Chapter 224: Without Warning! (2)

Aisha merely smiled in response before turning her attention to Kane.

The young man was still standing unsteadily, his face pale from exhaustion. She reached out and helped him up, supporting him as he struggled to straighten his legs.

Kane immediately grabbed her wrist.

His lips parted, but no words came out.

He wanted to tell her not to do this.

He had already experienced the difference between himself and Jayden. Even with his fear, exhaustion, and humiliating performance, he knew that Aisha would be putting herself in danger by taking his place.

Jayden wasn’t someone she could easily deal with.

He possessed the physical advantages of a Sentinel, a higher rank, and an Enchanted Weapon that had already caused them enough terror.

How could he let Aisha take his place?

Kane tightened his grip on her wrist, desperately trying to convey his thoughts through his eyes.

However, Aisha misunderstood him.

Seeing the way he was looking at her, she assumed that he was grateful for her intervention and was encouraging her to proceed.

"Don’t worry," she reassured him, patting his shoulder. "Just rest for now."

Kane: "..."

He wanted to cry.

That wasn’t what he meant!

Unfortunately, before he could find the words to explain himself, Aisha had already helped him off the stage.

She escorted him back to their team’s waiting area and made sure he was seated before finally turning around.

Kane could only watch her leave, his heart hanging in his throat.

He wanted to call out to her, but his exhausted body barely allowed him to sit upright, much less chase after her.

Beside him, Sabel also looked worried.

"Aisha..."

She clenched her hands, watching Aisha return to the stage. She wanted to say something, but the words became stuck in her throat.

They had already lost Vesper to Jayden’s underhanded tactics, and Kane had barely managed to survive his own round. Now, Aisha was going to face that same opponent.

Yet, despite her worries, Sabel couldn’t bring herself to stop Aisha.

She knew that once Aisha had made up her mind, there was little chance of changing it.

Meanwhile, the announcer took a moment to recover from the unexpected change.

He had hosted countless academy events, but this was the first time he had witnessed someone volunteering to replace a teammate in the middle of a round like this.

After clearing his throat, he raised his microphone.

"Due to the change of participants, the next round will proceed with Aisha Novalis of Class 7-D replacing Kane. Her opponent will remain Jayden of Class 2-B!"

The holographic screens above the arena flickered.

A moment later, Aisha’s information appeared beside Jayden’s.

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION

[Participant: Aisha Novalis]

[Age: 18]

[Rank: D-Rank Guide]

[Purification Value: 29%]

[Class: 7-D]

[Previous Academy Evaluation: 80

The difference between her purification value and the academy evaluation was glaring. But considering that she was the top of her class and her academic exam results were always the best, her evaluation had increased a lot!

A D-rank Guide with a purification value of only twenty-nine percent was about to face a C-rank Sentinel who possessed an Enchanted Weapon.

If this had happened earlier, before Aisha made her entrance, the audience would have burst into laughter all over again.

However, after witnessing how she had faced their ridicule without the slightest change in expression, most of them could no longer bring themselves to laugh so freely.

They could still question her decision, of course.

But none of them wanted to meet those grey eyes again.

Instead, they began discussing the upcoming match in hushed voices.

"How is she supposed to fight Jayden?"

"She’s a Guide. Even if she has some tricks up her sleeve, there’s no way she can compete with a Sentinel physically."

"Don’t forget that Jayden has an Enchanted Weapon. That thing alone should be enough to give him the advantage."

"Then why did she volunteer? Does she have some kind of plan?"

No one could provide an answer.

Compared to Kane’s round, which had begun with endless jeers and insults, the atmosphere surrounding Aisha’s match was surprisingly peaceful.

She didn’t seem to care about any of it.

Instead, she raised her arm and brought the tie wrapped around her wrist to her mouth. Gripping one end between her teeth, she used her free hand to gather her long hair and tied it into a ponytail.

It was a habit she had never lost.

Whenever she was about to do something that required her full attention, she would tie her hair up first. Even in her previous life, when her hair had only reached her shoulders, she had done the same thing.

Long hair was troublesome during a fight. It got in the way of her movements, and when things became messy, it was far too easy for blood to stain it.

Of course, she could have simply cut it short. But she liked keeping her hair long.

Besides, why should she?

Her strength wouldn’t increase or decrease just because she had long hair. Whether she survived would depend on how determined she was and how far she was willing to go to stay alive.

That was all that mattered.

After securing her ponytail, Aisha lowered her arm and glanced at Jayden.

The latter had been watching her with a complicated expression.

He had initially thought that the change of participants would be a joke. After all, Aisha was a D-rank Guide whose purification value was even lower than Kane’s.

However, he couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling that had settled in his chest when she looked at the audience.

But he quickly pushed the thought aside.

What was there to fear?

She was only a Guide.

No matter how composed she appeared, she couldn’t change the difference between their ranks.

And with his Enchanted Weapon, he had nothing to worry about.

Jayden’s expression gradually returned to normal as he waited for the next round to begin.

Then—

BWOOOOOM!

The horn blared across the arena, and the ground shook once more.

A deep mechanical rumble rose from beneath the stage as the central platform began to open. The Verpent’s massive body was slowly lowered into the underground chamber, making way for the next corrupted beast.

The audience immediately turned their attention toward the opening.

They had no idea what kind of creature the academy would bring out this time, but after witnessing what had happened during Kane’s round, they were eager to see how the next evaluation would unfold.

The announcer lifted his microphone, preparing to introduce the new beast.

However, before the creature had even emerged completely from underground, Aisha moved.

She rushed toward Jayden without warning.

"What—?!"

Jayden barely had time to turn his head.

Aisha leaped forward and grabbed him by the neck. Using her momentum and the force of gravity, she dragged him down before he could properly react.

THUD!

His back slammed against the arena floor.

Before he could recover, Aisha had already straddled him, pinning him down as her fist came crashing toward his face.

BAM!

And then another.

BAM!

She began pummeling Jayden without giving him a chance to get up!