SAINTESS [Chapter 163: Fifty-fifty] (Patreon)

“Damn it.” The moment Winnie stepped off the field, he let out a curse.

As expected of Carillian Academy. It truly was a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

Winnie had assumed his true strength wouldn't be exposed before he challenged the chosen heroine. Who would have thought that some character who had never even been named in the game would suddenly appear and force him to get serious?

It wasn't a big problem. It had merely caused him to reveal his strength earlier than planned, which was less than ideal.

Even with his strength exposed, Winnie still didn't think he would lose. But who knew? This was Carillian Academy, a place where anything could happen.

‘Sigh. Fine, fine. It had already happened, so there was no point dwelling on it now.’

So what if some of his strength had been exposed? It wasn't as though he had revealed everything. At most, he had shown a fraction of his abilities. As for his trump cards, he hadn't exposed a single one.

Whether it was fighting or playing Cards, aces and trump cards were naturally saved for last. Who would play them right at the start?

Looking at it that way, his current situation wasn't too bad. Although he had revealed quite a bit of his strength, at least his trump cards remained hidden. It was still within an acceptable range.

"Brother Winnie!"

Just then, a group of people rushed out from the entrance to the spectator stands and formed a circle around him.

“You brat! So you were actually this strong? Why didn't you tell us sooner?!” Fred shouted, repeatedly thumping Winnie on the chest.

“What do you mean, why didn't I tell you sooner? You never asked.” Winnie rolled his eyes at him.

“I mean, everyone in our Card Players Club might seem completely useless in a fight. No, that’s not what I meant. We’re simply so committed to cards and devoted to mastering our lifelong craft that we’ve invested every bit of our talent into card playing, leaving nothing behind for combat!” Fred quickly corrected himself and cleared his throat.

“I always knew you were stronger than us, Brother Winnie, but I never imagined you’d be this powerful! You defeated even a third-year expert with ease. At this rate, you’re practically guaranteed to win the Chosen One Contest!”

“Hahaha! Keep it up, Brother Winnie. You have to win! Once you become champion, our club will be the club of the Chosen One Hero! Then we'll all be brothers of the Chosen One Hero!” Fred said, patting Winnie on the shoulder.

“Brother Fred, could you possibly be any more conceited? Brother Winnie is the one who actually has a chance of winning, yet you’re already acting like you deserve all the praise for his success,” Andre remarked from the sidelines.

“Seriously, Andre, are you some kind of professional heckler? Or have you made it your personal mission to heckle me? Why does it always have to be you, you little brat?” Fred shot back, giving Andre a playful flick on the forehead.

“Ow!” Andre clutched his forehead, looking thoroughly unconvinced.

"All right, stop messing around. Since Brother Winnie is this strong, he definitely has a chance to compete for the championship. Let's not put too much pressure on him," Aiden said from the side.

“It's fine, it's fine. How much pressure could there possibly be?” Winnie immediately seized the opportunity to show off in front of his brothers. “Honestly, this young master hasn't felt the slightest bit of pressure so far.”

“Tch! Aiden, it would've been better if you hadn't said anything. Now someone's showing off again,” Fred snorted.

“Aren't you guys going to watch the next matches?” Winnie asked.

“Nah. We came here to cheer you on in the first place. You've already won, so what's left for us to watch?”

“Exactly. What's there to watch?”

“We should probably stop bothering Brother Winnie and let him rest. The quarterfinals are next, after all.”

“Huh? Brother Winnie, where are you going?”

“Back to the stands.” Winnie changed at the group of card players. “Dell's match is coming up. I have to keep watching.”

“Oh, right! Little Brother Dell's match is coming up too!”

At that, the card players followed Winnie back to the spectator stands.

There wasn't much worth mentioning about the matches that followed.

None of the chosen heroines had been matched against one another, so Winnie didn't even need to think about the outcomes. The heroines' side would undoubtedly crush their opponents one-sidedly. Only Shikondell's match was somewhat uncertain, but she still won in the end.

Winnie knew that, but everyone else didn't.

When everyone realized that five of the quarterfinalists were second-year students, a collective gasp swept through the crowd. Many wondered if they were seeing things, with the upperclassmen in particular struggling to believe what they had just witnessed.

They were completely numb.

It was bad enough that they themselves had been eliminated, but who would have thought that so many outstanding students from their own years, the very people they had high hopes for, would also be knocked out?

And by second-years, no less?

Were this year's second-years simply too strong, or were they themselves too weak?

