Chapter 329
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Kyon went up to the stands, ignoring offensive comments. He was wearing a white cape and holding a magic staff in his hand. He nodded to surprised Vladimir and winked at the stunned participants, causing chaos in their ranks. When the authorized person removed his tournament bracelet, he went to Cernos zone.
A fearless Grand clenched his fists and took a step towards the hated bastard with something unkind on his mind, but the fat freak suddenly turned around.
«Wanna see a magic trick?» – Kyon said with a smile.
The other participants instinctively flinched at this phrase.
The unlucky avenger turned deathly pale and rushed headlong to the edge of the zone.
More than five thousand spectators looked at each other, puzzled. What was it about?
«No? Whatever.» – Kyon snorted and raised his nose haughtily. All the tournament participants were afraid of the man who wouldn't beat any of them in single combat! He got them trained well, didn't he? Kyon felt really proud of himself.
While principal Nulan was going up the stage, Lovr looked around the stands and noticed familiar faces: patriarch Bai, Diana, Franz, Marina, Julia. He looked at the top rows and saw Charles. A girl with disheveled hair was sitting next to him, apparently, his sex slave who had recently fulfilled her main duty.
Kyon's heart missed a beat. A shiver of cold surprise ran down his back: {Dinah?}
The heavenly features of the moon goddess and her icy stare... The Stones' maid, who he was madly in love with, was lustful Prince Charles's sex slave?!
Kyon frantically rubbed his eyes... and this time, he saw a complete stranger sitting next to the prince. His soul returned to the body, and his heart started beating again. In just one second that seemed like an eternity, he plunged into hell and back.
{Goddess… You... Heartless bitch…} – Lovr figured out that he'd been played again like that time when Kara's suppressive collar suddenly disappeared.
It would seem that nothing terrible had happened, but Kyon felt uneasy. He had been given a new perspective: his dear girl might be fucking a powerful man right now, cultivating her unique body and soul, and he could do nothing about it. The goddess made him understand that he was still a nobody.
{Wait! What if it was a warning, not a mockery?} – Kyon wondered if the goddess could be interested in his talent. What if it was a way to motivate him to get stronger. What if he was too slow on his path of self-improvement, she would give Dinah to another man... Or was it just idle speculation?
Meanwhile, principal Nulan went up on stage and solemnly said: «Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! The forest tournament has come to an end! The best talents of the seven kingdoms of Rosarrio have spent two weeks in the forest to…»
After the opening speech, the effeminate man pointed to the center of the stage. There was a huge patterned glass plate on a low table. In the center of the strange object was a nephrite with a formation of unknown purpose.
«Here is a scale that measures the value of the obtained keys in points. One animal key taken from a base phaser at the first stage is worth one point. One animal key taken from an advanced phaser at the first stage is worth ten. One animal key from a superior phaser at the first stage is worth one hundred. And so on. You will see the latest updates in the tournament table. The school with the most points will be ranked first, and its participants will receive fifty percent of the keys collected by other schools. The second place will get twenty percent, and the third place will gain ten percent. Other schools can keep the rest in proportion to the contribution ratio…»
Long ago, 50%, 20% and 10% of the keys used to be distributed from the common fund, not from schools that didn't take a prize place. But the rules had to be adjusted after one significant forest tournament when participants from Athens had gained much more keys than their opponents and suffered serious losses during the award.
The principal continued: «Let me remind you that the most successful participant from the school that took first place will get the main prize of the tournament in addition to the keys. It's five million spheres, a thousand tokens for his family, a personal harnessed superior beast in the beginning stages of the lord phase, and Scarlet Meteor, the transformation medicine!»
When he said the last words, the stands erupted into applause. Many of the spectators had come here to find out who would take the incredibly valuable award.
Initially, everyone believed that princess Haya or the three hefty princes would be the winners, but it wasn't that simple, after all. Someone else was strong enough to rob all of them! If this mysterious genius was from a third-ranking or even fourth-ranking kingdom, he could single-handedly bring his school to first place and take the main prize!
Nulan waited for the noise to subside and said: «At the beginning of the tournament, we released the participants in ascending order, starting with the school that finished last in the previous tournament to give them a little head start. Now we are going to check the quantity and the quality of the collected keys in the opposite order! Meet Edgar Feruz of the 20th rank!»
The audience gave a big round of applause to a skinny student of school number one in Athens. He took out a handful of keys from the ring and put them into the huge dish.
When the principal activated the formation, everyone could see two numbers above the scales: 2.524 & 50.248.
Nulan announced solemnly: «Edgar Feruz has collected two thousand five hundred keys with a total value of fifty thousand points! Another round of applause for Edgar, please!»
There was scattered applause.
Principal Jezzaya shook her head in disappointment. He had collected too few keys. Edgar must have been robbed a few days ago. Bad luck!
Edgar was burning with shame for his poor result. He left the stage with his head bowed low. If it wasn't for Dick Baker, he would have gained about three times more keys! If the tournament formation had not been forged, and he would have met a weaker opponent, the result would have been even better.
