Chapter 168: Tenth Trial: Rank Stealing: Battle for the Heir Title

Once Ezra was announced as the winner, the atmosphere inside the hall didn’t explode with cheers the same way it did after Lyra and Page’s fight.

Instead...

The entire place turned strangely quiet. Not because the audience disliked the result, but because nobody could forget what had just happened moments ago.

Astraea’s terrifying outburst still lingered heavily inside everyone’s mind like a nightmare that hadn’t fully faded yet.

The shattered glass around the hall, the broken lamps, the people that collapsed from her Presence and the blood some candidates coughed out earlier.

All of it remained fresh inside their heads.

Clearly...

Nobody wanted to get on Astraea Ashenlocke’s bad side.

Even the conversations happening around the hall stayed low and restrained.

Ezra simply walked off the stage while nurses approached him to check his injuries.

His face remained expressionless as usual, like none of what just happened had anything to do with him.

At the same time...

Other nurses hurried toward Felix, who still laid flat on the stage floor without moving much.

But unlike before...

The fear he felt toward Ezra had already faded.

The moment Astraea reacted with killing intent toward Ezra earlier...

Felix felt satisfied.

No...

More than satisfied.

He felt protected.

That smug comfort slowly crawled back into his chest again.

Yet...

That same pleased feeling was also the exact reason he couldn’t bring himself to raise his head properly, because deep down...Even he understood it now.

Everything Vera and Ezra said about him earlier...Was true.

A mummy’s boy.

The thought alone made Felix’s jaw tighten hard.

"After we leave..."

Felix suddenly smiled while laying on the stretcher, laughing quietly to himself, but the expression on his face looked twisted and dangerous.

"I’ll find everything about you..."

His fingers slowly tightened against the cloth beneath him.

"...and murder your whole family."

His voice remained low.

Almost like a whisper only meant for himself.

Yet the hatred hidden inside those words felt heavy enough to make the two nurses carrying him glance at each other briefly.

Still...

Neither of them reacted.

Inside Ashenlocke... especially for the Mainline young children, thoughts like that weren’t strange.

"I’ll make you beg for mercy first..."

Felix laughed again.

A quiet laugh.

"I’ll cripple you and turn you into a living doll."

His breathing became rougher afterward.

The humiliation from earlier kept burning him alive from the inside, especially Ezra’s face.

That calm expression and that dull look in his eyes.

Felix hated it.

He absolutely hated it.

"Just wait, you maggot..."

He exhaled deeply while gritting his teeth hard enough for veins to bulge at the side of his neck.

"Now that you’ve angered my mother..."

His smile widened slightly.

"...you’ll only see hell."

The nurses finally carried him completely away to the recovery section in the end corner of the hall.

Several maids hurried onto the stage to clean up the mess left behind.

The blood staining the stone floor was wiped away carefully, the shattered fragments of Felix’s destroyed guns were gathered.

The remaining AK-47s created through Alchemy were removed one after another, even the large crater caused by Astraea’s gunshot was repaired quickly using Earth Alchemy scrolls.

The stage slowly returned to normal.

Almost like the earlier chaos never happened.

Ezra walked calmly back toward his seat afterward with many eyes immediately following him.

Candidates, few Guards, few audience members and even several elders.

The amount of attention surrounding him now had completely changed from before.

Yet...

Ezra simply sat down quietly like he didn’t almost trigger a massacre inside the hall.

"That was seriously scary, Ezra."

Bobby spoke first.

His face still looked pale from Astraea’s pressure earlier.

Sweat remained at the side of his neck while his fingers tightened nervously around his clothes.

"Why would you even challenge Felix of all people?"

Tracy immediately snapped at Ezra afterward. Her voice carried a scolding tone this time.

Even now...

Her heart still hadn’t calmed properly from the earlier pressure that nearly suffocated everyone.

"I literally told you who his mother was and how hot-tempered she is."

She frowned hard at him.

"I was just curious about his actual strength."

Ezra replied dryly, his eyes looked toward her lazily, almost like a dead fish staring at someone.

"Curious?!"

Linda immediately stood up while pointing at him angrily, but the moment she noticed other candidates looking toward her...

"Tch."

She quickly sat back down again.

"I honestly thought you were the low-key type."

She sighed deeply while shaking her head in disappointment.

Ezra narrowed his eyes slightly at her, but he said nothing.

