Chapter 224: I’m Your Future Husband Students and staff alike had gathered in front of the magical screens scattered across the campus, eager to cheer for their favorite First Years. When the Battle Royale started, each student was teleported at least five miles away from other students. This was to ensure that the weaker students would have a chance to survive the first few minutes of the event. While a big chunk of the forest was used as the battlefield, a part of it was kept off limits to the participants. In fact, an invisible barrier had been erected to prevent the more aggressive and powerful monsters from unnecessarily endangering the First Years. Professor Rowan was enjoying a cup of tea as he watched the event in real time. There were several magical screens in front of him. At the center of them all was a masked young lady with long billowing hair. Since she was a First Year, she wasn’t exempted from participating in the Battle Royale. Also, the Headmaster had given her an important mission, so her participation was a must. The Professor then shifted his gaze to the two magical screens to the right of the middle screen. A young lady who had tied her long black hair into a low ponytail wandered about the forest as if it was her grandfather’s private garden. Her eyes were like beautiful amethysts... At least, that was what most guys would think if they didn’t know her better. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦 Why? Because the beautiful lady was actually a boy going by the name of Vaan Damne. He was wearing the uniform meant for the girls, making it practically impossible to discern that he was in fact a guy. Naturally, some of his male classmates were quite smitten with him. But Rowan knew who Vaan really was and his reason for pretending to be a girl. His family’s circumstances were complicated. For his own safety, he had been forced to dress up as a girl. On one of the other monitors was a true young lady with sun-kissed skin that glowed like warm bronze. Her eyes were like molten topaz, nearly golden in colour, and her long blonde hair fluttered behind her as she walked with confidence. She was Evangeline Feylune. In her hands were two short swords glinting with a deadly light as if they were seeking prey they could test their sharpness on. Suddenly, she stopped and stared directly at the hidden recording crystal. It was as if she was making eye contact with the many spectators observing her and the other First Years. A look of annoyance flashed across her beautiful face, but it soon disappeared after she heard the sound of fighting in the distance. She hurriedly ran in that direction and joined the battle like a wild cat, eliminating both combatants with a sneak attack that they didn’t see coming. Professor Rowan chuckled before shifting his gaze to a handsome young man with short silver hair and a little white bun perched on top of his head. The Headmaster was paying close attention to several individuals which he believed would play an important role in what was going to unfold next. Professor Gareth and he had interrogated the demon worshipper who had tried to impersonate Lucius. After rounds of questioning, they had become aware of the plan to sabotage the Inter-Class Battle Royale. But instead of canceling the event, the Headmaster had decided to let it happen. Professor Gareth had asked him why, but the Headmaster had only replied that they should trust their students because they would be able to handle something of this level. Although Professor Gareth was hesitant, he decided to believe in the Headmaster, who believed in the capabilities of their students. Rowan watched as Alex and Dim Dim fought against the Shadow Wolves that had been conjured up to hunt the students in the forest. However, they were clearly no match against the young man and the little bun who made short work of them. Suddenly, Dim Dim cried out a warning, prompting the young man to jump to his right, just in time to evade an arrow meant for his chest. Rowan watched with amusement as Alex ran in the direction where the arrow had come from to catch the culprit. When he burst through the trees, he managed to catch a glimpse of his fleeing attacker. "Dim Dim!" Alex shouted. "Dim!" Dim Dim jumped off Alex’s head and bounced off the tree trunks like a speeding pinball that had locked on to its target. The archer, a young lady with long silver hair, turned to look at the little bun that was pursuing her before tapping a tree as she ran past it. The tree suddenly moved, swatting at Dim Dim with its branches. Fortunately, Alex conjured a magical shield right beside the Dim Sum God, which the latter used to bounce off and evade the branch that would have turned it from a bun into a pancake. Alex decided to change direction so that he and Dim Dim could do a pincer attack and trap their target. After he made a turn, he came face to face with the person he was chasing. And he froze on the spot. "Lapiz?!" Alex gasped after recognizing his attacker. The young elven lady already had an arrow nocked, ready to fire it at Alex. But she paused after