Chapter 242: Fairy Prince Vs. Champion of Light [Part 4]
A dust cloud appeared where the spear had descended, preventing anyone from seeing the outcome of the battle.
Nero, who was just as worried as Lilian, waved his wand and called forth a gust of wind to blow the dust cloud away.
When the visibility cleared up, no one could believe what they saw.
Half of the arena had been destroyed, and a crater could be seen in the place where the spear had descended.
The Large Light Elemental was nowhere to be seen, and everyone thought that Cedric had been caught up in the explosion.
Everyone knew that the arena had some kind of magical enchantment in it that would send the person out of it once it detected deadly danger. However, they still felt as if a stone was weighing on their heart as they looked around to search for Cedric's whereabouts.
"Worry not, everyone," Professor Lockwind said in a shaky voice. "Cedric is fine. He is over there."
The Professor pointed somewhere in the stands, and sure enough, Cedric was there, looking as pale as a sheet of paper.
Lilian was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, so she immediately shifted her attention to Ethan, who was still hovering above the arena. He looked indifferent and ethereal, looking like a Fairy Prince who had walked out of a Fairy Tale book.
The other students also glanced in his direction, looking at him with both awe, admiration, and respect. If one were to look closely, one would notice that they also had a tinge of fear in their expression, which proved how much they were shaken by the outcome of the battle.
Just as everyone was thinking about what would happen next, Ethan glanced in Professor Lockwind's direction and spoke.
"I won, right?" Ethan asked.
"Yes," Professor Lockwind nodded before raising his hand. "The winner of the duel, Ethan Gremory!"
A few seconds of silence descended upon the arena, which was only broken when the Fairies broke out of their daze and started cheering.
All of them then flew towards Ethan and circled around him in happiness.
Some of them danced, some sang, and others started to kiss Ethan's cheeks.
"""Fairies are the best!"""
"""Fairies are amazing!"""
"""Fairies reign supreme!"""
All the Fairies were giddy with happiness because, for them, Ethan's victory was the victory of all Fairies.
To a certain extent, they were right. Due to their Faith in their King, Ethan was able to cast the Sovereign Magic, which was exclusive to the Fairy Race.
The handsome young man then slowly descended to the ground, looking as composed as ever.
What no one knew was that he was feeling quite exhausted, but he had no intention of letting it show on his face.
Ethan threw Cedric one last glance before walking away from the arena, followed by countless Fairies as if it was a procession.
"Let's go," Professor Barret said as he stood up in the stands.
Unlike Ethan, he was unable to hide the smile on his face, making the old man look twenty years younger than his age.
The students of Brynhildr Academy were also very happy with the outcome of the battle. Even Rowan, who disliked Ethan, was quite impressed by how the Dud performed in his duel.
Still, that didn't mean that he recognized him as his sister's boyfriend.
Even so, his impression of Ethan was a little better than before.
Rowan had called the handsome young man a One-Trick Pony because he only relied on his Partial Resonance to win most of his battles.
This belief of his changed after seeing Ethan's domineering performance as he overpowered his opponent with both might and magic.
As a powerful Wizard himself, it was hard for Rowan not to recognize such a feat.
Although he was reluctant, he would at least no longer call Ethan a One-Trick Pony and start to seriously consider him as a potential candidate to become his sister's boyfriend.
"Medics, tend to Cedric," Nero ordered through telepathy.
The healers of Nightfall Academy immediately went to carry Cedric to the infirmary, so that they could have a better look at his injuries.
Nero then magnified his voice and addressed everyone, who had come to watch the duel.
"What a magnificent battle that was!" Nero stated. "I'm sure that all of you were amazed by the two combatants, who had shown their exemplary mastery and control over magic. With this, I hope that everyone will continue to work hard as they pursue their goals in the Wizarding World.
"Just like I mentioned earlier, we will not tolerate any more troublemaking in the academy. Those who break our rules are more than welcome to leave. Our doors are open, and we will not see you out.
