Chapter 177: The Last Moment

At this moment, a clamor arose from the arena. Sean was the first to step onto the ring, holding a large sword. He stood there quietly, scanning all the trainees in the training ground with a smug smile on his face.
Under the sunlight, his smile seemed rather annoying. Seeing Sean like that, John and the others felt furious.
“It seems Rod hasn’t shown up? Could he really be too scared to fight?~” Seeing only Sean on the ring and hearing the noise around him,Siler said to Ciel beside him, his face showing concern. He didn’t said to Ciel beside him, his face showing concern. He didn’t have any good feelings about Sean either.
“No way!” Ciel said firmly, staring intently at the ring.
Time passed by second by second. More and more people gathered in the training ground, the noise growing louder—crowds, chatter, and boos filling the air. Rod’s absence had become the hottest topic, with rumors of him avoiding the fight spreading like wind throughout the training ground. Almost everyone knew about it, accompanied by disdain and contempt.
Meanwhile, Rod himself was completely unaware of anything, even forgetting what day it was. He had just finished practicing in the woods and was walking toward the academy. Seeing few people on the academy roads, he was puzzled.
But he didn’t overthink it and headed straight to his dormitory. He had spent three full days in the woods. If it weren’t for some dried food stored in his magic bag—unknown when it was stocked—he would have given up long ago. His appearance was pitiful, like that of a scavenger.
Frowning slightly, though he hadn’t met many people along the way, every person he encountered seemed to be looking at him strangely—with confusion, sneers. Seeing these expressions, Rod was also puzzled.
……
“Twenty minutes left. It seems that scoundrel won’t show up. Hmph, I told you guys, but you didn’t believe me. He definitely won’t come! Ugh, we’re all getting embarrassed here!” Alice complained, checking the time and listening to the noise in the arena.

She didn’t know what was going on. Before Rod arrived, she had even taken pleasure in his misfortune, thinking about how to mock and tease him later. But now, hearing the chatter of those people, seeing their expressions, witnessing Sean’s arrogant behavior in the arena, and seeing that bastard Nils smiling triumphantly, she felt uneasy—even a hint of anxiety. For the first time, she wished that thug would appear on the ring and deal a crushing blow to those damned guys.

A figure rushed over quickly and stopped in front of Kiro: “Senior Kiro, he’s back… he’s really back…” he gasped for breath.

“What’s back? Back from where? Why are you in such a hurry? Look at yourself!” The person was a first-year student at the academy. Alice recognized him and had no good feelings about him at all—his lecherous appearance was simply unacceptable, both to the world and to the audience. Her already bad mood flared up even more upon seeing him.

“What’s back? Is it Rod? Did he come back? Hurry up and tell me!” Kiro, on the other hand, was completely opposite. Upon seeing this person and hearing his words, his face lit up with excitement as he asked eagerly.

“Y-yes, it’s Rod. He’s back. I saw him on the academy’s main road just now; he was heading toward the dormitories. Yes, it definitely is him!” The lecherous man swallowed hard and spoke breathlessly.

“Damn it, he’s finally back! Viski, let’s go find him. The rest of you stay here and try to buy time—don’t let those guys succeed!” Hearing this news, everyone’s eyes lit up instantly. Rod jumped up, quickly gave instructions to the group, then rushed off with Viski, heading full speed toward the dormitories, leaving behind a group of people at a loss for words.

“Damn him, he still knows how to come back!” Behind them, Alice couldn’t help but complain as she watched the two leave.

……

“Rod, you bastard! You still know how to come back! Open the door right now!” Loud knocking accompanied by angry shouts made Rod, who had just sat down to rest and hadn’t even had time to catch his breath, frown. It was definitely Kiro’s voice. He came right after he got back? What a perfect timing!