the young man called out her name. "Who are you?" Lapiz asked, her arrow still aimed at Alex. "How did you know my name?" "I’m your future husband," Alex replied before he could even stop himself. "Huh?!" The answer shocked Lapiz so much that she accidentally released the arrow. Alex’s fast reflexes saved him when he raised his shield just in time to block the arrow. He wanted to give himself a good slap—maybe even a few good slaps—for saying something that might have already left a bad first impression on the beautiful elf. "Wait! Don’t attack!" Alex raised his hands in surrender. "I don’t have any intention of harming you. I propose a truce!" Lapiz frowned. She had already nocked another arrow and aimed it at the young man. His strangeness did not reassure her one bit. Dim Dim, who also recognized Lapiz, jumped back on top of Alex’s head and waved cutely at her. Lapiz lowered her bow because she had no intention of harming Dim Dim. She had once crossed paths with the little bun when it was patrolling the academy with the Doom Cow, Daisy. Dim Dim, being the friendly little bun that it was, had offered Lapiz some custard buns, which the latter liked very much. Although that had been their only interaction, she thought well of Dim Dim, which was why she decided not to attack Alex. At least for now. "What did you mean when you said that you are my future husband?" Lapiz asked solemnly. "Um, let’s forget that ever happened." Alex coughed lightly. "That is something for the future." "Huh?!" "I mean, no one knows what the future holds. Maybe, we might end up as a couple, you know?" Unbeknownst to him, countless students watching the Battle Royale were now flipping him off. Many also put his name on their hit list. In fact, they placed him at the very top. The President of the Obsidian Fang Club, another silver-haired elf, promptly summoned her trusted subordinate and asked her to do a background check on the young man who dared to mess with her younger sister. Cassian Nocturne was not the only overprotective older sibling at Frieden Academy. There was Aeris too. Right now, she was paying close attention to Lapiz’s performance. She was also keeping track of the people who might harm the young elf. That way, if Lapiz was harmed, Aeris would know who she should personally deal with "legally" so she could "legally" make them regret ever hurting her sister. She wasn’t a siscon like Cassian, but she still cared for Lapiz in her own way. "Okay, just calm down." Alex knew that he had made another mistake, so he decided to lower the tension for a bit. "My name is Alex Stratos. I am the president of Endless Horizon and currently the top ranker in the Seventh Training Room. I’m pretty popular, so you might have heard of me, right?" "Yes, I have heard your name," Lapiz replied carefully. "I overheard Chuck saying that you liked Dwarves. Is that true?" The corners of Alex’s lips twitched. He then made a vow to beat the crap out of his roommate after the Battle Royale for not keeping his darned mouth shut. ’Chuck, you better be one of the last ten survivors because I am going to kill you when we’re done with this.’ "I-I love all races!" Alex answered. "I like Dwarves, Elves, Foxkins, Humans, and Demons." "... You like Demons?" Lapiz immediately raised her bow again as if Alex hadn’t just shot himself. In the foot. He had forgotten that Lapiz hated Demons because of an incident that happened when she was younger. "I-I mean, not all Demons are bad, you know?" Alex tried to use reason. "Some of them are nice demons." "Demons are never nice!" Lapiz shouted. Her face flushed with fury and her eyes locked onto Alex’s body. Clearly, she was only a moment away from firing her arrow at the young man. Future husband or not, he was still one of her competitors in the Battle Royale. "Dim Dim!" Dim Dim called out to Lapiz, asking her to not shoot Alex. The young lady hesitated before lowering her bow. It was obvious to her that the young man had no intention of fighting against her, so she decided to lower her weapon once more. "Listen, Lapiz," Alex said after the young lady lowered her weapon. "I know that what I’m going to say might sound ridiculous, but how about we team up and survive this Battle Royale together?" "I don’t trust you," Lapiz replied before walking away. "Don’t follow me, okay? If you do, I promise that I will no longer hold back and shoot you." Alex hesitated, but still nodded in agreement. He didn’t want the young lady to have a bad impression of him, so he decided to leave her alone for now. Also, she was right. If he had been in her shoes, he also would not have easily trusted a weird guy he was seeing for the first time. ’At least she has this kind of awareness,’ Alex thought. ’That way, she won’t be deceived by anyone so easily.’ After watching her go, Alex glanced at the timer before coming up with a plan. "Dim Dim, stay with Lapiz for now," Alex said. "The time is nearly upon us, so I want you to protect her." "Dim!" Dim Dim nodded and jumped off from Alex’s head to follow Lapiz and keep her safe when the Demon Worshipers appeared in the forest.