The moment Knox said that, the others immediately turned toward him.
Group 8, who had just finished checking their own names, gathered around almost at once.
"What?" Cindy asked first. "Who is it? Why are you reacting like that?"
Claudia stepped closer as well, while Merida, though slower than the others, still lifted her gaze toward Knox with clear curiosity.
Then the three girls followed Knox's line of sight and searched the bulletin board.
A second later, they found it.
Class A Knox Aznable vs. Class I Chatel Mayer
Cindy's mouth fell wide open.
Merida's half-lidded eyes opened noticeably wider than usual.
And Claudia completely froze.
Not far away, Group 7 noticed the bizarre reaction from Group 8 and immediately grew curious too.
"What happened?" Rick asked.
Simon and the others stepped closer, then looked at the board as well.
It only took them a moment to find Knox's name.
And the moment they saw the opponent listed beneath it—
they froze too.
For one brief instant, both Group 7 and Group 8 looked like they had all been hit by the same paralysis curse at once.
Seeing both groups suddenly turn into statues, Knox tilted his head and asked in the most innocent tone imaginable, "Hmm? What's wrong, guys?"
That question finally snapped them out of it.
Then Cindy shouted loud enough for practically everyone nearby to hear.
"Spe-Special Entry No. 4, Chatel Mayer?!"
Because Cindy's voice was so loud, the people around them immediately heard it and turned their attention toward Knox.
Knox, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm.
"Yup, Chatel Mayer~"
Rick reacted as if he were halfway between speaking and screaming.
"Of all people, why did you have to run into that half-giant?!"
Meanwhile, Lorain watched all of this with an expression that made it look as though she were observing country bumpkins asking another person how breathing worked.
Then Claudia stepped forward and asked, with a worried look she could not quite hide,
"Sigh... just in case, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Knox smiled at her question as leisurely as ever.
"Guys," he said, "do you really think I'll lose?~"
Rick scratched his cheek.
"Normally, I'd warn you to be careful, but... considering we're talking about you, I'm supposed to feel reassured instead, right? Haha...?"
Then Merida immediately cut in.
"Rick. Be quiet."
Rick visibly shrank.
"M-Me, Merida?"
One look at her low, flat stare was enough to make him clamp his mouth shut.
Then Merida turned back to Knox and asked quietly,
"You'll win, right?"
Knox nodded calmly.
"I will win."
The moment those words left his mouth, Lorain crossed her arms with a smug expression and nodded as if the matter had already been settled.
"Of course Knox will win. Who do you think Knox is?"
Group 7 and Group 8 looked at her, then almost seemed to collectively think the same thing.
Why are you the one looking proud?
"I quite agree with her~."
A pleasant voice suddenly slipped into the conversation.
Under normal circumstances, it would have sounded charming.
Unfortunately, after realizing who it belonged to, most people there no longer found it pleasant at all.
Especially Meilyn and Lorain.
The two of them reacted almost identically, like a blue cat and a black cat both puffing up and baring their teeth at the same natural enemy.
Hiss!!!
And that enemy—
was none other than the ivory fox herself.
Serene Aidark.
"Hehe, hello, everyone. My name is Serene Aidark. Nice to meet you," Serene said with a sweet smile.
Before Meilyn could lunge at her or start yelling, Lorain suddenly stepped forward and moved slightly in front of the others, her voice turning cold enough to chill the air.
"Serene Aidark. While I'm still in a good mood, go away."
Serene, who clearly had expected exactly that kind of response, merely chuckled.
"Hehe, I never thought the heir of Kizen would chase me off this harshly~"
Then, since Lorain had blocked her view of Group 7 and Group 8—especially Meilyn and Knox—Serene tilted her head a little, peeking past Lorain's shoulder.
She gave Meilyn a little wave.
Then she winked at Knox.
And right after that, she spun around lightly, clasped her hands behind her back, and walked away as casually as she had come.
Meanwhile, both Meilyn and Lorain looked as though all the fur on their bodies had stood up.
