Chapter 181 - Fighting Number One
Theo narrowed his eyes.
’Who is that?’
The girl hadn’t moved since he’d spotted her.
She simply stood there in silence.
Everyone around her kept their distance, practically tiptoeing past.
As her golden-white robes fluttered faintly in the breeze flowing through the arena entrance, Theo finally got a better look at the crosses adorning them.
’Huh?’
They looked pretty familiar.
His eyes slowly widened.
’Isn’t that... from the Imperial Church of Seven Virtues?’
Theo’s footsteps slowed slightly.
If it hadn’t been for the conversation earlier, he probably wouldn’t have thought about it.
But those crosses... he’d seen them many times before on television.
’She is the rank one then, I guess?’ he thought, tilting his head. ’But why is she here?’
As if sensing his gaze, the girl slowly turned around.
The moment she did, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to become even quieter.
Theo finally caught a slight glimpse of her face beneath the hood and veil.
Her eyes immediately caught his full attention, being a mix of pure gold and platinum which almost made her feel like some sacred being.
For a brief moment, Theo found it difficult to look away.
Finally, he shook his head.
’Don’t have time for this right now,’ he thought. ’I need to get to my match.’
He continued walking towards the arena clerk without a hint of hesitation.
The moment he got closer, the clerk looked like he’d just seen a savior.
’’Theo,’’ he blurted out.
Theo raised an eyebrow slightly.
’’Hey,’’ he greeted the clerk. ’’I saw my challenge got accepted.’’
’’Do you happen to know where the fourth-ranked person is?’’
The clerk opened his mouth for a moment.
Then immediately shut it again.
He lowered his head slightly and quickly took a step back.
Before Theo could even react, a female voice suddenly echoed out behind him.
’’There’s no need to bother him.’’
Theo paused.
Slowly, he turned around to look at the source of the voice.
The white-haired church girl had taken a few steps forward, now standing pretty close with her arms folded over each other.
’’As long as you’re ready,’’ she continued. ’’We can head into the arena now.’’
Theo blinked for a moment.
’’Huh...?’’
’’The arena?’’
The girl’s eyes narrowed slightly.
’’Correct.’’
A deep frown appeared on Theo’s face.
Slowly, everything started to fall into place.
’’Are you saying you accepted my challenge?’’ he asked, tilting his head slightly.
The girl immediately let out a soft chuckle.
’’Of course,’’ she said. ’’Why else would I be here?’’
Theo just stared at her for a moment.
’Didn’t expect that,’ he thought, raising an eyebrow.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
’Not that I’m against it... It’ll save me a lot of time after all.’
Finally, he cleared his throat and turned to the church girl.
’’Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that,’’ he said, still smiling. ’’I’m ready to head to the arena.’’
The girl only let out a faint chuckle.
Then she turned around and began walking towards the arena.
Theo glanced back at the arena clerk for a moment.
Nodding once, he raised his thumb in his direction.
With that, he too set off towards the arena.
Meanwhile, countless people had begun swarming towards the arena.
’’Have you heard?’’
’’Yeah... to think that guy actually challenged her!’’
’’I hope she takes him down. Never liked that arrogant bastard.’’
Amongst the crowd, several people had already started moving, each spreading out throughout the stands.
At the same time, a loud voice echoed through dozens of speakers throughout the entire arena.
’’The middle barriers will be shut down for the next battle. Participants will be allowed to use the full arena grounds.’’
Crackle!
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
’’Makes sense.’’
’’There’s no way anyone can concentrate when that show-off is fighting.’’
By now, nearly a thousand students had gathered up.
Whether they were first years, second years, pre-admission, or regular students, no one wanted to miss out on such an anticipated fight.
The atmosphere only grew more heated as they discussed it too.
High above, several instructors had also taken their places in the private viewing areas.
Each carried a different expression as they stared out over the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Theo remained completely oblivious to all of it.
His gaze remained fixed on the white-haired girl walking in front of him.
’’Say,’’ she called out, glancing behind. ’’Is that umbrella really your main weapon?’’
Theo didn’t hesitate to answer.
There was nothing to hide in that regard anyway.
’’Yes, it is.’’
The girl stared at him for a moment longer before a flicker of amusement passed through her eyes.
’’Interesting...’’
"I can see why people keep talking about you."
Her eyes narrowed for a moment.
"I wonder how much louder they’ll talk once you reveal everything."
Theo’s head snapped up.
An uncomfortable feeling washed over him immediately, almost like he was being watched without any clothes on.
’’What did you say?’’ he asked, ignoring the feeling.
The girl only let out a faint chuckle.
’’Don’t hold back against me in the arena,’’ she said. ’’I really don’t like that.’’
With that, she spun back around again.
Theo’s steps slowed down slightly.
His heart pounded heavily in his chest as his brows furrowed.
’Does she know?’ he thought. ’It’d be way too strange to say such things if she didn’t.’
’She wasn’t lying either...’
As the church girl stepped into the weapons room, he slowly felt the uncomfortable feeling vanish.
Even so, his guard had already been raised to the maximum.
One conclusion had come to mind almost straight away.
’This fight might turn out to be way more difficult than I’d expected.’
Theo sucked in a deep breath.
Continuing inside the weapons room himself, he quickly picked up his trusty umbrella.
But just before he left, his gaze fell on the trident in the corner.
For a moment, everything went silent.
’You know what,’ he thought, walking over to it. ’It resembles my spear closely enough.’
Without another thought, he swung it onto his back.
’I’m not taking any chances with my umbrella breaking this time.’
Finally, he turned to the corridor leading to the arena.
Faint cheers and murmurs had already started spilling inside.
’Alright then.’
’Let’s do this.’