As Arsenault spoke, he quickly pulled Sonia over to sit down at the commentary desk beside them.
Sonia obediently kept her mouth shut as well.
As long as nobody addressed her, she could control herself and refrain from speaking.
Right now, her heart was a mix of worry and relief. Her worry was natural, given that she had offended two professors in a row, while her relief came from the fact that one of them was Nidala, the Rhythm Sword Saint—Trozan had always been at odds with Nidala, so Trozan would surely protect her little apprentice.
As for Oleron, the Weapon Master, that was even simpler. As long as Sonia didn't go to Truth University, would Oleron really reach across academies just to trouble her?
The only problem was that her hosting career and her dream of becoming a screen star might very well come to an end right here...
By this point, the two contestants had already stepped onto the stage. Loren was the senior who had previously caused trouble for Sonia, a relative of Celia's.
Although his strength couldn't match Leonie's, Loren was still a member of the Sword Flower tournament team, so he was certainly no slouch. Back then, taking on Sonia and Felix single-handedly had been well within his capabilities.
"Loren, I hear you've fallen so low that you're picking on first-year freshmen now." Rigan produced a vicious-looking longbow. "Venting your temper on underclassmen just because you aren't making any progress—Sword Flower University sure has an admirable campus culture."
"Don't forget who severed your bowstring last time, Rigan." Loren held his sword in one hand and sneered back.
"And I haven't forgotten whose backside caught my arrow, either."
Arsenault looked down at his notes and said, "Both competitors faced each other in last year's tournament. Now that a year has passed, they must have made great progress. Miss Servi, what are your thoughts?"
Arsenault wasn't repeating his mistake on purpose here; according to the script, Sonia was supposed to introduce Loren and Rigan's sorcery spirits and past match records at this point, so he chose to trust Sonia one more time.
Yet he forgot that the script said, *Please introduce the situation of the two young sorcerers*, not *What are your thoughts?*
Meeting Sonia's helpless gaze, Arsenault realized he had blundered again.
"I think the two of them are wasting everyone's time trading trash talk. They might as well hurry up and fight so we can all enjoy the show."
The corner of Loren's mouth twitched. Decisively seizing the initiative, he pushed off the ground, his body streaking forward in a straight line for a thrust.
Rigan calmly sidestepped to evade, condensing a silver sorcery arrow in his hand and nocking it to his bowstring. In a flash, offense and defense were reversed!
"Sword miracle: Meteor Thrust! Splendid! But contestant Carroll's reaction is just as swift. As everyone knows, archery arts have always been designed for group combat. The mere fact that Carroll dares to enter a singles tournament relying on archery shows he is exceptionally skilled at close-quarters fighting. Contestant Zi will probably need to stay on guard!"
"Oh! Evasive Steel Arrow—it's contestant Carroll's signature miracle! Unleashing a heavy, powerful steel arrow right as he dodges, even contestant Zi's defensive sorcery spirit was knocked back!"
"A brilliant preemptive strike! What a shame, contestant Carroll neutralized the offensive with a single arrow and opened up the distance once more!"
After commentating non-stop for quite a while, Arsenault felt his throat grow dry. Before taking a sip of water, he subconsciously asked, "How do you view the current situation?"
Heaven knew this was purely Arsenault's professional instinct—while drinking water, he needed his co-host to speak up and fill the dead air.
"Loren is far more likely to lose than win. He's a speed-type contestant, but his opponent happens to be an archery sorcerer skilled in protracted battles and keeping distance," Sonia analyzed with professional insight. "However, Rigan lacks a miracle with burst damage. As long as Loren is willing to sacrifice an arm to block an attack, he'll have a chance to carve out a window to turn defeat into victory."
"Still, Loren seems very confident in his trump card; he must have another high-power miracle in reserve. But given his sword art realm, the miracle he unleashes probably won't be faster than Rigan's reaction time."
As soon as she spoke, many people cast astonished looks at Sonia—including Nidala, Oleron, and the two on stage, Rigan and Loren!
Loren's eyes flickered. Suddenly, he charged forward at full speed, tracing a cross in the air before him with his longsword!
Sorcery power converged into form. A massive cross of sword energy virtually took over the entire stage, sweeping toward Rigan like a guillotine!
"This is your trump card? That's it?"
Rigan sneered. With a sidestep and spin, he actually passed right through the cross of sword energy, completely unscathed!
At the same time, he drew his bow and loosed an arrow straight at the charging Loren!
Yet this time, Loren neither dodged nor parried. Instead, he thrust out his hand to block the silver sorcery arrow, trading a minor wound for distance!
Rigan panicked slightly and rapidly fell back, loosing three arrows in rapid succession. The three arrows burst forth almost simultaneously, descending like meteors with whistling screeches—explosive arrows that clearly looked capable of blowing a person in two!
Loren gritted his teeth in ruthless resolve, not dodging at all. Driving his defensive sorcery spirits with all his might, he blocked the three arrows directly with his left hand!
*Clang!*
When the two came to a halt, the crowd saw that Loren's left hand was riddled with gushing holes. His entire hand was mangled and deformed, looking as though a gust of wind could snap it clean off.
Yet Loren's blade was pressed flush against Rigan's neck!
In just a few seconds, Rigan had gone from holding the advantage to outright defeat!
Arsenault announced loudly, "Winner of the first exhibition match: Loren Zi!"
Healers hurried to take the victor, Loren, backstage for treatment. In contrast, the loser, Rigan, didn't have a single scratch and naturally required no healing. He seemed to find it difficult to accept his defeat, lingering on the stage to swallow that unspeakable humiliation.
