Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 46 – Mini Tournament (Part 5)

Adam felt somewhat uncomfortable under Evelyne’s gaze.

He could feel her glancing at him from her seat, probably waiting for some reaction to what they had just witnessed. But he simply refused to look at her, keeping his eyes fixed forward as he waited for the headmistress to announce the next match.

He had no desire to deal with uncomfortable questions about what had happened or how he felt about it.

Just then, Headmistress Acelina Brookhaven stepped into the center of the coliseum once more, her voice echoing throughout the structure as she addressed the spectators with a satisfied smile.

"The previous match was truly spectacular," she said, gesturing toward where Valeria had stood moments earlier. "Miss Ashcroft demonstrated exactly why her family holds the reputation it does. And Miss Nightshade proved herself a worthy opponent who fought until the very end."

She paused, allowing scattered applause to fill the coliseum.

"Now," she commented in a more serious tone, "we will proceed to the sixth match of the day. Both participants have shown impressive abilities during their respective training, so I expect them to give us an equally memorable spectacle."

She raised her hand, pointing toward the battlefield gates.

"Sixth match: Alice Velmoor versus Thea Brightwood."

Adam’s attention immediately focused on the field as Alice emerged from one of the entrances with that characteristic smile on her face, walking with confident steps while casually holding her sword in one hand.

From the opposite side appeared Thea Brightwood, a beastwoman of similar height to Alice, with feline ears that twitched slightly. She had brown hair with a few darker streaks and yellow eyes. Her tail swayed slowly behind her as she walked toward the center.

When the two stood face to face on the battlefield, Thea did something completely unexpected.

She let her sword drop to the ground with a metallic clang that echoed throughout the coliseum.

The confused murmur of the spectators immediately filled the air.

Alice arched an eyebrow at that before her smile widened as she looked directly at Thea. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Thea replied as she took a stance for hand-to-hand combat. "I’d rather fight with what I know how to use best."

Alice let out a small laugh before tossing her own sword to the ground beside Thea’s. "This is going to be fun."

The murmurs grew considerably louder at that.

"Can they do that?" someone asked from the stands.

"There are no rules against hand-to-hand combat," someone else replied.

"This is going to be brutal."

Adam let out a wry smile as he leaned back against his seat. ’Of course Alice would do something like this,’ he thought with faint amusement.

The headmistress looked at both of them for several seconds before nodding slowly. "If both participants agree to fight without weapons, that is acceptable. Begin."

Without wasting any time, Alice immediately lunged forward, not giving Thea the chance to fully prepare, closing the distance between them quickly before throwing a straight hook toward her opponent’s face.

Thea tilted her head back, dodging the strike by mere inches before counterattacking with a punch aimed at Alice’s stomach.

Alice blocked the blow with her forearm while simultaneously launching a kick toward Thea’s ribs that connected with a dull thud.

Thea stepped back from the impact, but showed no signs of pain. She simply steadied herself and attacked again with a quick combination of punches: left, right, and left again.

Alice dodged the first two, but the third connected against her shoulder, causing her to spin slightly before regaining her balance.

What followed was a frantic exchange of punches and kicks that kept every spectator completely captivated.

Alice drove a knee toward Thea’s abdomen, which Thea blocked with both hands before shoving her backward and creating space between them.

Thea used that space to launch herself forward with a spinning kick that Alice barely managed to block by raising her arm, the impact echoing audibly all the way to the stands.

"Damn," Piers muttered. "Those two are really going all out."

Alice stepped back several paces before smiling even wider, clearly enjoying the fight. She wiped a bit of blood from her lip where one of Thea’s blows had partially connected.

"Not bad," Alice commented in an amused tone.

"You’re not bad either," Thea replied as she adjusted her stance.

Both of them lunged at each other again simultaneously.

Alice feigned a high punch that made Thea raise her guard, but at the last second she switched the attack and drove a kick into her opponent’s stomach, sending her to the ground.

Thea didn’t have time to clutch her stomach in pain before she had to roll to the side to avoid the stomp Alice attempted to bring down on her midsection, then spring back up with an agile movement.

She immediately countered with an elbow strike aimed at Alice’s face, which Alice dodged by leaning backward before grabbing Thea’s extended arm and pulling it forward while simultaneously driving a knee into her abdomen.

The air left Thea’s lungs in a choked groan as she bent slightly from the impact.

But she didn’t give up. Instead, she used the momentum to spin fully and land an uppercut straight to Alice’s chin that sent her staggering back.

Alice spat blood onto the ground before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, her smile never leaving her face. "Much better."

The fight continued escalating in intensity and brutality.

Thea unleashed a series of rapid strikes that Alice blocked or dodged while searching for openings to counterattack.

When she finally found one, Alice landed a direct hook to Thea’s ribs followed immediately by an uppercut that connected cleanly with her jaw.

Thea stumbled back several steps with a dazed expression, her guard lowering slightly from the impact.

Alice didn’t miss the opportunity and lunged forward, delivering a direct kick to Thea’s chest that sent her crashing onto her back against the ground.

Before she could recover, Alice was already on top of her, pinning one of her arms against the ground while applying pressure in a clearly painful hold.

Thea screamed in pain as she desperately tried to break free, but Alice had complete control of the situation.

"I surr—" Thea tried to say, her voice strained from the pain.

But the sound of bone breaking echoed throughout the coliseum.

CRACK.

Thea screamed loudly as Alice snapped her arm completely, that smile still on her face as if she had done nothing wrong.

Silence fell over the stands for several seconds.

Then chaos erupted.

"What the hell?!" someone shouted from the upper rows.

"She had already surrendered!" another exclaimed with evident indignation.

"That was completely unnecessary..."

Evelyne’s eyes were wide as she stared at the scene in horror. "What the hell is wrong with her...?"

Adam didn’t say anything at first. He simply watched the battlefield with a neutral expression while a part of his mind registered that, for some reason, he wasn’t surprised that Alice was capable of doing something like that.

’I should have seen it coming,’ he thought with faint irony.

Headmistress Acelina immediately descended onto the field while several professors rushed to where Thea lay on the ground holding her broken arm as tears streamed down her face.

"Winner: Alice Velmoor," Acelina announced in a tone that was clearly not pleased with what she had just witnessed. "And there will be an investigation into this action after the tournament."

Alice merely shrugged before leaving the field as if nothing had happened, that smile still present on her face.

Adam remained seated for several more seconds while the professors tended to Thea, using healing magic to stabilize the broken arm, though she would likely need more extensive treatment afterward.

At that moment, a bitterness ran through Adam’s throat, his own match now only minutes away.

He had to kill Kael Duskrin... or he would lose everything he had achieved so far, and he was not going to allow that to happen.

Without another word, he stood up abruptly, clenching his fists as he felt the tension beginning to build in his shoulders.

"I’m heading out," he said without looking at Piers or Evelyne. "It’s my turn soon."

Piers looked at him with concern before nodding slowly. "Good luck, Adam."

"Give it everything you’ve got," Evelyne added in a tone that tried to sound encouraging.

Adam simply nodded before beginning to descend the stands toward where the participants waited for their turn.

As he walked, his mind was completely focused on what was to come.

Kael Duskrin. The student who had placed first in the entrance exams. Someone probably far stronger than he had shown so far.

’Here we go,’ he thought as he reached the doors that led to the battlefield, feeling Nox’s concern within him as if the creature could sense the tension as well.

There was no turning back now.