[Nightmare]

After a couple of minutes of clapping, Helix put up his hand.

"Now listen to War Goddess Marie. She will be your primary leader for… most things.

She's pretty damn amazing at… everything." Helix laughed.

Marie blushed slightly but regained her composure.

"Marie is also much nicer than me, more approachable, and stronger than me.

Become her friend. It's easy. She'll be leading the next steps. Marie, take it away." He continued.

Helix gave her a gentle smile, and she nodded.

"Me again. It feels like I just went to war, battled, and experienced the victory speech." Marie chuckled with a dazzling smile.

The otakus and weebs started cracking up.

"Let's get started with training. The first thing we're going to do is split you into groups of four.

There are 78 of you, so one group will have three members." She explained.

The Knights nodded.

"The teams will be split up with half Thyme, half Alzerian Knights.

Half the groups will have an extra Thyme Knight, as there are more of you.

We've lost some people due to their bad decisions, and five of us are your leaders.

You'll meet the fifth person in the future… maybe." Marie giggled.

They didn't know about Atlas, and the loss of twelve Alzerian Knights from poor behavior should have been shocking.

However, her giggle made their concerns disappear instantly.

"These teams will be your training teams from today until the end of the battle.

You will train and fight together.

This system will promote unity between our groups and ensure that you have a chance to get cheat armor." She explained with a charming smile.

Anxiety overwhelmed the otakus and weebs when they learned that they'd be locked up with random people.

The moment she said cheat and flashed them a smile, they forgot they were afraid.

"Everyone will be nervous, but remember that no one can hurt you, be aggressive, plot to hurt you, or… be an asshole." Marie giggled.

Amazed chuckles ripped through the crowd.

When their brain caught up, they were thrilled.

"People won't get the armor if they're mean or unwilling to work with you.

If they try to harm you, I'll strip their Nightmare away.

Therefore, everyone can live, train, and fight without anxiety because [I'm here to protect you]!"

Deafening applause rocked the stadium.

Eliza was impressed by Marie's leadership.

Unlike Helix, she commanded through love and protection.

She created systems to help people and gave them the feeling of safety.

Helix was a strong leader in terms of strategy and charisma.

However, he wasn't a person meant to train, foster relationships with, and lead people daily.

Those were Marie's strong suits and why she was the leader before and after Helix left for Kozen.

"I'm going to go over the list of names.

Once you're with your team, I want everyone to learn the favorite video game or light novel of the people in your group.

After that, learn an interesting fact about everyone.

Bring your group to Riley when you're done.

If everyone can explain the love and facts of the people near them, you'll all receive a Roshak card.

Who is ready to get started!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"I…." Macron commented in awe.

"I've never seen people get so excited to do something so frivolous…." Lamath noted.

"Me… either." Macron chuckled in bewilderment.

"Do you have trouble handling these kids, too?"

Lamath gave him a wry smile.

"Is that a joke? You saw what happened yesterday." The man chuckled bitterly.

"Those kids are a damn nightmare.

I forgot that my students aren't like our last decade of students.

They'd show up, rough each other up, and prove whose training was better last year.

I did that by habit, not comprehending their willingness to kill people, and people almost started dying.

My heart broke when Ronka used Lava Trap in front of your entire group.

I'm a joke of a teacher for not being able to keep them in check and an idiot for being just as bad as them."

Lamath chuckled at the ground bitterly.

He was truly remorseful.

Macron couldn't blame him, as he also failed to comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

"Hah. Want to compete? My kids almost burnt the damn Capital down." Macron laughed.

"One tried to mass murder everyone you're looking at Helix's fake fuckin' funeral."

Lamath's eyes widened in shock.

"No way…." He replied dumbly.

"No way? That was the first goddamn month!" Macron laughed.

"After that boy was cut down, his supporters showed up to the houses of the anti-Helix party.

They planned to kill everyone with their Nightmares in the middle of the damn city."

Lamath froze with shock.

"The only reason we prevented a full-scale war is that Helix had me create a suppression team anticipating it and told us what to do.

Then he gave us a cheat sheet on how to whip people in shape, and now they're doing fine." Macron chuckled with self-deprecating eyes.

"The only reason this place is still standing is because of that boy.

I couldn't even save him from the super-otakus when we knew they planned to kill him.

So if you're stupid for underestimating these kids, I'm a lucky clown!"

"You think that's bad? Haaaaaaah…." Lamath chuckled bitterly.

The two spent an hour complaining about their dangerous students as if it were a positive competition.

They were laughing, but they were sweating internally.

Both looked at Helix and Marie as if they were gods.

"Yoo~hoo! Sir Helix!" Eliza called out.

Her guards were sweating—literally.

She wrapped them up in cloaks to prevent people from seeing their Royal Guard emblems.

They were also nervous.

Macron looked at the young blond with surprise.

He had no idea who she was, but she had a group of bodyguards and masterfully curled hair.

At a minimum, she was a high noble.

So why was she in a death zone, near a Colossus skull, and speaking to someone who only spent a month in the Capital?

Helix's eyes widened in surprise and shock.

He pointed his finger to his chest.

"Are you speaking to me, miss?" He asked in confusion.

The two were messing with the guards and eating it up.

After his masterful performance, and given he knew who she was and kept a secret, she decided to test his acting skills.

"Yes~you! I don't believe anyone else in Alzeria has such a quaint name." Eliza giggled.

"Ah, please forgive me. I haven't been here long, so I'm just surprised to see a new face.

Give me one moment." Helix replied with a charming smile.

Eliza froze in awe for a moment.

Something about Helix was… different.

His appearance changed.

It wasn't just the muscles or tan skin, there was something else at play, and it was too subtle to put into words.

It would elude her if she tried to look for it, but her mind always processed it.

Whatever it was—

It was pleasant. Helix's charming smile seemed to multiply in its effectiveness.

Helix whispered into Charlotte's ear, letting her know he'd be back after speaking to Eliza.

"Hello, miss. My name is Helix Margrave.

To whom do I owe this pleasure?" He asked with a charming smile.

Helix was rocking the posh noble vibe for fun.

However, it felt real to Eliza, even though she knew he was faking it.

It didn't matter, as the behavior was as natural to her as breathing.

"Lilac Riddle, a pleasure to meet you, Sir Helix."

—

Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)