Chapter 261 - 256 — Challenge
High General Rathen frowned at former rank one, Arcturus Aur Eryndor, whose hand was raised, wondering what this was about. Usually, these assemblies were meant to be one-sided. He spoke, and they listened. That was all. However, curiosity got the better of the High General so much so that he hadn’t immediately shut it down.
Whispers soon spread through the cadets, each wondering why Arcturus had raised his hand, with several already anticipating punishment for daring to interrupt High General Rathen. However, contrary to what many expected, a moment later, Rathen motioned for the royal to speak.
Arcturus lowered his hand with an easy smile. His back was straight, his eyes gentle, yet carrying a fierce light. Hundreds of cadets, instructors, and especially High General Rathen himself had their eyes on him, yet he remained completely unfazed.
"I have a question about the... war, High General." His voice was as easy and calm as his smile.
"Proceed."
"The purpose of the test we just finished was solidarity. I’ll admit, I was pretty slow to catch on. But I’d rather not make the same mistake twice. So... I’d like to ask whether this war is meant to teach solidarity as well. Or..."
Arcturus slowly swept his gaze across the gathered cadets before letting it settle on Zephyrion. Then, with that same easy smile still on his face, he continued,
"...if I feel like it, can I just stroll into any fortress I want and beat the crap out of everyone inside?"
No one spoke.
Partly because they stood before the High General and most cadets simply valued their lives too much, but even more because the words he’d just spoken bordered on insanity.
What Arcturus had just said was, in fact, insane.
Each house fortress housed thousands of cadets, Ferran youths who had been raised since childhood in what it meant to be a Ferran. Yet he’d just claimed that, if he felt like it, he could storm any fortress and, by himself, decimate all of them.
He had basically just declared that every other cadet in the academy wasn’t worth much.
Naturally, the expressions of the cadets, especially those from the Southern, Western, and Northern Houses, slowly hardened, each fixing Arcturus with a burning glare. The atmosphere immediately grew heavy with tension.
Yet the prince’s smile merely widened.
As the moments passed, more and more cadets became aware of his unwavering gaze. Even after several long seconds, Arcturus’ eyes remained fixed on Zephyrion.
Then they finally understood what had just happened. It was subtle, yet unmistakable.
A challenge.
Zephyrion’s first rank made him the current strongest cadet in the academy, a position he’d just taken directly from Arcturus. The prince’s calm yet fierce gaze made it abundantly clear how he felt about that. And should anyone dissect his question, Arcturus was essentially asking:
Could they ignore every other cadet and show the academy who was truly the strongest?
The cadets’ eyes immediately turned toward Zephyrion, wondering how he would respond. However, the youth in question hadn’t so much as glanced at Arcturus, his eyes still fixed on the platform.
In fact, the people around him reacted far more than he did. Kaiden and Kaelion leveled cold glares at Arcturus, while Fiona and Tobias wore deep frowns. Lumi remained silent and adorable as ever, standing straight beside Zephyrion. Whether she understood the situation or simply didn’t think it deserved a reaction was anyone’s guess.
As for Zephyrion himself, he didn’t even seem to acknowledge that the challenge had been directed at him, as though Arcturus and his challenge were no more than the passing wind.
The cadets narrowed their eyes. That response was even more mocking than the challenge itself.
They turned back toward Arcturus, wondering how he would react, only to freeze.
A broad grin had spread across the prince’s face, revealing two short, gleaming fangs peeking over his lower lip. He looked like a savage beast that had finally found worthy prey.
The clearing fell into a tense silence.
A moment later, High General Rathen cleared his throat, shattering it. The cadets immediately straightened, wondering what his answer would be.
"When the time comes, you will receive the rules. Dismissed."
He gave the house commanders a brief nod before vanishing from the platform.
The next moment, the house commanders began ushering their cadets toward their respective fortresses. Even so, whispers continued to ripple through the crowd.
"Holy iron, that was tense."
"No kidding. I seriously thought the two of them were about to throw hands right there."
"The Lightning Prince versus an actual prince... who do you think takes First Prime?"
"Sounds like you’ve already accepted you’re not winning..."
"Well, sometimes a duck has to remember it’s a duck. I’d be thrilled just to land a decent apprenticeship."
"Fair enough... But haven’t you heard the rumors about Prince Arcturus? They say the guy’s an actual monster. What was the title again... the Undying Prince? Apparently the royal family’s never produced anyone like him before."
"Yeah, but aren’t people saying the exact same thing about the Lightning Prince?"
"Right. Damn... both of them even have ’Prince’ in their titles. That’s terrifying."
A brief silence followed.
"Honestly, I can’t wait to see those two go at it. It’s going to be glorious."
"Me too..."
The test had already been forgotten. Most didn’t even spare a glance for the cadets whose rune tabs blinked a continuous red from their depleted Temper Points. Even as they were ushered away by their instructors with lowered heads, the cadets paid them no mind, every conversation revolving around the same topic.
The Lightning Prince Versus the Undying Prince.
"That guy!" Tobias let out a frustrated huff, looking toward the others. "Who does he think he is, challenging my lord? If my lord wasn’t here, I’d have dealt with him myself!"
The group raised an eyebrow at him. Then, Fiona shot him a sidelong glance
"...You? Deal with the former first rank?"
"That’s right!"
"...Then why didn’t you?"
The others also perked up their ears, curiosity written across their faces.
"Well..." Tobias cleared his throat. "Out of respect for my lord, of course! How could I steal his fight? Naturally, I trust he can handle someone like that himself."
"Oh?" Fiona nodded as though that made perfect sense. "I don’t think Zephyrion would mind, though."
"...Huh?"
"Right, Zephyrion?" Fiona turned toward him. He had been walking in silence the entire time, his expression as unreadable as ever.
"You wouldn’t mind if Tobias handled the prince for you, would you?"
Tobias swallowed hard. "W-wait! I wouldn’t burden my lord with something so trivial. He’ll—"
"Burden?" Fiona blinked innocently. "You’re taking a burden off his shoulders. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it."
"B-but—"
"We’ll just let him decide."
All eyes turned toward Zephyrion, awaiting his response.