Chapter 161: Untied Knots
The entire Valenzia Arena erupted into cheers as a thunderous greatsword threatened to sever Carlos' neck.
Carlos was barely able to get up after struggling through immense pain, his face contorting in agony as he did so.
He tried so hard only to end up having a blade inches away from his neck.
Carlos was having internal struggles.
He refused to lose this badly, however, if he didn't surrender, although his opponent might not kill him, the crowd would jeer at him.
Not to mention, his teammate was already incapacitated so his chances of winning were truly feeble.
Thus, after a thorough consideration, Carlos decided to surrender.
"I…Surrender…"
Although the crowd somewhat expected him to do so, their mouths still went agape once he finished saying his words of surrender through gritted teeth.
Then, after a few seconds of dumbfounded silence, the ground violently shook as Carlos' surrender was met with thunderous cheers and a typhoon of applause.
The bettors were jumping for joy, the Colzen companion students and some of the instructors had tears streaming down their faces as they hugged each other, and the deans subtly struck victory poses.
Every person who was rooting for Colzen celebrated in their own little ways.
Meanwhile, the Amarantha supporters were silent as the depressing air of dejection lingered around them.
They were utterly devastated.
After all, their most respected and invincible senior, Carlos Andrade, was defeated in a single clash against the strongest representative of Colzen.
Very few things were harder to swallow than seeing the pride of your academy lose to the pride of another academy in a head-on clash.
They couldn't think of an excuse even if they wanted to.
They were simply outclassed in every way.
After a few awkward moments of the Amarantha companion students being petrified due to the major upset loss, one of them finally managed to snap out of his depressing thoughts.
The one guy then took the lead in guiding the devastated students towards their rendezvous point, most of them stared emptily into the ground as they walked towards their destination.
[Congratulations! You've earned 48,920 points!]
Meanwhile, Shye heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Carlos' surrender. He was quite nervous because there was a slim possibility of Carlos not choosing to surrender.
If so, then he would have to slit his throat to show everyone that he was no pushover.
He didn't want to do it as much as possible but if it ever comes down to it, he wouldn't hesitate to do so.
Fortunately, Carlos chose to surrender.
As the feeling of victory finally sunk in after a few seconds, Shye wanted to jump up and down in celebration.
Due to the overwhelming elation in his heart, he temporarily forgot the initial awkward interactions between him and Wendy so he gave her a smiling thumbs up, just as they've always done after a win.
As for Wendy, she was exactly in the same situation as Shye. Temporarily forgetting the knot in her heart, she also gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh? It seems like they've made up?" Kiin said, his arms crossed over his chest as he happily observed their teammates who ended up shocking everyone by such a swift victory.
They thought that it would take a herculean amount of effort to take down the strongest representative of Amarantha Academy.
Fortunately, it seems that Wendy's absurd buff skills managed to catch their opponents off guard, allowing Shye to capitalize on the huge advantage and finish their opponents off.
A few moments later, Wendy realized what just happened and shrunk away again.
However, this time, there was a shadow of a smile on the corners of her mouth as she awkwardly looked at the ground.
As for Shye, he shrugged with a helpless smile and started to walk down the stage.
If Wendy wasn't ready yet then he wouldn't force her.
"C-Crowley…"
To his pleasant surprise, Wendy suddenly called out, prompting Shye to slowly turn his head as he looked at her with a beaming smile.
"Oh, hey, what is it?"
"I…I'm sorry for not being able to help you for one and a half years…"
After hearing what Wendy said, Shye raised his eyebrows in surprise and comprehension.
'So that's what has been bugging her all this time!'
He thought to himself as he slowly walked towards Wendy.
"Oh, that? No worries. I knew that help would come if possible so I understand your difficulties. I even gained lots of benefits in that labyrinth so stop blaming yourself for what happened in the past okay?"
Shye said as he gave Wendy a gentle downward chop on the forehead and warmly smiled at her before jumping down the stage.
The forehead chop seemed to untie all the knots in Wendy's heart as she stood still for a few more seconds, relishing the forgotten feeling of lightheartedness.
She was looking at the ground so no one knew if she was smiling.
However, one could be sure that she was crying as drops of glistening tears intermittently fell, creating a miniature puddle on the ground.
The other Colzen representatives, the instructors, and the deans smiled warmly at her, patiently waiting for her to sort out her feelings, not rushing her in the slightest.
Finally, after two minutes of being dramatic onstage, Wendy managed to take control of her emotions.
The usual cold look was back on her face but something was different.
Her usual ice-cold expression now had a hint of vulnerability due to her puffy eyes, making one want to protect her.
Naturally, most of the males who saw her current state felt their heartstrings tingle, making them lament their lack of ability to pursue such a beautiful and talented young woman.
After the short heartwarming moment, the Colzen representatives walked back to the academy station with proud smiles plastered on their faces.
Ceaseless chants of "Colzen" resounded as almost half of the total crowd population celebrated their glorious 3-0 underdog victory against a well-known powerhouse academy.
At long last, Colzen Academy…has entered the ranks of the elites.