But for very different reasons.
Meilyn, because she simply hated Serene.
Lorain, because Serene had winked at Knox.
As for the rest of Group 7 and Group 8, they were still left staring blankly, completely dumbfounded, with the sort of faces that practically said:
Where is this? Who am I? What just happened?
Knox himself watched the whole thing with a similarly blank look for a second.
Then he smiled sheepishly and shook his head.
"Sigh... she really came and left like a storm."
Feeling the atmosphere had become a little too strange, Knox decided to steer things back to normal.
"Anyway," he said, turning back toward Lorain, "who's your opponent?"
Lorain, whose expression had been cold just moments ago, immediately softened the instant Knox addressed her.
"Hm? I don't know," she said. "I forgot. Let me look again."
The moment those words came out, everyone around her seemed to feel the same thing at once.
It was like watching some absurdly rich young lady say:
Money? What's that? I only use gold bars.
***
After the duel evaluation matchups were revealed, the students spent the following days investigating their opponents and putting together strategies.
And then, at last, the day of the duel evaluation arrived.
Knox and the others gathered at the first stadium and took their seats in the stands to watch Merida's first match.
However, Knox could not even bear to watch until the very end and ended up turning his head away.
"...."
"Hm." Merida muttered.
"Winner! Student Merida Hugh Ickel."
At the referee's declaration, after confirming that Toto Amory was no longer moving, the entire stadium fell silent for a moment.
It was an utterly one-sided match that ended in just thirty seconds.
"Poor Toto…" said Claudia.
After Merida's match ended, Group 8 headed for Stadium 5, where Cindy's match was about to take place.
Meanwhile, Group 7 split off and made their way to the second stadium, where Simon's match would be held.
Once they arrived at Stadium 5, Cindy went straight into the waiting room, while Knox, Claudia, and Merida took their seats in the stands.
"What do you think will happen this time?" Knox asked, leaning back slightly as he looked down toward the arena.
"Wouldn't Cindy win?" Claudia replied, though her tone carried a trace of uncertainty.
Knox rested his chin lightly against one hand as he looked toward the field.
While the three of them exchanged a few quiet words, the tenth match of the first round was announced soon after.
"We will now begin the duel evaluation match between Cindy Vivace of Class A and Elijah Crovis of Class N!"
With the referee's call, the two students stepped into position and faced each other. The match began immediately.
"Alright then, let's start the match!"
Cindy moved first.
The moment she rushed forward, Elijah widened the distance between them and thrust out a hand. A magic circle shone before him.
"Blood grenade!"
A red bullet shot through the air.
Cindy swung her Spirit Scythe and sliced it apart at once—
—but then—
Boom!
The severed blood grenade reassembled mid-flight and struck Cindy directly.
"Ugh...!"
The blood grenades used in Haematology varied widely depending on the user's blood type.
Elijah let out a scoff. "It's not over just because you cut my bullet."
Soon after, a continuous barrage of blood grenades rained toward Cindy one after another.
In response, Cindy used Spiritualization, her form shifting into a spirit state and immediately began moving with much greater speed, weaving around the attacks with quick, nimble steps.
"See? You're not gonna hit me that easily!"
"Tch."
With Cindy dodging the blood grenades in flashy, agile movements and Elijah pressing her without pause, the tension between offense and evasion gradually heated up the atmosphere in the stands.
Watching from their seats, Knox narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Is that AP-3?"
"Yeah," Claudia replied with a nod. "That blood type has a strong restorative property. Even if you cut it apart, it immediately merges back together."
"So either you completely neutralize it..." Knox murmured.
"...Or avoidance is the only answer," Merida finished flatly.
That was exactly the situation Cindy was in right now.
She could not simply cut through Elijah's attacks and call it done. Because of the blood type's strong regenerative tendency, any half-measure would only let the projectile re-form and continue its course.
So instead, Cindy kept slipping through the barrage while gradually closing the distance.