"Have a good day everyone, and I'll see you all on the day that the Legacy Gate opens. Until then, enjoy your stay in the academy and, remember, follow the rules!"
Without another word, Nero disappeared from the Arena, leaving the staff of Nightfall Academy to handle the aftermath.
Right now, he wanted to make sure that Cedric was fine and get to the bottom of the reason for this duel.
He didn't expect that Ethan would be able to beat his student in the duel. But, what had happened, had already happened.
They could not turn back time, so the only thing they could do was damage control.
Nero only hoped that Cedric would be able to rise back up after his defeat. As someone who had attained his position as Headmaster of Nightfall Academy, Nero had his share of failures, and losses.
This was what made him strong.
'Losing is also an important part of life,' Nero thought as he walked towards the infirmary. 'It is better for him to lose sooner than later. With this, he will still have a few days to recover before the Legacy Gate opens.'
Cedric was one of the Trump Cards of Nightfall Academy when it came to subjugating one of the Boss Monsters inside the Legacy Domain.
The Second Year's Light Elemental Affinity was the perfect counter for that Monster, so he needed Cedric to be at his best when they started their expedition.
'I also need to conduct an investigation on that boy, Ethan,' Nero thought. 'His Partial Resonance is quite strong. Very few First Years and Second Years would be able to match that kind of strength.'
The Headmasters of the different academies shared Nero's thoughts.
They thought that what Ethan used to beat the Large Light Elemental was his Partial Resonance.
Of course, they couldn't be blamed for this.
Some of them had suspected that what Ethan used was Sovereign Magic. However, as soon as this thought appeared inside their head, they immediately tossed it aside.
Why?
Because it was impossible for someone to use Sovereign Magic if they didn't belong to that particular Race.
Fae Magic was very potent magic, which could only be used by the Fae Race.
Any other Race that tried to use this kind of magic would suffer a backlash because this wasn't really a magic designed for them.
This was why everyone rejected the idea that Ethan was able to use Sovereign Magic and assumed that the powerful attack he unleashed earlier was his Partial Resonance.
Their informants in Brynhildr Academy had only told them that Ethan was able to use Partial Resonance.
They didn't inform their Masters' about what kind of Partial Resonance it was, allowing those who witnessed the battle in Nightfall Academy to make their own conclusions.
Lilian gazed at Ethan's retreating back with a flushed expression on her face.
Her heart was beating wildly inside her chest, but she couldn't do anything about it.
Right now, she wanted nothing more than to go to the temporary residence of Brynhildr Academy to talk to Ethan.
However, she decided to schedule it for later and went to check up on her brother's condition first.
When Ethan used his magic earlier, she could feel her Origin Magic stirring inside her body.
This proved that her assumptions were correct, making her feel conflicted.
'I'll go see my brother first,' Lilian thought as she walked towards the infirmary while trying to calm her wildly beating heart.
But as she walked towards her destination, she couldn't shake the image of the handsome young man out of her head.
The way he looked down on her brother the moment when the latter used the tablet to summon the Light Elemental was still clear in her mind.
A look of disappointment and disdain had briefly appeared on Ethan's face when Cedric used an external force to help him in battle.
It was at that moment that she realized that the Fairy Prince, who had shocked everyone with his power, had wormed his way inside her heart.
Truth be told, Lilian had always been attracted to the antagonists in the Fairy Tales that she had read while growing up.
Although her Fairy Prince didn't look anything like a villain, his domineering side held a very powerful attraction to her.
Perhaps, deep inside her heart, Lilian wanted one of those bad boys to whisk her off of her feet and carry her someplace far away.
Away from the political struggles of the Nobles and the great expectations that her family had placed on her and her brother's shoulders.
'No good,' Lilian thought. 'I can't get his image out of my head. But, Sir Ethan looked really cool earlier…'
The young lady did her best to push Ethan aside for the time being because she wanted to focus on her brother.
However, the more she pushed his image away, the more she remembered his disdainful smile, which made her young and inexperienced heart skip a beat.