Instead...

He simply turned back toward the stage again.

At that moment...

Freya walked back onto the repaired platform.

Though compared to before...

She now looked noticeably more nervous.

"Congratulations to Zara Ashenlocke of the Baron House of Sterling..."

Her smile looked slightly stiff.

"...for successfully stealing the rank of Felix Ashenlocke."

While speaking...

Freya could feel Astraea’s eyes locked directly onto her from above.

The pressure of just the stare alone nearly made her throat dry up.

She’s not going to kill me to... right?

Freya swallowed hard internally, but still forced herself to continue.

"Any next challengers?!"

This time she purposely raised her voice louder.

Trying to shift the atmosphere away from the earlier incident.

"Ezra."

Veda suddenly turned toward him.

Ezra glanced at him.

"Thank you."

Veda smiled softly before standing up from his seat.

Ezra looked at him with slight confusion.

He didn’t understand why Veda was thanking him.

But for Veda...

Although he had already resolved himself mentally earlier...

There was still hesitation deep down inside him.

Challenging Vera...

His own sister...Wasn’t an easy choice as it seemed, especially while feeling the gazes of the same adults that once looked down on him his entire life.

Veda slowly exhaled.

"I challenge... Vera Ashenlocke."

His voice came out calm and firm with his eyes sharpened completely with resolve.

I’m sorry Vera...But I have to be the one that takes the Heir title.

He glanced toward her side.

Meanwhile...

Vera had already stood up before he even finished speaking, like she expected it from the beginning.

Her lazy eyes remained fixed toward the stage without much emotion.

"Oh..." Freya’s eyes brightened immediately. "The battle for the top spot."

This time... Her smile became genuine.

She immediately stepped off the stage afterward, while the two twins slowly walked toward the platform together.

And just like that...

The awkward tension from earlier finally faded.

Because now...

Everyone’s attention had shifted completely.

To this fight.

Bale’s expression looked conflicted.

"He actually challenged her..."

A slight frown appeared on his face.

Watching the two people most important to him fight each other directly wasn’t something he wanted to see.

Yet there was nothing he could do about it.

Keith, who strangely remained energetic today, glanced at Bale once and understood immediately why he stayed quiet.

The candidates from both of their groups around the hall exploded with noise.

"You got this Sir Veda!"

Linda shouted loudly while standing up.

"Win this!"

Mariam shouted as well.

The rest of Veda’s members followed immediately afterward.

While at Vera’s group side, the energy if not more was intense...

"Beat his ass, Lady Vera!"

Nina raised her fist while shouting proudly.

"Lady Vera!!"

Her entire group followed loudly.

The overlapping cheers from both sides echoed throughout the hall like two armies preparing for war.

Even the audience on the second floor leaned forward with excitement.

"It’s finally happening..."

A Highline noble whispered with a pleased smile.

"The battle for the Heir."

Several young nobles nodded immediately.

"Surely Young Lady Vera will win."

"The twins are finally fighting."

Elder Yestin smiled with interest.

"Vera has the higher chances..."

Elder Portia calmly adjusted her sitting posture.

"But ever since Veda returned from Val’s training, he’s changed greatly. During their last spar, he was even able to force a draw."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"This won’t be easy."

The Mainline young nobles all adjusted their sitting posture properly so they could focus better on the fight about to begin.

Even though several of them still carried displeased looks on their faces...

They could not deny reality.

The two people standing on that stage right now were the ones truly fighting for the Heir title.

A title many of them believed should naturally belong to them as Mainlines.

Yet...

None of them could openly deny the level of talent and strength those twins possessed.

Especially Vera.

On the stage, the two twins stood opposite each other quietly.

Vera had a faint smile resting on her lips.

Not a warm smile, not an excited one either.

It was the type of smile that looked more amused than emotional.

Her lazy eyes slowly scanned Veda from head to toe like she was carefully studying every small detail about him.

Veda stared back at her while subconsciously feeling tense.

Ahh...

Every single time I stand in front of her during a fight...

I end up feeling pressured somehow.

He sighed quietly inside his mind.

Is it because I had already accepted standing beneath her a long time ago after losing over and over again?

The memories of their childhood spars naturally surfaced inside his head.

Every defeat, every time he thought he had finally improved enough, when he trained by himself.

Only to lose again.