The 19th-ranking student came next... Then the 18th... The 17th... The 16th...
Jezzaya frowned: {What is going on? Have they been all robbed?} – She felt embarrassed for her students. This result was unacceptably low for the geniuses of her kingdom.
The 14th-ranking student came on stage… The 13th... The 12th… The 11th... The 10th...
Jezzaya suddenly looked ten years older.
The other principals exchanged puzzled glances: In comparison with previous tournaments, the Athens participants' performance was completely worthless! Could they screw up like this all at once? Did heaven cast a curse on them?
Kael made a tsking sound: «It's a shame! The best geniuses of Athens have such a terrible result that even I feel embarrassed for them.»
His piercing remark made Jezzaya want to sink through the ground.
Looking at the gloomy faces of the participants from Athens and the depressed mood of their principal, the audience began to understand what was happening.
The 9th-ranking student came on stage… The 8th... The 7th… The 6th... The 5th... The 4th... The 3rd... The 2nd...
Jezzaya was ashen like a living corpse. She watched the result of each student with increasing despair. Her school was doomed to get fifth or even sixth place! These losers would disgrace the kingdom for many years to come, and she would be dismissed from her position... Jezzaya pinned all her hopes on Haya, but...
«Princess Haya is next! Everyone, please put your hands together for Her Highness!» – Nulan announced.
The audience burst into applause when the most ingenious participant of the tournament came on stage. There was hopeless despair in her eyes as she approached the table and emptied the keys into the bowl. Then she left the stage, without waiting for the result, her eyes fixed on the ground.
The nephrite activated, and the following numbers appeared above the scales: 12.121 & 303.303. It was about 10 times less than anyone would expect from a participant of her level. And since the tournament formation was forged, the number should be at least 3 times higher.
Nulan announced: «Haya Feruz has collected twelve thousand keys with a total value of three hundred thousand points! Let's hear it for the first princess of Athens!»
The audience clapped loudly to cheer up the sad, brilliant princess.
Principal Nulan waited until it was quiet again and announced: «Altogether, the participants from Athens have collected one hundred thirty thousand two hundred and six keys with a total value of three million one hundred and five points! Bravo!»
There was another round of restrained applause.
«Are we going to win? We've already won! Ha-ha-ha! It's incredible! HA-HA-HA!» – The first hefty prince laughed loudly, unable to hold back his joy. He was convinced that he would get the priceless medicine Scarlet Meteor, and it made him burst with delight. His two brothers cackled with laughter, and his seventeen schoolmates smiled broadly nearby. The secret of their joy was simple: each of them believed that Dick Baker had messed only with them. Well, maybe a few more people at most, like princess Haya. But it could not possibly be enough to get Cernos first place.
Kael's shoulders shook from barely restrained laughter. He was euphoric to see Jezzaya humiliated. Besides, the principal of Liberia was absolutely sure that his school would definitely take first place. The dreamy veil clouded his eyes. As they say, one man's joy is another man's sorrow.
«Our next participant…» – Nulan invited the 20th ranked student from Liberia.
Kael shook his head in disappointment at the low result. The girl must have been unlucky to meet the robber. Suddenly, he frowned. Jezzaya did the same when she saw the result of her student! A coincidence?
Nulan invited the 19th ranked student... The 18th... The 17th... The 16th... The 15th... Their results were just as low.
The three hefty princes and other participants from Liberia stopped laughing at once. They became quiet and grew more gloomy and silky every minute, while the participants from Athens raised their heads. A tiny hope to get the main prize appeared in princess Haya's heart.
Deep in his thought, Kael realized something and coughed loudly, attracting everyone's attention. Then he turned to the head of Cernos: «Principal Nulan, don't you find it strange that the best geniuses of Athens and Liberia have achieved such poor results?»
Nulan nodded: «I do find it unusual, but I have no idea what the reason for this phenomenon might be.»
Kael exclaimed, using lots of hand gestures: «Don't you see that it's not about our young geniuses. The reason is the forest itself! Apparently, the population of wild animals has not grown at all over the past decades. That's why our participants have collected so few keys. Now we have the burning issue. Why did the administration of Cernos make a disastrous miscalculation and why didn't they report it? This tournament has been held for fun!»
«But our administration has recently checked everything up…»
«There are only incompetent fools or cheaters in your administration! Let the participants confirm my words.» – Kael looked meaningfully at the participants from other schools.
Boys and girls had a chance to justify their low results. How could they miss it? They nodded in agreement, convincing each other that there was a lack of animals this year. They were lucky to get so many keys at all.
«As was to be expected.» – Kael said with a confident smile. – «You will be held accountable for your mistake, Principal Nulan. But we won't raise this issue until the end of the tournament. Let's not ruin the performance.»
«Fair enough.» – Nulan agreed.
Now everything was obvious. The scales fell from everyone's eyes. Needless to say how it affected the mood of the spectators, the participants and the principals. In short, everything went back to normal.
