Chapter 65: Setback

"Haaa!" Amelia gasped hysterically, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

As my words began to sink in, uneasiness and panic began to spread over her mind.

I had hinted of there being a traitor among us here before but Amelia never took it seriously. She entertained that idea for a little while before dismissing my words.

Now all the regret, irritation, and a mix of whole diverse emotions were clearly evident on her face.

However, the one emotion that displayed more than the others on her pale face was - fear.

Fear of failing her comrades. Fear of failing Nero, who believed in her. Fear of losing because she was weak... even after she promised to herself that she would never be weak- that she would never lose again!

"Amelia," at that moment, my firm voice shook her out of her thoughts. "What are you doing?"

"I- uh... I don't know... I don't know what to do... We've lost... They'll pincer our troops from two sides... After that, it'll only be a matter of time. No matter how strong Nero is, even he won't be able to defeat them all! We lose... and it's all because of me! It's because of me! Me me me me me me!!"

Wrong. We weren't going to lose because of her. In fact, we weren't going to lose at all.

Even if I don't turn around this situation, which I am going to, Nero will summon one of his Six Heavenly Swords and defeat everyone.

It'll be quite the spectacle when that happens. The whole battlefield will be plunged into what'll look like the fiery pits of hell.

Unfortunately, I don't want him to do that.

In the novel, even after sustaining heavy losses and losing so many troops, Class 1-A-1 won because Nero alone butchered seven squads on his own.

That guy was basically a one-man army. Those weaklings (not like I'm any stronger than them) could never stop him no matter how many of them there were.

However, to be able to do that, Nero had to use his ability, [Six Divine Swords Of Heaven] and summon the Sword Of Divine Fire.

Not only that event shook the whole Academy but also the rest of the world.

'A kid who can gain absolute control over an element!' - That made one BIG news.

That is understandable since being able to fully control an element essentially sets you on par with the gods.

Sure, casting spells using mana lets you control an element you have an affinity with, but even then, you can never fully control it.

Some people even called him 'The Boy Who Has Touched The Realm Of The Gods.'

There were cults made in his name. Some people started worshiping him, and some were in denial, unable to process how something as ridiculous as this was even possible.

So no surprise there when this news reached the ears of one of the Abyssal Vampire Kings.

He sent three of his most powerful vampires to the Academy to assassinate Nero during the 'King's Tournament.'

Of course, they weren't able to kill him. However, that did create a massive uproar and chaos. And one of the three vampires who were sent to the Academy made Lucas his pawn later in the story.

Although, as I've established many times before in the past, I love chaos, I don't love it when it comes knocking at my own door.

So I would very much like Nero not to use his gift right now and attract the whole world's attention.

Plus, it would save many other minor inconveniences that would happen as a result of it.

"It's all because of me! I... I should've thought about there being a possibility of someone tampering with our map! It's all because of me! I led them to a trap!"

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about her.

I can think about the plot later. Right now, I think I should deal with this mess of a girl.

Amelia sat at one of the chairs around the round table, holding her head with her hands and murmuring all kinds of gibberish in an incoherent tone.

Her forehead was drenched in sweat and her eyes were shaking, completely unfocused.

Wow, this girl really can't handle setbacks.

It was pointed out in the novel that Amelia had developed a kind of Atychiphobia - fear of failure - due to her past trauma.

Well, in her case, it wasn't the Fear Of Failure she was suffering from but rather the fear of being weak.

We all know who's to blame for her trauma so let's not point any fingers. Ahem.

Anyway, that was the reason she tried so desperately to be the best at everything she was good at.

Unfortunately, the plot wasn't merciful to her either. Not too long into the story, she found out that her talent in archery could never surpass Anastasia.

But it really broke her when she realized that archery wasn't what Anastasia was even best at - it was hand-to-hand or unarmed combat.

And it wasn't even archery. Amelia slowly realized that Anastasia was better than her at literally everything.

However, the hardest part of it all was that no matter how hard she tried, she could never bring herself to hate Anastasia. She couldn't even be her rival.

Anastasia was her friend. And despite being jealous of her- jealous of her talent, she had to keep it all inside her because, well, that's what friends are supposed to do.

Her fate was that of a supporting heroine. The girl who would die so the main characters could get power-ups and character development.

All her life, she was a disposable character who wasn't best at anything- who was weak.

Even in her last moments, she cursed herself for being weak. That's how she died- cursing her life till the very last breath of her.

"I-I-I lost... They'll lose! And it's because of me! I can't...."

"Haaa," I approached Amelia, rolling my eyes and emitting a slightly empathetic sigh before kneeling to come face to face with her.

She was on the verge of crying.

Pathetic.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked in a cold, emotionless tone.

"....?"

My voice shook her out of her episode.

"I said, what on earth are you doing?! You claimed you weren't the weak little girl I once knew yet that's all I see right now!" I screamed, inches from her face.

As I shouted at her, Amelia's eyes began to shake less, and she regained her focus.

"Did you forget the reason you wanted to be strong?!" I yelled. "Did you forget why you picked up a bow?!"

"I-I... I don't... I remember it..." through quivering lips, she let out a shivering voice.

"Tell me the reason," I demanded, rising to my feet.

"It-It-It was so that I would never again face injustice. It was so that I couldn't be oppressed by th-the powerful. It was so that I could assist the weak. It was so that no one could ever wrong me... It was so that I could win!" not only her voice remained some clarity and strength, but by the end of it, she was basically yelling.

Seeing her find her resolve, I nodded.

"Right, now get up. You haven't won yet."

"B-But it's already a lost battle-"

"And who decided that?"

"Huh?" Amelia looked at me like she was looking at a madman. "Didn't you listen? The enemy already has our soldiers in pincer! It's over for them!"

"No, it's not. Resign your position to me, and I shall grant you victory. No, rather, I'll show you how not to lose. I'll show you the difference between strategy and tactics."