The Black Cat Squad ultimately secured an overwhelming victory.
When Principal Larissa Weems handed the ancient-looking championship trophy to Enid, the Little Wolf Girl was so excited she almost jumped for joy.
She threw her arms around Victor's neck, letting out a cheerful laugh, her face radiating pure and brilliant joy.
The Principal had intended to follow tradition and deliver a concluding speech about 'friendship, struggle, and showcasing extraordinary traits,' but the words stuck in her throat.
Recalling the explosion on the lake that rivaled the Normandy Landings, the boats split in half, and the grinning culprit standing before her, she truly couldn't bring herself to utter those high-sounding phrases.
What kind of 'good traits' did this demonstrate? The exceptional battlefield survival skills of Nevermore students, or their counter-terrorism response capabilities?
She cleared her throat, her gaze sweeping across the field before finally settling on Victor. Her voice was steady but carried an unquestionable authority: "In light of certain...'special circumstances' that occurred in this year's competition."
She deliberately emphasized the phrase. "To ensure the safety and sustainability of future events, I hereby announce two new rules starting from the next Poe Cup."
"First, the use of any form of firearms and high-yield explosives is strictly prohibited."
"Second," her gaze pinned Victor's face like an ice pick, "Mr. Victor Black, you are permanently banned from competing."
"What?! This is a dictatorship! Tyranny! It's the stifling of the innovative spirit!" Victor immediately jumped up in protest, his face a picture of exaggerated grief and indignation.
Principal Larissa merely raised an eyebrow, her tone almost gentle: "Furthermore, Mr. Black, I am quite interested in those 'environmentally friendly and harmless' little toys of yours."
"Please submit a research paper of no less than fifty thousand words, detailing their safety and environmental friendliness. If the paper doesn't pass," she gave a slight smile, "you will rewrite it until I am satisfied."
Victor instantly froze on the spot, his expression looking as if he had been struck by lightning.
By the time he finally reacted to this bolt from the blue, he was about to begin his 'tavern speech' against tyranny, attempting to incite the crowd:
"I don't think the world should be like this, everyone! Are you going to stand by and watch our freedom be eroded bit by bit? Today they can ban me and my little toys, tomorrow they could..."
Before he could finish, Enid's quick hands covered his mouth, forcefully stifling the even more shocking words. She gave the Principal an embarrassed smile while dragging the muffled, protesting Victor away from the crowd.
"A pity," Wednesday remarked from the side, expressionless. "I was actually somewhat interested in the content of his speech."
The other shaken contestants nearby heard this, and their faces filled with schadenfreude. It wasn't that they were petty; it was just that Victor was truly a menace!
They were still terrified just thinking about it—
When they had finally escaped the grenade bombardment and were swimming to shore exhausted, that scoundrel Victor actually used a remote to drop a motorized wooden crocodile head into the water!
When that hideous crocodile head slowly and silently swam toward them, everyone's blood ran cold! This psychological damage was even worse than the explosions!
The post-race celebration party was held on the grassy lakeside.
Food, drinks, and laughter filled the air, and the atmosphere of having survived a disaster was exceptionally lively.
Enid held onto Victor's arm almost the entire time, as if afraid that if she let go, he would go off to cause some other world-shaking destruction.
After the total release of emotions on the Black Lake, she seemed much bolder. But even so, clinging to Victor's arm and feeling the warmth from him made her heart beat like a drum; this was almost the limit of her current courage.
At the same time, she felt a secret regret: why, at the most impulsive and excited moment on the Black Lake, had she only kissed his cheek? Why hadn't she been braver... Wednesday stood alone, far from the noisy crowd.
The gazes directed at her—a mixture of smiles, greetings, encouragement, and even awe—made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
She walked slowly to a relatively secluded corner of the campus and sat down beneath a bronze statue of Edgar Allan Poe.
A cool breeze brushed past, yet she felt inexplicably irritable.
Images from the Black Lake replayed uncontrollably in her mind—the scene where Enid grabbed Victor's bell collar and kissed his cheek with wild impulse.
