The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

A week had passed ever since the arrival of the students from the other academies.

And now, today...

The competition begins!

...

"Hmm, so what you’re saying is the competition will be broadcast throughout the empire?"

Leon asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, the venue where the competition will take place is apparently covered in communication mana-stone. The competition will be recorded and broadcast in real-time all over the place."

Allen answered casually, waving his hand.

"So if you want to make a name for yourself, this is the perfect time to do so."

He added.

And hearing his words...

"Ugh, a lot will be watching us, huh..."

The students of [S Class] became nervous, excited, and shy all in all.

"..."

Not Raye, though. He already knew of this way before after all. Discover more stories at freewebnovel

Anyway...

Raye and the others were in their classroom at the moment, preparing themselves and their equipment for the competition soon.

’I’m done.’

Raye thought. He already had everything he needed in his spatial ring.

"Aren’t you nervous to come out there?"

Lycus then suddenly asked, walking toward Raye.

And looking at him...

"I’ve almost died a few times. I’ve been glared at with deep hatred for a long while too before. Being in front of many eyes doesn’t scare me anymore."

Raye simply said that.

"Ehh, fair."

Lycus said, sitting beside Raye.

"How about Mister Rey?"

And then he asked.

"He said he’ll be watching the competition with Zephyrus and Pyro. Jerusha, Kyle, and Devin will visit him too for the next three days."

Raye muttered.

"Ah, and he said good luck to us. Lena included. I’ll tell her later after she finishes meditating."

He added, looking at Lena in the corner of the room, sitting in silence with her eyes closed.

"Haha, he’s really a good old man."

Lycus said with a laugh.

"Yeah, he is."

Raye followed, looking at his new black cloak that he was wearing—it was given by Old Man Rey yesterday.

The ten of them then waited peacefully in the classroom, feeling a bit nervous.

But most of all...

’Soon, it’ll begin.’

They couldn’t wait to beat the students from the other academies!

*****

(Raye’s POV)

After about half an hour of waiting in the classroom...

Creak—

The room’s door opened.

"Yo!"

Tap—

And then Ramiel entered.

"It’s starting. Let’s go."

He simply said.

And without beating around the bush...

Fwoosh—

We all stood up silently in unison.

There were resolute expressions on our faces.

And seeing that...

"Haha, show them hell."

Ramiel mumbled.

Tap- tap- tap—

And he started walking away.

Tap- tap- tap—

Tap- tap- tap—

Tap- tap- tap—

Me, Lycus, Lena, and my classmates silently followed after him.

I’m feeling a bit nervous, to be honest.

But more than that...

’I’m excited for some reason.’

I said in my head as I tried to calm my thoughts.

But as I was doing that...

"Good luck to us."

Lena suddenly whispered, she was walking on my right.

Lycus and I heard her.

And with small smiles on our faces...

"Yeah, good luck."

"Let’s win this."

We replied to her respectively.

...

...

After a few minutes of walking...

We reached the entrance of the Northern Forest.

And there...

’Hmm, interesting.’

I saw a huge system-like window being projected up in the air.

"Whoa..."

Leon and the others saw it too. It immediately caught our attention.

There was something written on the window.

And so...

We read it.

=====

[Set A]

{Zion Academy’s Team}

1. Raye Alvah

2. Lena Dravenhart

3. Leon Lightbringer

4. Lycus Fenrath

5. Allen Iverson

{Crimson Academy’s Team}

1. Ignis Valefor

2. Hunter Lauz

3. Otep...

...

{Zephyros Institute’s Team}

1. ...

2. ...

...

{Night Academy’s Team}

1. ...

2. ...

...

=====

=====

[Set B]

{Zion Academy’s Team}

1. Josh Harris

2. Joshua Bassett

3. Ravien Morrow

4. Lian Kai

5. Stephen Ru

{Zephyros Institute’s Team}

1. Christian Hartford

2. ...

3. ...

...

{Night Academy’s Team}

1. Ace Silvercrest

2. Elias Alvah

3. ...

...

{Crimson Academy’s Team}

1. ...

2. ...

...

=====

"What?"

Lycus, who’s on my right, asked with a frown on his face.

And it’s not just him...

"..."

Leon, Lena, and Allen were frowning too!

I can’t blame them, after all...

’They were training so hard to face the student representatives of the academies, but two of them were on a different set.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

It’s annoying if you think about it.

Not me, though...

’I already know about this.’

And I’m not worrying, after all...

’We’ll still be able to face those two in the latter part of the competition.’

