Chapter 469: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: A Changed Noble

The small white flowers that had spread across the fighting platform slowly changed, their petals shining with a faint blue glow that made the areas around them sparkle.

Page passed more Cognis into the Sunflower, charging it faster as she felt the power gathering inside the massive flower behind her.

"I won’t lose!!"

The charged heat and light of the Sunflower suddenly burst outward, releasing a powerful beam of light toward Phiora.

The beam tore through the air with enough force to make the dust around it scatter, and the bright light reflected across the nearby parts of the fighting platform.

Phiora looked directly at the incoming beam without flinching.

A pleased smile remained on her face.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

BOOM!

The beam of light collided with an ice wall that suddenly grew from the ground, rising in front of Phiora and protecting her from the attack.

The impact caused the ice wall to shake as bright light spread across its surface.

But the ice wall wasn’t the only frozen object that appeared.

Many people in the crowd gasped.

Because the entire area where the Snowdrops had grown, along with a section of the ground farther away from them, suddenly began freezing over.

A thin layer of ice spread across the fighting platform before quickly becoming thicker.

And Page wasn’t an exception.

She stood in the exact posture she had been in before the freezing effect reached her, completely frozen together with her Sunflower and Bunge Boa Vines.

She couldn’t move in the slightest.

The massive Sunflower behind her was covered in ice, while the Bunge Boa Vines that had been spread across the platform were also frozen in place.

Phiora slowly turned around and looked toward the commentator’s section.

Patrick noticed her gaze.

"W-Winner!"

He shouted, still a little amazed by what he had just witnessed.

"Lady Phiora Casper!!!"

Patrick West shouted loudly.

The whole crowd cheered brightly, shouting Phiora’s name as they celebrated the result of the fight.

Phiora Casper had already been seen as the likely winner before the match even started, and her betting ratings were already a little higher than Page Laverdale’s.

However, Page had still given her a good fight.

The match was far from one-sided, and the people who had taken part in the betting system, which had begun spreading through the smaller cities of Britannia, had watched the Combat Festival live with growing excitement.

Some had probably expected Phiora to win easily.

Instead, Page had forced her to reveal more of her strength.

Phiora stepped off the fighting platform while the Medic Staffs quickly moved onto the stage to treat Page.

The medical team carefully approached the frozen Alchemist and began working to free her from the ice without causing further injury.

Phiora had already performed an Alchemy Reversal to cancel part of the frozen ice back into the Snowdrop seeds she had originally dropped when her Hawthorn was destroyed by Page’s Bunge Boa Vine fist.

The remaining ice around Page still needed to be removed before the Medic Staff could properly treat her.

Page quietly looked up at the sky while she was carried away on a stretcher after receiving first aid.

Her eyes remained open as she stared upward, watching the bright sky above the Arena while the stretcher was carried away.

She had lost.

But the match had not been meaningless.

It was just so frustrating that she had lost.

The Craft-Based Academy Staff quickly moved onto the stage to clean the platform so the next match could begin.

The damaged sections were repaired, the remaining plants were removed, and the frozen parts of the platform were cleared away.

And like that...

More matches went down.

Nickolas Balor’s fight against Rupert Hawthorne was another exciting match for the crowd and viewers on Skynet, with Nickolas barely hanging in there before finally winning the fight.

When Nickolas walked back toward the entrance he had come from, Celestina was already waiting patiently for him.

"Nickolas!"

Celestina ran toward him and hugged him tightly, almost crying when she saw how bandaged he had become during the fight against Rupert.

"Ouch."

Nickolas felt more pain spreading through his already healing body from the sudden hug, but he didn’t care too much and hugged Celestina back with a warm smile.

"I think I look cool enough to present myself to your father when the executives of the BNC Group come to watch the Seventh Round of the Festival."

Nickolas said with a calm voice, although his tired expression made it obvious that his body wasn’t feeling nearly as confident as his words sounded.

"Stop thinking about that and let’s go rest."

Celestina placed his hand over her shoulder and helped him walk.