Veda slowly shifted his right leg backward before lowering his center of gravity into a fighting stance.

Raymond walked calmly between them afterward. His eyes briefly glanced at both twins.

The atmosphere around the stage slowly became heavy.

Even the cheers from the audience started lowering naturally, because everyone could feel it.

This fight was different.

Well...That was the old me.

Veda’s fist slowly tightened.

But now...

I’m not that same person anymore.

"Fight!"

The moment Raymond gave the signal...

He immediately vanished from between them with swift movement, but unlike the earlier battles that exploded into action instantly...

Neither twin moved immediately.

Both remained still.

Watching each other carefully.

Almost like two predators measuring distance before attacking.

The silence between them strangely felt sharper than noise.

Then...

The two suddenly started walking slowly in circles around each other.

"How many times have we fought already?"

Vera asked flatly, her bored expression didn’t change at all.

"I honestly don’t know."

Veda laughed lightly, but despite sounding relaxed...

His footsteps remained extremely careful, while his eyes stayed fixed on Vera while his hearing sharpened completely.

Every muscle in his body remained tense beneath his clothes as he slowly circled around her.

"You were always the one starting the fights."

Vera narrowed her eyes slightly at him.

"So shouldn’t you know better?"

"Did I?"

Veda tilted his head jokingly, then he noticed it.

Vera’s footsteps were becoming lighter.

Lighter and lighter.

The sound of her shoes touching the ground gradually faded, even the slight pressure her body gave the air started disappearing little by little.

Before Veda fully realized it...

She vanished.

"She concealed her presence?!"

Veda’s eyes widened instantly.

His head sharply turned while his hearing heightened to the limit.

He immediately scanned every direction around him.

Left, right, behind, above.

Nothing.

No sound, no breathing, no footsteps.

It was like Vera had completely melted into the air itself.

Then...

The atmosphere shifted violently.

Veda’s instincts screamed immediately.

Bang!

A kick suddenly appeared directly before his face.

Veda reacted sharply on instinct and blocked the attack with his forearm before sliding backward one step from the impact.

Clap!

At the exact moment her kick landed...

Cognis surged flowing from Vera’s body to the middle of her clamped palms.

Several steel bars had already fallen onto the ground beneath her without Veda even noticing when she dropped them.

Veda’s pupils shrank immediately, because Vera’s Alchemy circle had already formed.

Fast.

Too fast.

He instantly pushed himself forward toward her position trying to stop the Alchemy before completion.

But...

Vera’s palms slammed onto the steel bars first.

The metal instantly melted and reshaped rapidly under the influence of Cognis.

The liquid steel twisted and compressed before forming into a FAN FAL battle rifle within milliseconds.

The crowd immediately erupted with noise, even several older Alchemists narrowed their eyes seriously.

Vera smoothly turned her body afterward.

Her movements flowed naturally without wasted motion.

Almost graceful.

In one swift movement...

She lowered herself into a knee-shooting stance and pulled the trigger instantly.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The FAN FAL roared violently as the bullets exploded outward at terrifying speed.

The heavy recoil pushed hard against Vera’s shoulder.

But her body barely moved.

Cognis enhancement had already reinforced her muscles, joints, and bones beforehand.

Veda immediately jumped sideways before the bullets could properly reach him.

The gunfire chased directly after his movement.

Vera adjusted her aim fluidly with almost frightening accuracy.

Parts of Veda’s clothes were already being ripped apart from how close several bullets passed him.

One bullet narrowly grazed the edge of his sleeve, another tore through part of his coat.

The pressure of the shots alone made his skin sting slightly.

Veda continued weaving desperately through the barrage.

Every bullet felt inches away from piercing his body.

Even while airborne...

He quickly drew out a dagger.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks exploded repeatedly in the air as he slashed apart several incoming bullets before they reached him.

The speed of his reaction caused many ordinary spectators to completely lose track of what was happening.

To them...

The stage only looked like flashes of movement mixed with flying sparks, even Novice-ranked Alchemists struggled to follow the exchange properly.

Only Binder-ranked Alchemists and above could clearly perceive the battle unfolding in detail.

And from what they saw...

The fight had already become terrifyingly intense within the first few seconds alone.

Click.

The magazine emptied.

The final metallic sound echoed lightly across the stage, but the moment the sound rang out...

Veda’s eyes sharpened, because he knew...

Vera was definitely not done yet.