The host on the podium stood frozen, his eyes blinking repeatedly as he stared at the five flags in Alvin's hand. However, his professional instincts slowly took over. He gripped the edge of the podium with trembling hands.
"E-Extraordinary... This is truly unbelievable!" the host shouted, his voice cracking with enthusiasm and awe, breaking the absolute silence of the coliseum. "The High Elf participant from the Garveon Kingdom moved like lightning! He successfully pierced the defenses and seized all five opposing flags within less than a minute of the match starting!"
The host took a deep breath, looking toward the five allied teams who were now looking down and realizing their hands were empty, their faces filled with tragic despair and confusion.
"With all five flags fallen to the Garveon Kingdom team, the result is absolute! The Garveon Kingdom team has swept the first phase and emerges as the sole winner of this team match!"
The announcement of absolute victory by the host felt like a sledgehammer shattering the remaining sanity of the alliance team. Amidst the shocked silence pervading the arena, Prince Mardaziel, who still stood with empty hands, suddenly snapped out of his trance.
"What did you say?!" Mardaziel shouted a sharp protest, his voice echoing through the quiet coliseum. "I absolutely do not accept this ridiculous decision! He moved in a way that was completely undetectable by senses or mana tracking. He surely cheated by using forbidden artifacts or black magic!"
The Larkvood Crown Prince's groundless accusations immediately triggered a chain reaction. Erwin from Niverta, Zania from Lasc'ar, and other team members who felt their pride trampled upon nodded in agreement. They began to shout for justice, utterly refusing to accept a crushing and humiliating defeat that they hadn't even realized was happening.
On the other side of the arena, Alvin, who stood relaxed beside Kazien, simply let out a long sigh. He massaged the bridge of his nose with one hand, truly unable to fathom the childish reactions of the elite participants before him.
"Are humans outside the Garveon Kingdom's territory truly born this foolish?" Alvin complained with a voice he intentionally made loud and sharp, ensuring it reached the spectator stands. He took a single step forward, looking down at Mardaziel with a condescending gaze. "You are a Crown Prince, are you not? Not even five minutes ago, you were boastfully threatening me with pride before the match began. But after losing in the blink of an eye, you refuse to accept the result?"
"Are these five flags in my hand merely an illusion in your eyes?" Alvin continued. This time, his gaze sharpened, radiating an intimidating aura that made the opposing team flinch slightly. "Or... is it because you are the Crown Prince of the host kingdom that you feel you have a special privilege in this tournament to freely voice objections just because your ego cannot handle a pure defeat?"
Without waiting for Mardaziel's answer, Alvin raised his right hand, which gripped the five flagpoles.
Whoosh!
With a movement that appeared very casual yet contained extraordinary raw physical power, he threw the five flags toward the arena's boundary wall.
Zep!
The sound of wood piercing stone rang out clearly. The five blunt wooden flagpoles sank deep into the coliseum wall, which was made of hard stone, causing stone fragments to fall to the ground. The High Elf's pure physical strength made the knights in the stands swallow hard.
"Nah, I have thrown those useless flags from my hands!" Alvin exclaimed while clapping his palms as if dusting them off. He looked at Mardaziel, his gaze still sharp. "Now, what other comments or excuses do you have, foolish prince?"
"Y-You dare call me, a Crown Prince and heir to the throne, a fool?!" Mardaziel shouted, his neck veins bulging because he could not accept being insulted in front of his own people. "Just because you are from a mythic race, do you think—"
Before Prince Mardaziel could finish his arrogant sentence, Alvin interrupted him with a tone that froze the air.
"You pride yourself on being a Crown Prince?" Alvin cut him off, his gaze now truly as sharp as a sword ready to strike. "Then listen well to this. I am also a Crown Prince, just like you! I am the Crown Prince of the Latreess Kingdom on the Reavel Continent! Our noble statuses are equal! But at least I am not a spoiled coward like you, foolish prince!"
The statement from Alvin was like a bomb exploding in the middle of the coliseum. Everyone, from commoners to high-ranking nobles, gasped in shock at the information they had just heard. The fact that the High Elf youth was not just a noble, but a successor to a throne from across the sea, made the weight of his words absolute.
In the honorary VIP stands, King Nortvan gripped the arms of his chair until his knuckles turned white. His face felt hot. He was deeply embarrassed and enraged to see his son's behavior, constantly whining and refusing to accept defeat like a sore loser.
He desperately wanted to shout and tell his son to be quiet, but the sacred rules of the tournament prevented him from acting. While in the stands, he held the status of an honorary spectator and had no right to intervene in the referee's decision, let alone descend into the arena.
In the middle of the arena, Mardaziel, blinded by his ego, still tried to fight the facts.
"I don't care if you're a Crown Prince from another continent or not!" Mardaziel replied with a trembling voice, growing even more indignant. "Your movement earlier was impossible without magic! You must have cheated and broken the rules!"
"Cheated, you say?" Alvin countered, the corner of his lip twitching with a cynical smile. He truly couldn't believe the cheap accusation. "I used Blink magic, which is part of the transparency element, to move, and you easily label that as cheating? I never expected a Crown Prince studying at a central academy to be so ignorant of basic magic theory."