The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: The Team That Lost Everything

The decision did not end with the Ramwel team’s disqualification.

There were still procedures to be followed before the competition could officially be concluded, and while the instructors discussed the matter among themselves, the students from the other kingdoms were left waiting near the ranking platform.

The Ramwel team, meanwhile, had been ordered to stand separately from the others.

None of them spoke.

The confidence they had shown earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by stiff expressions and lowered gazes. Their instructor had already collected the prohibited potions from them, and after checking their equipment, several more bottles were found hidden among their supplies.

That left very little room for argument.

Still, not everyone was willing to accept the result quietly.

One of the Ramwel students glanced toward Ares’s group with open resentment.

"If he hadn’t interfered..."

Another student beside him lowered his voice.

"Stop. We’ve already lost."

"But we wouldn’t have been caught if he hadn’t found that potion."

Ares happened to glance in their direction.

So I’m the problem now?

He almost smiled.

It was impressive how quickly people could forget who had actually broken the rules.

Before long, the instructors returned to the ranking platform.

The senior instructor raised his voice.

"The result of the investigation has been confirmed. The Kingdom of Ramwel’s team is disqualified for violating the rules regarding prohibited items and deliberately interfering with another team’s progress."

A murmur spread through the students.

"Their previous score will therefore be removed from the final ranking."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"As a result, the Kingdom of Darth will be moved from third place to second."

The students from Darth reacted immediately.

For a moment, they simply stared at one another as if they hadn’t properly understood what had just been said.

Then one of them let out a quiet laugh.

"Second place..."

Another slapped his friend’s shoulder.

"We actually moved up."

Their instructor gave them a stern look, though even he couldn’t completely hide his satisfaction.

"You were fortunate."

"Fortunate?"

The student glanced toward Ares.

"I’d say we were extremely fortunate."

The rewards were redistributed according to the revised ranking.

The second-place team received a significantly greater reward than the original third-place prize, along with a higher-grade selection from the available equipment and other benefits prepared for the competition.

The Darth students accepted their rewards one after another, but once the formalities were finished, several of them immediately approached Ares’s group.

Lyra noticed them first.

"You came over quickly."

The student who appeared to be leading their group gave a short laugh.

"Of course we did."

He turned toward Ares.

"We needed to thank the person who made this possible."

Ares blinked.

"Me?"

"Who else?"

Another student stepped forward.

"When the Ramwel team accused you, I honestly thought there was a chance we’d have to accept the original ranking."

"We all did," another admitted. "There wasn’t much anyone could do once the accusation had been made. If the instructors had started investigating without finding anything suspicious on Ramwel’s side, the situation could have become complicated."

The first student nodded.

"But you already had the potion."

Ares scratched his cheek.

"I happened to find it."

"Happened to?"

The student laughed.

"Don’t make it sound so casual. That bottle practically saved us."

Ares gave an awkward smile.

"It wasn’t that important."

"It was."

The student shook his head.

"And not only that. You noticed what they did with the spider nest as well. Without that, nobody would have connected their interference with the accusation they made afterward."

Another student crossed his arms.

"They were trying to slow your team down, then accuse you of cheating after the competition. If they had succeeded, we might have been looking at an entirely different result."

Ares looked at them for a moment.

I suppose that’s true.

He hadn’t really thought much about the effect it would have on the other teams.

The entire situation had simply been an obvious attempt to shift the blame.

"You don’t need to thank me that much," Ares said. "I only pointed out what I found."

"That is exactly why we’re thanking you."

The student smiled.

"You could have stayed quiet and let the instructors deal with it themselves, but you didn’t."

Lyra gave Ares a small glance.

"He’s right."

Ares looked at her.

"You too?"

"Of course."

Her expression softened slightly.

"You protected our result, and in doing so, you also exposed what they were planning. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that."

Ares wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he simply gave a small nod.

"I understand."

Another student laughed.

"You really are different from what I expected."

Ares tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"You’re quiet most of the time, and during the competition you barely talked unless someone asked you something, so I didn’t expect you to suddenly pull something like that at the end."

"I just noticed something strange."

"That’s what makes it impressive."

The student shook his head.

"Most people would’ve ignored it."

Ares gave a faint smile.

That earned a few laughs.

The conversation continued for a while, with the students discussing the dungeon, the monsters they had encountered, and how different the deeper floors had been compared to the earlier sections.

Eventually, one of the Darth students looked toward the rewards they had received.

"If we hadn’t moved up, we would’ve received the third-place prize instead."

He glanced back at Ares.

"So, seriously, thank you."

Another nodded.

"We’ll remember this."

Ares felt slightly embarrassed by the attention.

"You’re making it sound like I did something extraordinary."

"You did."

"It’s really not that big of a—"

"Stop."

The student laughed.

"Just accept the thanks."

Ares sighed quietly.

"Fine. Thank you for thanking me."

Everyone laughed.

Even Lyra couldn’t help but smile.

A short distance away, however, the Ramwel team watched the scene in silence.

One of them clenched his fist.

Their original plan had been simple.

Accuse Valerian.

Force an investigation.

Get Valerian disqualified.

Take first place.

Instead, they had lost their own position, embarrassed their kingdom, and handed Darth a better reward in the process.

And the person who had ruined everything was standing there being thanked by another team.

One of the Ramwel students looked away.

"This is ridiculous..."

Their instructor heard him.

"No."

The student’s expression stiffened.

"This is the result of your own decisions."

The instructor’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word carried enough weight to silence them.

"You were given an opportunity to compete against students from five other kingdoms. You were strong enough to place highly on your own. Instead, you chose to use prohibited potions, interfere with another team, and then accuse them of the very thing you had done."

Nobody answered.

"You should be embarrassed."

The students lowered their heads.

The instructor sighed.

"Remember this feeling. Not because you lost, but because you threw away your chance to win honestly."

The words left the group silent.

Meanwhile, the final rewards continued to be distributed.

The competition had ended.

The rankings had changed.

And for Ares, what had started as a dungeon examination had somehow turned into a situation where an entire team had tried to use him as the easiest target for their own mistake.

He looked at the potion that had caused all of this, now safely in the hands of the instructors.

I really didn’t expect that little bottle to cause this much trouble.

Ares glanced toward the students who were still thanking him and gave them a sarcastic smile.

And somehow, I ended up being the one getting thanked for it.

He quietly sighed.

At least the competition is over now.

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