"Thank you."
When Ferguillo let his hands drop down and allowed himself to be struck, Chris felt his intention and softly thanked him in her mind.
Then she stood still. She looked at Ayrin and the other members of team Holy Dawn, looked at the stands occupied by Holy Dawn Academy, and said in a serious tone, "We can go to the national tournament now."
At this moment, it was hard to tell how many students of Holy Dawn Academy had strangely red-rimmed eyes.
"Ah!"
"Brave warriors, we won!"
When Gerryn and the others were still staring blankly, Ayrin was the first one to dash out like a wild runaway horse. He cheered and rushed to the center of the field.
"They won… Holy Dawn Academy fought their way into the national tournament without suffering much damage." All the members of team Agate Lake were also shocked by Ferguillo’s figure sent flying away, by Chris’ staunch figure standing alone.
"Is it the end?"
"Everything’s finished?"
There were only a few substitute team members left in team Iron Forest.
Reclining on a stretcher, Wilde looked blankly at the center of the field, looked at the huge shadows cast by the huge dragon bones under the sunlight.
Everything was finished?
Perplexed, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Why was everything so hazy?
Why can’t I see clearly?
Why?
"Don’t cry! The boss doesn’t like seeing us cry like little kids," someone said.
Wilde struggled to turn his head around. Salty drops tumbled from the corners of his eyes, flowing down to the corner of his mouth. He saw several pairs of eyes, all thoroughly red.
Then he nodded. He rubbed his eyes. He used all his strength and howled like a wild wolf.
"What are you doing to the boss!" many Iron Forest students in the stands suddenly shouted at this time, their eyes thoroughly red, their fists crackling from how hard they clenched them. Many people flew into a rage, and even rushed to the edge of the stands, about to jump down to the field.
Because they saw Ayrin run toward Ferguillo while the latter received treatment from the arcane medical team.
Then they stopped again very quickly.
"Come here!"
Because at this moment, Ayrin shouted loudly at team Iron Forest, "There are these guys sitting in the stands who want to see through all his ins and outs, but he still fought without holding anything back. He’s just like you guys, he won’t leave the fight while still standing on his feet. Shouldn’t you guys be with him at a time like this? Even if you have to crawl, you have to crawl here! Whether victory or defeat, don’t you feel that you guys and him are worthy of respect from everyone in the stands? You are also true brave warriors!"
"Boss!" After a slight blank moment, the members of team Iron Forest all shouted out loud, then lent their arms to each other and walked into the field, gathering around Ferguillo.
Warm applause suddenly erupted from the entire arena.
Almost everyone stood up, applauding team Holy Dawn and team Iron Forest.
Only Rinsyi’s expression was gloomy to the extreme.
"These guys? This freshman has trouble even when he runs into Freguillo, yet he actually has the audacity to deride me in public!"
…
"Charlotte! We won!"
At this time, Ayrin had already rushed into the stands and shouted out loud at Charlotte, "Next time you have to come to the nationals and watch our fight again!"
"…" Charlotte dropped her head even lower. But she thought that if she didn’t answer, Ayrin might well shout even louder. Hence she promised him in a weak voice, her face even redder.
"It’s already come to this, why don’t you admit it yet? Can he hear your mosquito voice going hum hum?" Her dormmates beside her immediate showed great disdain. "Let us help you answer then!" These girls shouted out loud simultaneously, before Charlotte came back to her senses, "Ayrin, Charlotte said that she’ll definitely go watch you in the national tournament! If you win again next time, she can even reward you with a kiss."
"Ah?" Ayrin was struck a little dumb. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"What nonsense are you guys spouting!" Charlotte was stupefied on the spot. She felt angry and shamed enough that she wished nothing better than to throttle these girls around her.
"Don’t tell us you guys are past this stage already?" The girls looked suspiciously at Charlotte. "Don’t tell us even a kiss isn’t stimulating enough?"
"Goddess Charlotte and him actually are really…" Many Divine Shield Academy students suddenly howled in grief. The first dream of their lives was already crushed.
Surrounded by Wilde and the others, Ferguillo looked coolly, yet very seriously at the members of team Iron Forest, and said, "Don’t be sad."
"We trained so hard for so long, but we still can’t make it to the national tournament, how can we not be sad?" These members of team Iron Forest had boundless respect for Ferguillo, but they still couldn’t repress this thought floating in their minds.
"Wholeheartedly embrace your loss. What is there to be sad about? You already fought the match with every last ounce of your strength. The meaning of matches like these isn’t merely to pursue the ultimate trophy." Ferguillo looked at them and said in a soft tone, "The road of an arcane master is so long, the enemies in front of us so strong, we don’t have time for grief."
"Leave no regret in any of your battles. This way, you won’t cry over spilled milk even if you die in the midst of fighting."