The upperclassmen couldn't make sense of it.

In their minds, this year's Chosen One Contest was supposed to be yet another grand melee among the upper-year geniuses. The second-years were only there to make up the numbers.

Although numerous upperclassmen fan clubs had rallied behind girls like Aesphyra and Isatia, everyone understood that much of their support was based on their striking appearances.

Regardless of how gifted the girls were, they were still only second-year students. The thought of them defeating fourth-years seemed completely unrealistic. At most, they might be able to trade a handful of blows with a third-year student, and even then, securing a victory would be far from certain.

Reality, however, leaves everyone dumbfounded.

The third-years and fourth-years suffered crushing defeats. The chosen heroines rolled over them like they were nothing more than speed bumps.

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

They had already considered Winnie terrifyingly powerful on his own. But when they saw that Aesphyra and the other chosen heroines were anything but ordinary, they were left completely stunned. It was almost as if the girls had activated some kind of cheat, relentlessly pursuing third- and fourth-year seniors across the arena before utterly overwhelming them.

From the stands, Winnie watched several of the chosen heroines' matches and concluded that Isatia, Aesphyra, and Mirexia had secured the most crushing victories. Each of them had faced opponents who ranked among the top five students of the fourth year.

If the top five students from the second and third years were to face off against the top five fourth-years, everyone would naturally expect the fourth-years to dominate.

Yet the results were completely contrary to expectations, leaving the entire audience utterly stunned.

Then again, that was only natural. Those three had always ranked near the top among the chosen heroines.

As for the bottom two spots, they belonged to the two elven princesses.

That was merely in comparison to the other chosen heroines. Even though the two elven princesses were considered the weakest among them, pitting them against ordinary students was still akin to a higher-dimensional existence effortlessly crushing something from a lower dimension.

That applied even to Shikondell, whose victory had been somewhat close. At the very least, she had won, and she had secured that victory herself without relying on Dark Dell.

Seeing Shikondell bravely take up her weapon and face her opponent filled Winnie with gratification. He felt like an old father finally witnessing the growth of a daughter he had raised for years.

Before long, the eight quarterfinalists were decided.

Aside from Winnie and the five chosen heroines, the remaining two were the overwhelming favorite, the Raging-Maned Lion Zane, and the other half of the Rescaine Twins, Alfonso Rescaine.

Now that he had reached the quarterfinals, Winnie couldn't afford to be careless. He would have to go all out.

He had watched Alfonso's match. One thing was certain: Alfonso was far stronger than his younger sister.

The real main event was about to begin.

If Winnie hadn't had his own match to fight, he would have brought some hash browns and ketchup to the stands, eating as he enjoyed the show.

Why?

Because although chosen the heroines might have avoided another in the round of sixteen, they were now in the quarterfinals. A clash between them was inevitable.

Forget about the heroines being pitted against each other. Winnie himself had a five-out-of-seven chance of being matched against one of them. In other words, there was a very high probability that his next opponent would be one of the chosen heroines.

They would have to face each other sooner or later anyway.

With that thought, Winnie stood atop the elevated platform in the arena under everyone's watchful gaze. He walked over to the instructor to draw his opponent.

This time, he drew number two.

After drawing his lot, he returned to his original position and surveyed the others, searching for anyone else who had drawn number two.

He soon found out.

The man holding the other number-two lot raised his head and silently looked towards him.

Their gazes happened to meet.

When Winnie saw who his next opponent was, he raised an eyebrow.

It was Alfonso.

Alfonso didn't show much of a reaction. He merely gave Winnie a meaningful glance, his expression practically saying, You're not worthy of being my opponent, before returning to the line.

Seriously? Did everyone from the Rescaine family love acting so pretentious?

They were certainly enemies, both inside and outside the tournament, but wasn't this guy laying it on a little too thick?

What, did he think he was a “chosen heroine” too? Did he really believe he was the strongest person here?

Winnie stopped looking at Alfonso and turned toward the other side.

Now, that was much more interesting.

As the remaining groups were decided, Mirexia drew Milian, while Isatia drew Shikondell.

Mirexia remained silent, while Milian folded her arms across her chest. Isatia quietly gazed at Shikondell and softly said, “I look forward to our match.”

Shikondell, meanwhile, clutched her lot with an extremely nervous expression, completely at a loss.

As for who drew the grand prize?

Naturally, it was none other than the overwhelming favorite, the Raging-Maned Lion Zane.

