TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 133
The Starlon students’ doping self-destruction was carried out with utmost determination.
Thanks to that, the Starlon students managed to make a significant contribution, almost equivalent to one full participant.
However, their opponents were no strangers to unconventional and unpredictable situations.
Realizing that the effectiveness of the poison pill wouldn’t last long, they fiercely bought time until the Starlon students collapsed.
As a result, six Starlon students were sacrificed, while the Imperial Faction, now accustomed to the situation, only suffered four losses.
On Kraush’s side, only Haring and Kraush remained.
On the other hand, Pandora’s side still had Arsoldar and one more member of the Imperial Faction.
In the end, the numerical disadvantage tipped in favor of Kraush’s opposition, just as they had planned.
But Pandora’s expression was far from comfortable.
This was originally a plan to bring down Kraush.
At this rate, even if Kraush were defeated, all the credit would likely go to Arsoldar.
Moreover, Kraush was in perfect condition.
Pandora knew well how formidable Kraush’s power could be in critical moments.
“If Arsoldar goes down here…”
Pandora was acutely aware that he would bear the brunt of the Imperial Faction’s wrath.
Not that Arsoldar would care either way.
Pandora had a goal—to advance into the central noble faction.
“Libra.”
Thus, Pandora turned his gaze to a member of the Imperial Faction with his long hair tied back.
He stood out because of his unique attire, wrapped in a white scarf.
He belonged to the Latnis family, one of the farthest outposts among the regional noble factions.
It was an almost barren wilderness, resembling the wilds.
Libra Latnis, a direct member of the Latnis family, lived a nomadic life in that region.
“You can win, right?”
And he was also the one Pandora trusted most among the regional noble factions.
As usual, Libra let out a long yawn and rubbed his eyes as he replied.
“No idea.”
He was someone who never gave a direct answer.
But when it came to his skills, he never lied.
With a leisurely gait, he stepped into the arena.
Seeing this, Kraush spoke to Haring, who was about to join.
“That guy’s pretty strong. Be careful.”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
Haring responded and stepped into the arena.
Even as Haring entered, Libra let out another long yawn.
Contrary to his perpetually drowsy demeanor, Haring quietly drew two daggers and stared at him intently.
“Begin!”
And thus, the referee student announced the start of the match.
Haring’s figure vanished in an instant, cloaked in Invisible.
While Haring disappeared, Libra continued to yawn lazily.
“Libra, focus!”
When Pandora shouted, Libra half-opened his eyes and lazily glanced around.
Invisible completely erased both presence and appearance.
Even Kraush’s sixth sense couldn’t track Invisible, let alone Libra.
At that moment, as Libra scratched his head,
he suddenly felt something at his side and staggered.
“Oops.”
Blood splattered as his side was slightly grazed.
It wasn’t a deep wound.
Before the attack could dig deeper, Libra had already pulled back.
As his eyes adjusted, he saw Haring, now visible, lunging at him with a dagger.
When Libra swung his sword to counterattack, Haring had already retreated and vanished again using Invisible.
Libra’s eyes narrowed slightly.
This opponent was trickier than expected.
“Hmm.”
He stroked his chin, coming to a decision.
“This is annoying.”
Libra rolled up his sleeves.
From within the sleeve, a chain coiled around his arm unraveled with a metallic clink.
At the same time, Libra began casually spinning the chain, which had a weight attached to its end.
“Whoa, Libra’s using that! Everyone, get back!”
A referee student near the arena fled without looking back, causing the other students to scramble away in panic.
Soon, the chain in Libra’s hand began its dance.
Crash! Clang! Bang-bang-bang!
The chain extended endlessly, wreaking havoc across the arena.
The arena crumbled under the relentless rampage of the chain, which lashed out in all directions.
The chain’s impact was so powerful that its force was felt even outside the arena.
Clang!
And naturally, even Haring, cloaked in Invisible, couldn’t dodge every strike of the chain.
Haring quickly dropped Invisible, raised her aura, and deflected the chain with her dagger.
The tingling sensation running up her arm was enough to reveal the immense power behind the chain.
“Gotcha.”
The chain, deflected by the dagger, twisted and coiled around Haring’s arm in an instant.
Before she could react, Libra’s arm muscles bulged.
With aura coursing through his arm, Libra yanked the chain immediately.
Haring’s body was pulled off the ground, flying toward Libra in an instant.
But Haring wasn’t an ordinary opponent, either.
While being pulled, she twisted her body and hurled a dagger straight at Libra.
Seeing one dagger flying precisely toward his head, Libra tilted his head to avoid it.
But in the spot where he dodged, Haring’s leg was waiting.
Thud!
A loud, sharp sound echoed as Libra’s head snapped backward.
Haring pushed off his face, grabbed the dagger she’d thrown earlier, and landed back on her feet.
Then, she struck the chain with her dagger.
A toxic aura seeped from the blade, hissing as it corroded the chain.
Her intent was clear—to dismantle the chain completely.
Clink!
At that moment, the chain was yanked again.
When Haring looked up, Libra was wiping the blood dripping from his nose with his sleeve, the result of her earlier kick.
“That hurt.”
With that, Libra pulled the chain once more.
Haring, unable to overpower his sheer strength, was dragged forward again.
Haring’s brows furrowed slightly.
It was because Libra seemed entirely unscathed.
“You’re waiting for the poison to take effect, aren’t you?”
Libra, snorting out the blood from his nose, opened his mouth.
“Your family sends us plenty of poison-related materials every time. We’re used to poison.”
The Latnis family not only ruled over plains but also vast forested regions.
It was the Latnis family that harvested poisonous materials from these forests and sent them to the Ragren family.
