The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

Chapter 999: The Handicap

Then again, while the other Federation elites may have been underestimating their formation, their delegation leader was of the opposite mind.

"Wouldn’t it be too difficult with him not joining the fight?" Cassian asked, his tone light but deliberate as his gaze shifted meaningfully in Luca’s direction.

He had done his homework enough to know. Moreover, after dancing with the Kyros heir himself, Cassian could ascertain more pieces of information.

So despite the gaps in their investigation, at the very least, he knew where the real threat lay.

And from the information they had gathered, the others were not quite on that same level yet.

Like the pretentious cadet in front of him, for example.

"Mn."

Xavier gave a small shrug before muttering under his breath, "But we had to make it fair for you."

For a brief moment, there was silence.

Then Cassian laughed.

It was loud and unrestrained, echoing across the arena as if the situation amused him far more than it should have.

It’s been a long time, and sure enough, the people of the Empire had grown complacent enough to talk like that.

Who would have imagined?

Right on cue, as if summoned by Cassian’s reaction, two figures descended.

The air cracked as one man and one woman from the Federation came in fast, their approach cutting through the atmosphere with visible force. They hit the ground on either side of Cassian, boots skidding as if itching to scatter dust and debris outward. The impact alone made the arena hum with tension.

Through all of that, Xavier did not move.

He simply stood there, waiting.

Cassian’s laughter died down as his expression shifted into a sneer. Then a low hum spread beneath his feet as a gravitational field deployed, pressing down on the ground in a controlled radius. The air grew heavy, the space around them distorting slightly under the weight of his ability.

"You don’t mind, right?" he asked, clearly trying to provoke.

"We’ve always preferred fighting with a handicap for practice?"

Xavier didn’t dignify the jab with a verbal answer.

But instead of stepping away from the field Cassian created, he walked forward and stepped into it.

The pressure truly increased the moment he crossed the boundary, the force bearing down as if trying to pin him in place. But Xavier continued walking at the same pace, calm and steady, as if the weight meant nothing.

Even Cassian found that curious.

Then again, the foreigner could probably never imagine the existence of something like the death trap that was the Suppression Chamber.

__

Meanwhile, in the spectator stands, and even those at home, people couldn’t help but flinch as they watched the white-haired cadet walk into that dubious-looking field instead of backing away.

After realizing how odd the fight was and pointing out that it didn’t seem safe because the enemy clearly had cybernetic implants, the audience couldn’t help but grow wary of every attack from the Federation delegation.

Therefore, that field could only be labeled as unsafe. A big nope.

And among the worried people wishing to remove the members of DG from the battlefield was one Princess Nina.

Her small hands clenched against the railing as she leaned forward, eyes fixed on the arena. She didn’t fully understand everything that had been explained earlier, but she understood enough.

The Federation cadets were not just strong.

They were already cyborgs.

As an Imperial Princess, she had learned about the true, intricate history behind the conflict between the Empire and the Federation. But if others were already shocked that the heirs of the Federation elites had been modified this early, then what more for the little Princess, who couldn’t even imagine what that would be like?

She was definitely terrified.

And even more so as she witnessed her big brother walking straight into something that looked very, very dangerous.

"Oh no!"

"Hey, you!"

"Huh?" Princess Nina, who had put her hands together, suddenly had to turn her head.

"Why are you even so invested in this?" Aziel asked from the side, sounding more bored than concerned. "Shouldn’t babies like you be sleeping now?"

Gasp!

How could anyone even think of sleeping at a time like this?!

That was it.

Princess Nina, the kind little princess that she was, couldn’t take it anymore.

Her small frame trembled as she turned toward him, cheeks puffing slightly as her eyes sharpened.

"YOU MEAN TURNIP!"

"!"

The entire row froze.

Everyone nearby stared at her in shock as no one expected a commotion to arise from someone like the behaved princess.

Sure enough, the little girl was still very much the same cute princess.

But right now, she also looked extremely serious, as if she were ready to bite Aziel’s head off.

"The elders said that if you have nothing nice to say, then just eat your vegetables!" she continued, voice rising with conviction as she glared at him.

"...What?" Aziel blinked, clearly not expecting or understanding any of that.

But Princess Nina wasn’t done.

She had more to say.

A lot more.

In fact, she was just about to drill into him the teachings she had very seriously, and perhaps very creatively, interpreted from the triplet elders—

When a collective gasp swept through the stands.

It was loud enough to cut her off mid-thought.

Princess Nina froze.

And her heart skipped as she turned back.

Her big brother’s fight had finally started, and there was definitely no time for this turnip!