After all, everyone considered him the strongest contender. Perhaps fate itself had answered their expectations by arranging for him to face the most powerful of the chosen heroines, Aesphyra, the continent’s true Hero.

It seemed the fourth-year's number one student would be stopping in the quarterfinals.

Winnie silently thought this as he watched Aesphyra greet her opponent with a smile.

What a pity. If this year's Chosen One Contest had been like previous years, players filled only with geniuses rather than with cheats, then Zane truly would have had the best chance of winning it all.

Unfortunately for Winnie, possessing extraordinary talent was merely the bare minimum needed to stand against Aesphyra.

Unless someone possessed a special advantage of their own, even a lifetime of effort might not be enough to bridge the gap and reach the level of the Hero.

“The opponents have been determined. We will now proceed with arranging the match schedule. Contestants, please move to your designated positions.”

The vice principal's voice spread throughout the main arena through amplification magic.

The enormous magical screen soon began arranging the match schedule.

Everyone watched intently.

Before long, the schedule was announced.

The first match will be Isatia versus Shikondell.

“Huh? This…” Shikondell’s anxiety intensified when she saw the result. She nervously squeezed the slip of paper in her hand, her lips pressing into a tight pout.

Winnie checked his own match and saw that he had been placed third.

He shook his head, walked up to Shikondell, and patted her shoulders encouragingly.

“Don't be afraid, Dell. Haven't you already done a great job reaching the quarterfinals?”

“But my opponent this time is…” Shikondell worriedly worried about Isatia.

There were two reasons Shikondell was acting this way. The first was Isatia's strength. The second was that Shikondell had already come to regard Isatia as her friend.

The idea of fighting a friend made her uncomfortable.

“Don’t look so worried, Dell. If you keep acting like this, you might hurt Isatia’s feelings,” Winnie said with a helpless chuckle. “If you deliberately hold back, she’ll probably think you’re underestimating her. She might even end up resenting you for it afterward.”

“At a time like this, you only need to give it your all. Don't leave anyone with regrets.”

“Mm-hmm. I understand. Thank you, Winnie.”

"You little dummy. Why are you thanking me?" Winnie gently flicked the tip of Shikondell's delicate nose.

He then looked toward Isatia and discovered that she was watching him as well.

Winnie gave her an encouraging look.

He knew that with Isatia's personality, she didn't need to be repeatedly comforted the way Shikondell did. One look was enough for her to understand.

Just as he expected, Isatia nodded and returned his gaze with one of her own before turning to leave.

She didn't head for the spectator stands. Instead, she went directly to the contestants' waiting area.

“Do your best, Dell. Go on.” Winnie encouraged Shikondell and pointed toward the contestants' passageway on the other side.

"Mm-hmm. I understand."

After hesitating for a moment, Shikondell nodded firmly and headed toward the waiting area on the opposite side.

In previous matches, Winnie had always cheered for Shikondell. But today was a battle between two chosen heroines, and both were his friends, so he had to cheer for both of them.

Off to the side, Alfonso gave Winnie a cold look before leaving.

Winnie didn't care.

If he had drawn one of the chosen heroines as his opponent, he might have treated the coming match as though he were facing a formidable enemy.

But as it turned out, he hadn't drawn a chosen heroine.

He had merely drawn a man who thought he was the chosen one.

Once all the contestants had gone up, Winnie took a seat beside the card players.

“Oh my, Brother Winnie. Seems like you’ve found yourself in quite the dilemma, haven’t you?” Fred remarked from behind Winnie, folding his arms and slowly shaking his head with the smug air of someone who believed he knew everything.

“Brother Fred, what on earth are you talking about?” Winnie stared at him in confusion.

“Ah, there’s no need to explain yourself. Brothers understand these things. Your closest friend, the one you spend every day with, is about to face off against your girlfriend. Naturally, you can’t exactly take either side, can you? I get it. I completely get it.” Fred gave Winnie a smug, knowing glance.

The other card players wore the same expressions.

“What exactly do you think you understand?” Winnie laughed. “Stop running your mouths and watch the match.”

“By the way, Brother Winnie, which side do you think has the better chance?” Andre asked.

“Fifty-fifty,” Winnie replied.

Although that was what he said, he knew the actual situation better than anyone.

In a direct fight, Isatia had an enormous chance of winning, and not merely a slightly better one.

Even without taking her [Divine Blessing] into account, the gap between them was already substantial.

And if [Divine Blessing] was included?

There was no need to ask.