341 Disappointment
"Next up is Vin Hargrave, Rank..." The commentator began.
However, Vin, waiting in his room, found it hard to concentrate.
"I should have lost sooner," he murmured.
He was pleased to have progressed this far in the tournament, but he was acutely aware of his limitations. A defeat felt imminent.
"Well, my luck ends here," Vin declared, getting ready to step out.
When Vin's name echoed through the venue, a frown marred the face of the Hargrave Family Head.
"Isn't he your Son, you should be happy that he got this far," Casie spoke.
"Am I supposed to be happy?" He asked glancing at Casie.
Casie remained silent. Although she was the cherished daughter of Xarax, she understood her boundaries. The man beside her was not just her elder brother, but also the Family Head of the Hargrave Family.
The duel commenced. From the onset, the outcome seemed predictable. Vin's opponent ranked in the mid 300s, and Vin was clearly outmatched.
Jayden, watching from a distance, couldn't help but grin at Vin's public display of inadequacy.
His smile broadened as he observed Vin barely withstand an attack from a mere C Rank Hunter, using his mana barrier.
"Remember your place," Jayden muttered, taking pleasure in Vin's defeat.
Meanwhile, Asher, watching the duel on the screen in the waiting room, didn't show much of a reaction. He hadn't expected Vin to win every match, knowing Vin's talent wasn't primarily in combat.
"Arghh," Vin groaned as the power of his opponent clashed with his mana barrier.
He didn't have the mana to sustain a prolonged fight against a C Rank Hunter, and sensed his imminent loss.
However, a part of him desperately wanted to win. He didn't wish to be perceived the same way he had been for the past two years, but reality was proving otherwise.
As Vin raised his hand to cast a Wind Blade, his opponent vanished, then reappeared behind him, slamming Vin's face into the ground and causing him to lose consciousness.
"The winner is..."
Seeing Vin Hargrave's defeat, Alfred glanced at Xarax, whose face showed no reaction to Vin's loss.
Observing that, Alfred deduced that Xarax still held to the Hargrave tradition of valuing strong above weak.
"You don't look affected by your grandson's loss," Dalton said to Xarax.
"We only respect the strong. I don't have time to worry about weaklings," Xarax replied.
However, the fact that someone bearing the Hargrave name had lost so pathetically made Xarax's blood boil, though he kept his feelings hidden from those around him.
Vin was carried off the stage, and the next duel was announced.
Several hours and many duels later, the Rankers Duel that everyone had been waiting for began.After a few duels between Rankers of the Second Year and Third Year, matches occurred between Rank 9 and those below Rank 15.
There were some unexpected outcomes, with Rankers, especially Rank 9 or 10, losing to those in Rank 12 or 11. People were shocked, but they understood that the End Year Tournament could significantly change the rankings.
At the judging panel, some of the professors were discussing various matters.
"Should we really do this?" the one in charge of the tournament asked.
"We can't bend the rules," another professor replied.
"We've already confirmed this list with Vice Principal Xander, so it should be okay," one of them added.
"The next duel is between Rank 3 Alyssa Astaria vs Rank 14 Alan Astaria," the commentator announced.
This matchup surprised many, but the most taken aback was Alexander Astaria, the head of the Astaria family, who was in the VIP section.
Alyssa once again took her place on the stage, aware of the hostile gazes directed at her. Yet, she remained silent.
Alan ascended the stage, a frown marring his features. Unlike the other Rankers, he wasn't intimidated by the prospect of facing Alyssa. Perhaps he mentally regarded Alyssa as inferior, but his confidence in fighting against her was evident.
Leonard, ensconced in his room, smiled as he noticed Alan donning all the artifacts he had bestowed upon him.
'Show me your worth, Alan Astaria,' Leonard mused internally.
Regardless of the match's result, Leonard considered it a victory for himself.
"Take your positions," the referee instructed.
Both contestants complied, standing opposite each other, poised for combat.
Online, viewers were abuzz with excitement and disbelief, never having anticipated a duel between the Astaria siblings. The majority rallied behind Alan, rooting for his victory. However, a minority doubted Alan's ability to overcome Alyssa.
