The Author's POV

Le manoir vert, third floor.

Moving forwards, Donna felt the thread of energy lingering in the air become thicker. Her brows were fully knit.

"This should be the place..."

Donna stopped in front of a room. That was where she felt the thread of energy was coming from.

"Crap!"

Suddenly, Donna opened her eyes wide.

—Bam!

Without a second thought, she broke the door open. After she got close enough, she understood what the thread of energy meant.

A portal!

Someone was trying to open a portal.

"...I knew that something was odd"

Only demons and villains could make such portals. Even among villains, one had to be contracted with a powerful demon in order to do this.

"Oh? It seems like you've found me"

On the other side of the room, a skinny individual with sunken cheeks stood up. Behind him, a translucent black portal appeared.

"It's been a while calamity witch Donna Longbern"

"...Edumud"

Donna's face became complicated.

Edmund Rice, rank 198 of the Villain ranking.

An ex-classmate of Donna.

Her impression of him was faint. He was a loner. He never interacted with others. Naturally, because of this, she did not know much about him. All she knew was that one day he had disappeared and reappeared as a notorious villain a few years later.

Deranged reaper.

That was his nickname.

"What happened to you why did you turn out this way?"

"Ah well, shit happens ya know"

Edmund shrugged his shoulders. Looking at Donna, he smiled.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other? Five years? Seven years? It's been so long..."

"I'll give you one warning, stop whatever you're doing, else..."

Whiiing—!

A black whip suddenly appeared in Donna's hand. Her amethyst-colored eyes lit up.

"It's too late...I'm already done!"

Edmund smiled. Two daggers appeared in his hands. Without wasting any time, he pounced Donna.

—Kacha!

"You!"

Like a snake, Donna's whip suddenly flew and headed in Edmund's direction. At the same time, her eyes lit up even more.

"It's useless!"

—Clank!

Crossing his two daggers into an X position, Donna's whip and Edmund's daggers clashed. The loud sound of metal clashing resounded across the place.

Taking a step back, Edmund closed his eyes.

"Regardless of how much you try, you won't be able to tempt me with your art!"

As long as he did not look into Donna's eyes, Donna's art wouldn't be able to affect him.

"Let's see how long you can keep that act for!"

Enraged, Donna's whip struck down repeatedly. Each time her whip clashed with Edumund's dagger, sparks flickered.

—Clank! —Clank!

Like that, unbeknownst to anyone, a fight amongst <S> ranked individuals began on the third floor.

...

Back at the main hall.

"Yo, I'm back"

I took out a mint and ate it. After that, I waved at Leo and Pram in the distance.

"Ren, what took you so long?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were gone for like an hour!"

Turning his wrist, Leo checked his watch and responded.

"Ah, I was actually lost, ended up in the upstairs bathroom. After that, I took a number two"

I scratched the back of my head.

In all fairness, taking care of the business took a lot longer than I had expected.

"Dude, there's like a toilet sign over there"

"Ooops"

"Seriously..."

"Enough about that, what have you guys been doing in the meantime"

Switching the conversation, I looked at the plates in their hands. It was filled with all sorts of delicious food.

'definitely need to try those...'

"Nothing much, we've been talking about the exchange students"

"Ah, what about them?"

After having researched every single one of them, I had a general idea of almost every exchange student.

"We're just talking about who we should be looking out for in the tournament"

"Oh? Who caught your interest"

"Hmm, so far, the Leinfall twins from Lutwik academy, John Berson from Kuzk academy, Eleonore Grey from Vellon academy, and lastly Aaron Rhinestone from Theodora academy"

Musing for a bit, Pram responded. From what he could tell, those were the highest-ranked invidious of each academy.

"Hmm, you're spot on"

I nodded my head.

Those were indeed the people that they should look out for in the inter-academy tournament.

They were the most outstanding individuals from the other academies, with Aaron from Theodora academy being the 'villain' of that arc.

Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a villain in the literal sense, but he was the antagonist. In the novel, he did give Kevin a run for his money.

In terms of strength, he was stronger than Jin.

'He doesn't seem to be here...'

Aside from them, there was another individual that people had to look out for. Unfortunately, he did not attend the banquet.

"Ah Ren, there you are"

Suddenly, I heard a crisp voice in the distance. Instantly I had an ominous premonition.

"Huh, Melissa? Why are you talking to me?"

"Oh, don't be silly Ren. As your business partner, I naturally have to say hello to you"

Melissa waved her hand. A sweet smile appeared on her face.

"Huh? Hold on, wait what are you doing!"

Acting coquettishly, Melissa pulled my wrist and dragged me away from Leo and Pram. Shivers ran down my spine.

I remember Melissa acting like this once in the novel.

'Not good'

Without hesitation, I tried to get away.

"Haha, unfortunately for you Melissa, I already have plans, Leo, Pram let..."

Ah.

The moment I turned around, Leo and Pram were already gone.

Once again, they betrayed me.

"What plans?"

"..."

I massaged my forehead.

'I'll remember this'

"How about I fix that for you?"

Looking at my crooked tie, Melissa offered to fix it. I instantly refused.

"...I would've normally said yes, bur your smile does not look r-khhh"

Before I could finish talking, Melissa grabbed my tie and tightened it. I tapped her hand.

"Khh-Melissa, that's a bit too tight"

"ho ho ho, It's okay, leave it to me. Trust me, I know how to tie a tie"

Melissa laughed. Her smile became even sweeter. To me, it looked like the smile of a devil.

