Daru took a deep breath in front of his unconscious opponent's body.

There was not an ounce of guilt in his heart when he turned towards Talon, meeting the instructor's gaze with a cold one of his own as he asked:

"Now then, Instructor Talon, did I win? Or do I still lack strikes? If so, then tell me how many, so I can secure my win."

He was absolutely ready to further hit Bao if Talon refused to learn his lesson.

The veteran instructor froze, a hint of guilt, embarrassment, and fury welling in his heart, but he consciously reminded himself not to resent Daru.

After all, it was indeed he who made a mistake.

The gap was this wide.

Even if he gave Bao ten more chances, the young man would never win.

Like Daru Finnley had claimed, the defeated B-ranker had neither the physical advantages nor the sword mastery to win against him.

Almost everyone who heard his words inwardly shuddered, including Dylan, Zach, and Lynn.

All the rumors about the "old" Daru Finnley suddenly crashed on them like a raging tidal wave.

Not the "Fallen Sword Prince", not "His False Highness", but Daru Finnley — the Sword Prince of the renowned and respectable Ashton High.

Lionbreaker was the one who was affected the most.

He and Silver Serpent could be considered equals, and if Daru dominated his rival to this extent…

Suddenly, being on Sylphina's side of the bracket didn't seem so unlucky to Dylan anymore.

At least he was safe from the embarrassment of losing to the Dark Horse that everyone in the class mocked.

A certain hateful someone, on the other hand…

Zach frowned deeply.

If nothing goes wrong, then he would be fighting Daru Finnley in the semi-finals.

He had always been a confident young man.

Even in defeat, he knew how to handle things gracefully. The problem was that he and his crew had always attempted to bully Daru in the past.

The only way for him not to end up in a humiliating situation was for him to win.

His fallen highness — if that nickname was still even valid — had never been defeated by his friends in the past, and all of them were relying on him to teach the guy a lesson.

If he ended up being taught a lesson instead...

Zach, for the first time in a long while, broke out into a cold sweat. Even his underlings didn't know how to react.

They, too, weren't sure if the boss of their group could reach the finals.

Meanwhile, Bao's condition continued worsening by the second, and the student needed immediate medical assistance.

Talon could only swallow his pride or lose his job.

"D-Daru Finnley advances," he declared weakly, exhausted, overwhelmed, rattled, and humiliated. "Do not touch Bao, I've already called for medics."

Hearing the declaration of his victory, Daru snorted coldly and left the dueling space under the dumbfounded, disbelieving gazes of his classmates.

No one dared talk crap about him at that moment, not even his biggest haters.

As for those from the other classes, spittle flew everywhere as they desperately recounted what they just witnessed.

That there was now a threat to Lynn's position.

When the others heard it was Daru Finnley and tried to dismiss their classmate's story as mere overexaggeration, more would come and back up the truth, insisting that the Fallen Sword Prince was not a fraud at all and was merely hiding his true skills.

The news inevitably spread to everyone in the Sixth Training Field, even making it to the ears of the other instructors.

Based on the behavior of the scouts outside the fences and the sight of the medics carrying the unconscious, heavily injured Bao Parker out of the field, they could only conclude that the rumors were real.

That Daru Finnley's skills were legitimate.

It goes without saying that everyone would not miss his next match.

If the F-ranker somehow became his class' representative, then they'd be there to witness history in the making.

Iris heard the conversations of her classmates and smiled, happy for her training partner, though she couldn't say she was surprised.

If anything, Daru losing to a B-ranker would be unbelievable.

The commotion caused by the massive upset only intensified, building anticipation for the quarterfinals.

Talon was deeply shaken.

Fortunately, the competitors would have to rest for fifteen minutes before the next round of matches started.

The instructor temporarily left, leaving the students to their own devices to both calm himself and ask for guidance.

The moment he turned a corner behind the nearest building, he took a few deep breaths, retrieved his phone from his pocket, and called someone a few seconds later.

The phone rang for a while before the contact picked up the call.

"Instructor Talon, what's wrong? Principal Jebroham is out at the moment."

Talon was relieved, feeling quite lucky that the one he would have to talk to was not the principal himself, but his secretary.

"Secretary Helen, I need guidance on something. Do you perhaps have the authority to…"

"Ah, yes," Helen responded, a bit displeased. "You don't have to worry. Principal Jebroham trusts me and my abilities. Otherwise, I wouldn't be his secretary, would I?"

The instructor winced at the brutal response, but he already expected it after questioning her.

Still, he didn't regret doing so, as what he was about to ask was truly important.

"I apologize for overstepping, Secretary Helen. I shall explain the situation now. You see, one of my students is a bit strange. His name is Daru Finnley. Have you perhaps heard of him?"

"Ahh, of course I have. The Sword Prince of Ashton High who awakened an F-tier sword, correct? What about him? Has he exposed himself already, and you want guidance on how to contain the situation? Is this what the call is about?"

Clearly, the secretary's mood was further souring.

She was an extremely busy woman.

Yet, this incompetent instructor dared to bother her about such useless things.

Did he not even check his student's background?

There was no need to contain things at all.

But then, to her puzzlement and slight embarrassment, Talon responded:

"Ah, no. In fact, what happened was the opposite. It seems that despite the tier of the sword he awakened, his skills were the real deal, and there's a fairly high chance that he would end up as my class's representative."

Helen fell silent.

As much as she wanted to dismiss Daru Finnley's case, she indeed earned her spot at Principal Jebroham's side through competence, and she knew what Instructor Talon was worried about: the rewards for the class representative and the spot for the Inter-class Representative Competition.

Ultimately, Daru had an F-tier sword, and the generous rewards might be wasted on him.

Helen was in doubt and disbelief, but Talon was old enough not to lie about such things.

She had to take this case seriously.

The thought that only the principal would have the perfect answer to this situation fleeted in her mind, but after her rather prideful reply to the instructor, she found it difficult to back down.

Thus, she stopped to think for a few moments before answering:

"Just allow the tournament to proceed for now and don't overthink. If he somehow ends up winning, call again."

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