Chapter 43: Sand and Crystal
Sitting on the sand outside the circle, I watched. Disqualified. With the Empero Council waiting for me after class.
Damn it.
Alexia looked at me from the other side of the circle. Her chestnut Empero still pulsed. Her uniform was stained with sand. Her two friends surrounded her.
"Are you alright?" the blonde with braids asked.
"I'm fine."
"That Elcronne is a savage," the one with the fan said. "He almost killed you."
"He wasn't going to kill me," Alexia replied, still looking at me, her lips curved.
Caspian approached from behind me, shoving me aside with his shoulder. Rose in hand. Eyebrows knit together.
"Are you sure you're alright, fair lady?"
"Stop calling me 'fair lady,' Caspian."
"As you say, fair lady."
He turned toward me. His green eyes held a gleam I hadn't seen in him before. Although I had technically won the match against Alexia, I lost by disqualification. But Caspian cared little about all that: he only saw that I had fought against the girl he liked. And that she had smiled at me afterward.
Mental note: Caspian. Green Empero. Elemental. Plants. Doesn't match the murder.
Since finding Dayne's body in that abandoned greenhouse, my mind hadn't stopped scheming. Crushed bones. Pierced and slightly caved-in chest. Bluish skin. It was work that required great force, but had left no mark suggesting it was elemental. Perhaps conceptual? Or physical?
"Second match," Duralianne announced. "Ardwyn V of Jahke versus Liryl Taint."
Liryl stood up from the back. Always seen alone, without friends or entourage. He closed his book. Set it down on the sand with care, as if it were his most precious treasure.
Ardwyn entered the circle. Without cape.
I smiled.
The Thursday burning was apparently still fresh in his memory. His golden Empero pulsed. The sand beneath his boots crystallized.
"Taint," Ardwyn said.
"Your Highness," Liryl replied. His voice was soft. As if reading a boring text. "By your leave."
"Cockroaches don't need to ask permission when they're about to be crushed."
"Those who were taught manners do," Liryl responded without taking the bait.
Duralianne raised her hand.
"Begin."
Liryl went first. He struck the ground with both hands. His brown Empero sank into the sand. The ground trembled.
And the sand around him rose.
A wall of golden sand rose between them. Blinding. The storm spread across the entire circle.
The nobles recoiled. Some coughed. Alexia's blonde friend covered her face.
Neither of the two combatants was visible. Only sand. Sand everywhere.
Duralianne remained unfazed. Her pink Empero protected her: the sand deflected a meter from her body.
"Interesting," she said. "The second concealment strategy of the day. Taint knows he can't win by brute force. So he denies vision to seek an opening."
From inside the storm, a crash was heard. Ardwyn was creating crystal blindly.
Liryl responded. The sand compressed, forming columns. Solid pillars of sand striking from all angles.
He hadn't just limited the prince's field of vision; he had now surrounded him.
Another crash, louder this time.
A golden gleam pierced through the sandstorm. And then it dissipated instantly.
Ardwyn stood in the center. His golden Empero exploded in all directions, creating enormous spikes four meters around him. The sand shot outward. The nobles covered their faces. Some threw themselves to the ground for safety.
Liryl was exposed. Without the sand that had protected him.
"Say you surrender and I'll spare myself the trouble of humiliating you," Ardwyn V of Jahke said, walking with deliberation toward his prey.
While all this unfolded, I noticed Durania, who was sitting behind me. She had that same timidity. Her silver hair catching the sun's glints. She emanated a trembling violet Empero.
She seemed the same as always, but for some reason, something about her bothered me.
Durania altered the weight of things. She could make them lighter or heavier. Her Empero was so weak she could only do it for one second and with small objects.
Wait. What if it wasn't one second? What if they weren't small objects? No, it was impossible. I had seen her use her Empero and was sure it was the weakest in the entire class.
"Durania?" I said, breaking her concentration.
The girl startled like a frightened little mouse, then turned toward me with those gray eyes.
"Y-yes?"
"How are you?"
"F-fine. Why?"
"I don't know. I figured you'd be nervous. About the matches."
"I... I don't fight today. I just watch."
"Of course."
Pause. Liryl had created another sandstorm with his Empero. Apparently, the arrogant Ardwyn was toying with him.
"Did you know Dayne Ascalar?"
Durania tensed. Her fingers closed on her skirt.
"I... I knew him by sight. But we weren't friends."
"Did you see anything unusual the day he died?"
"N-no. I was in my room all day. Studying."