"The next contestants to take the stage are—"
"Hey, you!"
Rigan suddenly interrupted Arsenault, pointing an accusatory finger at Sonia. "All you do is sit down there spouting nonsense, yet I don't see you entering any tournaments! I despise people like you the most—"
"Rigan!" Oleron's face darkened as he loudly rebuked his embarrassing student.
"If she hadn't blabbered and thrown off my focus just now, I never would have lost!"
Rigan wore a look of fierce indignation. "What I hate most is someone nitpicking while I'm fighting! If you're so capable, why don't you come up and fight me? In the end, aren't you just—"
"Sure."
"See, I knew people like her would... huh?"
Rigan froze for a moment.
"Let's fight. It's not like I'll lose anyway." Sonia stood up from the commentary desk. "A piece of trash like you who blames the heavens, the earth, and the air the moment you lose really makes me want to beat you up."
"You won't lose? Just with what you've got?" Rigan sneered. "I didn't see you last year—you're a first-year freshman, aren't you? Does the sorcery power you've condensed even amount to a single feather?"
As he spoke, Rigan flicked his hand, and Silver Wings—already more than half condensed—manifested behind his back!
Though not yet fully unfurled, they were only short a few feathers. One had to keep in mind that Rigan was merely a second-year student with two years left before graduation; he was fully capable of advancing to Two Wings and stepping onto the Time Continent before graduating!
Arsenault hurriedly pulled on Sonia. "Miss Servi, there's no need to—"
The next second, an even more complete pair of Silver Wings unfurled before his eyes.
That brilliant silver radiance, brighter than the starry night above, deeply captivated the attention of everyone present!
Fully unfurled Silver Wings!
Sonia, a first-year who had become a sorcerer not long ago, was already an official One-Wing Sorcerer?!
"You want to compare sorcery power? I was just looking for a chance to show off to everyone."
Gently caressing her Silver Wings, Sonia said proudly, "You should feel honored to serve as my stepping stone.
"Next, your defeat shall pave the way for my glory!"
At this point, Sonia no longer knew whether these boastful words were forced by the summoning ritual or spoken from her heart.
All she knew was that this feeling of utter abandon felt truly exhilarating!
Watching Sonia walk toward the stage, Rigan subconsciously took a step back for reasons he couldn't explain.
In this tense and bizarre moment, a sudden tremor struck everyone's heart, and they all looked up at the same time.
Above the retracted dome, beneath the night sky, a spot of starlight suspended in midair suddenly erupted with fluctuations of sorcery power. Immediately afterward, a person dropped out of the starlight, falling straight into the Stardrop Auditorium, right in front of Sonia.
The moment he hit the ground, he sprang up. Realizing there were many people around, he made a split-second decision to charge toward the nearest woman, intending to take her hostage and escape—
*Clang!*
Sensing his thick killing intent, Sonia used her hand as a sword to unleash an Evil Light Slash, forcing the uninvited guest back. The uninvited guest was shocked—how was a girl he randomly picked also a sorcerer?
He gave up on the hostage plan immediately and attempted to break through the crowd using his speed. He was an earth-wind dual-element sorcerer, a once-renowned master thief who possessed the miracle Earth Skiff. He could easily escape even when surrounded by thousands!
Yet at that moment, two hands suddenly appeared and clamped down on his shoulders, holding him dead in his tracks.
"Around your neck, both hands, and both feet, there are shackles of starlight," Oleron said.
The uninvited guest looked down, only to realize that without him noticing, deep blue rings had wrapped around his neck and four limbs. They looked like heavy shackles, yet he felt no weight from them at all.
"That indicates you're an intruder from the outer domains. The Starry Country has already marked you as an invasive species, using 'starlight shackles' to stop you from jumping through space." Nidala raised his head, looking toward the Void Realm passage above the dome that looked very much like starlight.
"Fascinating. A passage leading to an outer domain right above Sword Flower University? Tell us, which country are you from? Do you understand our language?"
Only then did the uninvited guest realize that the people around him were all sorcerers.
What was more, he had already secretly activated his miracle just now, yet it had produced no effect at all. His entire body was suppressed to the point where he couldn't move, which meant the two sorcerers holding him from behind were at least Three-Winged Sanctuary Sorcerers who were using their Sanctuaries to directly suppress the effects of his sorcery spirits!
As if sensing danger, a light screen popped up before the uninvited guest's eyes, flashing a stream of red warnings: [Critical condition detected. Activating self-destruct mode!]
"Hm? We can't let you die just like that."
The red text suddenly dissolved into indecipherable garble, and with a soft snap, the light screen even vanished—the chip in his body had been forcibly suppressed!
The uninvited guest gave a bitter smile. To prevent him from leaking the location of the Void Realm passage and state secrets, more than one miracle had been etched not only onto the chip, but into his blood, bone, flesh, soul, and even his memories. Disabling the chip merely extended his life by a few seconds.
"Hm? A vile curse that even a Sanctuary can't purify? Nidala, do you have a way to stop him from committing suicide?"
"Yes. Kill him first."
The uninvited guest felt his body dissolving, his blood boiling, his skull singing, and his eyeballs fleeing. Fierce pain engulfed his senses like a tidal wave. Before losing consciousness completely, he felt deep despair over his misfortune, yet a malicious smile crept onto the corner of his lips.
Because he knew his misfortune would shatter the happiness of others.
Chapter 98