Farnus had personally verified the list of matchups, and thus was privy to this impending clash.
Given that Alan had voluntarily chosen to challenge Alyssa, his self-assuredness was presumably bolstered by the powerful artifacts in his possession.
With the bracelet on his right arm, that created a barrier around the wearer that decreased the effect of Ice Based magic.
And an armor that increased his resistance to magic, and the sword that could pierce any sharp object till Rank C.
This type of artifacts were something that only Rankers of Third Year could afford. And Alan obtained them from Leonard, and it was specifically for Alyssa.
Leonard knew that Alan was feeling inferior to Alyssa, so he used his feelings to make go against Alyssa and gave him all these artifacts.
"The Match will start in 3...2...."
As Alyssa heard the Referee talk, she wasn't focused on the match. She could hear the voices of student cursing and telling her lose.
She could feel the gazes of hatred and disgust, but above all she could see the gaze of a certain man sitting far from her.
The same deep blue eyes, and those brown hair that she saw countless times in her nightmare, and one of the person that was responsible for eradicating Garcia Family and killing the Head of the Family himself.
'Osbert Tarvian,' Alyssa muttered the name.
But the match had already started and Alan dashed towards her and seeing she wasn't moving.Alan smiled thinking she was affected with all students booing her.
He covered his sword with aura, and dashed towards Alyssa but at the moment he his sword was going to make contact with Alyssa, an Ice Pillar emerged from the ground stopping Alan's sword which pierced halfway through the pillar but stopped.
Alan immediately created a distance as noticed the flying lances in the air coming towards him.
Right now, he had every advantage to counter Alyssa's Ice Magic, but the problem was her Gravity Magic.
So wanted maintain some distance and slowly make Alyssa fall.
'This bitch can't even, soon you will be out of mana,' Alan thought.
In everyone's eyes Alyssa was half crippled, someone who couldn't even stand on her own.
And Alan knew that Alyssa had difficulty using mana, as he had seen it with his own eyes when they were young.
He knew about Alyssa's weakness so he wanted to drag this fight longer.
"You will lose," Alan shouted as he dashed again.
But this time, his armor had strange glow around it.
It was an armor artifact with a skill, and it was a Rank C Artifact, which was something that would even work against Second Year Rankers.
Alyssa used gravity magic to slow down Alan and created distance between them.
"Don't keep running," Alan shouted as he went through the Field of Gravity regaining his Speed.
But he misunderstood what Alyssa was doing, right now the person she was fighting with wasn't Alan.
But herself, and the voices that were shouting.
She knew that Osbert Tarvian would be present at the End Year Tournament, but seeing that same face and that gaze one more time, she was filled with endless hatred.
"Don't lose focus," A voice was heard in Alyssa's ears.
It belonged to Asher, and it came from the earring artifact that Alyssa was wearing, which was a communication artifact.
Something that Asher had given to Alyssa.
He had expected this situation, where Alyssa would find it hard to control herself, and might expose her true strength.
Hearing Asher's voice, Alyssa's clouded eyes regained clarity as she noticed, Alan coming towards her with a sword.
'This should be enough,' Alyssa thought as she suppressed the voices in her head.
She created multiple Ice Spears, and also another Gravity Field and used it stop Alan in his place.
Seeing Alan's armor, she intentionally made the Ice Spears weaker, as Alan looked at multiple Ice Spears coming her way.
Alan got anxious and tried to exert all his mana, falling into Alyssa's trap and at the moment when he dodge backward he couldn't control his strength as the Gravity Field was gone.
Chains of Ice appeared behind Alan, as he fell into them, and before he could even do anything, Alyssa slammed the Ice Pillar on Alan three times.
*BAM*
Suddenly a SS Rank Pressure erupted from one of the VIP Rooms, but the barrier were enough to suppress it.
But everyone knew who that belonged to.
'It seems that the Astaria Head is not happy,' Alfred thought in his head.
But on the other hand, Alan was knocked out on the stage while he could barely move and the chains were wrapping around Alan quite tightly.
Alyssa turned to leave, as the whole Arena was silent seeing the dominant performance from Alyssa Astaria.