Tenth and last chapter of the week :p
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The silence was deafening. Both students and teachers alike were looking at the scene with shocked faces.
They had just witnessed the scene of a fifth-layer practitioner defeating a sixth-layer practitioner overwhelmingly. Moreover, it was not a normal sixth-layer practitioner, but one widely known by his expertise with the rapier.
Even if I was a prince, the result was not less surprising. Plus, even a novice could see that I was not even sweating. To be honest, the entire fight seemed as though I was walking in the park.
Fortunately, the silence did not last long.
Before long, someone clapped her hands.
*Clap!*
I looked over my shoulders and saw Dina clapping with a smile. As though awakening from a dream, more people started to clap, starting with Louise, Andrea, and Iris, Rose, and followed by all the people spectating this fight.
In seconds, the scattered claps had turned into full-blown applause. The sound of people bringing their hands together to show their admiration for my strength showed the impact this fight brought to all the people here.
At this moment, they forgot about my identity. They forgot that I was the empire's fourth prince, that I was going to be banished five years later, and that showing their support towards me in front of the crown prince was not a good idea.
They simply wanted to express their admiration towards my sword.
Anyway, the crown prince could not punish all the people here, could he?
"How expected of the sword fanatic, he is truly the best swordsman in the young generation of the empire."
"Yeah, I heard prince Claus was stronger than his mana layer, but I did not think it was so exaggerated."
"Hey, could it be that prince Claus is stronger than the crown prince?"
"Huh? Thinking about it, the crown prince is also in the sixth layer, right? He could not be much stronger than Kyle."
"Strange, I heard rumors that prince Claus was much less talented than the other princes and princess. Were those rumors fake?"
"Idiot. It's obvious that someone spread those rumors purposefully. You probably don't know it, but I heard that the empress…"
"Is that true? So that is the reason prince Claus was exiled."
"Shush. Talk softer. It will be bad if someone hears you and think you are in prince Claus's side."
I could hear the voice of the people in the stands talking about me. To be honest, I was not expecting this effect, however, it was welcomed.
Humans are a strange kind of being. Very few people dare to put their lives in the line to defend someone innocent, but if they heard that someone weaker was being bullied unfairly, they will direct their animosity towards the person responsible.
So, even if none of the people talking now will dare to defend me publicly, their impression of Alan will worsen.
Moreover, after today, the word about today's fight will spread to the capital. Then, many more people will learn about the 'truth' of my exile.
Of course, this is just the beginning. In truth, I have planned something much bigger than this for the crown prince.
I moved my sight in Alan's direction. Currently, his expression had turned ugly and his face was dark.
Although his senses were not as sharp as mine, he could vaguely hear the words coming from the stands. He understood that my performance just now was enough to put many students on my side.
However, that was not his biggest problem. In fact, he was confident in being able to sway public opinion back to his advantage in a few months and nobody would recall this incident by then.
No, the biggest problem now was the duel.
Only he remained from his team. However, our team still had two people, Dina and I.
Moreover, I was in perfect condition. My breathing was calm even after steamrolling through two enemies.
In fact, Alan was not confident in being able to defeat me. And even if he fights and defeats me after a hard battle, he still had to worry about Dina, who was not much weaker than him.
"Damn it." Alan cursed softly and searched in his mind for a solution, but nothing besides cheating seemed as it could work, and who dared to cheat with the headmistress as the referee.
The only thing he could consider lucky was that the loser did not have to apologize to the winner or something like that. Alan now felt fortunate that he did not commit the same mistake his younger brother committed a few days ago.
At that moment, the headmistress opened her mouth.
"Alan, send the last member of your team."
Alan gritted his teeth. He made up his mind and stepped onto the stage. He then walked until he was across me and stared at me with an ice-cold face.
Next, he released his powerful peak sixth-layer cultivation, creating a powerful pressure that seemed to make everything in this world bow towards him.
I watched the entire scene with a mocking smile. Did he truly think this little bit of pressure could have an effect on me?
"Hey brother. Nice to meet you again?"
Alan's expression turned grave, but he was not discouraged when his attempt to intimidate me failed. Instead, he looked at me coldly.
"Claus."
"Nervous about the fight?" I chuckled. "Don't worry, I plan to go easy in you."
A stony expression appeared on Alan's face. "Do you think you can win?"
I shrugged with a smile. Then, I closed my eyes and waited for the headmistress's signal.
But to my surprise, I heard Alan's voice again.
And this time, he was using a technique so only I could hear his voice.
"Claus, give up the fight."
I opened my eyes in amusement. My eyes met Alan's cold gaze and my lips curved up.
However, Alan did not care about it.
"Think about it. If you win this fight, it will only make things difficult for you and Dina. Moreover, your mother had a family, right? Don't you fear something will happen to them?"
Oh, threatening me?
I glared at Alan deeply and smiled. For an instant, Alan felt an incredible pressure over him, but the pressure disappeared so quickly that he thought it was an illusion.
Looking at my eyes, a strange fear suddenly appeared in his heart.
But before he could understand what it meant, I nodded.
"I understand."
Then, I closed my eyes again.
Alan frowned. He was not sure about the meaning of my words.
But before he could speak again, the headmistress raised her hand.
"Are you ready? Then start!"
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