"I lost," Melodina muttered, her voice barely audible.
She had prided herself on being the undefeated Master of the Battle Choir Challenge for several years.
But now that she had faced Alex, she learned one painful lesson... In the face of absolute tone deafness and zero self-awareness, all songs, voices, and techniques—no matter how heavenly—were meaningless!
At least, that had been her belief until she personally fought him in round two.
Alex had neither sung nor danced at that time. All he had done was beat the drums, supporting his Queen as she sang the theme song for Endless Leveling Online.
Surprisingly, the purple-haired fairy didn’t feel too dejected after losing to the young man for a second time.
Why? Because she had felt the true essence of the Battle Choir during the second battle.
Also, it had been an honor to face the Deities of the World, who represented the twenty-two Major Arcanas of the Tarot Cards.
Despite her loss, it was still a battle she could proudly mention to anyone. After all, aside from her, was there any other fairy who had received the honor of fighting tooth and nail against the Deities of their world?
Even the five fairies couldn’t help but look at Melodina with pride. Although they didn’t get along, she was still a Fairy who represented their race in that epic battle.
Melodina then sensed a presence standing in front of her, making her look up.
The young man, who had come to challenge her, knelt and offered his hand for a handshake.
"Thank you," Alex said. "This is the first time I’ve fought a battle , and I can say with utmost certainty that it is something I won’t forget in my lifetime.
"Some battles are won with strength. Others, with sound. But the best ones? They’re won with spirit. You had that in every note.
"Frankly, I believe the world needs more battles like that. Where both sides walk away stronger, prouder, and louder. You have made that possible. This is one hell of a Battle Choir."
Melodina felt her eyes moisten, but instead of lowering her head like a defeated warrior, she smiled and reached out to shake Alex’s hand as her tears started to stream down her face.
The Phantom Choir looked at their Mistress and clapped happily because they, too, felt that it was an honor to have fought alongside her.
"Thank you, too," Melodina replied. "I never felt so alive in my life until that battle. It was... something I will remember till the end of days."
Suddenly, five colorful pillars descended on the amphitheater.
Doh, Reh, Mii, Fah, and Sue appeared and congratulated Alex and Melodina for an amazing battle.
"As expected of our Singing King!" Doh lightly patted Alex’s shoulder. "I believed you could do it from the start."
"Melodina, I don’t like you," Sue stated. "We sent this young man here on purpose to put you in your place. And frankly, we enjoyed the first half very much. Your miserable look was very entertaining."
The blue-haired fairy then fixed her glasses using her middle finger before continuing her speech.
"But in the second half, you didn’t just fight for yourself, Melodina. You sang for your kind. And every note echoed with the pride of the Fairies. That battle was more than music. You made history."
Mii nodded. "Indeed. We may have our differences in that we are not insufferable b*tches like you, but I am glad to have witnessed your battle. It was so legendary, it might not happen again in the future."
"A battle against the Deities of the world, and a Fairy fought until the end!" Fah clapped. "Don’t worry! We recorded it! All the Fairies in the world deserve to know this! They deserve to see this!"
Melodina felt something warm spreading inside her chest.
Just like the five fairies had said, they didn’t really get along. But she had indeed done something that every fairy could be proud of, and it made her very happy.
"You girls, I’m sorry for everything," Melodina said as she reached out to hug the five fairies, who hugged her back.
Alex looked at this scene with pride as if he had personally mended ties and mediated misunderstandings to make the fairies’ reconciliation possible.
But he didn’t know that while the six fairies were having a group hug, the blue-haired fairy, Sue, whispered something in Melodina’s ear.
"Since Alex is already done with the Battle Choir, do you want to join us and watch him attempt the other Musical Challenges?" Sue asked.
At first, Melodina frowned. After fighting Alex, she had no doubt in her mind that the other fairies who acted as the judges of the other challenges would suffer.
But this frown didn’t last long, quickly replaced by a devilish look.
"Yes," Melodina replied. "I’ll go with you. I think I might start liking seeing others suffer as well."
The six fairies smiled diabolically and chuckled at the same time.
They then asked Alex to challenge the other fairies. Unsurprisingly, the young man happily agreed.
But before that, another announcement spread inside the Seventh Training Room.
[Battle Choir Ranking Challenge]
[First Place: Alex Stratos]
[Affiliation: President of Endless Horizon Club]
[Score: 9,999,999 Points]
When the students heard and saw the results of the challenge, all of them gasped in shock.
"A-Almost ten million?!" a young lady spluttered. "Is this even possible?!"
"How can someone beat this record?" a young man frowned. "Did the challenge suffer a system error? Is this bugged?"
"Alex Stratos?" a pretty First Year murmured. "Isn’t that the guy who walks around with a little white bun on top of his head?"
Alex was quite popular among the First Years, not only because he was handsome, but because Dim Dim was always with him.
[E/N: In the face of absolute cuteness, handsomeness isn’t even worth mentioning.]
The little white bun was adorableness personified, and many ladies wished they could squeeze its soft, round cheeks.
Because of this, they became aware of Alex. That said, it didn’t take long for them to realize that the new record holder was the person whose club members were starting to make waves in the different training rooms.
"Singing King and Battle Choir Champion? This guy is insane!"
"Is he really that good? I want to hear him sing once."
"I mean, if he can become the Singing King and gain such an insane score in Battle Choir, won’t that mean that he has a Godly voice?"
As everyone was starting to talk about Alex, the young man had already proceeded to take his third challenge, which made the six fairies spectating him laugh like little witches who enjoyed the suffering of their own race.