised she was.

“…This almost looks like a restrained execution attempt,” Maelis muttered as she watched over the battle.

“Not really… It’s actually even worse,” Ellen replied in a tight tone.

At her words, the girls, including both Maelis and Cassandra, looked at Ellen in curiosity. She swallowed hard.

“Gray is limiting himself. Aggressively.”

A girl’s eyes widened in complete surprise.

“What do you mean?”

Ellen didn’t look away from the arena.

“His footwork, his breathing, and his Qi output…” she stated

“He’s capped himself so hard it’s actually distorting the fight. If he released even a little more…”

She stopped herself.

Across the grounds, Seraph’s Sword Qi was warping the space around her, heavy enough that even observers could feel the pressure on their skin.

Several students had unconsciously stepped back, some pressing their hands to their chests.

And yet, Gray calmly took all the pressure without even sweating!

“The princess is already at Sword Qi comprehension. At her age, that’s…” One of the fan girls muttered.

“…Abnormal,” Ellen finished for her.

“Yes. She’s a monster.”

Her gaze sharpened.

“But he’s something else entirely.”

A sharp intake of breath came from the students’ side.

“Did you see that just now?”

“He didn’t dodge… he just wasn’t there.”

“No, he was…. then he wasn’t…? How is that even allowed?!”

“That ability… that’s spatial, right?”

Ellen’s jaw tightened.

“Position swap,” she murmured, surprised. “With objects. With constructs. With anything that has presence…”

“…As expected of my brother,” Maelis’s lips curled up slighly.

Surprisingly, for once, Cassandra agreed without a word. She simply nodded, eyes fixed on the arena, completely ignoring the whispers and gasps spreading around them.

Crackle!

The qi swords shot toward Gray, who weaved between them with minimal unnecessary movements.

The first sword aimed at his chest, so he jumped above it, only to be met with three more swords already aimed at his heart.

He parried one of the swords and quickly moved through the middle of the remaining two.

Slowly but surely, he was approaching Seraph, who decided to adopt a more defensive stance, but unfortunately for her, Gray’s style was extremely aggressive.

“[✧Swap✧] ”

He switched places with a rock next to her, already swinging his sword at her leg. Seraph seemed to be expecting it, but was still too slow, letting Gray’s sword graze her ankle.

“Agh!” she gritted her teeth, taking a leap back.

She quickly condensed more swords, and this time, she created a protective armor around herself, with a few dozens of swords surrounding her.

The space between them was minimal, not letting Gray take any opportunity to teleport inside the barrier.

“…Mhm,” Gray stopped on his tracks, analyzing the barrier slighly.

He tilted his head slightly, his eyes tracking the rotation, counting without moving.

“Twelve swords per cycle… thirty-six in total.”

His lips curled up slighly, and then, he shot directly towards Seraph.

“!!!”

Seraph instantly put on a defensive stance, prepared to turn around and counter his attack in any case, but surprisingly…

“Huup!”

Gray just jumped towards her barrier directly, causing her eyes to widen in complete shock.

“…Nullification.”

[-36 Soul Energy]

The qi swords were directly erased from existence as Gray landed right before her. These actions had shocked her so greatly that she had forgotten to even defend herself.

And because of this…

Fwip!

Gray’s rapier was once again on her neck.

“You lost again.”

Clink!

Her sword slipped from her fingers and hit the ground.

A second later, Seraph followed, her knees crashing against the stone as she knelt there, shoulders slack, head lowered.

Her eyes had turned a little empty as she blankly gazed at the ground in complete defeat.

“…..”

Gray looked down at her for a moment before putting his rapier away. Then, he simply turned around and walked away.

The moment he crossed the boundary of the arena…

“DID YOU SEE THAT?!”

“He beat the First Princess… like that?!”

“That wasn’t even close!”

“Oh my god, he was so calm! So cool! Did you see his eyes?!”

“That swap ability…! No! Everything about him, this isn’t fair!”

Girls surged forward, voices overlapping, faces flushed with excitement.

Some grabbed each other’s sleeves, others pressed hands to their chests like they were trying to calm their hearts.

