Regnum Aetern Dual Rebirth Chapter 172

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[ … words ]

The commoner girl scanned the nearby people who were all looking at her and gritted her teeth.

“It’s not cowardly at all. It’s survival! We have all learned what happens if we challenge the nobles. The nobles we challenge might leave us alone, but the bullies among those nobles would make our lives a living hell.”

She wiped the tears slowly filling her eyes.

“The only way to survive is to forfeit and not challenge the nobles at all. I had applied last year too, and I’d seen the same thing happen back then. In a Phase Two duel between a noble boy and a commoner girl, the commoner girl forfeited the moment the match started, just like that boy did moments ago.”

The people looking at her made a troubled face. And they all shared the same thoughts.

They felt that the boy who had forfeited was extremely pitiful. Despite reaching Phase Three at such a young age, he had to bow before authority just because he was a commoner.

***

Waiting inside the hypogeum, Evangeline felt somewhat tense. Her name could be called any second now.

Based on what she had heard from the announcement, Adrian seemed to have won his duel. She would’ve liked to watch it, but there was no way for her to see it from here.

’Good for him.’

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and thought about the opponent she would be facing.

’Based on what she showed in the practical exam, that girl seems to be good at close combat.’

Of course, that platinum axe she created was materialized using a manipulation spell, which suggested that she could be a caster. But there was a chance that she was like Adrian.Someone who was primarily an infuser but had learned a few spells of their element.

’It’s a good thing I learned hand-to-hand combat from Adi.’

If that girl really was a close combatant as she had guessed, then Evangeline would be at a disadvantage. But having learned hand-to-hand combat, she’ll probably have some breathing room.

Just then, she heard her name being announced, and she hurriedly stood up.

With her fists clenched tight, Evangeline walked out of the hypogeum. And the moment she did, she felt the collective gaze of the audience.

Momentarily, her nervousness grew, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself.

Soon, she stood on the stage.

The girl with navy blue hair stood before her.

They both wore plain, loose training clothes provided by the academy staff. The girl had her eyes closed, but Evangeline felt that she was looking at her.

Evangeline tensed her muscles and turned to the referee, waiting for his signal to start the fight.

But just then, she suddenly heard her opponent’s voice.

“You’re that girl from that banquet, right? The one who had been stuffing her face with cake.”

Evangeline’s expression turned awkward.

’So she remembers me… but why did she have to remember that embarrassing part? Now I don’t know whether to feel good about this or not.’

But just as she was lost in thought, her opponent spoke again. This time, her tone was colder and more blunt.

“I am feeling generous, so let me give you some advice. Girl, you should forfeit before the match starts; it’ll save you from meaningless pain and suffering. After all, there is no way you’re going to win since I am your opponent.”

Evangeline frowned.

’Arrogant noble?’

She took a deep breath and forced out a smile.

“You sound rather confident in yourself. But guess what? I am also confident that I can beat you. So I see no reason to listen to your advice.”

She could even beat Adrian if she gave her all, so she had a clear basis for her confidence, unlike her opponent.

The girl let out a sigh.

“Well, I tried, at least.”

The referee signaled them to get ready and then…

“Begin!”

Evangeline channeled her mana into her four gold bracelets and the tiara, causing a crown of water to materialize above her head.

A long platinum chain materialized in her opponent’s hand. Without giving Evangeline any more time, she spun the platinum chains around and swung them towards her.

’It’s not gonna be that easy!’

Evangeline quickly fired a blast of wind at the stage floor and he blast’s force launched her body high in the air. While in mid-air, Evangeline poured her mana into earth manipulation, creating a massive boulder.

She hurled the boulder towards the girl.

Her opponent released her grip on the metal chains, causing them to dissipate into wisps of mana. As the shadow of the incoming boulder fell on her, the girl covered her fist with a large amount of mana and punched straight through the boulder, shattering it into pieces.

Those pieces soon dissipated into wisps of mana.

As Evangeline fell down, she shot another wind blast at the floor moments before hitting the ground, cushioning her landing.

The girl was already upon her by then.

Evangeline materialized water droplets and fired them all at the girl. The water bullets came at her from multiple different angles at the same time, but the girl nimbly dodged them all with fluid movements.

As the girl closed the distance between them, Evangeline got into a stance, preparing for hand-to-hand combat.

The girl threw a punch at her face, which Evangeline narrowly dodged by tilting her head.

But the girl’s fist suddenly changed its trajectory, and the punch connected to Evangeline’s right cheek.

“-ACK!!”

The force of the punch threw her back a few meters as Evangeline rolled on the ground.

The girl clicked her tongue.

“What an amateur.”

Evangeline hurriedly got up. Her head was spinning from the punch, but she gritted her teeth and awkwardly materialized water droplets around her and shot them in all directions, hoping to somehow hit her opponent or slow her down.

But as her mind stabilized, the girl leapt into the air to dodge the water bullets and landed right in front of her.

They exchanged several blows within only a second before Evangeline jumped back to create distance.

But the girl closed the distance the next second.

Evangeline gritted her teeth.

’Give me a break already!’

She wasn’t getting any breathing room to cast spells. They once again exchanged blows, and Evangeline was grazed by a few of the girl’s punches. The girl, meanwhile, could easily dodge all of Evangeline’s attempts at counterattacks.

The girl’s fighting style felt like that of a barbarian, fierce and unpredictable with no technique behind it, just pure aggression.

Her blows would change trajectory in the middle, her dodges were abnormally nimble, and her speed was intense.

Evangeline was slowly failing to keep up.

The girl’s knee suddenly struck Evangeline’s chin, almost knocking her lights out as she was thrown back several meters with her back hitting the ground.

“-Ugh!”

Before she could get up, the girl climbed on top of her and began punching her face. Evangeline instinctively blocked with her hands, but the girl didn’t stop, throwing one punch after another.

“Is this the confidence you were talking about? I don’t see much, though.”

“Ughh!”

Evangeline felt like her arms were going to break as they blocked blow after blow. She couldn’t even struggle in her current position. Even trying to gather her mana felt impossible.

“What happened, girl? Where did your confidence go?”