Chapter 294: Man Of His Word
If this had been a fight to the death, Renan would not have stayed where he was.
Lancet knew that much.
Out in the world, with no referee waiting to call the match and no barrier keeping either of them from making the ugliest choice available, Renan would have found a way out.
He would have burned his neverending Grace, used Blackout, Soul Eclipse, Heavenly Dynasty, Army of One and a Million, and every other of those overpowered Skills he secretly had in his locket.
He would have taken the stab as well and answered with something worse. Desperate people did not respect clean endings.
But this was a duel.
Renan had even stopped leaning on magic once he noticed Lancet wasn’t and that his reserves were low. He had chosen steel, skill and endurance, and Lancet had beaten him there.
Fair and square.
This realization rested sweetly in Lancet’s proud chest and it felt better than any sudden level increase could have. He had wanted proof that the mountain had changed him. Now he had it trembling at the end of his sword.
Still, as Renan held his gaze, Lancet already knew what this meant.
Because this duel was structured around strict rules, he knew that some day soon, there will be a next time. An actual, bigger battle between him and Renan.
No Academy plates beneath them. No commentator shouting above the clash. No instructors waiting to intervene.
Somewhere outside these walls, where neither of them would be required to stop.
Lancet lowered the Radiant Guillotine.
Renan let Black Gale fall from its strained angle and drew a slow breath as Lancet released his wrist. They stepped apart, both of them exhausted, armor cut and darkened with smears, but neither looked away.
Renan straightened first. He sheathed Black Gale, then offered his hand.
Lancet took it.
Their grip was firm, without either of them trying to turn the moment into another contest.
"You won," Renan said.
Lancet smiled. "Seems like it."
Renan’s mouth almost moved. Almost. "I will honor our agreement. You’ll have the Falconhart invitation to the Grand Auction."
"Thanks."
"I’ll send it to you once I return to my dormitory." He thought for a moment before continuing. "I’ll have to come up with an excuse to ask my parents to give it to me, but you’ll have it regardless."
Lancet nodded. "Always nice to work with someone who’s a man of his word."
Renan didn’t say much to that except a small tilt of his head.
Lancet looked toward the tunnel Frieda had disappeared into earlier. "And don’t worry about her."
Renan followed his gaze.
"She’ll get better," Lancet continued. "Losing control once doesn’t mean she’ll always lose it. She just needs someone who knows how to teach power without making the person carrying it feel like a bomb."
Renan’s jaw tightened briefly. "Can you truly summon a Fire Mage greater than Soros?"
Lancet turned the Guillotine once in his hand and rested it against his shoulder. "I said I could, didn’t I?"
"You say many things."
"And somehow I keep making them true." Lancet grinned. "But you lost so... I guess we’ll never find out."
Renan studied him, then huffed out a laugh.
The speaker’s voice burst through the colosseum, shaking awake the stunned crowd.
"LANCET LEOGARDT HAS DEFEATED RENAN FALCONHART!"
The reaction struck all at once.
Students surged to their feet. The Summoner-D sector exploded into screaming, boots hammering against the stands while banners whipped above their heads.
Even sections that had spent the entire competition cheering against Lancet joined in, the shock of what they had witnessed dragging applause from them before pride could stop it.
The speaker sounded as though he had forgotten every prepared line in front of him.
"Renan Falconhart, the Heavenly Knight, the strongest Specialist of Class Group-D, has been beaten in direct combat by a Summoner! No Summons! Almost no magic! Lancet Leogardt has done what no one in this arena believed possible!"
Kasto was halfway over the railing before Anita grabbed the back of his uniform.
"He won!" Kasto shouted, twisting against her grip. "He actually beat him! Lancet beat Renan Falconhart!"
Anita screamed back, though she was jumping hard enough to nearly drag him over with her.
Several students nearby looked at her.
Anita did not care.
Luke remained seated for another second, staring at the arena with his hand clenched around the arm of his chair. Then he leaned back and released a breath through his nose.
"Kestrel Highcastle," he muttered. "Of course."
Min Tu stood beside him with her arms folded. Her expression had barely changed, but her eyes remained fixed on Lancet as he and Renan left the center.
"He boasts too much," she said.
Luke glanced at her.
Min Tu added, "But that was good."
At the golden table, Dean Ordenance watched the cheers roll through the colosseum before turning toward the woman beside him.
"It is becoming difficult to find a fault in that boy."
Danistasia Ardental kept her attention on Lancet as he walked from the arena. Her pale fingers rested together against the table.
Ordenance continued, "He has excelled in every quality expected of an Awakener. Power. Judgment. Leadership. Adaptability. Even personal combat, which should be the weakness of his Class." He paused, then looked at her guardedly. "Any further criticism would begin to feel like we were picking him out from the bunch."
Danistasia’s eyes narrowed.
"Don’t you agree?" Ordenance asked, testing the waters.
"You are right," she said.
He waited.
Danistasia’s gaze remained on the arena. "Again."
Ordenance looked at her.
Twice in one day.
He leaned back in his chair and briefly wondered whether some hidden disaster had occurred while he was asleep.
Danistasia ignored his surprise. "Lancet Leogardt is powerful. More importantly, he is competent, driven and difficult to intimidate. Most Summoners would never defeat a Specialist in personal combat. He has defeated the strongest Specialist of his year."
Her eyes followed the way Lancet carried the Radiant Guillotine, the turn of his wrist and the measured placement of his feet even now that the match had ended.
"He likely summoned a Legend to train him," she said. "Kestrel Highcastle, I suspect. The Rising Dragon was obvious, but the rest of his movement confirmed it. The change in his footwork, the angle of his recovery, the way he broke his rhythm rather than simply increasing his speed. His striking pattern is the exact same movement as the snake dragons."
Ordenance nodded slowly. "You believe he summoned the Dragon Blademaster."
"I do."
"That would make another legendary figure under his command."
Danistasia’s mouth tightened. "Under his command is not the phrase I would use."