The atmosphere became quiet after the guests heard Raphael’s words. They were silent not because they were surprised by what he said. The guests had known about the matter since yesterday. They reacted that way because Raphael’s voice was cold and sounded like a king was questioning his subordinates.

“I can’t say it’s a challenge from our academy. It started as a young boy’s quarrel, but if Arcuz Grand Academy wants to have a match with us, we won’t refuse it.” Merlick smiled and answered Raphael’s question calmly.

Merlick had heard the full story from Kalya yesterday. She also said about the friendly match proposed by Zenoa to resolve the issue between Prince Ozkar and Sintaro.

Merlick was initially hesitant to accept the proposal. Still, he agreed because he didn’t want his academy branded as a coward for not daring to fight students from the Arcuz Grand Academy. If that happened, Merlick, as the principal, would be embarrassed because the Piqmentia Grand Academy was founded earlier than the Arcuz Grand Academy.

“Is that so? Then we will do it now. Let’s say this friendly match is part of the inauguration ceremony of the Arcuz Grand Academy.” Raphael said indifferently. Then he and Jourelio disappeared from the stage. the two of them reappeared in the area for the teachers and staff of the Arcuz Grand Academy.

Raphael waved his hand, and the stage in the center of the venue shattered. The guests were shocked by Raphael’s actions. They became wary for fear that Raphael would attack them.

Raphael stretched out his hand, and a bright golden light enveloped the place where the stage was. Not long after, the golden light slowly disappeared. The guests opened their eyes wide after seeing the scene before their eyes. a battle arena of a large size formed instantly. Raphael disappeared after the battleground was created and reappeared in the seat reserved for him.

“So, how do you want to compete? I want you to decide because we are the hosts. It wouldn’t be fair to you if I decided the rules of the match.” Raphael asked Merlick. Once again, he spoke as if his position was above Merlick’s even though they were both principals.

“Hmm… This match happened because of the quarrels of young people, so I want them to settle it with a one-on-one fight. Each academy would send five people to fight. Whichever academy wins three times first is the winner. What do you think?” Merlick asked Raphael back. But then he also looked to the other guests for their opinion.

“Yes, I think the suggestion is excellent.”

“I agree!”

“I think there’s no problem with that.”

Raphael hadn’t had time to answer yet, but most of the guests had responded to Merlick’s question first. Those who make noises are guests of the human region. They would naturally support the Piqmentia Grand Academy.

“Of course, I agree…” Raphael agreed without hesitation. When he wanted to continue speaking, Merlick spoke first.

“But, may I ask Mr. Raphael something before starting this match? There’s something I’m curious about.” Merlick suddenly said to Raphael. His words made the other guests who heard him curious and focused their attention on Merlick.

“What do you want to ask?” Raphael asked back in a deep voice. He felt a little annoyed that Merlick had cut him off earlier. But he couldn’t get angry in front of so many people because it might destroy his plans.

“Are you a native of the Clorius continent? If so, then what race are you from?” Merlick had been thinking about that question since Raphael’s appearance. He was a former adventurer and had traveled to various regions of the Clorius continent. Therefore Merlick knew a lot about the regions and races on the continent.

Merlick searched in his memory for a race that had characteristics like Raphael’s, but he couldn’t find it. Because of that, Merlick was curious and wanted to know Raphael’s origin. Suppose Raphael wasn’t a native of the Clorius continent, then what he said earlier applied to him too. They also had to expel or eliminate Raphael from this continent.

Raphael’s face darkened after hearing Merlick’s question but soon returned to normal. He didn’t expect Merlick to ask that question in front of so many people.

“He is a person from the angel race. That race once existed on the Clorius continent but has already become extinct.” The one who answered that question was not Raphael but King Regulus.

“Ooh? I had never heard of that race existed on the Clorius continent. How did King Regulus know about it? Besides, why is King Regulus answering my question for Mr. Raphael?” Merlick smiled and asked another question, but this time for King Regulus.

“That is…” King Regulus didn’t know what to say to Merlick’s question. He thought for a while and intended to speak, but a voice cut him off first.

“I am indeed from the ancient race of the Clorius continent and unfortunately is now extinct. I froze and fell asleep for thousands of years, so I don’t know what happened then. King Regulus was the one who found me in ruins and brought him to the Beast Kingdom. I woke up not too long ago and told him that’s why he knew it.” Raphael explained calmly to Merlick.

At first, Raphael had wanted to give that answer to Merlick, but King Regulus spoke first to protect him because he felt responsible for Raphael.

Raphael wasn’t afraid of Merlick and everyone else there. He thought he could easily kill everyone except Azalia, but he wouldn’t. Raphael could also choose to remain silent and not answer Merlick’s question. He answered because he didn’t want the guests to be suspicious of him. After all, they were still useful for his plans.

“Is that so? In that case, I apologize for my lack of knowledge since I don’t know that race.” Merlick still couldn’t believe the two people’s answers, but for now, he just kept it to himself and didn’t ask any further.

“It’s only natural that you don’t know because apart from me, my entire race has been extinct since thousands of years ago.” Raphael replied casually. His answer sounded like the truth, but Merlick still doubted his words.

“I understand. Then, let’s start this match immediately.” Merlick decided to give up his intention to inquire further on the topic as he felt that Raphael would not answer him honestly and would not get what he wanted to know.

“Okay. which five students will you choose for this match?” Raphael wanted to see which students would fight from the Piqmentia Grand Academy because he already had a student candidate who would fight from his academy. He checked it when he released his pressure before.

