"Let Grey participate in this battle royale, only then can we win this thing, otherwise, we are all toast," Ray declared firmly.
"Impossible," Albed snapped, her voice laced with rage from her earlier clash with Finral. "He failed the assessment and therefore can’t participate in anything related to this tournament."
"Did he though?" Ray asked, raising a brow. "I’m sure the accusations against him were false, but you didn’t even dig deep and just believed everything you heard. Grey isn’t the kind of person to bully those weaker than him. He’d rather fight someone who can actually challenge him than waste his time with kids. But you all chose to believe a fabricated lie against him. That’s beyond absurd!"
"Huh?" Kent muttered in confusion as he watched the heated exchange unfold. "What’s going on here?"
"Instructor Kent, you want us to win, right? Then Grey has to join," Liam chimed in with a serious expression.
The crowd had no clue what was going on. They simply saw the instructors arguing with students while the leaders up top watched silently, their faces showing mild boredom, as if the chaos didn’t concern them in the slightest.
"Huh? What are they discussing amongst themselves?" Grey muttered under his breath, trying to eavesdrop, but it was pointless with the noise surrounding him.
"How are you all so confident that Grey is your winning card when he couldn’t even pass a single damn assessment?" Kent almost shouted, frustration bleeding into his voice as the situation began to spiral out of control.
"Will you speak now, or do you want to get expelled?" Finral asked coldly, his glare fixed on Jared, whose hands were trembling slightly.
"Huh?" Jared muttered nervously.
’Hold on! That’s right. I almost forgot,’ he thought, resisting the urge to slap his forehead. ’If Grey actually joins, there’s a real chance we might be able to push the descendants to their limits.
But will he even agree? And what’ll happen to me if I tell the truth—that I framed Grey while he was only trying to help me? Damn it, I don’t have time to overthink this. I can’t get expelled now.’
"Instructor Kent," Jared finally said, his voice steadier as he clenched his fists, "please make an exemption and allow Grey to join us. We have a real chance at winning with his help."
"Why do you say so?" Albed asked, her frown deepening.
"I lied," Jared admitted, his eyes shutting tight as guilt washed over him. "Grey didn’t bully me, my friends, or anyone else, nor did he steal our cores. He hunted every single beast himself. In fact, we were the ones who approached him for help so we could pass the assessment."
"Huh? Helped you pass the assessment?" Kent repeated, his confusion growing. "According to the report, you were each required to hunt ten sky-ranked beasts."
"Yes. And he helped us by hunting seventy beasts," Jared confessed.
"Wait, what?!" Ray and several others shouted in disbelief.
"Huh? Who are you trying to fool right now? How could a stage 2 warrior hunt that many beasts? Stop lying!" Albed barked, glaring daggers at the student. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
"It’s true," a blue band student from Jared’s team suddenly said, stepping forward. "Grey really did hunt seventy beasts. We lied against him."
"Yes, it’s all true," another student added quickly.
"Yes, we betrayed Grey," a third student from Jared’s group spoke up, guilt written all over his face.
’The hell? How absurd is this?’ Finral thought, his mouth hanging open as testimonies kept coming in. ’Grey hunted seventy beasts while we barely managed thirty together? How strong is he really? But he’s only a stage 2 warrior like me... damn it, that’s insane!’
The murmurs in the crowd grew louder by the second, the truth spreading like wildfire. Kent stood frozen in place, processing what he just heard, while Albed’s face turned pale, her earlier arrogance replaced with disbelief.
’What is going on? If it was only Jared, I would’ve said he was lying, but five students coming forth to say the same thing? That’s crazy,’ Kent thought as he stared at the students, disbelief clouding his face.
’What’s going on?’ Albed wondered, her brows deeply furrowed. ’I doubted it when the clan said no agent was undercover as a student here, but now I’m dead sure there isn’t. No agent that’s been dispatched could possibly be as strong as what they’re describing. Even I would struggle a little against seventy sky-ranked beasts. That’s insane!’
The direct descendants had already climbed the platform, unaware of the storm brewing below. They didn’t hear a single word of what was being said.
"Rivock, you said you had a plan, didn’t you? How do you intend to get Grey down here?" Mada asked, raising a brow.
"." Rivock grinned, his eyes flashing with amusement as he looked toward the instructor. "Instructor Kent!"
Hearing his name, Kent raised his head, confusion still written all over his face.
"Can I request something?" Rivock asked with a faint smirk.
"What?" Kent responded curtly.
"Let Grey join the team of six," Rivock suggested confidently, his grin widening.
A heavy sigh escaped Kent’s lips. The request was unexpected, but at this point, he was too exhausted to argue.
"I hope he’s worth all the hype though," Kent mumbled under his breath before raising his voice. "Hey, Grey! Kindly come down here!"
"Huh?!" The Supreme Magus muttered in surprise, glancing around as if to confirm he’d heard right.
Thalos tilted his head lazily, clearly uninterested, but still followed as Grey descended the stands. The duo made their way forward until they stood directly before the instructor, drawing countless eyes to themselves.
"Please, I want to request something from you," Kent began earnestly. "Can you join the team of six to fight against the direct descendants?!"
"Huh?!" Grey’s expression froze as he processed the words, staring blankly at the instructor, then at the others.
"Please don’t refuse," Kent pleaded, his tone carrying genuine desperation. "My career is on the line here."
"Why me?" Grey asked, his gaze calm yet probing.
"Because they recommended you to me," Kent said, pointing at the gathered students.
Grey’s eyes landed on Jared, and his jaw tightened, teeth grinding slowly back and forth.
’Oh wow. And here I was sulking over losing the chance to put those arrogant brats in their place, yet the universe just handed me an opportunity,’ he thought, an amused grin forming on his face. ’I wouldn’t waste it now, would I?’
He turned to glance up at the descendants on the platform, a flicker of determination in his eyes.
"Fine," Grey finally said, sighing lightly. "I’ll participate—but on one condition."
"Which is?" Kent asked, raising a brow.
"Let Pink here join the team," Grey said as he pointed toward Thalos, who still wore a nonchalant look, his hands tucked casually into his pockets.
"Fine, whatever. Whatever makes you fight," Kent replied without hesitation.
"That makes five. One more left," Liam commented, scanning through the crowd for anyone willing—or foolish enough to step forward.
"Why not join the team?!" Kent suddenly said as he grabbed Liam by the wrist and yanked him forward.
"Wait, what?! Don’t send me off to death!" Liam cried out, his voice echoing through the entire coliseum.