(Sky-God Arena — Afternoon, Spectator Stands)
The entire Rodova team sat huddled together in the spectator stands, some members still wearing their battle gear, as they looked like a bunch of misplaced interns rather than tournament fighters.
Yu Shen sat just behind them alongside the professor's, his voice from earlier still echoing in the entire team's head:
"No more over-reliance on tape reviews. No more secondhand data. From now on, every member will use their own eyes for scouting. You will sit down and watch every match play out, make your own notes and then contribute positively during the evening as the team sits down to review footage—"
So here they sat, the number one seeded team, forced to attend a live scouting session like misbehaving students in detention.
None of them said much. Even Enzo, normally full of snide remarks, remained quiet as they watched Geneva Military Academy step onto the battlefield.
Unlike Rodova, Geneva had not repeated the same mistake of sending out their benchwarmers.
Captain Ramos himself led the first wave of fights, taking the opening two matches with suffocating dominance.
He didn't play around. Every move was surgical. Precise. The kind of fighting that left no room for luck or theatrics.
And after Ramos' clean opening victories, Geneva rotated in Darnell Nuna for the remaining bouts.
The boy was slim, dressed in muted colors with a standard-issue blade and barely any armor.
But he moved with such smoothness that it left even Leo star eyed.
He was light on his feet, dangerous in his positioning—quicker than he looked—and efficient.
But what truly caught Leo's eye wasn't just his fighting technique.
But rather his behavior.
"Ooo— you've got some belly fat," he chirped mid-duel to one opponent, his eyes sparkling with innocent curiosity. "Your tummy jiggles when you move!"
The crowd chuckled. The opponent, flustered and red-faced, tried to strike back harder but this overreach left himself open to a counter.
"Haha—You're unbelievably slow!" Darnell noted with the tone of someone observing cloud shapes, not someone fighting a serious bout.
As he did not seem to say it to taunt the opponent. He just... said it. As if completely unaware of how the words landed.
As if he did not care about his opponents emotions, or how his words will make him look in front of the crowd.
'He's like a big kid, one that's never emotionally matured. He's a top fighter, but he still has that childish innocence in him,' Leo thought, leaning forward in his seat as he narrowed his eyes.
'Such personality for an adult is only created when they've grown up in an extremely sheltered environment.
With their family protecting them from everything wrong in the world.
This is undoubtedly a sheltered brat—' Leo concluded, as just as he was thinking about this, the Jumbotron cut to the scene of a tall man wearing pitch black robes in the crowd, as watching the man's face and the insignia on his chest, Leo instantly felt his heart skip a beat.
*Slash*
*Stab*
*Blood*
Flashes from his Ghost Sleep, sent goosebumps rising on his sleep, as he instantly recognised the man being displayed on the screen.
That man was the Monarch level fighter who killed his ancestor!
That man was the Black Serpent Guildmaster!
"And there he is….. the Black Serpent Guildmaster! Monarch Dupravel Nuna in the flesh, watching his son fight in the circuits.
He must be proud of how his son is dominating—" Lee Dixon said over the speakerphone, as the crowd cheered wildly for Dupravel.
"Imagine the pressure you must feel if you're Darnell Nuna, knowing that your great father is watching you fight from the crowd.
Haha, I'd wet my pants if I were him—" Derek added, as Lee chuckled at his joke.
"Well, we all know how much Dupravel loves his only son. He'll probably be fine even if he loses—" Lee replied, as Darnell defeated the final fighter from North Star Academy.
"And that's it folks—Darnell Nuna! the rising assassin star from Geneva! Brings home the victory for their team, helping Geneva advance to the round of 16!" Derek announced, as Darnell began jumping and backflipping in joy, bowing to the crowd and his father sitting in the stands in happiness.
Leo blinked.
"Tha– that kid is the Black Serpent Guildmaster's son?" Leo asked in confusion, as he just couldn't understand how a serious warrior like Darnell could have such an innocent son.
However, Su Yang replied to him seriously, without realising the sarcasm behind his question.
"Yup, everyone on Geneva's roster is a superstar. Every last one of them is from a big clan with serious backing. You don't get into Geneva on talent alone. It's all politics and pedigree." Su Yang said, as Leo's frown deepened.
'If I somehow have the misfortune of facing this kid in battle? What do I do then? Do I eliminate this kid and screw Rodova? Or do I beat his ass and risk alienating the Black Serpents from ever accepting me?' Leo wondered, as he did not like the fact that he could potentially face this jumping clown in battle someday.
'Well, let's worry about that bridge when we have to cross it. No point thinking about it now—' He quickly realized, as after wasting a few seconds thinking of an unlikely what if scenario, Leo shifted his focus to the next platform shift and the fighters lining up from Clarence Academy.
—----------
Leo wasn't the only one unsettled by the revelation that the Black Serpent Guildmaster's son was participating in the Circuits, as sitting just a row above him, Muiyan Faye felt a similar unease settle in her chest.
'The elders warned that something major was about to unfold during the Circuits... Could it be tied to the Black Serpent Guildmaster's son?' she wondered, her gaze narrowing.
It couldn't be mere coincidence that the Cult of Ascension had chosen this particular edition of the tournament to make their move. And if they were planning something, she had a strong suspicion the Black Serpent heir was involved somehow.
After all, Dupravel Nuna—was currently public enemy number one within the Cult, following his brutal execution of the previous Dragon, Noah.
The Cult of Ascension never moved without purpose.
They were not anarchists. They were planners. Architects of long-term devastation, who sowed seeds in silence and waited patiently for them to bloom into chaos.
Which is why their presence here—now—made Muiyan Faye's chest tighten with a creeping dread.
'Is Darnell their play?' she thought, pupils narrowing. 'Is taking him their big plan?'
The theory settled in her mind like a stone.
It made too much sense. Dupravel was too powerful for the cult to challenge on their own. But his son? Right now, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of witnesses, on neutral ground, with rules and restrictions preventing interference?
It was the perfect place for a strike.
'They wouldn't need to kill him. Just take him. Use him as leverage… and force the Guildmaster's hand to give back the cult's scroll .'
Her heartbeat grew louder in her ears.
Because the kidnapping plan wasn't what scared her most.
What terrified her was what came after.
If an incident broke out mid-tournament, or if Darnell went missing suddenly, then everyone—guests, sponsors, even students—would be put under intense scrutiny.
And that meant...
Leo.
'If they trace anything back to his true background… if even one piece of it leaks—'
She didn't finish the thought. Couldn't.
Because Leo Skyshard might not survive the fallout.
'They'll label him a threat. A sleeper agent of the cult. Or an infiltrator.'
Which would mean the elder was right.
She would have to act.
She would have to step in and save him.
Even if it meant revealing her own hidden cards far earlier than planned.