Tournament Day Three - The Kidnapping
The morning of Day Three began with thunder.
Storm clouds had gathered overnight, unusual for the magically-maintained island. The Tournament Arbiter announced a brief delay while weather-control mages worked to disperse the unnatural disturbance.
Ethan knew the truth: the storm was cover for the kidnapping team.
"They're using the weather disruption to mask their movements," he told the group during their early morning briefing. "Standard Alliance intelligence tactics—create confusion, move during the chaos, extract the target before anyone realizes what's happening."
"How do you know it's not natural?" Aria asked. She looked nervous—understandable, given that she was the target.
"Because the storm appeared exactly twenty-two hours before your scheduled match against the Alliance's top healer. That's not coincidence—that's timing."
"So what do we do?"
"We follow the plan." Ethan pulled out the maps they'd prepared. "You'll compete in your match as scheduled. The kidnapping attempt will come afterward, when you're depleted from the fight and separated from the main group."
"The plan is for me to be kidnapped?"
"The plan is for you to appear vulnerable. The actual kidnapping won't happen—we'll intercept their team before they can grab you."
"What if something goes wrong?"
"Then we improvise." Ethan met her eyes. "Aria, I know this is scary. But we've prepared for this. Luna has mapped their exit routes. Victoria and Seraphina will provide backup. Elena's pocket dimension is ready to extract you if things go sideways."
"And you?"
"I'll be watching from a position where I can coordinate. My shields can reach you if needed, and my [Intention Reading] will give us advance warning of any changes in their plan."
Aria took a deep breath.
"Okay," she said. "I trust you."
The match between Aria Evergreen and Chen Mei-Lin of Eastern Star Academy was a contest of healing specialists.
It was also one of the most boring matches of the tournament, at least from a spectator perspective. Both competitors focused on defensive techniques, neither willing to commit to attacks that might leave them vulnerable.
But the real battle was happening elsewhere.
"Team Alpha is moving," Luna reported through the communication crystal. "Six operatives, approaching from the eastern corridor."
"Team Beta?" Ethan asked.
"Still in position near the exit. They're waiting for Alpha to secure the target before revealing themselves."
"Commissioner Zhang?"
"In the VIP box with the other Alliance officials. He's watching the match but not moving."
"He won't move until Aria's secured. He's too valuable to risk in the initial operation."
The match below continued. Aria was holding her own against Chen Mei-Lin, but it was clear she was being pushed to her limits. The Alliance healer was slightly stronger in direct combat—a gap that would normally be insignificant but mattered when Aria needed to conserve energy for what came after.
"Elena, are you in position?"
"Ready. The pocket dimension is stable, and I've mapped three extraction points in case we need them."
"Victoria, Seraphina?"
"We're flanking Team Alpha's approach route," Victoria responded. "They don't know we're here."
"Good. Wait for my signal."
The match ended in Aria's favor—barely. She had depleted almost all her mana in the final exchange, collapsing to her knees as the referee declared victory.
The crowd cheered, but Ethan's attention was elsewhere.
"Team Alpha is accelerating," Luna warned. "They're abandoning stealth—moving fast toward the recovery room."
"Aria, get to the recovery room as planned. Act exhausted—don't let them know you're aware."
"I am exhausted," Aria replied weakly. "That wasn't an act."
"Even better. Luna, stay on Alpha. Everyone else, prepare for intercept on my mark."
Aria was escorted to the recovery room by tournament staff. The door closed behind her, and for sixty tense seconds, nothing happened.
Then the lights went out.
"Blackout in the eastern wing," Elena reported. "Their mages cut the power runes."
"Now!" Ethan commanded.
The recovery room door exploded inward.
Six operatives in dark clothing rushed in, shadow magic swirling around them. They expected to find an exhausted healer, defenseless and alone.
Instead, they found Victoria Blackthorn.
"Surprise," Victoria said, and the room filled with fire.
The operatives were professionals—they scattered, avoiding the initial blast, reforming their attack pattern. But they hadn't planned for resistance at all, let alone resistance of this caliber.
Luna struck from the shadows, her blades finding two operatives before they could react. Seraphina's ice froze another pair to the floor. Victoria's fire kept the remaining two pinned, unable to advance or retreat.
"Team Beta is moving," Elena warned. "They've realized something's wrong."
"Expected. I'll handle them." Ethan was already moving through the corridors, his shields ready. "Luna, finish Alpha and fall back."
"Understood."
Ethan intercepted Team Beta at the eastern corridor junction—eight operatives, led by a woman whose [Eyes of the Reader] identified as Lieutenant Fang, one of the Alliance's elite combat mages.
"You're the Prophet Student," Fang said, assessing him. "We were warned about you."
"Then you know this operation is over. Your extraction team is down, your target is secure, and you're surrounded by academy security that's en route right now."
"Perhaps. But you're alone." Fang smiled coldly. "And we don't need to capture the saintess today. We just need to send a message."
She attacked.
Fang was fast—A-Rank fast, with lightning-element magic that crossed the distance between them in an eyeblink. Ethan's barriers barely caught the initial strike, and he felt the shock even through his protection.
"You're good," he admitted, falling back. "Better than I expected."
"And you're just a B+ mage playing at strategy." Fang pressed forward, lightning crackling around her form. "Did you really think you could stop us?"