...

At the same time, not far from where Ren was. With a glass of wine in their hands, Emma, Amanda, and Kevin conversed with each other.

"From what I remember if we go to..."

"Excu-"

From time to time, some people would try to join in on their conversation cutting them off.

Whenever this happened, Emma responded with a glare.

"Can't you see that we're talking?"

"S-sorry"

"How many is that?"

Kevin Looked at Emma. That was about the fourth person that approached them. More specifically Amanda.

"Four"

Tapping her foot on the ground, Emma bitterly raised four fingers. She then looked at Amanda who was next to her.

"Amanda, you should've done something similar to me"

"What do you mean?"

"You should've had someone escort you"

Emma pointed at Kevin.

With him there, no one dared to approach her. Unfortunately, Amanda was alone. Naturally, a lot of people tried to approach her.

"But, who?"

"I dunno, Jin...no, probably not him...ah, what about Ren"

Emma's eyes lit up.

"Ren?"

"Yes, he would've made a great escort"

Although she hated to admit it, he could've been a great escort.

Though he was not as handsome as Kevin, with his current fame, he would've made a nice deterrent for the others.

"Actually, where is he at...oh"

Thinking of a brilliant idea, she looked around the hall. Suddenly, her eyes opened widely. She then pointed towards the distance.

"Aren't those Ren and Melissa?"

"What? Where?"

"Over there"

Looking in the direction of where Emma pointed at, Kevin soon spotted Ren. He and Melissa were currently standing very close to each other.

They looked very close.

In fact, it looked like Melissa was helping Ren put on his tie.

"Since when have Ren and Melissa been so close? Is he perhaps escorting Melissa? But I've never seen Melissa smile like that"

Emma muttered.

She was taken aback, she had never seen Melissa smile like that before. Originally, Emma had thought Melissa hated Ren with a passion...but from how things looked, that didn't seem to be the case.

...Unless.

Melissa was putting on an act!

"Uh..."

Looking at Emma, Kevin wanted to say something. In the end, he chose not to. After observing more carefully, to him, it looked like Melissa was strangling Ren. From the way his face was turning red, this seemed to be the case.

'Haa...I don't know. I'm not good at judging this kind of stuff'

He shook his head. Perhaps his judgment was wrong.

He wasn't very good at this kind of stuff.

"Hm?"

On the other hand, Staring at the scene from the distance, Amanda's brows knit for a split second. It came as fast it went.

Watching Ren and Melissa interact in the distance, for a short second, Amanda felt a sense of discomfort.

'What happened?'

Because of how fast it came and disappeared, Amanda couldn't quite put a grasp on what she felt. After a while, she shook her head.

'Perhaps the sense of discomfort is a because of all the people that are approaching me?'

This was the only plausible explanation Amanda could think of.

...

"Damned witch!"

After freeing myself from Melissa's grasps, I headed towards the drink section. I needed some wine.

My tie was in a worse state than before. If you try to help, at least help!

Fortunately, with this being a public space, Melissa didn't go overboard. After ruining my tie even further, she directly left.

'I'll definitely get her back for that'

I made a mental note to myself.

Turning my wrist, I checked my watch. My brow soon raised.

"Oh? I guess it's about time the main event kicks in"

After checking my book, I knew the approximate time of when the event was about to start.

'It should start any second now...'

Right on cue.

KAAABOOM—!

A large explosion resounded across the space, and the mansion shook. Startled screams echoed around the mansion.

When the dust cleared, Donna's figure appeared. On her hand, a long black whip gently touched the wooden floor. Her eyes at the moment shone brilliantly as her body pulsated a purple hue.

Before her, was a lanky individual whose cheeks were sunken. He looked malnourished. I instantly recognized him.

"Hero rank 198, Edmund Rice, the Deranged reaper"

He looked exactly as I had described him in the novel. Basically like a starved malnourished adult with sunken eyes and cheekbones.

Kinda creepy.

Suddenly, Edmund screamed.

"Now!"

...

Right before the explosion resounded, in a rather inconspicuous corner of the hall, professor Thibaut calmly looked at his watch.

"Should be soon..."

KAAABOOM—!

Suddenly an explosion rang in the distance and dust and debris spread everywhere. Enveloping his body was a thin transparent membrane. Professor Thibaut tensed.

It was almost his turn...

The dust settled down and the features of the two individuals were revealed.

Smiling widely, Edumud screamed.

"Now!"

Out of thin air, professor Thibaut sneakily took out a remote controller. Without hesitation, he pressed the button.

—Click!

"..."

Seconds passed and nothing happened.

"Uh? What's going on? No!"

—Tap! —Tap!

With nothing happening, Professor Thibaut frowned. His heart raced.

'Did it perhaps malfunction? This can't be happening!'

Professor Thibaut turned the device upside down and tapped the back of it repeatedly. After a while, he tried again.

Results were the same. Nothing happened.

'Damn it, work!'

Out of desperation, Professor Thibaut smacked the back of the controller repeatedly. If the plan failed he was done for!

In the distance, a youth with deep blue eyes leisurely swirled the wine cup in his hand. That someone, Ren Dover, had a thin smile on his face.

Pitifully looking at Professor Thibaut's panicked figure in the distance, Ren leisurely played with a small metallic orb in his hand.

"Oh my, the device doesn't work? I wonder what happened?"

He had no idea.

Not like this had anything to do with him.