Chapter 131 - 130 : Start of Enterance ceremony

Arthur was taking heavy breaths, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His hand gripped the wall of the plane for support.

"I’m never gonna do it again," he muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

He looked toward Elizabeth, who was on her knees on the floor of the plane, her body still trembling.

Her face was flushed a deep red, her breathing shallow and uneven. She looked dizzy, disoriented, as if the world was spinning around her.

Suddenly, she said in a low, trembling voice, "What did you do just now?"

Instead of replying, Arthur walked over to her and, without warning, picked her up in both of his arms—one arm under her knees, the other supporting her back.

Her eyes went wide in shock.

"What the hell?! Put me down this instant! I will never forget this humiliation, you hear me?!" she yelled, struggling weakly in his grip.

Instead of replying, Arthur walked toward the exit once again, carrying her effortlessly in both of his arms despite her protests.

He descended the metal stairs slowly, his footsteps echoing with each step.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

Elizabeth saw the sun high in the sky above them, blazing brightly.

Her entire body started trembling in fear once again.

She looked toward Arthur, panic flooding her voice.

"Let go of me! Haven’t you tortured me enough already?! Even after I submitted myself to you!" she screamed loudly.

As she said all that, people nearby—students carrying bags, academy staff in uniforms, pilots inspecting their planes—started looking toward them with curious and concerned expressions.

They all looked toward Arthur disdainfully, their eyes filled with judgment and disgust.

Some even pitied Elizabeth, their faces full of sympathy as they saw her struggling in his arms. Some whispered to each other, calling Arthur a pervert. Some went as far as to mutter that he was a rapist.

Arthur’s jaw clenched.

He yelled loudly, "Mind your own fucking business!"

His voice echoed across the runway.

The onlookers flinched and quickly started walking again, though some still glanced back with disapproving looks.

Arthur glared down at Elizabeth. Her breath hitched.

"Maybe I should’ve let you burn alive instead. That way it would’ve been more fun for me," he said coldly.

A chill ran down Elizabeth’s spine.

In the next second, Arthur’s expression shifted into a wide grin.

He laughed out loud.

"Hahaha! Now die!" he said.

He threw her forward into the sunlight without hesitation.

THUD!

She hit the ground hard like a sack of potatoes.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Nooo! It burns! Aaah! Save me!" she cried out desperately.

She braced herself for the searing pain—

But suddenly, she realized nothing was happening to her.

The sunlight bathed her body warmly, but there was no pain at all.

She was completely fine now.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her hands in utter disbelief. They were perfectly fine—no burns, no blisters, no scars.

Arthur stood over her with an annoyed expression, his arms folded across his chest.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" he said dryly.

Her face turned red from both embarrassment and astonishment at the same time.

She sat up slowly and looked all over her body—her arms, her legs—turning her hands over and over in the sunlight.

Tears almost filled her crimson eyes.

She thought, ’How is it possible? This human... how is he achieving these impossible feats one after another?’

Arthur’s voice cut through her thoughts.

"There’s my luggage inside the plane. Go get it and follow me," he said.

Elizabeth’s mouth twitched as she stood up from the ground, dusting off her maid outfit.

"Don’t you have one of those spatial rings? Why don’t you use that?" she said bitterly.

Arthur smiled mockingly.

"I don’t want to now—because I have a useless maid to carry it for me....

"Now go and get it... or you know what would happen."

The mark on the back of Arthur’s hand flared suddenly with crimson light.

Elizabeth felt a sharp warning pain shoot through her back where her slave mark was.

She immediately turned and ran toward the plane, cursing him out loud under her breath.

"Damn bastard... I’ll kill him... I swear I’ll kill him..."

A few seconds later, she emerged from the plane struggling with two heavy leather bags—one in each hand.

"Why are they so heavy? What is inside them?!" she said irritably.

Arthur said simply, "You don’t need to know."