Thus, Libra, having been exposed to such toxic materials since childhood, had built a significant resistance to poison.
Haring, who realized this belatedly, squinted her eyes.
She had recognized that their compatibility was poor.
“Let’s end this quickly. I want to sleep.”
The moment those words ended.
Libra began wildly swinging the chain that bound him to Haring.
Haring’s body was dragged along with the chain and started being hurled toward the ground, as if she were a weight attached to the end of it.
Bang! Crash! Bang!
With those resounding noises, Haring’s body slammed forcefully into the arena floor.
Those watching couldn’t bear the sight and tightly shut their eyes.
“Good job, Libra!”
At that, Pandora cheered loudly for Libra.
With Invisible and poison sealed, Libra’s overwhelming victory was evident.
He, delighted, shouted and turned to look at Kraush.
Now, only three remained: Libra, himself, and Arsoldar.
They were opponents too burdensome for Kraush to handle alone.
So, when he grinned triumphantly, his eyes met Kraush’s.
Even as Haring was being smashed apart like that, Kraush’s expression remained unchanged.
It was at the moment Pandora realized this and felt puzzled.
“Urgh.”
Suddenly, Libra coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered.
Libra’s eyes grew wide.
His vision began to blur.
‘This… poison?’
Could the poison he had been exposed to earlier only now be spreading?
Doubt clouded Libra’s eyes.
He was immune to most poisons.
After all, poisons tended to have similar properties, and any poison usable in a duel wouldn’t work on him.
“Did you use a poison strong enough to kill instantly in a duel?”
Even as he thought that it was too much, Libra’s eyes shifted as Haring, battered and bruised, slowly rose from the ground.
The chain was still bound to her hand.
“I didn’t use anything like that.”
She spat the blood pooling in her mouth onto the ground and flashed her violet eyes.
“I simply used something new.”
Recently, Haring had been researching poisons and curses together with Darling and Dorma.
Through that process, she had learned a new type of poison from Dorma.
Just as Kraush used poison and curses to create instant enhancement elixirs, Haring had synthesized a new poison by combining the two.
Although she could only handle a few lower-level curses due to her inexperience, that alone had significantly expanded the range of her poisons.
‘I’ll keep getting stronger.’
In Haring’s eyes, Kraush would only continue to grow stronger.
Though she didn’t know what his ultimate goal was, he had saved her life twice.
For that reason alone, she intended to follow him and repay the favor.
She reached into her poison pouch.
Although Libra had been significantly weakened by the poisonous curse, he was still strong.
The chain also didn’t seem to be made of ordinary material, as it hadn’t corroded even with acid-coated daggers.
So, she decided to change her approach.
What she pulled from the poison pouch was a Blue Vitality Pill.
It was a pill that amplified muscle strength while the poison’s effects were active.
“No, you don’t.”
Even as his vision swayed, Libra immediately raised the chain to prevent Haring from doing anything reckless.
With her strength mostly drained, Haring was lifted into the air by the chain.
But by then, Haring had already placed the Blue Vitality Pill into her mouth.
Crunch!
With the sound of the pill being crushed, Haring felt a surge of vitality in her body.
Simultaneously, with her strength greatly amplified, she grabbed the chain mid-air with her own hands.
Then, from above, she yanked the chain upward with all her might.
Clang!
Defying logic, Libra, who had been standing on the ground, was instead pulled upward by the chain.
Before Libra could react, he was dragged upward in an instant, his eyes widening in shock.
He tried to swing his sword, but Haring’s dagger was already striking toward him.
Clang!
Libra’s sword clashed with Haring’s dagger, forcing his body backward.
And in that brief opening, Haring’s leg extended once more.
“Ah.”
Thud!
With a short gasp, Haring’s foot struck Libra’s jaw squarely.
His head snapped back, and Libra was hurled straight into the ground.
Bang!
A deafening crash erupted as a cloud of dust rose into the air.
Through the settling dust, Haring landed lightly.
And as the dust began to clear,
Libra lay sprawled out, eyes closed.
Though he didn’t seem unconscious, it appeared impossible for him to move.
“I surrender.”
“Haring Lagrain, victory!”
As Libra declared his surrender, the referee student watching from afar immediately shouted.
Haring, hearing those words, turned sharply to look at Kraush.
It was a habit from her childhood, when she would often seek her brother’s praise after accomplishing something.
When her eyes met Kraush’s, Haring belatedly realized what she had done subconsciously.
While she felt a twinge of embarrassment, Kraush nodded.
“Well done.”
Hearing those words of praise, she secretly felt pleased.
“You can come down now.”
When Kraush said that, Haring turned her body around.
“I can still keep going.”
Hearing her stubbornness, Kraush frowned slightly but let out a sigh.
He had expected this.
“Libra, that idiot.”
At that moment, Pandora climbed up to where Libra had fallen, grumbling irritably.
He was in an extremely foul mood, as all his plans had been ruined.
In particular, Glen and Haring, who sided against him despite being from the Empire, irritated him the most.
“I didn’t expect you, the Empire’s cherished protégés, to be this foolish.”
Haring, hearing his words, was catching her breath.
The impact from Libra’s attacks and the aftereffects of the Blue Vitality Pill were beginning to take their toll.
“Prepare yourself.”
To shake off the fog clouding her mind, she shook her head.
She could still continue.
If she could at least land one more strike with her dagger and inject poison, it would make things much easier for Kraush.
She gripped her dagger tightly.
“Begin!”
At that signal, Haring activated Invisible.
Her vision turned blurry.
Through the hazy view, Pandora slowly adjusted his glasses.
“That’s why you always try the same tricks.”
A storm of Sword Dust began swirling around Pandora.