Only Kyon could hardly hold back his laughter.
Finally, it was the three princes' turn.
The first prince had a result of 8.411 & 219.348. The second prince achieved 7.250 & 188.731, and the third got 9.769 & 235.532.
Nulan announced: «Altogether, the participants from Liberia have collected one hundred thirty-one thousand and fifteen keys worth three million two hundred and ninety-five points! It's incredible! Athens is only one hundred and ninety points behind Liberia!»
The stands exploded with applause and loud comments: «Only one hundred and ninety points?! You must be kidding! It can't be! This victory will go down in history!» … «Liberia will take first place by such a small margin!»
The three princes could not believe their eyes and ears. They did it! Dick Baker failed to mess up with their result! They would glorify Liberia! Tears of happiness welled up in the first prince's eyes. His younger two brothers clapped him on the shoulders as if he had already received the main award. The rest of the participants also rejoiced at their "inevitable victory."
Princess Haya's eyes lost their sparkle as if she had lost her soul. One hundred and ninety points? She was a heartbeat away from winning! A single beast in the middle of the advanced phase could have changed the outcome! The mere thought of this multiplied her resentment a hundredfold... If the fat ugly freak had not stripped her, she would not have wasted time looking for clothes. Instead, she would have killed a hundred or more beasts! Then the first place would be hers! It was all because of Dick! Grief in her heart was overwhelming. She could not hold back her tears. The princess had to take out her handkerchief and bury her face in it.
Principals Kael and Jezzaya exchanged glances. Keal winked arrogantly at her, and she turned away not to let him know how humiliated she felt.
Meanwhile, it was the turn of the third-ranking school in the kingdom.
Principal Nulan checked each participant and announced the result, which was about 30% lower than the current winner's. The guests and the participants from Liberia felt relieved. They were going to get first place!
The second and the third princes slapped their eldest brother on the cheeks and poured barrels of cold water to bring him to his senses, all to no avail! The first prince was on cloud nine and refused to descend. His feelings were quite understandable. Even geniuses born to the elite of the elite could break into the imperial phase only in one out of ten cases while he had a 100% chance to get there with the Crimson Meteor! He was destined to become a king of great Liberia!
Two hours later, Nulan checked the rest of participants and moved on to Cernos. As expected, the result was so low that the Iron Throners and Cernos students were red in the face. However, no one was paying any attention to Nulan's announcements. Other schools preferred to discuss the results and prematurely congratulate the participants from Liberia on their victory. Many considered the tournament already finished.
«Dick Baker, the final participant from Cernos.» – Nulan announced coldly.
The buzz of conversation abruptly subsided as if someone had pressed the mute button. All the participants of the tournament stared intently at the fat guy who was slowly going on stage. Princess Haya and the three princes sent him incinerating glares.
«Damned ugly clown, die already!» … «Abominable scum that slept with a demon! You are not worthy of the first rank in Cernos!» … «You are a disgrace to our kingdom! Even the king is ashamed to look at you! Do us a favor, get lost!» – The citizens of the Iron Throne and Cernos students yelled in a fit of righteous anger.
The principals of all schools had to pay attention to the infamous Dick Baker. They looked at him as if he were a foul-smelling trash can. How could he be still alive?
With an air of imperturbable self-possession, Kyon took out an enormous bag and emptied its contents into the huge bowl with such disdain as if he were getting rid of junk. Tens and even hundreds of thousands of colored spheres filled the scales.
At that moment, the common sense of everyone present seemed to have scattered along with the keys.
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Kyon went up to the stands, ignoring offensive comments. He was wearing a white cape and holding a magic staff in his hand. He nodded to surprised Vladimir and winked at the stunned participants, causing chaos in their ranks. When the authorized person removed his tournament bracelet, he went to Cernos zone.
A fearless Grand clenched his fists and took a step towards the hated bastard with something unkind on his mind, but the fat freak suddenly turned around.
«Wanna see a magic trick?» – Kyon said with a smile.
The other participants instinctively flinched at this phrase.
The unlucky avenger turned deathly pale and rushed headlong to the edge of the zone.
More than five thousand spectators looked at each other, puzzled. What was it about?
«No? Whatever.» – Kyon snorted and raised his nose haughtily. All the tournament participants were afraid of the man who wouldn't beat any of them in single combat! He got them trained well, didn't he? Kyon felt really proud of himself.
While principal Nulan was going up the stage, Lovr looked around the stands and noticed familiar faces: patriarch Bai, Diana, Franz, Marina, Julia. He looked at the top rows and saw Charles. A girl with disheveled hair was sitting next to him, apparently, his sex slave who had recently fulfilled her main duty.
Kyon's heart missed a beat. A shiver of cold surprise ran down his back: {Dinah?}
The heavenly features of the moon goddess and her icy stare... The Stones' maid, who he was madly in love with, was lustful Prince Charles's sex slave?!
Kyon frantically rubbed his eyes... and this time, he saw a complete stranger sitting next to the prince. His soul returned to the body, and his heart started beating again. In just one second that seemed like an eternity, he plunged into hell and back.