“He wasn’t even breathing hard!”

“He just walked away after winning… WHO DOES THAT?!”

“Princess Seraph didn’t stand a chance…”

“He’s terrifying… but in a good way.”

“That’s the so-called old genius?!”

Gray didn’t react to their comments.

Maelis watched him approach, her eyes shining slighly.

“He really crushed her,” she murmured proudly.

But even though she had spoken those words, she was happier about the fact that he didn’t even say anything to the blank Princess.

Cassandra said nothing, but the way her fingers tightened together, the faint curve at the corner of her lips said enough.

Ellen was already moving before Gray even reached the edge of the grounds.

She stepped in front of him, heels clicking sharply against the stone, her expression no longer that of a composed professor, but of someone barely holding back excitement.

“…Incredible,” she stated, her breath slipping out before she could stop it.

“No, this goes ENTIRELY beyond that!!!”

She pushed her glasses up with one finger, her eyes shining as she stared at him like he was a rare treasure.

“You controlled space itself, erased Sword Qi, and restrained your abilities to an absurd degree, all while maintaining perfect awareness,” she continued, words spilling out faster now.

“Do you have any idea how insane that is?”

Gray stopped, meeting her gaze calmly.

“I do.”

Ellen laughed softly, half in disbelief, half in delight.

“Then you understand why I’m asking again,” she said, straightening her posture.

“Gray Vireux… become my student! Not officially, not on paper. Personally. I will teach you everything I know.”

Around them, several students paused, clearly listening in.

Gray didn’t even hesitate.

“No.”

The word landed cleanly.

Ellen blinked.

“…No?”

“I don’t need a teacher,” he replied simply.

Her smile stiffened for a moment, then turned wry.

“You refuse far too easily,” she muttered, rubbing her temple. “Do you realize how many people would beg for this chance?”

“I’m not one of them.”

She studied him closely now, really looking at him, not the monstrous genius, not the anomaly, but the person standing there, calm, distant, unmoved by praise.

After a few seconds, she sighed.

“…Figures.”

Then, surprisingly, she smiled again.

“Very well, but don’t think I’ll stop trying! Talents like yours don’t come around twice in a lifetime!!”

Gray gave no reply.

He simply inclined his head slightly and stepped aside.

Ellen turned back toward the arena, her expression sharpening again as her eyes landed on Seraph, who was still kneeling on the ground.

“Someone check on the First Princess,” she ordered calmly.

“Make sure she’s alright.”

Two attendants moved immediately, hurrying toward Seraph, helping her to her feet and speaking to her in low voices as they examined her condition.

CLAP!

Only after that did Ellen clap her hands together.

“Alright,” she announced, raising her voice so everyone could hear.

“That’s enough for today.”

The girls quieted down almost instantly.

“Class dismissed.”

A few relieved sighs escaped, mixed with excited whispers that refused to die down completely.

Ellen glanced over the students, her gaze lingering for a moment on the duel grounds before returning to them.

“I hope you all understood what you just witnessed.”

Her lips curved slightly.

“If even a few of you learned something from that fight, then today was more than worth it.”

Upon saying those words, she turned and walked away, leaving the students to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.

Surprisingly, the academy only had one class per day, as the rest were purely for the students to do whatever they wanted.

Of course, normally the class would be more than just a power examination and spar, but because it was the first class of the semester, the teacher had let them go sooner.

Fwop!

Without wasting a single second, Maelis started clinging back to Gray, putting his arm between her breasts as she normally.

“Big brother~, let’s eat something!~”

Hearing her words, Gray nodded slighly as he was also feeling a little hungry, but as they walked away, he noticed that Cassandra wasn’t following them.

“…You wanna go eat with us?” he stopped and softly asked.

Casandra was a little surprised because Gray normally would hide their relationship, but then, she remembered that now he wouldn’t lose his memories anymore…

And that meant that she probably didn’t have to hide her liking for him anymore!

So, without thinking twice, she nodded and started following behind them.

“Hmph…”

Maelis puffed her cheek in jealousy.

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