Nickolas looked at Celestina’s worried face as she supported him through the hallway of the Arena.

"Celes."

He said with a helpless expression.

"I’m not that great of a guy."

Nickolas said calmly in a low voice that Celestina couldn’t hear.

His eyes lowered slightly as memories from the Trial of Steel returned to him.

He remembered how much discrimination he had shown toward people of the Lowline Branch, especially the hatred he had directed toward Ezra because he believed Ezra had caused Aliya’s death, even though he already knew it wasn’t Ezra’s fault.

He remembered the conversation he and Linda had with Ezra about the young lord’s beliefs and how their own beliefs didn’t align with his, making it difficult for them to understand the person they served so dearly.

He also remembered how much of a coward he had been when he couldn’t stand beside Veda during the time the family began treating him like the trash of the House.

Nickolas remembered everything.

"I never apologized to Ezra for my actions."

He muttered to himself in a low voice again.

"Did you say something, darling?"

Celestina looked at Nickolas.

"No..."

Nickolas quickly changed his words.

"I just think I’m really blessed with the people I’ve met."

He looked warmly at Celestina.

"They are my good role models."

Nickolas imagined the backs of Veda, Ezra, and Aliya, and a pleased smile appeared on his face.

The memories made his chest feel strangely warm.

Celestina looked at Nickolas with a confused expression.

"I’m also glad I met you, my love."

Nickolas said brightly.

Celestina’s face quickly turned red as she faced forward.

She almost fell down together with Nickolas because of her sudden movement.

"Quiet, and let me walk properly."

Celestina said, embarrassed.

Nickolas kept quiet, but he continued looking at her with a warm smile.

So cute.

He thought to himself.

Time passed as the other matches continued.

Desmond Derlis easily and brutally swept through Octavia Smith.

It was quite a disturbing match for many people in the crowd to watch, especially because of how violently Desmond dominated the fight, but a good portion of the audience also loved the display of power from Desmond Derlis.

Sasha Burnwick also stomped Constance Derlis.

Arabella Silver lost to Philippa Bergwyn in a hard-fought match that was almost evenly matched, but Philippa eventually won.

Nina Ashenlocke also defeated Edmund Winter in another difficult fight.

More matches continued until the final match of the day arrived.

By then, the excitement inside the Arena had settled into a different kind of anticipation.

The crowd had already watched numerous battles throughout the day, and many spectators were tired from hours of cheering, but the moment the announcement for the final match began, their energy quickly returned.

The whole crowd waited patiently with excitement.

Professor Liliana also stood up with an excited expression, a bright smile appearing on her face as she prepared to announce the fighters.

"Welcoming the next fighters!!"

Patrick West shouted excitedly as well, although even his enthusiasm wasn’t quite as strong as Liliana’s.

"Elena Galehart!!!!"

Liliana’s voice echoed proudly through the whole Arena.

"Vs. SELENA GALEHART!!!!!"

Her voice rose in volume.

The crowd immediately responded.

Thousands of voices shouted Selena’s name almost in unison, and the sound rolled through the Arena like a wave.

"Ahh..."

Selena took a deep breath.

She slowly released it before walking out from her Arena entrance.

Immediately, the cheers became louder.

"Lady Selena Galehart!!!"

"We love you, Lady Selena Galehart!!"

"The Gentle Flower of Britannia!"

"Lady Selena Galehart!!"

The crowd cheered loudly and brightly.

Selena responded by raising one hand and waving elegantly toward the spectators.

That simple movement was enough to make the crowd cheer even louder.

She continued walking toward the fighting platform, her expression remaining gentle as she listened to the voices calling her name from all around the Arena.

She eventually stepped onto the stage.

Then she faced her sister.

Elena Galehart stood on the opposite side of the platform.

Unlike Selena, there wasn’t a single section of the crowd cheering Elena’s name.

The difference between the two sisters was impossible to miss.

One had close to hundreds of thousands of people calling her name.

The other stood quietly beneath the Arena lights with no cheers behind her.

Selena looked at her sister.

A soft smile appeared on her face.

The final match of the day was about to begin.