{Goddess… You... Heartless bitch…} – Lovr figured out that he'd been played again like that time when Kara's suppressive collar suddenly disappeared.
It would seem that nothing terrible had happened, but Kyon felt uneasy. He had been given a new perspective: his dear girl might be fucking a powerful man right now, cultivating her unique body and soul, and he could do nothing about it. The goddess made him understand that he was still a nobody.
{Wait! What if it was a warning, not a mockery?} – Kyon wondered if the goddess could be interested in his talent. What if it was a way to motivate him to get stronger. What if he was too slow on his path of self-improvement, she would give Dinah to another man... Or was it just idle speculation?
Meanwhile, principal Nulan went up on stage and solemnly said: «Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! The forest tournament has come to an end! The best talents of the seven kingdoms of Rosarrio have spent two weeks in the forest to…»
After the opening speech, the effeminate man pointed to the center of the stage. There was a huge patterned glass plate on a low table. In the center of the strange object was a nephrite with a formation of unknown purpose.
«Here is a scale that measures the value of the obtained keys in points. One animal key taken from a base phaser at the first stage is worth one point. One animal key taken from an advanced phaser at the first stage is worth ten. One animal key from a superior phaser at the first stage is worth one hundred. And so on. You will see the latest updates in the tournament table. The school with the most points will be ranked first, and its participants will receive fifty percent of the keys collected by other schools. The second place will get twenty percent, and the third place will gain ten percent. Other schools can keep the rest in proportion to the contribution ratio…»
Long ago, 50%, 20% and 10% of the keys used to be distributed from the common fund, not from schools that didn't take a prize place. But the rules had to be adjusted after one significant forest tournament when participants from Athens had gained much more keys than their opponents and suffered serious losses during the award.
The principal continued: «Let me remind you that the most successful participant from the school that took first place will get the main prize of the tournament in addition to the keys. It's five million spheres, a thousand tokens for his family, a personal harnessed superior beast in the beginning stages of the lord phase, and Scarlet Meteor, the transformation medicine!»
When he said the last words, the stands erupted into applause. Many of the spectators had come here to find out who would take the incredibly valuable award.
Initially, everyone believed that princess Haya or the three hefty princes would be the winners, but it wasn't that simple, after all. Someone else was strong enough to rob all of them! If this mysterious genius was from a third-ranking or even fourth-ranking kingdom, he could single-handedly bring his school to first place and take the main prize!
Nulan waited for the noise to subside and said: «At the beginning of the tournament, we released the participants in ascending order, starting with the school that finished last in the previous tournament to give them a little head start. Now we are going to check the quantity and the quality of the collected keys in the opposite order! Meet Edgar Feruz of the 20th rank!»
The audience gave a big round of applause to a skinny student of school number one in Athens. He took out a handful of keys from the ring and put them into the huge dish.
When the principal activated the formation, everyone could see two numbers above the scales: 2.524 & 50.248.
Nulan announced solemnly: «Edgar Feruz has collected two thousand five hundred keys with a total value of fifty thousand points! Another round of applause for Edgar, please!»
There was scattered applause.
Principal Jezzaya shook her head in disappointment. He had collected too few keys. Edgar must have been robbed a few days ago. Bad luck!
Edgar was burning with shame for his poor result. He left the stage with his head bowed low. If it wasn't for Dick Baker, he would have gained about three times more keys! If the tournament formation had not been forged, and he would have met a weaker opponent, the result would have been even better.
The 19th-ranking student came next... Then the 18th... The 17th... The 16th...
Jezzaya frowned: {What is going on? Have they been all robbed?} – She felt embarrassed for her students. This result was unacceptably low for the geniuses of her kingdom.
The 14th-ranking student came on stage… The 13th... The 12th… The 11th... The 10th...
Jezzaya suddenly looked ten years older.
The other principals exchanged puzzled glances: In comparison with previous tournaments, the Athens participants' performance was completely worthless! Could they screw up like this all at once? Did heaven cast a curse on them?
Kael made a tsking sound: «It's a shame! The best geniuses of Athens have such a terrible result that even I feel embarrassed for them.»
His piercing remark made Jezzaya want to sink through the ground.
Looking at the gloomy faces of the participants from Athens and the depressed mood of their principal, the audience began to understand what was happening.
The 9th-ranking student came on stage… The 8th... The 7th… The 6th... The 5th... The 4th... The 3rd... The 2nd...
Jezzaya was ashen like a living corpse. She watched the result of each student with increasing despair. Her school was doomed to get fifth or even sixth place! These losers would disgrace the kingdom for many years to come, and she would be dismissed from her position... Jezzaya pinned all her hopes on Haya, but...
«Princess Haya is next! Everyone, please put your hands together for Her Highness!» – Nulan announced.
The audience burst into applause when the most ingenious participant of the tournament came on stage. There was hopeless despair in her eyes as she approached the table and emptied the keys into the bowl. Then she left the stage, without waiting for the result, her eyes fixed on the ground.
