Inside a grand, marble-pillared hall, every candidate who had participated in the exam stared up at the massive holographic screen.
The image showed the ruined forest-city... and at its center, a boy sprawled on the ground, arms spread, chest heaving, completely spent after his last clash.
Arthur.
He lay there laughing weakly, eyes half-closed, as if he could finally rest.
No one in the hall spoke.
They had just watched him carve apart monsters, prodigies, and nobles one after another. They had seen a city-sized battlefield get erased in a single strike. It was the kind of scene that would burn itself into their memories whether they wanted it to or not.
Away from the main crowd, near one of the shadowed pillars, a red-haired girl in a maid outfit stood quietly.
Elizabeth Crimson.
Her crimson eyes were fixed entirely on the screen.
"That was quite entertaining, if I do say so myself," Elizabeth murmured. "But how does he keep awakening these new abilities?"
