章節 185: Inter-Academy Festival II
The festivities of the Inter-Academy Festival kicked off in full swing, with vibrant lights illuminating the grand courtyard of Mythos Academy. Long tables were covered with delicacies from every continent, the variety symbolizing the unity of the academies gathered here. Dancers and performers entertained the crowd, while magic displays shimmered above us. It was lively, loud, and seemingly celebratory.
Yet, beneath the surface, the tension was palpable.
As students from all over mingled, I could feel the eyes on us—on Mythos Academy. Not just looks of curiosity or admiration, but the sharp, focused gazes of rivals. Other academies had their sights set on us. The weight of being the top academy in the world came with a target on our backs.
Seated at the central table, my classmates and I could feel it. The students of Mythos Academy weren't just participants in this festival—we were the ones everyone wanted to beat.
Lucifer, sitting beside me, was uncharacteristically quiet. His eyes scanned the room, observing the other students with his usual sharp gaze. I could see he noticed what I did—the subtle glances, the whispered conversations, the thinly veiled rivalry.
Across the banquet area, students from Slatemark Academy gathered near their own table, eyes occasionally flicking toward us. Elara Astoria, one of their top talents, sat among them, her presence hard to miss. She seemed composed, but her attention occasionally drifted toward our group, as if sizing us up. Slatemark Academy, the second-best academy in the world, had always been seen as the closest to rivaling us.
Beside them, Seol-ah Moyong from Starcrest Academy was seated with her fellow Eastern continent students, her golden eyes sharp and attentive. Seol-ah was a prodigious swordswoman, and while she remained quiet, I could feel her attention directed toward our group—perhaps not out of rivalry, but out of curiosity. She was someone to keep an eye on, as her reputation for swordsmanship preceded her.
From a distance, Aria Gu of Starcrest exchanged words with a few others, her fiery personality showing even in her gestures. She briefly met my gaze before turning away, clearly aware of the reputation that preceded Mythos Academy.
"I don't like this," Seraphina muttered, her voice low as she leaned in. "They're all watching us."
"They always do," I replied. "Mythos Academy is the one to beat."
Further along the courtyard, I caught sight of students from Gravehold Academy, their reputation for brute strength known across the Western Continent. They were conversing in low tones, but their eyes rarely left our table. I noticed Aaron Meriot, the best student from Gravehold Academy, talking animatedly with his group, his excitement palpable, but his competitive glances in our direction undeniable.
"I hope you're ready for tomorrow," Jack's voice rang out, lighthearted but laced with challenge. "After all, you're the ones everyone is aiming for."
I smiled back at her, maintaining my composure. "Looking forward to it."
He grinned, but there was something sharper behind his gaze. "We'll see if Mythos is as untouchable as they say."
I exchanged a glance with Lucifer, who hadn't missed the tension in the air either. He leaned in, his voice low. "They all want to prove something. And they think beating us will do it."
I nodded. "Let them think that."
As the night went on, the tension remained, simmering beneath the surface of the festivities. The other academies were polite, even friendly at times, but the rivalry was clear. Mythos Academy wasn't just a participant in this festival—we were the measuring stick. The others wanted to bring us down, to prove they could compete on our level.
For now, the celebration continued, with laughter and music filling the air. But tomorrow, when the games began, everything would change. The underlying tension, the rivalry—it would all come to the surface.
I glanced across the courtyard once more, seeing the students from Slatemark, Starcrest, Gravehold, and the others. Each of them was preparing in their own way, strategizing, watching, waiting.
Tomorrow wouldn't be about celebration. It would be about proving who was the strongest, a display of power and strategy, where reputations could be shattered or fortified, and I had every intention of ensuring Mythos Academy remained at the top. Yet, even with that resolve, my gaze couldn't help but drift, pulled toward two figures amidst the crowd.
Elara Astoria, whose presence lingered in my thoughts, not just as a piece in the larger game to prevent the civil war, but because she was, in the novel, my favorite character. A character I had come to care for beyond the pages of fiction, and now, in this twisted reality, someone I needed to protect. She stood there, seemingly unaware of the stakes that lay ahead, the quiet determination in her eyes masking the storm I knew would one day come for her.
And then there was Seol-ah Moyong, the sword genius who was destined, or perhaps doomed, to transcend into the Sword Goddess, her talent so pure and singular that even her name carried weight among those who understood true mastery. Seol-ah wasn't like the others. She didn't seek recognition; she didn't need to. Her swordsmanship was her entire being, the very essence of her existence, and that kind of genius was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. I had to save her from Jack Blazespout.
My mind flickered to Aria Gu, the fire mage with a brilliance that rivaled the flames she commanded. Another one whose presence was impossible to ignore. Each of these girls represented something vital, a thread in the larger tapestry of power that hung over this world, and it wasn't lost on me that their fates were intertwined with mine.
But something darker gnawed at the edges of my thoughts. I had learned by now that I could no longer rely on the novel's events. The demons, with their insidious reach, were already altering the course of things. It was evident in their early attack last year, in their corruption of both Drake Namgung and Luke Orden. It was becoming clear, painfully clear, that the demons had a vested interest in Earth, one that wasn't accounted for in the original story.
And this realization was more than unsettling—it was dangerous.
The demons weren't just an abstract threat looming in the distant future. They were already here, moving pieces across the board, reshaping destinies. And worse, Earth wasn't ready for them. Not by a long shot. Their power, both in magic and technology, was on a scale far beyond what we could handle. They were what humans, elves, and dwarves might become in several decades, if given the chance to advance unchecked. But the demons were already there. They were already that terrifying, that powerful.
This world wasn't prepared for their arrival. And as much as I wanted to rely on my knowledge of the story, on the structure that had once provided me comfort and direction, I knew I couldn't. I would have to act differently. I would have to protect those who mattered to me, not just from their rivals, but from the demons who saw Earth as their next conquest.
There was no longer any clear line between fiction and reality. And that realization, more than anything, made the future far more uncertain.
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榜單 
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