The nephrite activated, and the following numbers appeared above the scales: 12.121 & 303.303. It was about 10 times less than anyone would expect from a participant of her level. And since the tournament formation was forged, the number should be at least 3 times higher.
Nulan announced: «Haya Feruz has collected twelve thousand keys with a total value of three hundred thousand points! Let's hear it for the first princess of Athens!»
The audience clapped loudly to cheer up the sad, brilliant princess.
Principal Nulan waited until it was quiet again and announced: «Altogether, the participants from Athens have collected one hundred thirty thousand two hundred and six keys with a total value of three million one hundred and five points! Bravo!»
There was another round of restrained applause.
«Are we going to win? We've already won! Ha-ha-ha! It's incredible! HA-HA-HA!» – The first hefty prince laughed loudly, unable to hold back his joy. He was convinced that he would get the priceless medicine Scarlet Meteor, and it made him burst with delight. His two brothers cackled with laughter, and his seventeen schoolmates smiled broadly nearby. The secret of their joy was simple: each of them believed that Dick Baker had messed only with them. Well, maybe a few more people at most, like princess Haya. But it could not possibly be enough to get Cernos first place.
Kael's shoulders shook from barely restrained laughter. He was euphoric to see Jezzaya humiliated. Besides, the principal of Liberia was absolutely sure that his school would definitely take first place. The dreamy veil clouded his eyes. As they say, one man's joy is another man's sorrow.
«Our next participant…» – Nulan invited the 20th ranked student from Liberia.
Kael shook his head in disappointment at the low result. The girl must have been unlucky to meet the robber. Suddenly, he frowned. Jezzaya did the same when she saw the result of her student! A coincidence?
Nulan invited the 19th ranked student... The 18th... The 17th... The 16th... The 15th... Their results were just as low.
The three hefty princes and other participants from Liberia stopped laughing at once. They became quiet and grew more gloomy and silky every minute, while the participants from Athens raised their heads. A tiny hope to get the main prize appeared in princess Haya's heart.
Deep in his thought, Kael realized something and coughed loudly, attracting everyone's attention. Then he turned to the head of Cernos: «Principal Nulan, don't you find it strange that the best geniuses of Athens and Liberia have achieved such poor results?»
Nulan nodded: «I do find it unusual, but I have no idea what the reason for this phenomenon might be.»
Kael exclaimed, using lots of hand gestures: «Don't you see that it's not about our young geniuses. The reason is the forest itself! Apparently, the population of wild animals has not grown at all over the past decades. That's why our participants have collected so few keys. Now we have the burning issue. Why did the administration of Cernos make a disastrous miscalculation and why didn't they report it? This tournament has been held for fun!»
«But our administration has recently checked everything up…»
«There are only incompetent fools or cheaters in your administration! Let the participants confirm my words.» – Kael looked meaningfully at the participants from other schools.
Boys and girls had a chance to justify their low results. How could they miss it? They nodded in agreement, convincing each other that there was a lack of animals this year. They were lucky to get so many keys at all.
«As was to be expected.» – Kael said with a confident smile. – «You will be held accountable for your mistake, Principal Nulan. But we won't raise this issue until the end of the tournament. Let's not ruin the performance.»
«Fair enough.» – Nulan agreed.
Now everything was obvious. The scales fell from everyone's eyes. Needless to say how it affected the mood of the spectators, the participants and the principals. In short, everything went back to normal.
Only Kyon could hardly hold back his laughter.
Finally, it was the three princes' turn.
The first prince had a result of 8.411 & 219.348. The second prince achieved 7.250 & 188.731, and the third got 9.769 & 235.532.
Nulan announced: «Altogether, the participants from Liberia have collected one hundred thirty-one thousand and fifteen keys worth three million two hundred and ninety-five points! It's incredible! Athens is only one hundred and ninety points behind Liberia!»
The stands exploded with applause and loud comments: «Only one hundred and ninety points?! You must be kidding! It can't be! This victory will go down in history!» … «Liberia will take first place by such a small margin!»
The three princes could not believe their eyes and ears. They did it! Dick Baker failed to mess up with their result! They would glorify Liberia! Tears of happiness welled up in the first prince's eyes. His younger two brothers clapped him on the shoulders as if he had already received the main award. The rest of the participants also rejoiced at their "inevitable victory."
Princess Haya's eyes lost their sparkle as if she had lost her soul. One hundred and ninety points? She was a heartbeat away from winning! A single beast in the middle of the advanced phase could have changed the outcome! The mere thought of this multiplied her resentment a hundredfold... If the fat ugly freak had not stripped her, she would not have wasted time looking for clothes. Instead, she would have killed a hundred or more beasts! Then the first place would be hers! It was all because of Dick! Grief in her heart was overwhelming. She could not hold back her tears. The princess had to take out her handkerchief and bury her face in it.
Principals Kael and Jezzaya exchanged glances. Keal winked arrogantly at her, and she turned away not to let him know how humiliated she felt.