Ethan's [Intention Reading] caught her surface thoughts:
—kill the prophet, demoralize their team—
—primary mission failed, but this will salvage—
—he's reading my attacks, how—
"You're projecting your intentions," Ethan said, sidestepping her next strike. "Every attack, I know it's coming before you throw it."
Fang's eyes widened. "A mind reader?"
"Something like that."
But reading intentions only helped so much against someone faster and stronger. Ethan was on the defensive, burning through mana to maintain shields, unable to counterattack.
He needed backup.
"Lucien, if you're nearby—"
Light exploded into the corridor.
Lucien Ashford arrived like a force of nature, divine radiance pushing back Fang's lightning. The Alliance lieutenant barely managed to deflect his opening strike.
"You're interfering with a diplomatic operation," Fang said, but her confidence had evaporated.
"You're attempting to kidnap a citizen of the Empire," Lucien replied coldly. "Diplomatic immunity doesn't cover that."
Team Beta's remaining operatives tried to intervene, but they were no match for the hero. Lucien cut through them with casual efficiency, his attention never leaving Fang.
"Surrender," he said.
Fang calculated her odds. Whatever she found convinced her.
She dropped her weapon.
The aftermath was chaos.
Tournament officials arrived to find eight unconscious Alliance operatives, six more detained by Victoria and Seraphina, and Aria Evergreen safe in Elena's pocket dimension.
Commissioner Zhang Wei was "unavailable for comment" according to the Alliance delegation. The other nations' representatives demanded explanations.
Ethan watched the diplomatic storm unfold from a quiet corner of the coliseum.
"That went better than expected," Luna said, appearing beside him.
"It went according to plan. That's different from better."
"The kidnapping was prevented. Aria is safe. We exposed an Alliance intelligence operation in front of neutral witnesses. How is that not better?"
"Because the Alliance will adapt. They'll change their tactics, increase their security, maybe accelerate other operations to compensate." Ethan rubbed his temples. "We won today's battle. The war continues."
"You really can't just accept victory, can you?"
"I'll accept victory when everyone I care about survives this tournament." He looked at her. "Your father's extraction is tomorrow. Are you ready?"
Luna's expression hardened. "I've been ready my whole life."
"That's not what I asked."
"It's the only answer I have."
[QUEST COMPLETE]
"Prevent Aria's Kidnapping"
Original Outcome: Aria captured, tortured, traumatized for months
New Outcome: Kidnapping prevented, Alliance operation exposed
Rewards:
1,200 System Points Aria's affection significantly increased Diplomatic leverage for the Empire Alliance Intelligence destabilized
Side Effects:
Alliance will seek alternate revenge Commissioner Zhang Wei marked as enemy Tournament security increased (affects other operations)
[AFFECTION UPDATE]
Aria Evergreen: 64 → 78/100 (Deep Devotion)
That night, Aria found Ethan on the observation deck.
She was still pale from the ordeal, but her eyes were clear.
"You saved me," she said simply. "Again."
"The team saved you. I just coordinated."
"Don't diminish what you did." She stepped closer. "When those operatives burst in, I thought it was over. I thought everything you'd predicted was going to happen—the capture, the torture, the months of darkness." Her voice cracked. "But then Victoria was there, and Luna, and Seraphina, and I realized... you'd planned it. All of it. To keep me safe."
"That's what friends do."
"Is that all we are? Friends?"
Ethan looked at her—really looked. In the moonlight, with her green hair softly glowing from residual healing magic, she was beautiful. Not the cold beauty of Seraphina or the fierce beauty of Victoria, but something gentler. Warmer.
"What do you want us to be?" he asked.
"I don't know," she admitted. "I've spent my whole life serving the church, preparing to be a Saintess. Romance wasn't part of the plan. But then I met you, and you kept saving me, and you looked at me like I was a person instead of a symbol, and..."
"And?"
"And I started wanting things I never let myself want before." Her amber eyes met his. "I want to be more than friends, Ethan. I want... I want to explore what we could be. Together."
"Even knowing that I'm connected to the other heroines? That this might not be exclusive?"
"I don't understand all of that yet. But I know that you care about me. I can feel it when you look at me, when you plan to keep me safe, when you held my hand in the garden that first time." She reached out and took his hand now. "Whatever this is, whatever we become—I want to try."
Ethan squeezed her hand.
"Then we'll try," he said. "After the tournament. When we have time to figure out what 'trying' looks like."
"After the tournament," Aria agreed. "But for now..."
She kissed him.
It was gentle, hesitant—the kiss of someone who had never allowed herself to want this. But it was also real.
When they separated, both of them were breathing harder than they should have been.
"After the tournament," Aria repeated, her cheeks flushed.
"After the tournament," Ethan confirmed.
She left him on the observation deck, her footsteps light with hope.
Ethan stood alone, staring at the stars.
Two down, he thought. Luna confessed. Aria confessed. And Seraphina's been hinting at something too.
In the original novel, all five heroines had fallen for Lucien. The protagonist's harem was a core element of the story.
But this wasn't the original novel anymore.
This was his story. And in his story, the heroines were choosing him.
The butterfly effect, he thought. Changing everything. Including who falls in love with whom.
Tomorrow would bring Luna's extraction. The day after, Seraphina's assassination and the Apostle's awakening.
But tonight, for just a moment, Ethan allowed himself to feel something other than fear.
He felt hope.