Chapter 55: The Big Cats

The remaining rounds of matches rolled forward like a shuffled deck of playing cards, transitioning smoothly from one battle to the next in quick succession before the day’s scheduled activity finally wound down.

The performances had proven genuinely thrilling and satisfying for a great many students, especially the freshmen, most of whom were experiencing an event of this scale for the very first time. For several of them, the excitement only left them hungry for more, already counting down the days until the next round would begin.

The sophomores, predictably, had drawn the greatest share of attention throughout, largely thanks to the rising stars scattered across their ranks and the genuine potential many of them had shown as future, powerful summoners.

That reputation alone had turned their class into one of the most consistently eventful in the school’s recorded history, every match adding fresh fuel to an already intense rivalry.

After waiting through the formal announcement of the next round’s pairings, Mark learned he’d soon be facing off against Victor, one of Mia’s closest subordinates, another well known top name among the sophomore class.

It almost felt deliberate at this point, as though he’d been quietly funneled toward the various cronies belonging to whoever had targeted him as a bully in the past. The pattern was hard to overlook, especially given that nearly every one of Kai’s own subordinates had already been lined up against him across the earlier rounds.

***

Some time later, inside a spacious administrative room tucked within the student classroom block, Arnold deliberately lifted a bishop from the chessboard, sliding it forward to block the path leading toward his opponent’s king.

Goro’s eyes narrowed slightly before lifting to meet Arnold’s, who continued watching him with an easy, unbothered smile.

"I’ve noticed you’ve gotten genuinely sharp at this game lately. Your instincts have improved a lot over the course of our matches together," Harry remarked, observing both players closely from the side.

"I’ve been playing chess since I was a kid. How are you still consistently better than me, even now?" Goro asked, shaking his head with quiet resignation.

A few moments later, Arnold finally set his pawn into position, leaving Goro’s king with nowhere left to run.

"Checkmate."

Goro stared down at the board for a long moment before letting out a sigh and leaning back in his chair.

"Funny enough, if I actually told you this, I never touched this game at all until the tail end of my sophomore year. Used to think of it as something for boring nerds, honestly.

But after Quinn talked me into playing with her once, I realized it’s really a game built for people wired to conquer, the kind who can maneuver everyone else around them like pieces on a board, purely through tactical thinking."

Arnold leaned back comfortably in his own seat, that same easy, plastered smile never once slipping from his face.

"Next!"

Goro rose from his chair as Thalia stepped forward with graceful, practiced ease, settling herself down as the board reset itself automatically back into its starting formation.

"Ugh, I really don’t want to sit through my twentieth loss in a row. How are you even this good at this game?" she asked, frustration coloring her tone, which only pulled a light chuckle out of Arnold.

Her teeth ground together in obvious irritation, though before she could say anything further, Harry cut in.

"Mia’s really proven herself lately, genuinely capable in actual combat, especially with that unsettling summon of hers. Honestly, she’s shaping up to be a real contender for successor queen over the Phoenix girl. I’ll admit that much myself. Wouldn’t you agree?"

Harry glanced toward Arnold from the corner of his eye, carefully reading his reaction.

Arnold simply tilted his head to one side, his smile staying perfectly intact.

"Well, don’t go blaming me for admiring the young summoner from the Phoenix clan. That doesn’t exactly cancel out my interest in Mia either. Besides, it’s Quinn, our actual reigning School Queen, who ultimately decides who takes her place once she eventually steps down. That call was never mine to make in the first place."

"Uh huh. Smooth answer, as always."

Thalia eyed Arnold skeptically, well aware of exactly who this School King really was and just how much genuine, aristocratic influence he held over the school’s internal affairs and its wider student body.

Some even claimed Arnold carried himself more like the actual headmaster than the headmaster did himself, at least when it came to the school’s day to day activities and internal politics.

Much of that impression stemmed from the sheer, overwhelming volume of formal paperwork already piled across the real headmaster’s desk, covering matters stretching across nearly every corner of the school.

Before the conversation could continue any further, the door to the spacious room swung open.

Two figures stepped inside.

The first, bulkier of the two, carried brown hair, sharp green eyes, and a necklace strung with a single, curved fang hanging at his chest. The second matched him closely in build, though his hair fell dark as ink, paired with the same striking green eyes shared between them.

Both carried an unmistakably predatory presence, one that seemed to thicken the very air around them the moment they entered.

Still, nobody present so much as flinched. Their presence had long since become a familiar fixture within Arnold’s domain.

Quinn trailed a few steps behind the pair as the two brothers crossed the room and came to a stop directly before the King.

Arnold raised an eyebrow as both of them dropped smoothly to one knee, heads bowed low.

The brown haired one, evidently the elder of the two, spoke first.

"Sorry to have to bring this to you, but it turned out unavoidable in the end. Lionel’s been sent back home temporarily, into Mom’s custody, at her own suggestion. They want him to properly work through managing his temper, and if things escalate any further from here, we’ll likely be joining him on that little recreation ourselves."

The two kneeling before the King were, in fact, Lionel’s own younger brothers, with Lionel standing as the eldest among the three siblings.

Together, the trio had long been known throughout the school as the Big Cats, a genuinely feared group who served directly beneath the King’s domain as enforcers, weapons, and messengers whenever the situation called for it.

Each of the three carried their own signature summon, every one drawn from the storied, esteemed Panthera bloodline of creatures.

Thalia glanced toward them briefly, while Harry’s expression remained as unreadable and still as ever.

Arnold simply waved one hand lazily through the air.

"Stand, both of you. Have you already forgotten you’re part of the same league as me? Kneeling like that does nothing but insult your own standing."

The brothers exchanged a brief glance before rising back to their feet.

"So, what’s the move now?" Tyga, the brown haired, second eldest brother, asked.

His younger brother, Panthos, remained quiet beside him, saying nothing.

Arnold simply waved his hand again, prompting the two brothers to trade another uncertain glance between themselves.

"Nah, just sit tight for now. Derek’s already dealing with enough of his own problems, so let him work through that on his own terms. I only bother going after a target once they’re actually capable of putting up a real fight, not while they’re still down and struggling. Anything else feels unjustified, honestly, not something I’d ever put my name to. So, let’s just take a step back for now."

Tyga’s expression remained perfectly calm throughout, though Panthos offered a small, silent nod in acknowledgment.

Quinn lingered a while longer, quietly observing the room, before finally turning and making her way back out.

Harry’s expression stayed exactly as still and unreadable as it had been the entire time.

He was always the one carrying that quiet, interrogative, almost officer like presence about him, especially whenever he found himself assigned to confront one of Arnold’s chosen targets directly.

Yet it was precisely that silence that made his presence feel even heavier in the room, his true intentions nearly impossible to read or predict from the outside.

"Very well, then," Panthos said, answering on behalf of them both.

The two Big Cats turned and followed after Quinn, leaving Arnold, Harry, Thalia, and the quietly reset chessboard behind them in the room.

---

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