The arena had never known silence like this.
The moment Aren and Ben ripped the entire stone pillar out of the ground, dragged it across the forest, and casually hurled it into the lake 🌊—the Sword-in-Water Tournament collapsed into chaos unlike anything in Academy history.
Teachers were shouting at each other.Students were screaming.Commentators were arguing mid-broadcast.And Princess Rias looked like she might accidentally burn the forest down 🔥.
The floating crystal screens replayed the moment again and again:
Aren: "Who is the boss?"Ben: "You are."Aren: "Dig."Ben: "But we can't break the stone—"Aren: "No. Break the ground."
The crowd stood frozen between shock, admiration, and pure terror.
No one—not students,not veterans,not even ancient instructors—had ever considered the possibility of simply uprooting the entire puzzle.
Some students cried 😭.Some cheered 🎉.Some fainted 😵.Some immediately started writing notes titled:
"Ways to Exploit Academy Rules" 📝.
And everywhere Aren walked, questions swarmed him like flies to honey.
A red-haired boy rushed forward.
"W-WHY DID YOU DIG THE WHOLE STONE OUT?!"
Aren replied calmly, "Instructions said pull the sword out of the stone. They did not specify direction."
A beastkin girl pointed accusingly.
"THAT IS NOT HOW PEOPLE DO THE TOURNAMENT!"
Aren shrugged.
"I read the rules."
A dwarf stomped forward, beard shaking.
"THIS VIOLATES THE SPIRIT OF THE EVENT!"
Aren lowered his gaze slightly.
"Spirit is not a rule."
Someone yelled from the back:
"BUT THAT WAS ILLEGAL!"
Aren tapped the rulebook pinned to his chest.
"Article Seven. 'If not forbidden, allowed.'"
Silence returned.
Because he was right.
Painfully right.
🔥 Judges vs Reality
In the command tower, the judges had completely lost control.
One teacher slammed his hat onto the floor.Another pulled his hair so hard it came off.A third jumped onto a fourth, shouting:
"HE EXPLOITED A LOOPHOLE!""THAT'S THE POINT OF COMPETITION!""HE BROKE THE ARENA!""NO, HE BROKE THE GROUND!""THAT'S WORSE!"
The head instructor tried to intervene.
"STOP THIS AT ONCE! WE MUST MAINTAIN DIGNI—"
A chair hit him in the face 🪑💥.
🔥 The Princesses React
At the front row, Princess Rias Emberheart clenched her fists.
"That man…" she whispered, eyes burning with fury and fascination."He's going to destroy the Academy one day."
Beside her, Lyris stared blankly.
"I trained for a month…""…and he wins by digging?"
Her soul left her body.
🏆 Victory… and Worse News
Ben clapped Aren on the shoulder with a grin wide enough to crack mountains.
"WE DID IT, BROTHER! WE WON!!"
The results appeared on every crystal screen:
Team Aren & Ben — VICTORYSword Qualification: GRANTEDPoints Earned: King-Level Privileges (30 Days)
The crowd exploded.
But then—
A blue crystal descended in front of Aren.
A staff member, hands shaking, read from a scroll.
"By Academy law… any team that retrieves their sword intact from its original stone… is legally eligible to draw the sword again during the final stage."
Ben blinked.
"Brother… what does that mean?"
Aren looked at the sword submerged in the lake.
"It means," he said calmly,"we can win again."
Students screamed.Teachers panicked.Rias covered her face.Lyris collapsed onto a bench.
Aren simply nodded and walked away—as if he hadn't just shattered two centuries of tradition.
🔥 Chaos After Victory
The lake still trembled from the impact.
While other teams fought desperately for blue water,Aren and Ben had already finished the puzzle.
Students argued whether Aren was a genius, a demon, or a walking natural disaster 😨.
One arrogant student shoved through the crowd.
"YOU CHEATED! I'LL REPORT YOU! YOU'LL BE DISQUALIFIED—"
Aren grabbed him by the neck.
Calmly.Silently.
And walked him toward the lake.
The boy screamed.
"N-NO—WAIT—HELP—GLUB—!"
Aren dunked him under the water.
Held him there.
Like laundry 🧺.
Ben gave a thumbs-up 👍.
Lyris covered her face.Rias watched quietly… impressed.
Aren lifted the boy halfway.
"You done talking?"
"YES—YES—I'M SORRY—GLUB—!"
Aren dunked him again.
Then tossed him onto the grass like a wet sack.
No one complained after that.
⚖️ New Rule, Too Late
The head judge stood, trembling.
"I—DECLARE A NEW RULE!"
Silence.
"FROM NOW ON—NO UPROOTING THE SWORD OR STONE! ANY ATTEMPT WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION!"
The crowd applauded.
Aren shrugged.
"That is a future problem."
⚔️ The Sword Nobody Wanted
A judge approached, holding the freed sword.
It glowed softly ✨.
"This sword is said to make its holder righteous… honest… morally pure."
The crowd murmured in awe.
Ben raised an eyebrow.Lyris gasped.Rias smiled.
Aren blinked once.
Then threw the sword into the bushes 🌿.
The arena screamed.
The judge collapsed.Rias covered her face.
"…Of course he did."
Aren nodded.
"It would change my personality. Unacceptable."
Despite everything, the announcement rang out:
"AREN AND BEN ROCKHOLD ARE THE WINNERS OF THE SWORD-IN-WATER TOURNAMENT!"
The crowd roared.
Ben flexed 💪.Rias glared.Lyris questioned her existence.The judges swore vengeance on future rulebooks.
And just like that—
Aren became the first student in Academy history to win a prestigious tournament…
🕳️ by digging a hole.