The atmosphere in the tournament arena instantly became as silent as a graveyard after that announcement was heard. There were no more cheers, no more applause.
Everyone in the spectator stands, the panel of judges sitting in the seats of honor, the female host on the podium, to the other participants froze in silence. Especially for the participants and delegation from the Victoriaz Kingdom, their faces turned deathly pale. They were extremely shocked to find out that fact.
A tournament participant dying in a one-on-one battle was the first occurrence and had never happened since this inter-academy tournament was held hundreds of years ago.
"He died you say?" exclaimed Alrain from the middle of the arena, his voice breaking the silence with a tone that sounded in utter disbelief. "I didn't even unleash less than 10% of my full power! Are you joking with me?"
Everyone was shocked hearing the loud exclamation from the green-haired participant. However, it was not his protesting tone that gave the thousands of people there goosebumps, but rather the fact about the power he possessed.
"H-He is indeed dead!" answered the medical personnel with a trembling voice. "There is no longer a heartbeat heard from his body. His pulse is also gone."
"Then, what should I do if he indeed died because he was too weak?" asked Alrain with a very flat gaze, not showing the slightest bit of guilt or regret. "I had intentionally held back my power from the start. I truly never expected that he would immediately die just after being hit by one of my attacks."
The host and the panel of judges looked at each other. They were highly confused and did not know how to make a decision. Because this was the first time they directly witnessed a tournament participant pass away in an official arena.
"T-To be honest, we as the committee also don't know what to do!" exclaimed the host from the podium, cold sweat dripping from her temples. "This is the first time in history that there is a participant who died in our academy tournament."
"I cannot accept this incident!" exclaimed someone with a very deep and authoritative voice from the direction of the special participant stands.
Everyone simultaneously turned to the source of the voice. And the figure who exclaimed was Prince Lionias, the third prince of the Victoriaz Kingdom who acted as his kingdom's representative in the tournament.
He stood up from his seat.
"Hey you, Alrain Vedegra!" exclaimed Prince Lionias loudly while pointing at the green-haired youth in the middle of the arena. "You must have a personal grudge against him, right? There is no way you would unleash such a fatal attack if it was only to win the match!"
Hearing the direct accusation from a prince, Alrain instantly turned his body and looked towards the participant stands.
"A grudge you say?" replied Alrain with a loud tone, not accepting that accusation. "I only just saw his face for the first time in this tournament!"
"Then, if you don't know him, why did you suddenly challenge him to a duel yesterday instead?" asked Lionias scrutinizingly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Because yesterday he looked at me with an intense gaze!" answered Alrain quickly, firmly, and completely without pause. "I thought he was intentionally challenging and wanted to fight me, that's why I directly challenged him in a one-on-one battle without the slightest hesitation! I don't like it when someone looks at me like that!"
The answer blurted out without hesitation and sounding very arrogant successfully made Prince Lionias freeze stiff.
Moreover, the answer that came out of the green-haired youth's mouth was very firm, without any quiver of a lie, and without a single second's pause to think. The prince's logic ultimately accepted that the youth standing in the middle of the arena had spoken as it was.
Meanwhile, inside his heart, Alrain was breathing a sigh of relief. He had tried hard to find the most fitting and logical answer so that he, who was a regressor from the future, would not be found out by anyone.
Thank goodness my brain could work quickly and respond to it. thought Alrain in relief, his face maintaining a flat and haughty expression. From the start I had racked my brain to find the most logical reason. If someone couldn't accept Orvion's death and started investigating it, I would instead be suspected of having hidden motives other than merely an ego issue.
Feeling he could not find a conspiracy loophole from Alrain's answer, Prince Lionias let out a rough sigh then sat back down.
"Just continue this tournament!" exclaimed Lionias from the participant stands seat, giving the final decision as a member of the royal family. "Regarding Orvion's funeral, we will carry it out properly after this entire series of tournaments is over later this afternoon!"
Hearing that official instruction, the medical personnel immediately moved quickly. They covered Orvion's body with a white cloth, lifted it onto a stretcher, then carried it out of the arena area.
Alrain walked up the stairs and returned to the bench in the special participant stands.
Upon reaching his seat, the green-haired youth immediately threw his body onto the chair and grumbled in annoyance with a quite loud voice.
"Are all the representative students from other kingdoms really that weak?" grumbled Alrain, folding his arms across his chest. "Just given one physical attack and they instantly die! This is truly very boring!"
"Alrain, it's not that they are weak. It's just that you are unreasonably strong!" chimed in Ordion casually from his seat, looking at his fellow spouse. "You are the only person among all of us who was trained specifically by our husband for years. Don't you ever compare yourself with those ordinary students!"
"He's right!" added Alvein, confirming Ordion's words. "Sometimes I think, what kind of hellish training did our husband give you in the past that you could grow to be that strong and deadly."
Hearing the comments from Ordion and Alvein, Alrain turned to them. The green-haired youth's face suddenly turned a bit pale.
"Just so you two know!" replied Alrain, his body shuddering slightly in horror as he remembered his past. "Our husband is totally crazy! He trained me physically and magically without caring even if my bones broke. Even when my mana was completely depleted, and even until I vomited blood from exhaustion, he didn't care at all and mercilessly kept training me day and night!"
Alrain swallowed his saliva, his voice lowering slightly yet full of proud trauma.
"If my bones broke, he would heal me right then and there and tell me to stand up again!" he continued again shivering in fear. "When my mana ran out, he grabbed a mana recovery potion then forcefully made me drink it. When I vomited blood, he instead punched my stomach harder until all that dirty blood came out! And the most terrifying thing... if I dared to complain or cry, he would immediately give an additional training portion that was three times heavier than the previous one!"
Hearing that brutal and inhumane explanation, Ordion, Alvein, Kylen, and even Elenora immediately turned their heads in unison. They looked at Arvin who was sitting calmly in his chair.
"Were you that cruel in training him in the past?" asked Alvein with a tone of disbelief, his eyes looking at his husband scrutinizingly and unable to imagine the suffering that Alrain experienced. "Did you intentionally want to turn Alrain into an emotionless fighting monster?"
However, before Arvin could answer Alvein's gentle reprimand, Ordion actually slammed his armrest. His eyes glinted full of explosive enthusiasm.
"Goodness! No wonder! It's no wonder that you also started training us very heavily at the mansion before we departed to this capital!" chimed in Ordion suddenly, looking at Arvin hopefully. "My Dear, can't you give that hellish training portion like Alrain's to me as well from now on?"
"What do you mean, Ordion?!" exclaimed Alvein in shock, staring at the red-haired youth as if he had gone crazy. "You heard it yourself, right? Alrain was even scared half to death telling it, but you voluntarily want to be trained brutally like him instead?"
"Of course I really want to!" answered Ordion full of conviction and burning fighting spirit. "I still can't defeat Alrain up to this second, and even during our training sessions, I can't make him sweat the slightest bit! You know, that reality is very annoying to me!"
Hearing the slight commotion among his spouses, Arvin only gave a faint smile. He looked at their faces one by one with a gentle gaze yet harboring absolute firmness.
"Once all my affairs are finished, I promise I will train all of you with my method." answered Arvin casually, giving an absolute decision. "But for now, focus on the progress of this tournament and control your power output so that no more participants die accidentally."
Arvin then turned his head, staring straight at the pink-haired youth sitting not far from him.
"But that rule of holding back does not apply to you at all, Allen!" asserted Arvin. "Because when your turn comes later, you must unleash all your power."
"I understand, My Husband." said Allen softly, returning his husband's gaze with a soothing smile. "I will not hold back and will do my best when fighting Raven later."