Chapter 239 Match 4: The Battle Royal! [4]
Swish— Swish— Swish
As soon as Ares gave Livia his approval to attack the Royal Knight Academy team, she immediately sent a barrage of ice shards at them. However, At the same time, Diana didn\'t waste any time and launched a flurry of arrows as well.
The arrows and ice shards moved at the same speed toward their targets.
Whistlee~
Suddenly, the arrows seemed to come to life, making a whistling sound before accelerating even further toward their marks. With their newfound speed, the arrows hit their targets before the ice shards could reach them.
"Argh!"
Both the Cherry Blossom and Royal Knight Academy teams were caught off guard. The arrows barely missed the Cherry Blossom team members, but one by one, the members of the Royal Knight Academy were hit by arrows in their vitals, reducing their HP to zero in an instant.
Thud—Thud—Thud—Thud
Four members fell to the ground, their lifeless bodies hitting the ground with a dull thud. The remaining member was taken down by Livia\'s ice shards which hit him, like bullets, leaving the entire Royal Knight Academy team eliminated without putting up any resistance.
The notifications rang out to the team Soreh Academy:
[Your teammate Diana has eliminated a member of Team Royal Knight Academy!]
[Your teammate Diana has eliminated a member of Team Royal Knight Academy!]
[Your teammate Diana has eliminated a member of Team Royal Knight Academy!]
[Your teammate Diana has eliminated a member of Team Royal Knight Academy!]
[Your teammate Livia has eliminated a member of Team Royal Knight Academy!]
Livia was taken aback and shot a surprised glance at Diana. \'I have underestimated dumb potato,\' she thought.
Diana, noticing the look, sighed before grinning at Livia.
The announcement of Team Royal Knight Academy\'s elimination was broadcasted loud and clear and echoed across the battlefield.
[Team Royal Knight Academy has been eliminated!]
The members of Team Cherry Blossom were left dumbstruck as they witnessed the quick elimination of the Royal Knight Academy. They turned to the source of the attack, their eyes widened, and their weapons at the ready, only to see Team Soreh Academy approaching them.
"It\'s... Ares," Ava muttered, recognizing him and other members of the Soreh Academy.
Her sister, Eva, on the other hand, was visibly excited at the sight of Ares. "Yeah, it\'s Ares!" she exclaimed.
Ava gave her sister a blank look, questioning her excitement, "Why are you so excited seeing him, sister?" she questioned.
Eva shuddered and corrected herself, "Oh no, it\'s Aresss," in a dejected tone, shaking her head.
"...."
Ava didn\'t know how to react to her sister\'s behavior and decided to shrug it off and focus on the present. Her eyes turned to Diana, who was carrying a bow. She couldn\'t help but wonder if anyone from their team could have pulled off what Diana did, remembering how close the arrow came to hitting her before it hit its intended target.
She realized that if they hadn\'t teamed up with Ares, their whole team could have been eliminated, just like the Royal Knight Academy, not knowing what hit them.
"It\'s good that we decided to team up with Ares, right sister?" Eva voiced her thoughts.
Ava agreed, "Yeah, sister, you\'re right."
The sisters agreed that it was fortunate for them to have teamed up with Ares. The false rumors about their partnership had been circulating for a while, but they had made it official after a meeting the previous day.
As the other teams were afraid to go after the Team Soreh Academy, they were all coming after them because of those rumors, thinking of them as the easier targets and believing they were weakening the Soreh Academy\'s team by eliminating them.
"And this match is very important for us. We not only want to prevent ourselves from being eliminated but also want to move to the top 4," Ava added.
As only the top 4 teams after the next match will proceed to the semifinals.
"Right sister, we have to win this," Eva agreed, nodding.
The Soreh Academy was already a top-performing team and didn\'t need a partnership to secure a spot in the semifinals. Ares, Diana, and Livia were all powerhouses in their own right, and their combined talents made them nearly unbeatable.
Ava couldn\'t shake off the feeling that Ares had other motives for agreeing to the partnership, despite their team not needing it. As she pondered this, one of their team members, Alia, approached Ares to greet him.
"Hi Ares, it\'s nice to see you again," Alia greeted him warmly, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"A pleasure to see you as well, Alia," Ares responded with a charming smile, his gaze fixed on her.
!?
Livia and Diana exchanged a curious glance as they noticed Alia and Ares\' friendly exchange.
"Competition?" They both said in unison, furrowing their brows.
Lia suddenly leaned towards Ares\' katana and examined it closely. "Hmm? You\'re using an Ice katana? I didn\'t think such weapons were available on this battlefield. And the measurements, size, weight... everything matches your preferences," Lia observed thoughtfully.
!!
A sudden realization hit her and she turned to Livia. "...So it was made by you?" Lia asked, knowing that Livia was the only Ice mage capable of crafting such a weapon for someone else.
The ice mages possessed the unique ability to craft weapons like arrows, spears, swords, and more out of their element. However, the weapons created could only match their personal preferences, and crafting a weapon for someone else required a great deal of practice, time, effort, and control over their element.
Ares\' katana was a perfect match for his preferences, needing only minor adjustments to make it flawless. This was not a result that could be achieved overnight, and knowing that Lia felt a pang of pain in her heart, though she couldn\'t understand why.
"Yes, it is me who crafted that katana. Is there a problem with that weapon?" Livia asked curiously, her jealousy from before forgotten. She genuinely wanted to hear Lia\'s feedback to know if there were any problems with the katana she had crafted and if there was any way to improve herself.
Livia was also experimenting with crafting a bow using her ice magic, but she wasn\'t satisfied with the results and needed more practice. She saw Lia\'s skill in the previous match and believed that she was the right person to help her craft the perfect weapons for Ares.
Crafting had become Livia\'s hobby, and she wanted to be able to create weapons for Ares in emergency situations like today\'s.
"...No, there\'s no problem with the weapon," Lia replied, pushing her jealousy aside. "It might have taken you a lot of effort and failures to be able to create this almost perfect katana for him," Lia spoke up, impressed by Livia\'s craftsmanship, and recognized the effort it must have taken to make such a perfect weapon for Ares.
"Yes, but it was worth it," Livia replied, looking at Ares with a fond smile.
"You... seem to have a lot of affection for him," Lia observed with a slight awkwardness in her tone.
It was clear to Lia that Livia had put in a lot of determination and hard work to craft a weapon for Ares, and the fond look she was giving him was a dead giveaway of her feelings.
"H-Huh?"