"If she just keeps stalling like this, Elijah wins by decision," Claudia said, her voice tightening a little.
"But if she gets close enough," Merida said firmly, "she can turn it around instantly."
Knox's gaze stayed fixed on Cindy's movements below.
As expected, she was not just dodging blindly.
Little by little, she was adjusting her footwork, reading Elijah's rhythm, and trimming away the distance between them.
Then, at that moment—
"She won't be able to hold on. She'll get hit."
Knox and Merida muttered almost at the same time.
[Cindy Vivace: 78%]
[Elijah Crovis: 100%]
As Elijah's one-sided barrage gradually began to slow, Knox's eyes narrowed slightly.
There. Now was the moment.
Below, Cindy seemed to reach the same conclusion.
Her sharp eyes flashed, and in the next instant, she sprang forward.
Whoosh!
Her body shot through the gaps between the blood grenades with astonishing agility. One step, then another, her movements were so quick and light that she almost seemed to vanish and reappear between attacks.
Elijah's eyes widened.
"She got through—?!"
Cindy twisted her body mid-step, her Spirit Scythe sweeping out in a fast crescent.
Shhk!
The blade grazed Elijah's shoulder.
"Heh!"
Blood splattered lightly, and the barrier gauge above him dropped.
[Cindy Vivace: 78%]
[Elijah Crovis: 82%]
From the stands, Knox let out a small hum of approval.
"She got him."
Cindy landed smoothly and spun her scythe once in her hand, the corners of her mouth lifting.
"Haematology really is nice when you want overwhelming ranged firepower," she said. "But if it burns through your own blood, then dragging things out is kind of impossible, isn't it?"
Elijah's brows twitched. "Hmph! I just need to finish this before you can collapse!"
He immediately raised his hand again and deployed another magic circle.
Several blood grenades shot out in quick succession.
But unlike before, Cindy no longer focused purely on evasion.
Now that she had found the rhythm of his attacks, she began weaving in counters of her own.
A small magic circle flickered beside her.
"Soul Spear."
A condensed spear of soul-force shot forward.
Elijah was forced to jerk sideways to avoid it.
Then another came.
And another.
Not enough to finish him outright, but more than enough to keep disrupting his stance and break his flow.
"Tch!"
Each time Elijah tried to stabilize and fire properly, another Soul Spear came flying at him from an awkward angle, forcing him to move again. His barrage grew rougher. Less precise. Less oppressive.
From the stands, Claudia exhaled softly.
"She's doing it on purpose."
Knox smiled faintly. "Yeah. She's not just rushing him. She's making him waste even more blood while ruining his aim."
Merida, as usual, kept her eyes fixed on the field.
"Good."
Below, Cindy dashed again.
This time, Elijah hastily cast and launched a fresh volley, trying to catch her before she entered his range.
But Cindy bent low, slid beneath one projectile, pivoted away from another, then sprang lightly to the side as a third exploded behind her.
Boom! Boom!
Dust and fragments of shattered ground burst into the air.
"Missed me!"
Elijah clicked his tongue in frustration and tried to retreat again, but by now Cindy was already too close.
And right in front of him, he hurriedly raised his hand and deployed another magic circle.
"This—!"
But Cindy's hand was faster.
Her eyes gleamed.
"Take this!"
[Cindy Vivace Original – Soul Ballista]
A much larger magic circle unfolded in front of her, and from it, a powerful spear of condensed soul-force erupted in a straight line.
The shot slammed directly into Elijah's abdomen.
"Ugh—!"
[Elijah Crovis: 0%]
The impact lifted him off his feet and sent him stumbling back before he collapsed to his knees, then fell over helplessly.
The referee immediately raised a hand.
"Winner, student Cindy Vivace!"
For a beat, the stands were silent—
then applause broke out all at once.
Knox, Claudia, and even Merida joined in, as cheers broke out from the stands.
Cindy, still on the field, spun her scythe once and flashed a bright grin toward the audience.