~Chapter 9: Rena's Betrayal~

Ara's spotlight was enough to bring up the excitement and inspirement from the other students. Rena skipped towards Ara and hugged her tightly, shouting out encouraging words at each other. The area was loud and cheerful, except for three people. Elsword, Raven, and the King of Altera.

Elsword had his attention fully on Rena, thinking of the information she might hold of Elsa while clenching his fists. The King of Altera was bored, and the whole reason he came was to watch how Eve and Chung would fight. How they would stand against each other after that. He smirked as he thought of Chung's expressions when he made those choices back in the past.

'Every single thing that brat did, was for Eve. He truly loves Eve, however.. With him as the crowned prince of Hamel, there's no way Eve would go to him. I'll have to rip them apart if necessary. I'll never let them be together. Enemies can't be together anyway.. It's been 4 years since that incident. It's finally time for the seal to come off, but will Eve still have her feelings for Chung Seiker...'

Chung's father gazed at Eve and how she acted in front of him despite knowing that he was the King of Hamel. He softly smile at Eve as Chung pulled on her cheek gently, grinning.

'This generation... They're growing up so fast.. Eve and Chung.. Despite Eve being part of Altera, she's willing to stay with Chung. I wouldn't mind having her as my daughter-in-law... Plus, I'd like to see little Chungs' running around in the Kingdom..'

Raven's gaze towards the cheerful Rena, slowly got colder and colder. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth. Raven walked towards Rena, holding his blade up. His eyes showed anger, and... Regret.

'Rena... I regret every single thing that I've done with you in the past. Starting from meeting you for the first time to.. Letting you face my enemies, which resulted in.. Your betrayal.. Rena... Why did you betray me..? Why... We used to be best friends.. Seris even playfully joke around, pretending to be jealous of our friendship. That day, you were there with Alex, talking of the plans of framing me.. You even disguised yourself to kill off our friends... You also planned those traps ahead of us, separating us for a moment, and soon.. Each one of our friends' severed head was thrown to me.. Eventually Seris became one of the victims of this betrayal.. Rena.. Why..?!'

Raven raised his blade and was about to slash Rena, but Elsword and Eve stopped his blade with their weapons before the blade touched Rena. Chung appeared and hit his hand, dropping the blade. Elsword caught it before it made any kind of sound. Chung and Eve held Raven's arms behind him, making sure he doesn't do anything to Rena.

Rena turned around and sees Raven being held by Chung and Eve, while his blade was in Elsword's hand. Rena opened her mouth to ask them, but then Aisha appeared just in time for them to avoid the question.

"Rena! Can you come with me for a bit? It'll be quick, that's why... So can you come with me now?"

"S-sure.."

Aisha grabbed Rena's hand, dragging her to somewhere else. Without Rena looking, Aisha turned her head around and winked at Elsword. Elsword gave a small smile and a thumbs-up at Aisha, before turning towards Raven with a cold glare.

"Raven... What were you trying to do to Rena?"

Chung and Eve tightened their grip on Raven as he looked up at Elsword. Raven stayed silent, but his eyes weren't silent. His eyes held indescribable emotions. They were screaming. It was clear that Raven and Rena were connected to each other in a way.

"It's none of your business.. What I do to Rena has nothing to do with you guys! That girl.. Even if you try to defend her, she'll backstab you before you know it! She's a traitor! Chung, Eve, Elsword. She's not your friend or related to you in any way. The only thing that connects you guys to her, is this academy. She's just a classmate. Technically a stranger to you. So, even if she dies, it's none of your business!"

Raven glared at them, before struggling to get free. Chung and Eve let go of him, letting him free from their grip, before walking up towards him. Eve slapped him with enough force to send him towwards Chung. Elsword walked next to Chung, and as Raven came to them, they both punched him in the face.

"We may not know anything about her.. Even if she's a traitor.. She must have a reason for her betrayal. Killing an innocent person will only add up the regrets inside you. Eventually, you'll break down. For now, you should try to forgive her."

Chung, Eve, and Elsword walked away, throwing his blade on the ground. Elsword went back to his corner, while Chung and Eve stayed in the front. Raven gritted his teeth, grabbing his blade, sheathing it before standing behind the crowd. His bangs hid his eyes, as he thought of Chung, Eve, and Elsword's words.