“The student who will represent Piqmentia Grand Academy in this match is…” Merlick mentioned the names of the participating students and the friendly matches one by one. They are :

Hikaru

Sintaro

Kyouka

Prince Fritz

Princess Reina

Merlick chose the five students because they were the strongest in the battle among the students. The three heroes were included in the match because they were still part of the human academy. In addition, this match was caused by Sintaro’s quarrel with Prince Ozkar. Merlick wants Sintaro to settle his dispute with Prince Ozkar on the battle platform.

Even though Megumi is one of the heroes, she is not included because her powers are not combat-oriented. Merlick judged that the other students, including the other Princes and Princesses, were not selected because their combat strength was below those five.

Princess Freya, Princess Aishia and Princess Iris just kept quiet and didn’t care even though they weren’t chosen. Merlick didn’t know that their strength had increased dramatically due to the intensive training and flesh of the Leviathan that Ziel had given them. Clara didn’t care about the match, but since Kyouka was participating, she cheered from her seat to support Kyouka.

Lilith smiled wryly when she saw Clara’s behavior. Luckily, She wasn’t picked by Merlick in that match because she felt it was none of her business and didn’t want to waste her energy. Besides, Lilith also didn’t want Raphael to recognize her identity as a divine race, especially after hearing what Raphael had said earlier.

In the guest area for the Cirlus Kingdom, King Raghnall frowned upon seeing the five people that Merlick had chosen. He was not pessimistic about the students. Because he already knew Ziel’s true strength, he thought Piqmentia Grand Academy would win easily if Ziel was included.

Next to King Raghnall, Princess Cordelia was also thinking the same thing. Her feelings became complicated when she remembered Ziel. Princess Cordelia had to admit that Ziel’s strength was terrifying and wished for Ziel to participate in the match. But she couldn’t do anything about it because Merlick had already chosen the participants. Besides, Princess Cordelia couldn’t possibly ask Ziel to join the fight because their relationship wasn’t good.

The five students chosen by Merlick stood up from their seats, and they walked to the edge of the battle arena. Sintaro walked over with his chest puffed out proudly and looked at Prince Ozkar provokingly. Hikaru and Kyouka couldn’t help but sigh at Sintaro’s behavior.

Kalya looked calmly at the battle arena like none of her business. Even though she’s a teacher from the human academy, this match happened because of a personal quarrel between Sintaro and Prince Ozkar. So Kalya didn’t care which academy would be the winner in this match.

“Are you sure you’re not going to talk to Uncle Merlick and ask your fiancé to join in this match? Wouldn’t the human academy win easily if he joined the fight?” Queen Jasmine asked Kalya and smiled. She didn’t care about the match’s outcome even though she was one of the founders of the Arcuz Grand Academy.

“No need. He wouldn’t want to get involved in a matter like this.” Kalya shook her head in response to Queen Jasmine’s question. She understood perfectly what Ziel was thinking. Kalya doesn’t want to ask Ziel to join the match if Ziel doesn’t want to.

“Hmm…is that so? You seem to understand him very well despite not having known him for long.” Queen Jasmine said with an envious face.

Queen Jasmine’s husband died long ago and left her and her daughter, Princess Seira. She still has not found the right man to fill her heart and become her husband’s replacement. Queen Jasmine’s husband was a great person when he was alive, but they were like heaven and earth compared to Ziel. Her husband was far inferior to Ziel and made her jealous of Kalya.

Kalya raised her eyebrows after hearing Queen Jasmine’s words and turned her gaze to her sister. Even without seeing it, Kalya already knew that her sister was jealous of her. But she wanted to confirm with her eyes directly. Sure enough, Kalya saw her sister currently staring at her with jealousy.

Previously, Queen Jasmine was jealous of Kalya’s beauty and talent until she finally forced Kalya to flee from the Elven Kingdom. But now, she is jealous of Kalya’s partner. Kalya didn’t know what to say to her sister.

“You should quickly find a replacement for your husband if you are lonely and never glance at other people’s partners, especially your sister’s fiance!” Kalya snorted coldly and looked away from her.

Queen Jasmine couldn’t help but smile bitterly at her sister’s words. It isn’t easy to find a replacement for her husband, especially when her criteria increase after seeing her sister’s fiance because she does not want to lose Kalya. She deserved to give high criteria for her future husband because Queen Jasmine still looked beautiful. Her charm is only slightly below Kalya.

After the five students stood on the platform’s edge, the guests began to noisy talk about them. The support came from the human region guest area, while the ridicule came from the demi-human region guest area.

“Hmm… are they the students you chose for this match? You can’t replace them once you’ve chosen them.” Raphael looked at the five students from the human academy and then looked to Merlick for confirmation.

“Yes. I have confidence in their strength and will not replace any of them.” Merlick said firmly and confidently. He couldn’t think of another stronger student to replace any of the five students to compete on the battle arena.

“Alright, then it’s my turn to select students from my academy.” Raphael pointed his finger at the sky. The guests were curious and looked in the direction Raphael was pointing at.

A golden light descended from the sky and headed towards the class S student area. The light fell right above Prince Ozkar. The students of class S were surprised by how their principal chose participants for the friendly match. They hope to be selected by Raphael and represent their academy against the human academy.

“It was a first.” Raphael said in a dignified voice. After that, another light fell again from the sky. This time three lights simultaneously headed towards the three students from class S. The three students were Prince Viron, Princess Evelyn, and Princess Seira.

“And the last one is…” Raphael saw the faces of the students in class S who hoped to be chosen by him. The guests from the demi-human region were curious about the fifth student Raphael would choose since the first four people he chose were the royal family. The last golden light fell on a student with an indifferent face, and that person was… Azalia.