Yet it was clear that Kiro was in a bad mood; such a tone and voice seemed like the first time he had heard them after knowing each other for so long.
“Rod, you really came back! Hurry, come with me!” As soon as he opened the door, he saw Kiro and Wiski standing outside, out of breath and anxious. Ignoring everything else, they grabbed him and tried to pull him outside.
“Wait… What’s going on? What happened?” Rod shook off their grip and asked in confusion. He hadn’t even had time to rest or catch his breath, so he couldn’t help but ask out of concern at their urgency.
“Damn it, did you really forget or are you pretending? Today is the day Sean challenged you to a fight. You idiot, do you know what time it is? The agreed time has long passed. How dare you still be here? There’s no time to talk—hurry up and come with us, or we’ll miss it. Do you know what the consequences will be?” Taking a deep breath, Kiro spoke loudly, barely holding back his anger at Rod’s attitude.
“A fight? Oh, I think so. But what does it have to do with me? I said I’m not going. Let him make a fuss if he wants to. I’m tired; I’m going to rest first!” Hearing this, Rod suddenly remembered—there indeed was such a thing. He had been too busy training these days and had forgotten about it. But once he remembered, he acted indifferent, a reaction that nearly drove Kiro crazy.
“Damn you, stop talking nonsense! Hurry up, or don’t blame me if I become rude. Do you know what the consequences of not going will be? Idiot! Hurry up! Oh, right—forgot to tell you: if you don’t go, never expect to find out where Kambi and the others are!” Seeing Rod’s expression, Kiro gritted his teeth in frustration but had no choice. In a moment of desperation, he suddenly thought of something and quickly said he believed Rod would be very interested in this information.
“Kambi, have you found them? Tell me quickly—where are they?” As expected, Rod immediately became interested and asked eagerly.
“I’ll tell you after the match. Hurry up, we’re running out of time!”
“Captain, let’s go quickly! There’s no time left!” Seeing that less than ten minutes remained, Wiski also grew anxious. If they didn’t arrive by then, it would count as an automatic withdrawal, causing trouble.
Without waiting for Rod’s protests or attempts to resist, the two of them pulled him along and rushed toward the training ground.

Being pulled along while running, Rod was also extremely frustrated. However, he wasn’t concerned about any challenges at the moment; what mattered most to him was Cambi and the others. Earlier, he had sought out Kiro, hoping he could help keep an eye on Cambi and the rest. After all, as someone recruited by the Porter family, Kiro had considerable authority, and with the Porter family’s extensive information network, it would be much easier for him to find those people than for Rod to search through a sea of people on his own. He believed Kiro must have obtained some information; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said those things.
…
The training ground had now turned into a marketplace, chaotic and noisy. With only three minutes left and the deadline approaching, Rod still hadn’t shown up. Everyone became panicked. Those who supported Sean started cheering and booing, while Sean acted arrogantly. As for Nils, he was overjoyed as if he had won, almost jumping onto the ring and singing loudly.
“Hehe, there are only two minutes left. What do you say, Miss Alice? Oh, Miss Lucia is here too. Hehe, Rod still hasn’t shown up. Although I really want to help him buy some more time, but… as you know, the rules can’t be changed. It seems that scoundrel has given up. But it’s not surprising—he’s not good enough to be on the stage. It’s understandable for him to run away in such a situation!” Somehow, Nils had already arrived in front of Alice and the others. Looking at Alice and Lucia with gleaming eyes, he smiled smugly, looking utterly triumphant.
“Hmph, the time isn’t up yet. Why are you in such a hurry? Rod will be here soon!” With a cold snort, Alice retorted disdainfully at Nils. She grew more and more annoyed by him the more she looked at him. No matter how she looked at it, this guy was just annoying.
“Alright, the last two minutes. We’ll wait!” Sitting down on the steps without invitation, crossing his legs and humming a tune, Nils waited with a smile, unbothered by those last two minutes.
Two minutes were a short time, and it would soon be up. Sean on the ring had already started celebrating his apparent victory without a fight. Nils also began cheering excitedly and stood up. “Hehe… What, Rod ran away, right? I told you—you can’t trust a lowly scoundrel like that!”

“Why the rush? There are still ten seconds!” Checking the time, there were indeed the last ten seconds left. Suddenly, everyone became uneasy, their hearts pounding. Could Rod really not make it? And even if he did, it seemed there wouldn’t be enough time!
“Alright, ten seconds left. I’ll count down!” With a cold sneer and those words, Niels leaped onto the arena and began counting down under everyone’s puzzled gazes: “10, 9, 8… 3…” Cheers erupted at that moment.
“2…” Drawing out the sound, Niels held Sean’s hand as if it were his own victory, already celebrating in advance—unbelieving that Rod could still make it by now.
“1…” With his head held high, he prepared to raise Sean’s hand for the final move.
“Wait…” Yet before the final digit could be spoken, a loud roar was heard, clearly reaching everyone’s ears even amidst such chaos.