"Avery, you idiot. Even after we practiced so many times, you still used the spell technique?"
"Relax! It was barely a second. And I doubt that there is even one person in these peasants who can recognize what it was. Even if they do, it's not like we're really trying to cover ourselves here. Anyone who has a brain would be able to understand where we're from."
After the impressive performance that had silenced the entire stadium for a moment, the man wearing the hooded red robes walked to the back of the line of soldiers who belonged to the Kingdom of Axelor.
After he had arrived at the back, he had been asked this question by the one standing in front of him whose face was hidden just like his.
On hearing his answer, this man sighed deeply before saying, "But we were instructed to at least be covert. It's one thing to disguise ourselves as the hidden trump card of Axelor, but it's another to brazenly shove it in everyone's faces that we are from one of the Big Four. Just admit that you slipped up."
In response, the other man spoke in a tone that reflected his anger.
"Zach, you might be the top student who's doted upon by all the teachers, but we are in the outside world now. Don't think you can boss me around. Just shut up and do what we are here to do. And keep in mind that you're just someone who got lucky by being picked up like a dog on the street."
After these harsh words sounded, there was silence among them, during which the first man smirked, knowing that he had hit the right spot.
…
Meanwhile, the King of Lanthanor who had gotten up with shock on seeing the spell technique was now staring with wide-open eyes at the ground were soldier after soldier of the Axelorian Kingdom walked up to the stage and gave one remarkable performance after another, adding their names to the scoreboard and almost cementing the victory of the Kingdom in the Fighter archery tournament.
At least, this was what all the analysts were newly predicting, after getting over the shock that Axelor had somehow managed to obtain these powerful Mages who had never been seen before on any battlefield.
"King Daneel? What do you want to do?"
Since the message from Sister Xuan had sounded in his mind, Daneel hadn't sent any reply, prompting her to ask again. Her usually calm tone was gone, replaced by one which reflected the surprise that even she seemed to be feeling.
After going through all his options again, Daneel asked, "What would you suggest, Sister Xuan? What CAN we do?"
Only silence was heard from the other end, before a hesitant voice asked, "I can try to contact the Matron, but 15 disciples don't just do this on their own. They must be here on the orders of their elders. Maybe… Can you attest that they don't belong to Axelor?"
"And what proof do you have of that?"
Again, silence. Daneel had already considered everything, and he did not see any way to expose the identities of these soldiers.
Besides, no matter what he tried, the King of Axelor could spin it and convince the people that Lanthanor was just being a sore loser.
At least, right now, there was nothing to be done except watch as Axelor started racking up the points one by one.
Just like Faxul, he had been expecting that Axelor would make trouble, but both of them could never have thought that that 'trouble' would be in the form of finding a way to shore up their weaknesses to ensure their victory in the event.
"They are from the Big Four, aren't they?"
As Faxul asked this question, Daneel was shaken out of his thoughts.
"The Protector Raven?", he asked, as it really was a fact that it was almost impossible for normal people to notice the usage of the spell technique before.
"No, common sense, Daneel. All the highest echelons of the kingdoms know that there is one of the Big Four behind Axelor, and everyone also knows about their weakness in the Mage department. I just didn't think that they would be so despicable to enlist outside help for victory. Isn't the whole point to display the skills of your Kingdom to gain honor?"
The answer made Daneel laugh out loud, as he had forgotten about this angle. True enough, the Kings and the top ministers of each Kingdom would easily be able to guess where these new additions were from.
But, the answer to his friend's question was also simple.
"They clearly don't care what the rulers think. It's smart. There's no way that we can expose the information about the Big 4 to the public, so the audience will just think that they are some trump card who have been hidden. They gain victory and honor, and they go home smiling. A perfect plan."
Towards the end, Daneel's voice had taken on a frigid tone, which made Faxul shudder and turned around to see his friend eyeing the ground. There was a cold smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes.
This actually scared Faxul a little bit, and he felt glad that he wasn't the one being looked at with that gaze.
"Have you ever realized that you look scary when you're planning someone's downfall?"
In response to his friend's question, Daneel only smiled even wider and nodded at him before taking out a communication trinket and sending a message to Cassandra.
…
On the ground, Cassandra, who was at the head of the line containing the soldiers of the Kingdom of Lanthanor, was watching the proceedings with a suspicious look in her eyes.
As the commander of the mage army of Lanthanor, it was her job to be perfectly aware of the other mage armies on the continent.
Hence, the fact that 15 genius mages had come out of nowhere to join Axelor was something that she couldn't wrap her head around.
It was at this moment that she received the message from the King which made her smile and whisper to the soldier behind her, "Execute Plan Alpha."
This message passed through the line of the soldiers of the Lanthanor Kingdom, who had all been feeling slightly taken aback by the performance of Axelor which was supposed to lose badly in this stage of the competition.
Yet, it seemed that this message had cheered them up, making them smile with anticipation.
Finally, after a few minutes, a loud cheer rang from the crowd as the team from Axelor walked back to their original position.
Next, it was the turn of the hosts.
As the 50 soldiers walked up to the stage with the gorgeous redhead leading them, the crowd started to get ready for another smashing performance.
They had all been subject to one shock, so almost no one thought that there would be another upset.
Yet, when the commander of the mage army of the Kingdom of Lanthanor walked up to the stage and gave her performance, a silence fell over the entire stadium as almost everyone rubbed their eyes, wondering whether they had gone blind.
She had walked forward and raised her hands to make a funnel similar to the others appear in the air, but no arrow had risen from the pile at her feet to be shot.
The targets were untouched, and the scoreboard also did not have any additional name.
So far, each initial performance of every Kingdom had always resulted in their name appearing on the scoreboard, as it was the commanders who went first.
Yet, no such thing had happened here.
Even while everyone was trying to understand what was going on, the next soldier walked up and did the same.
The funnel which had faded away after the exit of the commander had come into existence again, but there was some slight change in it which almost went undetected.
However, no arrow rose up again, and Lanthanor was still absent from the scoreboard.
As soldier of the soldier kept making the funnel appear and then going back to their place, some people who didn't like Lanthanor even started booing as they hoped that they were just giving up.
As for the others, only one question was in their minds.
What the heck was going on?