"Haaah..."
Taking a deep breath, Frey tried to steady his consciousness ... Struggling to stay awake after the brutal, blood-soaked battle he had just fought.
Leaning heavily against the shattered wall,
Desperately trying to reattach his severed arm ... He barely managed to keep himself from collapsing.
Given his condition ..
A surprised Uriel Platini approached him,
Staring in disbelief at the sorry state he had driven himself into.
"I didn't think you were this insane, Frey Starlight."
With a dazed, weakened gaze ...
Frey barely recognized her.
"What… are you doing here?"
Uriel took his severed right hand and began working to reattach it herself.
"Why are you pushing yourself this far?
Is this tournament really worth all of this?"
"Leave, Uriel... Everyone's watching."
Frey muttered, forcing a bitter smile.
Uriel—
The Saintess candidate— Simply smiled back.
She hadn't expected him to be worried about her even in a state like this.
"Look at you…"
"Calling me by name as if we're the same age."
"I'm not leaving. My duty from the beginning ... was, and still is, to save people."
Frey ..
Fell silent.
He felt a strange warmth ..
The sacred power of Uriel healing his broken body.
That warmth ...
Was something strange to him.
His body ..
Had only ever been met with blows,
Beaten by swords or bare fists alike.
The only warmth he had ever known ..
Was the burning heat of his own spilling blood.
But to rest like this ..
In Uriel Platini's arms ..
Frey wondered if he was somehow betraying his path.
A heavy guilt weighed inside him.
His overwhelming desire to return to his own world ...
Had unconsciously twisted into an obsession.
Every time he wavered from his goal—
He punished himself mercilessly.
His thoughts always drifted to negativity ..
Worrying about the strength of his next opponent,
Worrying if he was wasting precious time by even sleeping when the Final Boss still awaited him.
But...
The body has its limits.
Frey lost consciousness ..
Right there, in the arms of the Saintess candidate.
...
...
...
Above the arena ..
Chaos erupted as the crowd finally processed what had happened.
Some cursed Frey viciously ..
Blaming him for their lost fortunes.
Others called his victory a miracle.
Some even claimed he had cheated somehow.
But that wasn't realistic.
Daemon Valerion had dominated him in every measurable way.
Yet Frey ..
Had stood again and again .. Fueled by nothing but sheer willpower.
But was that even possible?
Could one truly push this far ..On mere emotion alone?
At the Starlight family's viewing stand ..
Ada stared down at the arena, Her mind clouded with confusion.
"Why… does he push himself this far?"
Every time Frey was wounded ..
Every time he was beaten..
Ada felt something inside her tearing apart.
He was her only remaining family.
And perhaps because of that ..She understood, even if just a little, How desperate Frey was to win.
She saw it clearly ..
In those seemingly lifeless eyes he bore.
But why?
What did Victoriad mean to him?
What was Frey hiding?
Ada realized bitterly just how little she truly knew.
And how helpless she was to offer anything.
From the very beginning ..
Frey Starlight had chosen his path—And walked it alone.
To Ada ..
It felt as though another family member was slipping away from her again.
A firm hand gripped her shoulder from behind.
It was Carmen.
"Hold yourself together, Ada."
The old woman ..
Who had experienced this kind of pain many times before knew exactly what she was saying.
"For now, just believe in him."
"And one day, sooner or later ... you'll get your chance to help him."
Life was a filthy thing.
It threw you around, battered you senseless.
But it also ..
Gave you chances.
Until that chance arrived ..
"All you can do is wait."
Frey Starlight had to fight his own battle.
It was his fight and his alone.
He had chosen it and he would finish it.
The semifinals were over.
Only one match remained.
Frey Starlight vs Snow Lionheart
The final battle ..
Would erupt exactly three days from now.
Iris Sunlight watched from above ..
A blank expression on his face—As Frey Starlight lay unconscious in the arms of the Saintess candidate.
And that scene ..
Began drawing the eyes of everyone present.
Tension was clearly rising ..
Especially from the side of the Church.
Though he appeared composed ,The faint glint in Bishop Michael Platini's eyes was anything but reassuring.
But Iris Sunlight paid no attention to any of that.
His entire focus ...
Was locked onto Frey.
His piercing gaze seemed to dig into the boy's very soul.
"Tell me…"
The old man from the Sunlight family gestured toward Phoenix, standing behind him.
"When was the last time his talent was measured?"
Phoenix blinked ..
Surprised by the unexpected question.
As a new instructor at the Temple,
He had already reviewed the files of most students.
Thus, he answered naturally.
"The last time was when he entered the Temple.
Before that, it was during his time with the Starlight family. His talent was confirmed as an A, without question."
Talent could not be changed.
It was an unalterable truth.
Only in extremely rare cases ..
Such as with the Ultras who had sold their souls— could it be tampered with.
Otherwise, human talent was something you were born with.
Something completely out of your control.
"It wouldn't hurt to test it a third time."
"You can arrange it, can't you?"
Phoenix frowned slightly ..
Baffled by the old Sunlight's insistence.
"Are you suggesting the reports were falsified?"
"It's a possibility."
"Unfortunately, that's not possible."
"Maybe they could tamper with results inside the Starlight household, but not here, inside the Temple.
I've personally verified it myself."
Phoenix had harbored his own doubts ever since the island trial ..
But after careful investigation ..He had confirmed that Frey's talent evaluation had been genuine.
"Hmmm…"
"Why do you still look so unconvinced?"
Was the old Sunlight still suspicious even after all that?
"It's my intuition."
Intuition ..
Phoenix's eyes widened slightly ..
Remembering the weight that word carried within the Sunlight family.
Iris didn't use that word lightly.
And when he did—
He was never wrong.
"I'll handle it after the Victoriad is over."
"Hoooh? You'd do that for me, Even knowing it's probably meaningless?"
The idea of changing one's talent was absurd ..
So absurd, they hadn't even considered it seriously.
But even so ..
Phoenix decided to follow.
"I've learned that sometimes it's better to listen to you, No matter how trivial it sounds, Uncle."
"You're a rude brat, you know that?"
They both chuckled lightly—
As the Victoriad continued moving forward.
...
...
...
Snow Lionheart had witnessed the last battle.
The name of the opponent hadn't meant much to him.
Upon learning it was Frey ..
He simply left without a word. But he had seen it clearly.
How Frey had struggled ..
How he had fought.
Snow found himself wondering ..
Would he, too, one day fight that fiercely for something?
His hand moved to his chest.
Fingers brushing against his shirt—
Pulling out a pendant hidden beneath it.
A silver pendant.
Shaped like a dove with outstretched wings.
Snow clutched the pendant tightly in his hand.
And continued walking away.
His eyes shining brighter than ever.
Frey unconscious.
Snow in his prime.
And the clock ..
Was ticking rapidly toward the final day.
...
...
...
Meanwhile ..
The Victoriad continued with powerful performances from the senior years' semifinals.
While the first-year matches had stolen the spotlight ...
The battles fought by the seniors— Were no less impressive.
The crowd, Consumed by roaring cheers and wild celebration for the warriors, Hardly noticed the passage of time.
The first night flew by in a flash.