I thought with a shrug.

Anyway, suddenly...

"Huh? Alvah? Do you know that guy, Raye?"

Lena beside me asked, looking at the Elias guy in the system-like window up in the air.

I just looked at her, and with a nod...

"He’s my older brother."

I casually answered that.

"What?!"

"...?"

"?!"

Lycus, Leon, Allen, and my other classmates were surprised to hear my words.

’I didn’t think it would be this big of a deal for them.’

I said in my head.

Anyway...

Tap- tap- tap—

Me and the others continued to head to where the headmaster and other staff were.

And just then...

"Huh?"

Someone caught my eye.

"Old Man?"

It was Old Man Rey!

He was standing behind a barricade near the entrance of the Northern Forest!

He was looking at me, waving his hand up in the air!

-Meep!

-Good luck!

Pyro and Zephyrus were with him too!

And not just them...

"Good luck, everyone!"

"Do your best!"

"Win this, guys!"

Jerusha, Devin, and Kyle were there too!

"..."

Lena and Lycus saw them too.

And with smiles on their faces...

"Thanks, guys!"

"Count on us."

Lena and Lycus replied to them.

Meanwhile...

My eyes returned to the Old Man.

He was still looking at me.

And then, with a smile...

’Good luck.’

He mouthed me that!

"..."

A smile crept up on my face.

Pat- pat—

I tapped the cloak he gave me.

And with that...

’I got this.’

I confidently mouthed that back to him!

The nervousness in my body completely disappeared after this.

*****

A little while later...

Raye and the others gathered at the entrance of the forest.

The students from the other academies were also there.

And outside the barricades...

Students and citizens were grouping, watching the event in curiosity.

Anyway, just then...

"It seems like everyone’s here."

Bryan said that as he walked in front of the lined-up students.

"Attention."

And then he muttered with a mana-enhanced voice!

Swoosh—

A shockwave was created.

And because of that...

"?!"

Everyone’s attention went toward him!

"That’s better."

Bryan mumbled with a smile on his face.

And then, opening his mouth again...

"I’ll explain the competition once more."

Bryan started telling everyone the content of the competition.

’Why do formal events have to be like this?’

Raye thought with a frown, he was already bored.

Bryan also formally greeted and introduced the staff from the the other academies, even the students during his explanation.

It was full of pleasantries.

"Meh."

So raye didn’t bother listening at all.

...

"The team, or teams, with the lowest score, they’ll be eliminated for the second part of the competition."

Bryan declared, ending his explanation.

Everyone thought that he was done.

"..."

But Raye knew there was more.

And just as he expected...

"Another thing."

Bryan spoke again.

And with a mischievous smile on his face...

"You can kill your opponents."

He announced that!

"?!"

Everyone’s eyes widened upon hearing that!

But before they could even say anything...

"They won’t actually die, don’t worry."

Bryan hurriedly followed that!

"...?"

Leaving the crowd confused.

So to clear things up...

"Because of the help of the Zephyros Institute, we got our hands on the famous ’Training Dome Artifact.’ It’s an artifact for training, obviously. It allows one to train their bodies to the limit without worrying about dying!"

"How so? Because if you die inside the Training Dome... You’ll be just kicked out of it, scratch-free!"

Bryan explained!

"The whole northern part of the forest is covered by the Training Dome Artifact."

He added.

"I think that’s all."

Bryan mumbled, he was getting bored of talking too.

And so, without further ado...

"Let’s start the competition, run wild!"

Bryan exclaimed that!

"?!"

Raye and the others were confused and surprised by the sudden start of the event.

But immediately responding to the situation...

BAM—!

Everyone started dashing inside the Northern Forest!

*****

The Northern Forest was split in half by barricades, and staff of the Zion Academy were standing in the middle of it too.

The left side was for the [Set A].

And the right was for the [Set B].

This event where four academies compete against each other...

It rarely happens!

About once every 10 years!

And even with that, normally only two academies are fighting!

And so...

This competition between Zion Academy, Night Academy, Crimson Academy, and Zephyros Institute...

It took the attention of everyone in the empire!

Be it commoners or nobles, they were currently watching the competition in real-time!

Betting and whatnot!

"This will be fun. Servants, get me some food."

Even the Emperor was watching!

And also...

"Hmm..."

Lucian Alvah—Raye’s biological father!

"Let’s see if those rumors were true."

He said, sitting on his chair in his office, and looking at Raye in the holographic video being projected by his communication crystal!