Chapter 139 - Events Happening Behind The Scenes

"And now that we've talked about maid cafes, I think there's a good chance we'll get complaints if we only allow the girls to cosplay.

It'll be better if the guys can cosplay too. It would be more desirable to have cosplay for boys as well."

Some boys raised cheers while some others raised a few objections at this.

Not wanting to deal with the stress of an argument, Layla decided to hold a majority vote that ended in favor of boys being allowed to cosplay.

Looking at the data on the phone, she noticed a certain sticky note and pointed towards it before saying.

By the way, I'll absolutely refuse the nonsense written in that note that says boys should be allowed to cross-dress.

Seeing a guy in a maid outfit is not a sight for sore eyes."

Edward chuckled hearing this before replying.

"Well, I knew you'd say that. According to 'this one', most of the girls are like 'let's take the high road and not do anything funny'. They're all pretty serious about it."

He gestured to the girl seated beside him who suggested the cosplay cafe originally.

"High road huh…. It's hard to think of cosplay for both boys and girls that can be accepted by both the general public and the directors."

"Well, maid and butler uniforms do fit the bill, but it's likely others will wear them.

There's also the fact that some nobles and royalty would find it in appropriate for their children to wear servant uniforms too."

"That's true. Now if we can avoid clashing with the others and distinguish ourselves while pacifying those nobles, I think we can get a bigger budget, right?"

"Maybe…"

Like so, the discussions continued for a few dozen minutes more before they finally agreed on a particular style to follow.

◇　◇　◇

The days rolled around once again and the presentations began, loads of students could be seen filing into the student council building daily with the aim of having their presentation accepted.

Each class only got one chance so many strived to make the best of it.

Dozens of them usually returned to their classes with either sullen or crying faces.

Despite the large budget they were given, the student council was still strict in their screening to reduce the number of class events.

Arthur also took part in the screening and personally voted out many of the ridiculous, foolish and daft presentations alongside those with obvious ulterior motives.

The event was scheduled to hold after the final exams of the school session which occurred towards the end of the year.

◇　◇　◇

Time flew faster than expected and the dreaded week that the end of session exams were scheduled for went by smoothly.

For the second year, the results were as expected with Arthur, Layla and Nicole all tied for first place. Trailing behind was Edward in 4th and after him was the student who didn't stand out much despite the fact that he was always among the top 5 of his school year, Jack.

The trio in first place had perfect scores in all but one subject each, where they all got 98 points out of 100, as if they had agreed on it before hand.

And like so, the chapter of the exams ended and the week of the school festival arrived.

◇　◇　◇

The amount of guests that attended the school festival this year could barely compare to that of the previous years. Hearing that there were going to be more sport-like events introduced in this one, and the addition of the other activities for the other school years caught the attention of many.

As there were thousands of students in the second year class alone, not all of them could participate in all events at the same time and place.

The multiple arenas in the second year section of the academy were all put to use and there would be multiple events occurring simultaneously.

Lists with the event names, participants and venues were published for the guests so they could know whom they would be watching, what they wanted to watch and where it would be taking place.

As for the other non-sporting activities that would be taking place, similar lists were also published containing the names of the activities of each of the classes that passed the screening and where these activities would be holding.

Lastly, the school festival duration. Unlike before, this one was slated to take place over the course of two days due to the sheer amount of events planned.

◇　◇　◇

While the preparations for the school festival were underway, in a faraway planet, the life of a certain unfortunate being was snuffed out as he was dismembered faster than he could even comprehend.

"One left."

Looking at the pieces of his victim's body burst in flames and turn to ash in seconds, the black haired and green-eyed man spoke with a dry voice.

He sheathed his sword and turned around, counting the number of corpses on the floor. After confirming that they were all there, he snapped his fingers and they burst into flames, turning to ash seconds later.

He pulled out a small palm sized scroll from his pocket, tossing it into the air it began glowing. He then spoke.

"Message."

The glowing scroll then burst into flames and the man heard a voice in his head.

[Conrad, are you done?]

The man, Grand Duke of Hell, Conrad Eryrth, responded respectfully, after all, the one speaking to him was none other than the King of the Devildom of hell, Diablo.

"Not yet, however I have a question for your majesty?"

[That is rare coming from you...Ask away.]

Conrad spoke as he walked, while also using magic to scan the area for the location of his last target.

"Why don't you let me deal with them all? It is not worth you personally taking action, especially at this time where the gods are making suspicious moves."

Hearing Conrad's words, Diablo let out a light laugh before replying.

[If it were just the celestials then I would have left it all to you, however there is a candidate involved in this.

Each one of them has an aspect of a law under their control; they are not to be underestimated.

Worry not, it would be quick, besides, I need his plans to work so I can teach Arthur a small lesson, he is getting too arrogant these days.]

Conrad was silent for a moment as he pondered on Diablo's words, he thought he understood how dangerous the beings called candidates were but hearing what Diablo just said overturned his previous knowledge of them.

'I thought they only used the power of the aspect but from what he just said, they have control over the aspect itself.'

Between using the power of something and having control over that thing, having control over that thing would undoubtedly let one display more power.

There was also the part where Diablo said that he wanted to teach Arthur a lesson to deal with his growing arrogance too.

'It's probably related to the prince's rapidly rising strength. Then again, what 13 year old won't grow arrogant in that situation, good thing Iberis made sure Layla doesn't turn out that way.'

"You-"

He was about to reply but his search magic detected his final target, rushing towards him with frightening speed.

[Deal with him first; we would talk afterwards.]

Diablo spoke, guessing the situation accurately. Conrad nodded at Diablo's words and deactivated the message magic scroll, he then hurriedly unsheathed his sword and rose it up to clash with the blade that was approaching his neck at near light speed.

Just to be safe, he also had an Authority activated.

[Authority of Fortification]

And that was a wise decision as the moment before the incoming sword clashed with his, its wielder also activated their authority.

[Authority of Swords: One Flash]

**DONG!

**BOOOMMM!!!

A sound that should not be heard when two swords clashed was heard, next was an explosion large enough to create a mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles.

At the center of the explosion stood two beings;

One was a black haired and green-eyed man who was wearing a black suit and a similarly colored overcoat.

Opposite him was a brown haired and eyed man who was dressed in a golden full body armor, on one hand was a long sword and his helmet was in the other.

|Devil of pride, you shall fall here.|

The brown haired man spoke while glaring at Conrad who was unscathed after receiving his attack. To his words, Conrad replied.

"Are you celestials getting dumber, or do you just have that many disposable high-tier celestial deities?"

The brown haired man's face contorted after hearing the words that Conrad spoke with a questioning tone, however Conrad just ignored him and continued speaking.

"I mean, you should also think about it.

You come over to the hell universe, and dare to say that one of its main entities, the devil of pride, would fall.

Does that make sense to you?"

The brown haired, golden armored Celestial only snorted and stamped his foot on the ground.

||Domain Declaration: Grave of Swords||

An illusory flame that did not emit any heat spread out to form a boundary wall around the entire planet, and then a bright light filled Conrad's vision and manifested an open barren desert with golden sand.

There were thousands, perhaps and uncountable number of swords anchored to the ground like grave markers in a wasteland, yet well preserved.

The celestial stood atop a small hill and looked down towards Conrad as he placed his helmet back on his head before pointing his sword towards Conrad and saying.

|Devil of Pride, this grave of swords, would be your grave.|