Meanwhile, it was the turn of the third-ranking school in the kingdom.
Principal Nulan checked each participant and announced the result, which was about 30% lower than the current winner's. The guests and the participants from Liberia felt relieved. They were going to get first place!
The second and the third princes slapped their eldest brother on the cheeks and poured barrels of cold water to bring him to his senses, all to no avail! The first prince was on cloud nine and refused to descend. His feelings were quite understandable. Even geniuses born to the elite of the elite could break into the imperial phase only in one out of ten cases while he had a 100% chance to get there with the Crimson Meteor! He was destined to become a king of great Liberia!
Two hours later, Nulan checked the rest of participants and moved on to Cernos. As expected, the result was so low that the Iron Throners and Cernos students were red in the face. However, no one was paying any attention to Nulan's announcements. Other schools preferred to discuss the results and prematurely congratulate the participants from Liberia on their victory. Many considered the tournament already finished.
«Dick Baker, the final participant from Cernos.» – Nulan announced coldly.
The buzz of conversation abruptly subsided as if someone had pressed the mute button. All the participants of the tournament stared intently at the fat guy who was slowly going on stage. Princess Haya and the three princes sent him incinerating glares.
«Damned ugly clown, die already!» … «Abominable scum that slept with a demon! You are not worthy of the first rank in Cernos!» … «You are a disgrace to our kingdom! Even the king is ashamed to look at you! Do us a favor, get lost!» – The citizens of the Iron Throne and Cernos students yelled in a fit of righteous anger.
The principals of all schools had to pay attention to the infamous Dick Baker. They looked at him as if he were a foul-smelling trash can. How could he be still alive?
With an air of imperturbable self-possession, Kyon took out an enormous bag and emptied its contents into the huge bowl with such disdain as if he were getting rid of junk. Tens and even hundreds of thousands of colored spheres filled the scales.
At that moment, the common sense of everyone present seemed to have scattered along with the keys.
Kyon went up to the stands, ignoring offensive comments. He was wearing a white cape and holding a magic staff in his hand. He nodded to surprised Vladimir and winked at the stunned participants, causing chaos in their ranks. When the authorized person removed his tournament bracelet, he went to Cernos zone. A fearless Grand clenched his fists and took a step towards the hated bastard with something unkind on his mind, but the fat freak suddenly turned around. Wanna see a magic trick? Kyon said with a smile. The other participants instinctively flinched at this phrase. The unlucky avenger turned deathly pale and rushed headlong to the edge of the zone. More than five thousand spectators looked at each other, puzzled. What was it about? No? Whatever. Kyon snorted and raised his nose haughtily. All the tournament participants were afraid of the man who wouldn't beat any of them in single combat! He got them trained well, didn't he? Kyon felt really proud of himself. While principal Nulan was going up the stage, Lovr looked around the stands and noticed familiar faces: patriarch Bai, Diana, Franz, Marina, Julia. He looked at the top rows and saw Charles. A girl with disheveled hair was sitting next to him, apparently, his sex slave who had recently fulfilled her main duty. Kyon's heart missed a beat. A shiver of cold surprise ran down his back: {Dinah?} The heavenly features of the moon goddess and her icy stare... The Stones' maid, who he was madly in love with, was lustful Prince Charles's sex slave?! Kyon frantically rubbed his eyes... and this time, he saw a complete stranger sitting next to the prince. His soul returned to the body, and his heart started beating again. In just one second that seemed like an eternity, he plunged into hell and back. {Goddess You... Heartless bitch} Lovr figured out that he'd been played again like that time when Kara's suppressive collar suddenly disappeared. It would seem that nothing terrible had happened, but Kyon felt uneasy. He had been given a new perspective: his dear girl might be fucking a powerful man right now, cultivating her unique body and soul, and he could do nothing about it. The goddess made him understand that he was still a nobody. {Wait! What if it was a warning, not a mockery?} Kyon wondered if the goddess could be interested in his talent. What if it was a way to motivate him to get stronger. What if he was too slow on his path of self-improvement, she would give Dinah to another man... Or was it just idle speculation? Meanwhile, principal Nulan went up on stage and solemnly said: Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! The forest tournament has come to an end! The best talents of the seven kingdoms of Rosarrio have spent two weeks in the forest to After the opening speech, the effeminate man pointed to the center of the stage. There was a huge patterned glass plate on a low table. In the center of the strange object was a nephrite with a formation of unknown purpose. Here is a scale that measures the value of the obtained keys in points. One animal key taken from a base phaser at the first stage is worth one point. One animal key taken from an advanced phaser at the first stage is worth ten. One animal key from a superior phaser at the first stage is worth one hundred. And so on. You will see the latest updates in the tournament table. The school with the most points will be ranked first, and its participants will receive fifty percent of the keys collected by other schools. The second place will get twenty percent, and the third place will gain ten percent. Other schools can keep the rest in proportion to the contribution ratio Long ago, 50%, 20% and 10% of the keys used to be distributed from the common fund, not from schools that didn't take a prize place. But the rules had to be