Chapter 403.5: Moment of Glory (2)
Chapter 403.5: Moment of Glory (2)
“WOOO!”
The silent colosseum finally broke out in thunderous cheers as soon as Antonio concluded his speech. Those from the Bluerose Faction could hardly suppress their exhilaration, and Chris shot to her feet.
Before everyone’s eyes, Antonio took out a golden trophy with gems embedded on it. It shone brilliantly beneath the sunlight. It wasn’t a magic tool, but there was hardly anything in the world that could compete with it in terms of value.
“You have shown us wit, courage, and unwavering tenacity in your battle. These are the qualities we wish to bring out through the Challenger Cup, and it’s the reason why we continue to host this tournament. Take it, it belongs to you,” said Antonio as he entrusted the Challenger Cup into Roel’s hands with a smile.
At the same time, the distinguished guests from Saint Mesit Theocracy, Rosa Merchant Confederacy, Knight Kingdom Pendor, and Country of Scholars Brolne walked onto the stage. They bestowed upon Roel honorary noble insignias from their respective countries.
It was a tradition for the five countries to confer peerage to the champion of the Challenger Cup as a celebratory gift. It was only an honorary baron title, but it represented the recognition from those countries.
With the noble insignias from the five countries pinned on his chest, Roel took a step forward while Antonio and the others took a step back. On the highest stage of the colosseum, Roel looked at the masses and smiled at the familiar faces before him.
Then, he raised the champion trophy up high, and it immediately evoked deafening roars from the crowd. Tens of thousands of people began chanting Roel’s name in unison.
“ROEL, ROEL, ROEL…”
Roel felt his heart pounding hard with excitement. He waved at the crowd in response to their cheers.
Charlotte, Lilian, and all of Roel’s close friends looked at him with a heartened smile.
The hundred challengers raised their heads and applauded for him. Having watched the fight themselves, they knew that he had proven himself worthy of the champion title. They were proud to have fought in the same tournament as a young prodigy like him.
This was the day that Roel Ascart became known throughout the Sia Continent. His rise to prominence marked the start of a new generation.
…
The award presentation ceremony came to an end, and it was soon time for the festivities to begin. Leinster’s administration officially declared three days of celebration to commemorate this historical tournament.
Most of the crowd was still feverish from the excitement of the tournament when they headed to restaurants and taverns. Leinster’s administration made use of this opportunity to hold all sorts of promotions, which further hyped up the atmosphere. Chatter and laughter could be heard throughout the city, and the streets remained lit even late at night.
After the award presentation ceremony, Roel’s side effects started to set in one after another. He rejected the innumerable invitations that came his way and insisted on heading back to the Azure Manor, where he swiftly collapsed onto his bed.
Due to that, Saint Freya Academy’s celebration had to be postponed.
The Azure Manor became rather bustling shortly after. Many representatives from other departments, factions, and Scholar Guilds came knocking one after another. If not for the fact that Roel was a high noble of the Theocracy, the other countries might have even sent envoys his way.
It was a huge mess.
Due to the poor condition Roel was in, the Azure Manor strictly forbade all guests. Paul and Geralt took turns guarding the manor with the other faction members, where they stopped over twenty students from infiltrating the manor.
It was just that there were two people whom they couldn’t turn away—Alicia and Charlotte.
Having watched the battle, the two of them knew what kind of condition Roel was in at the moment. As impressive as the Challenger Cup’s medic squad was, there was very little they could do against the side effects arising from the Crown’s Stone and Peytra’s Blessing.
This was also the reason why Roel insisted on returning to the Azure Manor.
The two women swiftly started on their emergency treatment. Alicia’s infusion of life force improved Roel’s condition fairly whereas Charlotte’s Golden Soul kept his chills at bay.
The treatment was fortunately timely, but even so, Roel was still in a feeble state due to his excessive blood loss and depletion of mana. Even the strict Chris was appalled to see the condition he was in and insisted that he rested in bed for at least two days.
Roel didn’t pay much heed to his condition since it wasn’t the first time he was in such a state, but the overwhelming peer pressure from others left him with no choice but to obediently lie on the bed.
That night, Lilian secretly visited the Azure Manor and successfully entered his bedroom without a hitch, thanks to Paul.
Chris had dragged Alicia away with her to ensure that Roel rested up well. Little did she know that one of her students would exploit this opening to visit.
Lilian didn’t stay too long though so as to not disturb Roel’s rest. During this period of time, she tried to heal Roel through the resonance of their bloodline, and the effects were actually pretty decent.
Roel thought it was funny how he had home visits from three female doctors within just half a day, though there was no denying that their treatment was effective. By the second morning, he was already doing much better, perhaps even better than William.
According to Geralt’s news sources, William had also collapsed when she returned to Panoply Manor. A specialized medical team from the Knight Kingdom was currently in the midst of performing a comprehensive treatment on her.
She didn’t suffer a lot of injuries from the battle, but she was bound to suffer some backlash given the powerful spells she had utilized back then, especially her dragon transformation.
In a sense, the two of them were in a similar plight.
While Roel and William were resting up, both the Azure Manor and Panoply Manor went into a lockdown, so there was no communication between them. It was only two days later that Teresa’s letter came in through Geralt.
In the letter, Teresa said that William had made a full recovery and was able to attend the final night of celebrations, where Saint Freya Academy was organizing a celebration party for their triumph at the Challenger Cup. She moved on to ask about Roel’s condition and relayed her well wishes.
Roel heaved a sigh of relief after reading through the letter. He was actually quite worried about William after the battle they had. Glacier’s Touch was such an effective tool that no one had survived its freezing to date. While he had made sure to retract every last bit of the frost aura as soon as the battle came to an end, he wasn’t certain whether there would be any side effects.
With his heart set at ease, he quickly wrote a reply letter and indicated that he had recovered well. While he was writing the letter, a few questions arose in his head.
William should have understood that the third prophecy is dashed. Now that she has lost her aim, what will her next plan be? There should be no reason for her to stay at Saint Freya Academy anymore… Will she return to the Knight Kingdom?
While Roel was deep in thought, he heard a familiar ‘ding’ from the System.