He started walking forward toward the massive entrance gates of Celestias Academy—a towering archway made of white marble inscribed with glowing runes.

Elizabeth followed behind him with gritted teeth, lugging the two heavy bags.

As she walked, she looked up at the sun shining down on her without pain for the first time in years.

She thought, ’It’s real... I can walk in the sun.’

She looked toward Arthur’s back as he walked ahead.

She thought, ’And he was the one who made it possible.’

She shook her head quickly.

She said quietly to herself, "Don’t let yourself get fooled. He is an enemy. You have to kill him."

Arthur’s voice came from ahead without turning back.

"Less talking, more walking, bloodsucker."

A vein popped on Elizabeth’s forehead.

"I’ll definitely kill him," she muttered angrily under her breath.

Her steps became faster as she followed behind him toward the entrance of the academy.

Just as Arthur passed through the entrance gate with Elizabeth following behind, an academy staff member stepped forward and blocked his way.

"Can I see your registration for the entrance exam, cadet?" the staff member said.

Arthur pulled out his phone and showed it to him—displaying both his and Elizabeth’s registration.

The staff member scanned it briefly and nodded.

"Thanks for the cooperation. You can go now. If you go straight from here, you’ll reach the auditorium," he said, stepping aside.

Arthur nodded his head and started moving ahead, with Elizabeth following closely behind him, still carrying his luggage.

They soon reached the auditorium.

It was grand and breathtaking—a massive hall with a high vaulted ceiling supported by towering marble pillars. Rows upon rows of seats stretched out in a semi-circle facing a large elevated stage at the front.

The walls were decorated with intricate glowing runes that pulsed faintly with mana, and enormous chandeliers hung overhead, casting warm golden light across the entire hall. Students were already taking their seats, chatting excitedly with each other.

Arthur stood at the entrance for a moment, taking it all in.

Suddenly, someone bumped into him from the side with enough force that it seemed entirely intentional.

The person said coldly, "Don’t block my way, weakling."

Arthur looked toward the person and immediately smiled.

In front of him stood a boy with sharp blue hair and piercing brown eyes. The guy gave off a dangerous aura—cold and distant—with a lonesome air all around him that seemed to push people away instinctively.

Arthur said with a calm smile, "I’m sorry. I was just impressed seeing the hall."

The boy clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"I guess you’re one of those poor noble families seeing luxury for the first time," he said dismissively.

Arthur said, "Well, you can say that... but I’m not a noble."

The boy—Victor—paused for a moment and observed Arthur and Elizabeth closely, his sharp eyes scanning them both from head to toe.

"A commoner with a servant? That’s a first," he said with narrowed eyes. "Have we met somewhere before? I think I’ve seen you before. Have you been on the news recently?"

Arthur pretended to think for a moment.

"No, I don’t think so," he said casually.

Victor clicked his tongue again.

"Then you’re not worth my time," he said bluntly.

With that, he turned and entered the auditorium, walking straight toward the front row near the stage. The guy who was sitting in the seat Victor wanted immediately scrambled out of it and ran off after seeing him approach.

Seeing it, Arthur started laughing loudly.

"Hahaha!"

The system’s voice came inside his mind.

[ Who was that guy? ]

Arthur said inside his mind, ’He’s Victor Blackthorn. You can say if I was a minor villain in this story, then he’s a high-ranking one. Did you sense something from him? Is he a system user?’

[ He was quite strong... but not only him—I’m not sensing any system users nearby at all. They must be hiding themselves, just like we are doing right now. ]

Arthur said inside his mind, ’Looks like everyone’s being cautious.’

Elizabeth’s voice came from beside him, breaking his thoughts.

"Why did you apologize to that guy just now? You could’ve easily defeated him with all your powers," she said flatly.

Arthur glanced at her.

"Looks like the only thing you know about is violence," he said.

Elizabeth smirked slightly, still holding the heavy bags in her hands.

"The strong rule. That’s the rule everyone follows, no matter what the place is. Isn’t it?" she said confidently.