__

At the first sign of movement, the arena seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.

It didn’t particularly turn silent as the hum of the field was there. The shifting terrain continued in the background. The distant clashes from the others never truly stopped.

But for those watching, everything narrowed to one place.

Cassian.

Xavier.

And the space between them.

The gravitational field pressed down steadily, spreading in a controlled radius as the ground beneath Cassian’s feet sank slightly under the weight. And had the spectators been in the thick of it, they would have felt the air grow heavy, as if every movement had to push against something unseen.

However, for the Federation cadets, this was natural.

They moved within it without hesitation, their bodies adjusting instinctively because they had been trained under this exact condition for years.

But for Xavier, it was meant to be a disadvantage.

If only.

One of them moved first.

A Federation cadet who allegedly looked like a soft-boiled egg shot forward, his approach fast and clean as he aimed straight for Xavier’s chest. There was no wasted motion, no unnecessary flourish. The target was clear.

He would definitely get a legal hit.

Well, he was free to dream.

The Imperial Crown Prince didn’t retreat despite the incoming blow.

He shifted his weight just slightly, his body angling at the last possible moment as the attack passed by him with barely any space to spare.

The difference between contact and a miss came down to inches as Xavier—despite his spiritual energy—kept his limbs together to lessen the impact from those implants.

Before that first movement could even settle, another came in from the side.

Lower.

Faster.

Timed to catch him mid-adjustment.

Xavier’s hand rose, not to block but to guide, his fingers brushing against the incoming limb just enough to redirect its path. The force slid past him, practically harmless, and in that same motion, he stepped forward and tapped the cadet’s chest.

It was a surprisingly light but precise touch that triggered the enemy’s sensor.

One.

The cadet stiffened before retreating immediately, clearly aware of the count as he repositioned.

Cassian watched all of it.

He didn’t interrupt.

He didn’t assist.

He merely observed.

Then, as if seeing enough, he moved.

There was no warning. One moment, he stood still; the next, he had already closed the distance. His body cut through the field with practiced ease, the pressure beneath him intensifying as if the ability itself was reacting to his intent.

Well, it was, in a sense. For it was definitely recalibrating in response to Cassian’s move.

His strike came straight for Xavier’s chest.

Fast enough to land.

Heavy enough to matter.

The gravitational field surged at the same time, the invisible force pressing down harder as if trying to pin Xavier in place.

For most, that would have been enough of a deterrent.

But instead of stopping, the already annoyed husband stepped forward to meet Cassian head-on.

Their paths crossed for a brief instant as Xavier shifted his shoulder just enough to let the strike pass along his side instead of connecting, his movement smooth despite the weight pressing down on him.

At the same time, his hand rose and sliced against Cassian’s sleeve as he moved past him.

A clean and frankly scathing contact.

The sensor registered it.

One against Cassian.

Cassian slid to a stop, his boots dragging slightly as the field pulsed again beneath him. His head tilted just a fraction as his eyes sharpened.

Then he smiled.

Not amused, but dangerously interested.

Around them, the pressure increased.

Two more Federation cadets moved in together, their coordination tight and deliberate as they closed the space from opposite sides. Their timing was perfect; each attack aimed to overwhelm and triangulate around the Imperial cadet.

One came high.

The other low.

Xavier exhaled slowly as he stepped forward again, his pace and expression unchanged even as they all closed in on him.

He dipped beneath the first strike, his body lowering to let it pass overhead, and turned his torso to redirect the second with a controlled motion of his arm.

Their attacks missed.

His counter did not.

He stepped in and hit the closer cadet’s chest twice in succession, his movement small but exact, the kind that left no room for error against machines that were calculating against him.

"Ahhhh!"

The sensor lit up.

Three.

The Federation cadet froze for a fraction of a second before the system registered the result and forced him out of the exchange.

It was the first jailed cadet, and people in the stands stood up excitedly. Some didn’t particularly see how it happened, but those who could follow thought they would need to replay it again later.

However, the still-sparring Federation cadets had no time to dwell on that teammate’s failure as their formation just faltered.

Cassian’s gaze sharpened as he took it in.

The more he looked at this pompous Montclair, the more he really disliked him.

And yet, as if mocking him, Xavier simply stood at the center of it all, moving through every attack with measured precision, his steps unhurried, his breathing steady, his control absolute.

As if the disadvantage had never existed in the first place.

As if he weren’t fighting against better-evolved beings.

"Tch."

Well, of course, in the mind of the extremely angered Prince, at this point, it wouldn’t even matter if they appeared as demigods.

He was still going to pummel them all.