adjusted after one significant forest tournament when participants from Athens had gained much more keys than their opponents and suffered serious losses during the award. The principal continued: Let me remind you that the most successful participant from the school that took first place will get the main prize of the tournament in addition to the keys. It's five million spheres, a thousand tokens for his family, a personal harnessed superior beast in the beginning stages of the lord phase, and Scarlet Meteor, the transformation medicine! When he said the last words, the stands erupted into applause. Many of the spectators had come here to find out who would take the incredibly valuable award. Initially, everyone believed that princess Haya or the three hefty princes would be the winners, but it wasn't that simple, after all. Someone else was strong enough to rob all of them! If this mysterious genius was from a third-ranking or even fourth-ranking kingdom, he could single-handedly bring his school to first place and take the main prize! Nulan waited for the noise to subside and said: At the beginning of the tournament, we released the participants in ascending order, starting with the school that finished last in the previous tournament to give them a little head start. Now we are going to check the quantity and the quality of the collected keys in the opposite order! Meet Edgar Feruz of the 20th rank! The audience gave a big round of applause to a skinny student of school number one in Athens. He took out a handful of keys from the ring and put them into the huge dish. When the principal activated the formation, everyone could see two numbers above the scales: 2.524 & 50.248. Nulan announced solemnly: Edgar Feruz has collected two thousand five hundred keys with a total value of fifty thousand points! Another round of applause for Edgar, please! There was scattered applause. Principal Jezzaya shook her head in disappointment. He had collected too few keys. Edgar must have been robbed a few days ago. Bad luck! Edgar was burning with shame for his poor result. He left the stage with his head bowed low. If it wasn't for Dick Baker, he would have gained about three times more keys! If the tournament formation had not been forged, and he would have met a weaker opponent, the result would have been even better. The 19th-ranking student came next... Then the 18th... The 17th... The 16th... Jezzaya frowned: {What is going on? Have they been all robbed?} She felt embarrassed for her students. This result was unacceptably low for the geniuses of her kingdom. The 14th-ranking student came on stage The 13th... The 12th The 11th... The 10th... Jezzaya suddenly looked ten years older. The other principals exchanged puzzled glances: In comparison with previous tournaments, the Athens participants' performance was completely worthless! Could they screw up like this all at once? Did heaven cast a curse on them? Kael made a tsking sound: It's a shame! The best geniuses of Athens have such a terrible result that even I feel embarrassed for them. His piercing remark made Jezzaya want to sink through the ground. Looking at the gloomy faces of the participants from Athens and the depressed mood of their principal, the audience began to understand what was happening. The 9th-ranking student came on stage The 8th... The 7th The 6th... The 5th... The 4th... The 3rd... The 2nd... Jezzaya was ashen like a living corpse. She watched the result of each student with increasing despair. Her school was doomed to get fifth or even sixth place! These losers would disgrace the kingdom for many years to come, and she would be dismissed from her position... Jezzaya pinned all her hopes on Haya, but... Princess Haya is next! Everyone, please put your hands together for Her Highness! Nulan announced. The audience burst into applause when the most ingenious participant of the tournament came on stage. There was hopeless despair in her eyes as she approached the table and emptied the keys into the bowl. Then she left the stage, without waiting for the result, her eyes fixed on the ground. The nephrite activated, and the following numbers appeared above the scales: 12.121 & 303.303. It was about 10 times less than anyone would expect from a participant of her level. And since the tournament formation was forged, the number should be at least 3 times higher. Nulan announced: Haya Feruz has collected twelve thousand keys with a total value of three hundred thousand points! Let's hear it for the first princess of Athens! The audience clapped loudly to cheer up the sad, brilliant princess. Principal Nulan waited until it was quiet again and announced: Altogether, the participants from Athens have collected one hundred thirty thousand two hundred and six keys with a total value of three million one hundred and five points! Bravo! There was another round of restrained applause. Are we going to win? We've already won! Ha-ha-ha! It's incredible! HA-HA-HA! The first hefty prince laughed loudly, unable to hold back his joy. He was convinced that he would get the priceless medicine Scarlet Meteor, and it made him burst with delight. His two brothers cackled with laughter, and his seventeen schoolmates smiled broadly nearby. The secret of their joy was simple: each of them believed that Dick Baker had messed only with them. Well, maybe a few more people at most, like princess Haya. But it could not possibly be enough to get Cernos first place. Kael's shoulders shook from barely restrained laughter. He was euphoric to see Jezzaya humiliated. Besides, the principal of Liberia was absolutely sure that his school would definitely take first place. The dreamy veil clouded his eyes. As they say, one man's joy is another man's sorrow. Our next participant Nulan invited the 20th ranked student from Liberia. Kael shook his head in disappointment at the low result. The girl must have been unlucky to meet the robber. Suddenly, he frowned. Jezzaya did the same when she saw the result of her student! A coincidence? Nulan invited the 19th ranked student... The 18th... The 17th... The 16th... The 15th... Their results were just