Arthur nodded slowly.

"It is... but just to remind you—here in this crowd, you can’t assume I am the strongest. It would be hard for you to understand, but there are people here who can defeat even me easily. No one is invincible in the world... not even me. And I’m not ashamed to admit it," he said seriously.

Elizabeth didn’t say anything in response.

Arthur said, "Let’s take our seats."

He took the luggage from Elizabeth’s hands and casually put it inside his spatial storage ring in one smooth motion.

"Let’s go," he said.

He looked all around for available seats.

He immediately noticed that the first row near the stage was already completely full—packed with students who clearly stood out from the rest.

And in that row, he saw lots of people who were familiar to him from the game.

Evangeline and Aiden were sitting there together, talking quietly. Jasmine was there too, sitting with her arms crossed looking bored already.

Isabella and Julia were there as well, both talking animatedly to each other with bright smiles on their faces.

Julia’s brother Aaron was also there, sitting silently with his arms folded across his chest.

All the heroes were gathered in that front row.

And then Arthur’s eyes landed on the person he wanted to meet the most—a boy with striking red hair and sharp brown eyes sitting calmly among them all.

The one who had the most powerful talent known to mankind in this world.

And beside him sat someone Arthur didn’t want to meet—it was Arina Evan Imperius, Arthur’s little sister from this world. And beside her sat another one that Arthur absolutely didn’t want to see right now—it was Liana, sitting elegantly with perfect posture.

Arthur thought quietly to himself, ’Found you.’

Elizabeth’s voice brought him out of his focused daze.

"Aren’t you going to sit with that girl... Isabella?" she asked curiously.

Arthur shook his head.

"No. Let’s sit behind instead. I just want peace for a bit," he said. "They’ll just keep asking questions if I go to them right now."

He walked further back into the auditorium and took a seat way behind among some commoners who were scattered throughout the middle rows.

They were visibly surprised to see someone like him—clearly someone important based on how he carried himself—sitting among them instead of up front with the nobles and heroes.

Some of them stared at Elizabeth as well, their eyes lingering on her striking beauty despite her maid outfit. She ignored them entirely, her face expressionless as she stood beside Arthur’s seat.

Multiple calls started coming on Arthur’s phone, buzzing repeatedly in his pocket.

He pulled it out briefly and glanced at it—calls from Aiden, Isabella, Julia, Evangeline...

He ignored them all and put it back in his pocket on silent mode.

The entrance ceremony officially started moments later as music began playing softly throughout the hall and lights dimmed slightly to focus attention on the stage up front where someone was beginning to walk out onto it now...

Arthur watched as a man stepped up onto the stage—a middle-aged man wearing glasses with a well-shaved beard and long black hair tied neatly behind him. He had a well-built body clearly visible even beneath his formal black suit as he walked confidently across the stage toward its center where a podium stood waiting for him there already set up perfectly beforehand by staff members earlier no doubt...

He introduced himself loudly so everyone could hear clearly: "Good evening everyone! My name is Vice Dean Roderick! And I would like to welcome you all officially here today to Celestias Academy!"

He then launched into an extremely long speech about the academy’s rich history—how it was founded centuries ago by legendary warriors who fought against demons during an ancient war... how countless heroes graduated from these very halls over generations past... how strict but fair their traditions were... how honored everyone should feel just being accepted here at all...

Arthur ignored almost every single word of it entirely as his mind wandered elsewhere instead thinking about other more important things than some boring history lesson nobody really cared about anyway honestly speaking...

Suddenly—

A powerful presence materialized at the very center of the stage without any warning whatsoever catching everyone’s attention immediately including Arthur’s own too now suddenly snapping back into full focus once again instantly upon feeling such overwhelming power appear so close by unexpectedly like this...

It was—the Headmistress of Celestias Academy herself appearing before them all now standing tall upon that same stage looking absolutely commanding in every possible way imaginable right then...