Her gray eyes didn't blink. Her voice didn't stutter more than usual. But her hands gripped the skirt tightly.
Mental note: Durania. Violet Empero. Physical. Weight alteration. Claimed to have been studying all day... Not ruled out.
Already within a few meters of his opponent, Ardwyn raised both hands. His golden Empero concentrated in his fingers. Hundreds of crystal spikes materialized in the air around him. Bright and sharp. All pointing toward Liryl like needles.
Liryl saw them. His brown eyes widened.
He raised both arms.
"I SURRENDER!"
However, Ardwyn swept his palm forward, launching that army of crystal spikes toward his opponent.
Duralianne moved. In a blink, she was between Ardwyn and Liryl. Her hands closed. The pink Empero expanded.
The crystal spikes shattered like glass against a rock. Golden fragments fell onto the sand.
Silence.
"Match over," Duralianne said. "Winner: Ardwyn V of Jahke, and by an overwhelming margin... It was excessive."
"Excessive?" Ardwyn lowered the hand that had commanded his army of crystal spikes. "He surrendered before I touched him."
"Oh, sweetness. You almost touched him. And 'almost' is enough to disqualify you if you weren't the crown prince." She pointed at him. "Control, Ardwyn. Without control, your power is like an erupting volcano. Unable to distinguish friend or foe. Only destruction."
Ardwyn clicked his teeth but didn't reply. He simply nodded and, after shrugging, withdrew from the arena.
Liryl picked up his book. Blew on the pages. Sat back down at the rear. And in the comfort of his solitude, opened the book to continue reading.
Mental note: Liryl Taint. Brown Empero. Elemental. Earth and sand. Possible suspect.
Ardwyn passed by me. He looked at me.
"I'm looking forward to smashing your face in the sand and humiliating you, Elcronne."
"How did Professor Duralianne humiliate you in the last class, Your Highness?" I said with a smile.
Ardwyn stopped.
"We'll see who laughs at whom, Dog at Her Heels. We'll see..."
"To your misfortune, I was disqualified."
"I already know that," Ardwyn said, immediately recalling the reason for my disqualification. "What were you planning to do to Alexia Vane?"
"Nothing that concerns you, Your Highness."
"Of course it concerns me!" His golden Empero burst forth as everyone turned toward him. "Alexia is of House Vane. Vassal to Jahke. Under my protection."
I shrugged.
"I didn't do anything to her."
"And for your sake, I hope it stays that way." He pointed at me. "With one dead student we already have more than enough. You don't want to be next."
He headed toward the back seats. Layda followed him with that shy smile of hers.
I had forgotten something. While scanning the others, I saw Naral Docaror briefly manifest his Empero. Yellow. In the original web novel, he could harden his skin, so it had to be physical. Good for defense and attack. With an Empero of that type, crushing bones would be easy. Suspect.
Lady Morven. Navy blue Empero. Elemental. Fabric. It would be impossible not to have left a thread at the scene. Ruled out.
Oladior Garialys. Red Empero. Elemental. Fire. No part of the abandoned greenhouse had appeared burned. Ruled out.
Lady Bethany. Light green. Physical. Speed enhancement. Impossible to cause those types of wounds and break bones with speed alone. Ruled out.
Those were the ones I had been able to see. In The Throne of Ashes and Thorns, the author only described the Emperos that were important to the plot, so I only knew those of the main characters and some secondary ones; for the rest, I couldn't know without seeing them with my own eyes.
"Third match," Duralianne announced. "Lianza D'Tariel versus Durannor."
Lianza approached the arena. Straight back. Chin high. Her garnet Empero pulsed around her. Dense and controlled. She was ready.
However, my stomach sank.
The System hadn't spoken again since I rejected the mission. Not an emoji. Not a taunt. Nothing. Just silence.
And that silence was worse than any of its threats.
Lianza entered the circle. Durannor waited for her. He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Fists clenched. His grayish-blue Empero covered his knuckles like gloves.
Lianza raised her hand. Open palm. Ready to create ice.
But something went wrong.
Her garnet Empero flickered. It thinned, growing unstable. Her hand ended up trembling.
No ice came.
Lianza furrowed her brow. She tried again, this time concentrating more Empero. Nothing. She couldn't materialize ice. Only her garnet Empero in aura form.
I looked at my hands. My bandages. My stomach.
The System said nothing. It didn't need to.
After all, the bastard had done it.
It had completely nullified Lianza's Empero.