Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 321: The Games Begin

Third-person POV

Electra stood tall on the field, her bow gripped tightly in her hand, and the leather of her gloves creaked softly with how hard she was holding it.

All around her, the arena was filled with noise, with students screaming from the stands and banners waving, but to keep herself prepared and retain her sanity, she tuned it all out.

Hunter was just a few feet away, acting like he had something to say, but Electra didn’t even glance in his direction. She had no interest in whatever he thought was important right now.

He had tried saying something a minute ago, but she simply turned away, letting him know that this wasn’t the time for distractions, especially not from someone like him.

There were four teams lined up on the field now and twenty-four players total. Each team had six players, and Electra stood at the front of hers in her bright red captain’s uniform. The emblem of the Elmerian royal family was stitched over her heart.

She kept reminding herself over and over again that today wasn’t just about winning a tournament. Today was about proving to everyone watching—her school, her kingdom, and especially her father—that she was worthy of her title.

She turned her head, giving a quick glance to the rest of her team. Irina looked calm as always, her eyes looking stern and focused. Roxana was bouncing slightly on her heels, clearly trying to shake off the nerves.

Penelope was cracking her knuckles, jaw tight. Deena looked unreadable, but Electra kept an eye on her anyway, and Yura... Electra paused, her gaze softening for a moment. Yura looked anxious but, at the same time, ready.

"Everyone, stay sharp," Electra said, keeping her voice low. "We need to keep formation as much as possible and avoid getting separated too early."

Then, her eyes narrowed as they landed on Deena. "And you, don’t even think about trying something funny, Deena. You try to screw us over, and I swear you’ll regret it."

Deena didn’t respond; she just looked away.

Electra turned to Yura next. "And you, if you start feeling too overwhelmed, slow down, okay? Don’t burn yourself out in the first round."

Yura nodded quickly. "Got it."

A loud voice rang out over the field, amplified so everyone could hear it. "All players, prepare to bow to Their Majesties—the King and Queen of Elmeria."

All teams turned toward the royal stand, and Electra looked towards her father again, watching how he was still sitting stiffly with his hands clasped and his expression unreadable. Jella, as always, was trying to look graceful and calm, but Electra could see the faint crease in her brow. They were both watching closely.

She and her team bowed deeply, and Electra felt her stomach twist.

The second command followed: "Teams, bow to each other!"

Each group faced one another in turn and offered quick bows. Some did so politely, others mockingly. One of the teams, the one from Varynn Academy, barely dipped their heads and smirked the whole time.

Then came the third announcement, and with it, the sound of a loud, blaring horn: the buzzer.

Instantly, the arena began to shift, and the field started to transform right before everyone’s eyes. Platforms rose from the ground, floating objects, moving vines, patches of fog, and spinning targets. All across the field, hundreds of enchanted orbs appeared. Some hovered in the air, while some were hidden behind moving traps, and some flickered like they could vanish at any second.

The goal for this specific game was simple: collect as many orbs as possible before time ran out. Each orb was worth points based on how hard it was to catch, and while some were disguised or camouflaged, others were cursed, meant to trap or disorient whoever touched them.

There were even orbs that required two players to capture at the same time, testing teamwork under pressure, and of course, stealing was fair game.

"You can shoot an orb off your opponent’s path. You can steal their captured orbs if you hit the glowing mark on their belts, and if any specific player tries to hold more than five at once, all their orbs will vanish. No hoarding," the voice announced with a chuckle.

As soon as the horn blared again, chaos erupted.

Electra leapt into motion, her body reacting on instinct. She rolled across a low wall that shot up in front of her and aimed her bow at an orb that hovered just above a moving vine. With one smooth motion, she fired.

Direct hit.

The orb zipped toward her, locking into the pouch clipped to her belt. One down, but she didn’t stop to smile.

"Watch your left!" Irina shouted.

Electra ducked just in time as an arrow whooshed past her head. She didn’t need to look to know who it came from.

Hunter.

He was coming straight toward her, and his team spread out, creating distractions while he locked eyes with her. It was more than obvious that he wanted a direct fight.

Electra smiled.

"Bring it on," she muttered.

She spun around and shot two arrows in quick succession, knocking a floating gem and a winged object out of the air. Her quiver refilled every ten seconds, but even that wasn’t fast enough in this kind of frenzy.

Hunter reached her, stepping onto the same platform she was on. "Still not talking to me?" he asked, shooting an arrow that caught a rare ten-point orb right before it touched the ground.

"Still not interested," Electra replied, firing one of her own arrows just inches from his hand. Not enough to hit, but enough to make him back off.

"You’re quite good at this," Hunter said with a slight nod. "I’m almost surprised."

"Get back to the game, you dimwit," Electra said, dashing away.

***

Seraphina’s lungs were burning. One second she was in the hallway, being strangled by Iris’s hands, and the next, the ground under her had disappeared.

Wind whipped around her ears as she realized they weren’t in the dorm anymore; they were on top of a building. No, not just any building, the class building, and she was standing dangerously close to the edge, with Iris’s hands still locked around her throat.

She could barely speak, but her instincts kicked in. Her arms reached up to scratch at Iris’s grip, and her feet shuffled back until she had nowhere left to go. The tip of her shoe scraped air.

"What the hell are you doing?" Seraphina managed to choke out, her voice hoarse.

Iris smiled. "You have a sigil on your body, don’t you?" she asked, her tone sickeningly calm.

Seraphina’s eyes widened, but she didn’t answer because she couldn’t. Her head was spinning, and her knees were starting to give out.

"I’m a phoenix, sweetheart," Iris went on, like they were just having a normal conversation. "And I know what it means. That sigil ties you to Electra. It holds her together and technically keeps you both alive. Without it, you’ll both die."

Seraphina gasped, trying to pull away. Her hands clutched at Iris’s wrists, but they wouldn’t budge. She could feel her heart thudding wildly inside her chest, like it was begging her to fight back, to do something, anything, to survive.

"The fastest way to break her completely," Iris whispered, leaning in closer, "is for you to die and for that sigil to burn out."

Seraphina tried to kick and to scream, but nothing came out. She could barely stay on her feet, and the edge of the roof felt too thin. A single nudge and she’d be gone.

"So unfortunately for you," Iris said, her grip tightening, "this is the end."

Just as she moved to shove Seraphina over the edge—

"What the hell do you think you’re doing, Iris?!"

The voice came from behind, loud and furious.

Iris froze, and her hands loosened. Seraphina didn’t even waste a second. She dropped to her knees, coughing violently, and crawled back from the ledge like her life depended on it, because it did.

Yuna stood a few steps away, eyes wide with shock and rage.

Iris turned to face her slowly, that smug look back on her face like nothing had happened. "Oh," she said sweetly. "Didn’t see you there."

Yuna didn’t speak right away. She looked from Iris to Seraphina, who was still wheezing on the floor, clutching her neck. Then her eyes went back to Iris, and they were burning.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Yuna snapped. "You were going to kill her."

"Well, on the bright side, she would’ve died peacefully," Iris replied, flipping her hair. "She probably wouldn’t have even felt the fall."

"Are you insane?"

"Possibly," Iris said with a shrug.

Yuna’s jaw clenched. Her fists were shaking at her sides. "You think this is a joke? You think murdering someone is funny?"

"I’m just trying to win," Iris replied coldly. "And if a little death pushes Electra off the rails, I say it’s worth it."

Yuna stepped forward. "You’ve lost it."

Iris’s eyes narrowed. "You’re one to talk. You were the one who hated Seraphina most after she chose Electra’s side, so don’t pretend you care now, and stay out of it if you don’t wish to join her."