BlackCrown

The scoreboard truly shocked many, as this was the first time the top three were being challenged. Demeter Academy which was on the bottom for so long was now within the top five. It was not the only academy to switch positions, as some of the top-ranked academies were now in sixth place or lower.

As much as some people wanted to celebrate over their success, it was not the time yet. From fourth to eighth place, the rankings were not that far apart. Some were only leading by ten or twenty points. Therefore, their spot was not set in stone.

Even for Demeter Academy, who was in fourth place, they were not that ahead of Hermes Academy, who was in fifth place. Just a five-point difference between fourth and fifth place.

As for third place, they were ahead by thirty-five points.

There was zero chance of Demeter coming in first or second place, even if they took the top spot for freshman compet.i.tion. The hopes of them being third was not that far off.

It was early but the stands were filled with people. Usually during the Twelve G.o.d compet.i.tion because the rankings normally stayed the same barely anyone showed up for the freshman compet.i.tion. Now, it was like the main event.

The ground rumbles as six large hills appeared. Besides the hills, it was an open plain. No trees, no swamps, just gra.s.s as far as the eye could see.

Fairly plain compared to the settings from the other matches.

"Nick, you don"t need to win this, but we need you to be one of the last ones standing. No pressure… it"s just our placement at stake here."

Alicia"s blue eyes stared straight into Nick"s hazel eyes as she held his shoulders. From the look on her face, Nick could tell how much importance she placed on this match.

Nick gave her a smile, worry-free.

"Don"t worry."

While he spoke calmly, Nick knew that this year"s freshmen were stronger than the previous years. Rachel herself could defeat people who had more experience than her. It was safe to say she was the strongest freshman.

As for the others, Nick did not know them but it was not hard to learn about them. Since they were so famous he could just search them up on the internet. Nick did not do that, instead, Freya was his go-to source. She had all the information he needed on his would-be opponents.

Alicia smiled back at Nick. She was glad he was not as nervous as she was. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She did not have the answer to that question.

Nick placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. He remembered the attack that Illiana used previously, it was different from all the sword techniques he knew. It was like, the sword itself was alive.

Yet, that"s impossible swords don"t have a will of their own.

Just before Iliana"s last attack, Nick used his EXO ability to see what was going on. It was truly astonishing as her blade transformed into a type of snake sword. The sword attacked everything it could reach, freezing them in place.

Iliana had control over lightning Nick knew that. There was no different color flow in her body, but her sword was able to freeze anyone it touched. That was unheard!

Ever since then his sword hasn"t been able to calm down. As strange as it was Nick felt like asking Iliana about it, but he found her dead tired after her match was over. She was sleeping like a log.

Once this whole compet.i.tion was over and they were back on campus Nick would have a discussion with her.

"I for one did not expect things to turn out this way. The rankings have been stirred and all the students feel their blood boiling with antic.i.p.ation. Who will be the one to earn their school all the respect, glory and rewards? What freshman will stand tall amongst the others? You"ve waited patiently for this and we"re just moments away from finding out the results.

However, there"s been a small change. So far you"ve seen one or two students go out and represent their academy, this time there will be four! That"s right! Four! Four freshmen will team up to take home the crown in this final match.

It"s King of the Hill!

There are six hills, each with a throne. One freshman will sit on the throne while their comrades defend them for three minutes. Every ten seconds they are seated on the throne their teams points increase. When the entire three minutes pa.s.s the hill will disappear or if the time has not been reached it will vanish five minutes after.

After all the hills disappear new ones will emerge in different locations, except it"ll be one less than before. The team that has the least amount of points after five minutes will be eliminated."

The bald announcer came out and said what the last match would be. No one expected the slight change.

Those who came to spectate started to cheer loudly. Every match so far has been good, but this was going to be something else. It was basically four against the world.

Alicia placed her hand against her chin as she started thinking. She planned to send Nick out, but now there would be a change in her plans. There were a few others who would pair well with Nick however, Alicia didn"t know if they would join.

Only those who were partic.i.p.ating came prepared. She"d have to find weapons for each of the new partic.i.p.ants not to mention try and come up with a strategy.

Alicia started pacing back and forth as she became lost in her thoughts.

"Nick!"

Alicia stopped as she came up with something and yelled out Nick"s name.

Nick looked up at her waiting for her to continue speaking.

"Matthew, Scarlet, and Arthur. The four freshmen royals, you will partic.i.p.ate together."

Nick scratched his cheek. He did not have a problem with the choices, it was just that he did not know if Scarlet and Arthur would play well. It was for the academies placement so there shouldn"t be any problem.

"I don"t have any problem with who you chose, except are you sure they"re up for the task?"

Nick asked Alicia.

Alicia nodded her head.

"I"m sure of it. Why wouldn"t they want to compete with those from the other academies? Arthur is a bit hot-blooded and wouldn"t give up a chance to prove to the world how superior he is. Matthew wouldn"t turn this chance down. As for Scarlet, there"s a slight chance she"d disagree but I don"t see why she"d turn it down."

Alicia turned her head and looked at one of her peers.

"You, go and bring them here. On the off chance, someone disagrees bring someone else."

Nick clenched his fist tightly as his chance to fight Rachel was right in his grasp. Although there were others that were stronger than himself Nick was ready.

"The only way to grow stronger is to learn from your mistakes. Fighting against a weak opponent will not show you your flaws, it"ll only increase them. Only when you battle those stronger than you will your weaknesses become clear."

Nick remembered those words his sensei taught him.

A person"s limitations is only those they set for themselves.

It wasn"t long before the four freshmen royals were gathered in one place.

Scarlet wore hot pants with a white tee shirt. Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail while her sungla.s.ses hid her eyes. Nick thought her style was nice but he wasn"t planning on telling her that.

Next to Scarlet was Arthur who was sporting a grey hoodie and some denim pants. The way he wore it made him stand out from the others. Nick usually tossed a hoodie on, he didn"t care much for how it looked. Arthur, on the other hand, seemed to put some thought into it.

Matthew was just dressed in all black. Black fitted tee-shirt and some black shredded shorts.

Nick watched as each of them were shown various weapons. Demeter brought some spares in case anything went wrong with the partic.i.p.ants, but this was the first time they were being used.

Matthew quickly picked up a pair of short swords. After he chose his weapon of choice he walked over to Nick.

"How"s it going? Didn"t expect to be called."

"Alicia wants to win so she wouldn"t have anything but the very best. At least now i"ll have someone watching my back."

"As long as you watch mines. I"m not going to lie, i"m a bit eager to see what the top freshmen from the other academies are like."

Matthew paused as he looked at Nick.

"You know after all this is over with we get a break. I"m thinking about taking a trip if you"re interested."

Nick raised his eyebrow.

"Where to?"

"No where special, just the beach. Bring Freya, and Katherine along. Maybe my cousin too. This year has been a bit tense and I could use a relaxing break where i"m not fighting or learning. Just a good old time hanging out with my friends."

Before Nick could give Matthew a reply Alicia rushed them out to the stage.

The spectators cheered loudly as all the freshmen entered the stage. Their stomps could be felt from below.

Nick gazed around and his eyes locked onto Rachel.