Chapter 453: The Broken Crown ( Final )

His left hand closed tighter around the Crown and he pressed his teeth together ... the feeling of humiliation was burning deep into his mind and bones.

[00:06]

Lian smiled.

[00:05]

And suddenly his body turned into ash.

[ Ash Step ]

"No!" Rodrick immediately turned around, he suddenly felt something very bad and dangerous, his entire mind was tense from the feeling of humiliation and he could not think properly.

Even he did not know what he was doing.

This time, his fist went toward the right, the same direction where the Vorhelm had appeared during his previous use, using the last of his remaining mana.

But no one was there, his eyes opened wider, Lian had never planned to appear behind him from the beginning.

And the ash gathered right beside Rodrick’s left hand.

[00:04]

Frost Dominion.

Crack!

A layer of ice formed around Rodrick’s fingers in an instant, not enough to freeze his hand and not even to hurt him but only for one thing.

To make his fingers unable to close more tightly around the Crown for a fraction of a second.

[00:03]

"Damn it!" He exploded his mana.

The ice broke, but that fraction of a second was enough.

Vorhelm appeared, his right palm placed on Rodrick’s wrist.

[ Cataclysm Pulse ]

This time it was small, compressed, and precise.

Clang!

There was no big explosion, this attack was very controlled and only for one specific purpose, and as a result, the target’s wrist moved.

His fingers opened and ....the Crown came out of his hand.

[00:02]

Both of their eyes fell on the Crown.

Rodrick reached out his hand, Lian did the same.

The first one’s distance was shorter, he was about to catch it, but a thin ice platform formed right under the Crown.

Clang!

The Crown hit it, its falling angle changed, it passed beside his fingers and turned directly toward Vorhelm.

[00:01]

Lian’s black armored hand closed around the Crown.

[00:00]

Silence covered everything for a moment and then

[Crown ownership changed.]

Rodrick remained still.

[The previous King failed to complete the Crown holding condition.]

His eyes slowly opened wider.

[Duration of Rodrick’s Crown holding: 29:59.]

Twenty-nine minutes.

Fifty-nine seconds.

Only one second.

All the defense ...all the planning....everyone who had fought for him....dozens of students he had eliminated, his own power and Tyrant’s Tribute ...all of them had failed for one second.

The next notification appeared.

[The King has been defeated.]

[King Defeat Reward: 500 Crown Points.]

[500 points have been given to Lian Vorhelm.]

[Points: 1694.]

And finally

[New Crown Holder: Lian Vorhelm.]

[Test has ended.]

Lian looked at the Crown in his hand for several seconds, then raised his head.

Rodrick was still standing there, but something on his face was different from a few minutes ago, disbelief had first taken over everything.

His eyes moved between the Crown and the notification showing twenty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

It was as if his mind refused to accept the result.

Then anger came, his jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles beside his face became visible.

His bloody fist shook but even anger could not hide the third feeling.

Humiliation.

Not because Vorhelm had defeated him with one punch.

If something like that had happened, he could have blamed it on an unknown ability or a strange difference in power.

What happened was worse, Rodrick had shown everything he had.

Himself.

His evolved Class.

His innate trait.

His subordinates.

And after all of that, Lian had still been able to stand in front of him.

"I told you I didn’t come for the Crown." The new King raised the Crown and said calmly.

"But now that it’s here... I’ll keep it." His original goal really was not the Crown, but under no circumstances would he let this bastard feel that he had won.

His goal was simple, to break all of his prestige and the stupid structure he had built, and the best way to do that was to crush his pride.

He was not someone who caused trouble for others without a reason, but Rodrick had spent all of high school humiliating him, just because he had failed Awakening.

After that, he had even dared to isolate his best friend Kain for months and cause trouble for him.

He would not let such a bastard become a problem for him in the future, when he could destroy his roots right here.

Unfortunately, defeating the enemy was not easy for him, the Level difference was still causing problems, he had to use everything he had.

And when there were other ways to crush Rodrick, he did not need to defeat him in a traditional battle.

Besides, winning a battle does not always mean that the other side is the winner, the real point of victory is to break the enemy’s pride so badly that they never dare to stand up again.

But Lian was still not finished, there was still one final shot left.

"Don’t worry, you weren’t a bad King, but now this Peasant will proudly take your Crown for himself."

At that exact moment, kilometers away from the simulated territory, the Academy’s monitoring hall had fallen into silence.

Dozens of large images were floating in the air.

But almost no one was looking at any other image anymore and everyone’s eyes were fixed on one image.

Lian and the Crown that was now in his hand.

The Academy’s senior professors were there, representatives of several large Guilds, people who had originally come to examine Rodrick, Kain, Seraphina, and the other talents of the new generation.

Some of them had already seen the first reports about Lian Vorhelm a long time ago.

But reading a report was different from seeing it.

One of the Guild representatives said nothing for several seconds.

"His Level... is really 23?" Then, as if he needed to make sure he had not read the number wrong, he asked quietly.

No one answered immediately.

Professor Silas was still looking at the image behind his glasses, his usual amused expression was much weaker now.

Beside him, Professor Aldric had his arms crossed over his chest.

He already knew that Lian was more dangerous than his Level showed, he had already seen that this boy was not ordinary.

But even he had not expected the difference to be this ridiculous.

Level 23.

Against Level 39.

It was not only the Level difference.

Rodrick had completed his First Evolution long ago, his four-star Class had evolved into Tyrant Ruler.

He had also unlocked the first innate trait of his Class and in the end, he had even brought the power of several subordinates into his own body.

And he still could not defeat Vorhelm.

"What is that boy’s Class? Could it be five-star? I guess it isn’t just an ordinary five-star either, he must also have a very powerful Talent." Another representative slowly leaned forward from his seat.

Another silence formed.

Lian’s official file had no answer that could explain what they had just seen, he had registered his Class as Warrior before Evolution and his Talent was not public either.

Silas said nothing for several seconds, then he slowly pushed his glasses higher while his eyes were still on the image of him.

But Rodrick was not the only one looking at Lian in disbelief.

At that moment, almost all the professors and Guild representatives present in the monitoring hall had also fallen into a heavy silence.

And one of the most serious reactions belonged to the Headmaster of the Academy, Seraphina’s father....