A strange, cold, yet slightly stinging sensation, like invisible claws, gently gripped her heart.
An unprecedented, complex, and dark emotion quietly spread through her heart, making her feel unfamiliar and... uneasy.
Perhaps she could ask that incompetent psychiatrist about it during the next counseling session.
Wednesday's thoughts wandered aimlessly as she subconsciously looked up.
Her gaze drifted over the details of the Poe statue—the literary giant held a symbolic book in his hands.
In the next second, Wednesday's pupils suddenly constricted, and all stray thoughts were instantly cleared!
She stood up abruptly, staring intently at the cover of the book on the statue.
Carved upon it was the very emblem she had been searching for fruitlessly—the elegant and deadly dragons breath symbol!
Ever since she had obtained the clue of a purple book with the dragons breath symbol through a vision, she had been searching for it.
But after days of investigation, the only gain was learning from Teacher Sansil that the symbol was related to the long-disbanded secret society, the 'Nightshades.'
Beyond that, there had been nothing.
She hadn't expected the clue to be standing here so quietly and publicly, waiting to be discovered by someone who truly understood its meaning.
A cold excitement instantly replaced all her cluttered emotions.
The corners of Wednesday's mouth curled very slowly into a genuine, predatory arc.
The game had entered a new stage.
Edgar Allan Poe was famous for his love of riddles.
Wednesday turned her gaze to the book the statue held. Several lines of small text were carved on it, an obscure riddle:
The opposite of Moon.
The world between us.
The two months before June.
The flower that sows itself.
One more than one.
Branches weep to the ground.
Melts in the sun.
Cannot find the start or the end.
Every rule has one.
Edgar Allan Poe, this is probably your cleverest moment yet.
Wednesday's lips curved slightly; this wasn't a single riddle, but rather each line was an independent one.
Her brain worked rapidly, like a precision code-breaking machine:
The opposite of Moon. - Sun
The world between us. - Nether
The two months before June. - April
The flower that sows itself. - Pansy
One more than one. - Two
Branches weep to the ground. - Willow
Melts in the sun. - Ice
Cannot find the start or the end. - O
Every rule has one. - Exception
She quickly arranged the first letters of the answers in her mind: S-N-A-P-T-W-I-C-E.
Snap twice.
Wednesday's mouth had just curled into a cold, knowing arc, and before she could even process the meaning of the command, she heard Victor's drawling, exaggeratedly enthusiastic shout piercing the evening air from a distance:
"Wednesday—! Queen—! Captain—! Come to the celebration party—! There's delicious chocolate cake—!"
Hearing Victor's operatic, fluctuating tone, Wednesday's eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
Celebration party? Cake? And Victor?
The combination of these three words sounded like the perfect preview for a disaster.
Rather than going to that cloyingly sweet, headache-inducingly noisy 'disaster scene,' she would rather... Wednesday's footsteps stopped abruptly, as if pricked by an invisible needle.
She even subconsciously slapped her own forehead with a look of disbelief.
Dammit! The 'better option' her subconscious had just compared it to was... rather kiss Victor?!
Hell! This was more unbearable than seeing ten boring murders in a row through a vision!
She shook her head violently, trying to completely banish that absurd and outrageous image from her mind.
"Found you, Captain~"
A smiling voice suddenly rang out from a very close distance.
Without warning, Victor hung upside down from above—from the shoulder of the Poe statue. His hair dangled down, and a grinning face suddenly appeared right in front of Wednesday, their noses almost touching.
Wednesday could even clearly smell the cloying, lingering scent of chocolate on him.
The extreme shock, combined perhaps with a trace of lingering shame from that terrible comparison, caused Wednesday's brain to go momentarily blank.
Her body, before her reason could react, performed its most instinctive, battle-hardened defensive response—
A right hook, accompanied by the sound of breaking wind, landed solidly on Victor's face, which was full of 'prank successful' smiles!
"Ow—!!!"
A shrill scream pierced the quiet evening sky of Nevermore Academy, startling a flock of crows resting in the distant woods...