"We can’t see much, confined here, but countless arcane masters stronger than us exist under these starry skies, countless enemies stronger than us. There is no time for us to waste."
At this time, thinking about Rinsyi in the stands, every member of team Iron Forest remembered the words Ferguillo had often told them before. They could hear a heavier meaning from them.
"Ferguillo! Ferguillo!"
"Ayrin! Ayrin!"
In the stands, Ferguillo’s fan club and Ayrin’s fan club shouted nonstop. "Why are we struggling against each other, they’re both really great." "That’s right, we’ll support both of them!"
It was different from back then outside the arena. No real quarrel erupted between these two fan groups. They kept shouting and shouting, and then these two fan clubs seemed to become one.
Among the clamors and the celebrations, the two teams qualified teams in St. Lauren were basically set. Holy Dawn Academy, as well as Agate Lake Academy that still had a match to fight.
…
"Look at these two…"
"What do they look like?"
In the chaotic merriment, when they walked out of the arena’s tunnel, Moss pulled the corner of Belo’s clothes and whispered, "Don’t they look like a silly newlywed couple?"
Belo pushed his glasses and humphed coldly. He thought that Moss might have followed Ayrin for too long, he was infected by Ayrin’s dim-witted aura already. When did the relationship between the two of them become so good, why was he pulling his clothes at a time like this as if they were friends?
But when he heard Moss’ voice and looked in front of him, he actually had the sudden urge to laugh out loud.
"We entered the nationals."
"The nationals…"
Walking in front of them, both Ayrin and Chris waggled their fingers, both showing the same secretly infatuated and delighted expression.
This expression was just like the expression two big cats standing in a storehouse full of fish, counting nonstop the amount of fish, silly in their happiness.
But just at this moment, a layer of cold light flashed on Belo’s glasses.
In an empty spot not far away from the tunnel’s exit, there stood a haze.
Like a god of death, Rinsyi radiated an unpleasant aura of death at odds with the atmosphere of the whole square.
"Hm?" Ayrin also noticed Rinsyi.
But before he had time to say anything, Rinsyi already said with an approving tone, looking coldly his way, "I waited here for you, to tell you that you already succeeded in lighting my genuine anger. That’s why I hope you’ll strive your best. Don’t be eliminated as soon as you enter the national tournament, let me have the opportunity to meet you on the tournament field."
"Too arrogant, you think my lady-killer self doesn’t exist?" Stingham couldn’t resist tossing his hair and display a posture he believed to be very handsome before cursing. But then he immediately thought of something, and shrank his body back. "Low-key, I have to stay low-key. That said, if I can defeat the team this guy’s in in the national tournament, it should be bright enough a feat to stun the world right?"
"A mere third-ranked team." Ayrin was already taking exception, to the point he looked as if he didn’t even take Rinsyi seriously. He made a moue of disdain and said, "Yet you’re still talking about us not getting eliminated at the beginning. You guys should be the ones worried about immediately meeting the first-ranked and second-ranked kind of teams and be directly eliminated."
"Truly a fool who doesn’t know fear."
Rinsyi looked at Ayrin as if it were beneath his dignity. He didn’t say anything else, he just turned around and walked away.
Ayrin noticed that the people around him all watched him with a strange expression. "What?" he asked, unable to make sense of it.
"That’s really a thorough loss of face. Ayrin, you’re really an idiot," Moss speechlessly said. "Don’t you know that the first eight every year are seeded teams, they’ll naturally be kept apart in the initial drawing, so there’s no way they’ll meet before the group stage? How could they meet with the first- or second-ranked teams right at the start."
"Ah? Is that so, I didn’t know, haha." Ayrin laughed in embarrassment.
"Hey, you there," Just at this time, Belo suddenly called, his voice brimming with unfriendly impetuousness.
"Hm?" Rinsyi’s brows quirked. He faintly turned around, looking at them from the side.
"I don’t give a damn about what clan you come from, or whatever third-ranked team." Belo pushed his glasses. His eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light hard to put into words. "You dare to act so arrogant and provocative in front of my great lordly self. If you don’t kneel down and lick this great lord’s feet right now, I’ll tear you to pieces in the future in the tournament."
"…" Stingham stared dumbstruck when he heard. "He actually told Rinsyi to kneel down and lick his feet. Who the hell is this guy, he’s actually even more arrogant then me."
Rinsyi was also stunned dumb.
He never thought that there would be someone acting so arrogant in front of himself.
He felt his anger rise only a few seconds later. He said in a freezing tone, "You will pay for the words you said today."
"Ayrin and Belo, these two guys." Moss felt afraid, but he didn’t know why, watching the figure of Rinsyi’s back radiating a terrifying pressure, his brain suddenly heated. He was actually trembling from head to toe from dread, yet he still shouted out loud, "We’re waiting for you!"