as low. The three hefty princes and other participants from Liberia stopped laughing at once. They became quiet and grew more gloomy and silky every minute, while the participants from Athens raised their heads. A tiny hope to get the main prize appeared in princess Haya's heart. Deep in his thought, Kael realized something and coughed loudly, attracting everyone's attention. Then he turned to the head of Cernos: Principal Nulan, don't you find it strange that the best geniuses of Athens and Liberia have achieved such poor results? Nulan nodded: I do find it unusual, but I have no idea what the reason for this phenomenon might be. Kael exclaimed, using lots of hand gestures: Don't you see that it's not about our young geniuses. The reason is the forest itself! Apparently, the population of wild animals has not grown at all over the past decades. That's why our participants have collected so few keys. Now we have the burning issue. Why did the administration of Cernos make a disastrous miscalculation and why didn't they report it? This tournament has been held for fun! But our administration has recently checked everything up There are only incompetent fools or cheaters in your administration! Let the participants confirm my words. Kael looked meaningfully at the participants from other schools. Boys and girls had a chance to justify their low results. How could they miss it? They nodded in agreement, convincing each other that there was a lack of animals this year. They were lucky to get so many keys at all. As was to be expected. Kael said with a confident smile. You will be held accountable for your mistake, Principal Nulan. But we won't raise this issue until the end of the tournament. Let's not ruin the performance. Fair enough. Nulan agreed. Now everything was obvious. The scales fell from everyone's eyes. Needless to say how it affected the mood of the spectators, the participants and the principals. In short, everything went back to normal. Only Kyon could hardly hold back his laughter. Finally, it was the three princes' turn. The first prince had a result of 8.411 & 219.348. The second prince achieved 7.250 & 188.731, and the third got 9.769 & 235.532. Nulan announced: Altogether, the participants from Liberia have collected one hundred thirty-one thousand and fifteen keys worth three million two hundred and ninety-five points! It's incredible! Athens is only one hundred and ninety points behind Liberia! The stands exploded with applause and loud comments: Only one hundred and ninety points?! You must be kidding! It can't be! This victory will go down in history! Liberia will take first place by such a small margin! The three princes could not believe their eyes and ears. They did it! Dick Baker failed to mess up with their result! They would glorify Liberia! Tears of happiness welled up in the first prince's eyes. His younger two brothers clapped him on the shoulders as if he had already received the main award. The rest of the participants also rejoiced at their "inevitable victory." Princess Haya's eyes lost their sparkle as if she had lost her soul. One hundred and ninety points? She was a heartbeat away from winning! A single beast in the middle of the advanced phase could have changed the outcome! The mere thought of this multiplied her resentment a hundredfold... If the fat ugly freak had not stripped her, she would not have wasted time looking for clothes. Instead, she would have killed a hundred or more beasts! Then the first place would be hers! It was all because of Dick! Grief in her heart was overwhelming. She could not hold back her tears. The princess had to take out her handkerchief and bury her face in it. Principals Kael and Jezzaya exchanged glances. Keal winked arrogantly at her, and she turned away not to let him know how humiliated she felt. Meanwhile, it was the turn of the third-ranking school in the kingdom. Principal Nulan checked each participant and announced the result, which was about 30% lower than the current winner's. The guests and the participants from Liberia felt relieved. They were going to get first place! The second and the third princes slapped their eldest brother on the cheeks and poured barrels of cold water to bring him to his senses, all to no avail! The first prince was on cloud nine and refused to descend. His feelings were quite understandable. Even geniuses born to the elite of the elite could break into the imperial phase only in one out of ten cases while he had a 100% chance to get there with the Crimson Meteor! He was destined to become a king of great Liberia! Two hours later, Nulan checked the rest of participants and moved on to Cernos. As expected, the result was so low that the Iron Throners and Cernos students were red in the face. However, no one was paying any attention to Nulan's announcements. Other schools preferred to discuss the results and prematurely congratulate the participants from Liberia on their victory. Many considered the tournament already finished. Dick Baker, the final participant from Cernos. Nulan announced coldly. The buzz of conversation abruptly subsided as if someone had pressed the mute button. All the participants of the tournament stared intently at the fat guy who was slowly going on stage. Princess Haya and the three princes sent him incinerating glares. Damned ugly clown, die already! Abominable scum that slept with a demon! You are not worthy of the first rank in Cernos! You are a disgrace to our kingdom! Even the king is ashamed to look at you! Do us a favor, get lost! The citizens of the Iron Throne and Cernos students yelled in a fit of righteous anger. The principals of all schools had to pay attention to the infamous Dick Baker. They looked at him as if he were a foul-smelling trash can. How could he be still alive? With an air of imperturbable self-possession, Kyon took out an enormous bag and emptied its contents into the huge bowl with such disdain as if he were getting rid of junk. Tens and even hundreds of thousands of colored spheres filled the scales. At that moment, the common sense of everyone present seemed to have scattered along with the keys.