'You all know nothing! I can't forgive someone like Rena.. I can never do so..'

"Now, for our next battle! Raven of the Crow Mercenary VS Rena of the Night Savers! Please go to the rocky region."

Raven spun on his heels, running towards the rocky surface of the area. Rena was already sitting on top of a boulder, waving cheerfully at him. Raven narrowed his eyes as Rena smiled brightly. The bell rang, and Raven already ran towards Rena, crossing blades with her. He furiously slashed at her recklessly. Rena had a hard time blocking his attacks. She kicked him in the shin, before counterattacking. Rena slashed Raven thrice, before doing a backflip, kicking in the process.

"Furious Engage!"

Immediately, Rena leaped back into the air, firing torrent of traps towards Raven. As soon as those traps made contact with him, they exploded. Raven tried to sense where Rena was, however, as soon as he realized it, Rena was already attacking. Rena gathered the wind around them, creating a large enough force to use one of the skills that ended her battle against Chloe.

"Gliding Strike! Karma!"

The force of the wind was gathered as the magic circles were created. Soon, the strong gusts of wind rose up and impaled Raven. Raven was flung into the air for a brief moment and Rena was above him. She shot down a giant wind tornado in a sphere shape, dealing heavy damage to Raven. However, at the same, Raven's foot touched the ground just in time for him to do a 360 degree spin in the air while swinging his blade. Rena recieved his slashes and Raven recieved the full damage from the tornado.

"Aero Tornado!"

"Flying Impact!"

An explosion was created, and it was still unclear on who won. Or rather, are Raven and Rena going to continue on fighting until the victor comes out from it... Within the smoke from the explosion, Raven and Rena were each standing on a boulder. Raven's eyes held coldness and anger. Rena, in return, her eyes held regret and guilt, sadness.

'Rena... What's your reason for your betrayal.. Why did you backstab us..?'

'Raven... I'm sorry for my actions. I tried my best to act normal towards you during classes, but when we engage in battle.. I don't think I can keep up with my acting anymore.. I can't hide from you anymore. I want to explain to you, but I can't... I'm sorry for everything... Raven... Seris..'

~Author's Note~

Woot! I updated so quickly~ I know, it's a shocking. XD I wanted to write out the chapter, since the idea of Rena betraying Raven in the past suddenly came up to me after i listened to one of Fairy Tail and Bleach's sad soundtracks in the anime. I don't really know the Fairy Tail's sad main soundtrack, but i know Bleach's. It's called "Here to Stay".

Anyways, i finally found the perfect names for our lovely kings of Altera and Hamel. Since i have no idea of their names... In the game, Eve is the queen of the Nasods, but then she was asleep for thousands of years before getting awakened by Elsword. So, then i just took King Nasod as the king of the Altera... However, his name, i have no idea what his name is, and i refuse to take King Nasod as his name. While, Chung's father... I also don't know his name... So i had to think of words that describes them and use it in another language... Gues which language it is, if you want. XD

Here are my replies to lovely reviewers:

Guest: I'm glad that this story of mine was able to relax you a little~ I hope you'll release more of your stress as you continue reading. Do you mind if i call you.. Hospes? XD It's in Latin for Guest.. XD

TsukixnoEvernight: No problem~ As soon as you update the story, i'll immediately read it~ Yes, Ara's Spotlight. When i wrote the chapter, i suddenly remembered Ara. And Ara didn't even get to talk that much. So i felt bad, and i had to put Ara in the chapter. So, don't worry, you're not the only one who forgot about Ara. Oh, you met Amelia and Lime? Dang.. You're luckier than me. I got bad luck when i ran into Code Q-Proto 00. I didn't even stand a chance against her! It all happened in a second, and i died. My friend, she ran into... I think it was either Edan or Valak. Well, either way, we all ran into Epic NPC's... And yes, i was trying to be creative. I mean it's a passive, i know that, but... How can you use a passive and make it realistic in a story, being written, not on game? I was stuck completely. And it's Wind Wall?! I thought it was Wind Ward! I mean, i checked the spelling, and it said Ward instead of Wall! O: And as always, thanks for your encouraging words~

Kat983: Alright, my queen~ Your chapter is ready, so no need to dominate the world. XD Enjoy this~

Thanks for reading!

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