A grinning face

AS HE ALWAYS does when fighting against a group, Hades attacks first, and the closest person to him. It was the first female senior. He closed their distance in a few seconds. Taken aback by his speed, the female senior barely blocked Hades' attack properly. However, what surprised her was the impact of his attack.

She was forced to stepped back, but Hades kicks her gut without a second thought. She ended up rolling on the ground, but she was able to get back on her feet. Although this time, she looked genuinely upset.

"This atrocious little bitch…!" she cussed, but Hades did not give her attention. He ran to the second, and clashed swords with him. The man himself was surprised of this first year's incredible strength, but he wasn't one to back down.

They clashed swords, focused on taking down each other by merely strength. The impact of their swords, and their swings were too powerful and wide, it did not leave any openings for the other four to attack Hades freely.

The other female senior had to wait for the right moment to attack, and when that perfect time came, she dashed straight to Hades' sides. She swung her sword vertically. However, Hades swiftly steps back, and clashes with her sword. The impact shook her grip, making her let go of the handle, and making her sword fly away.

'Oh no…!' she panicked, and froze in her spot for a moment, but when Hades rushed pass her, she was relieved.

'I thought I was about to die', she thought to herself and immediately stepped away from the group.

The whole fight was simply about Hades effortlessly overpowering his second year seniors by strength, and minimum skill. He took them out one by one, implying that they had poor teamwork. The fight ended with Hades scratching the last senior by the cheek, and making that senior drop his sword.

Silence filled the hall, everyone was speechless at the sight they just saw. It didn't even take five minutes for Hades to take down all five seniors. Heck, he's barely even panting, and sweating. His black eyes did not leave his senior's uncomfortable expression. The senior had one thought;

'The pressure in his cold eyes is heavy… it almost feels like I'm looking at a younger version of the Grand Duke.'

The senior chuckles, as he raised both hands in surrender, and said, "… I lost."

Two words had the crowd erupting in cheers of astonishment. It was indeed unexpected for a mere first year, and a commoner at that, to win against his own seniors. Moreover, he did it with effortless skill and strength.

"What in the world?! They actually lost to him!"

"And he's barely even tired! What a knight!"

"He was the one who placed second in their overall rankings! Of course it was expected that he's be a tad better than some of his seniors!"

"Gods, there's a reason why they're called the Golden Generation!"

"Now I understand why they chose him as representative!"

While the crowd were buzzing around, and the seniors were too speechless to even let out a single word, Hades' classmates were particularly silent. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. It's not that they were surprised by his abilities, they know full well that he is much more powerful than what they saw on the entrance exam.

Watching that fight… made them feel complete terror. Their eyes shook at the sight of him, standing just fine at the center. Alonso, Griffith, and Silver felt particularly scared. They are all sword wielders, and they could tell at a glance just how powerful Hades was with the swing of his blade.

"Hades… He's a fucking fraud," Griffith couldn't help but chuckle at that. He badly wanted to laugh at himself for believing that he's on the same level as Silver and him. What in the world has he been doing all this time? He felt as if his pride was completely crushed.

"Utterly terrifying," Alonso couldn't even smile as he uttered those words. He genuinely terrified, and excited at the same time to have that monster as a classmate and a friend. "Let's be careful not to get on his bad side," he said, and shivered just at the thought of making an enemy out of him.

"… Hades... just who is he?" Silver mutters to himself. After that fight, he had rising doubts. There was no way some old mercenary just trained him, and he's already become this powerful by barely a decade.

Rufus himself is starting to have his own doubts and suspicions. Recalling his father's words and actions towards Hades, he couldn't help but think that this is what his father felt when he met Hades. 'Is Hades really a dangerous person that I should keep my distance from?' he thought to himself, clenching his fist.

He then noticed that Hades was turning to glance at them. He must've noticed that they were being too quiet. They saw Hades' lips curve up to a small smile, as he mouthed;

"Did I do great?"

The twelve of them couldn't hide their shock. Is he being sarcastic…? He knows full well that he did better than they had expected him to do, yet he had the nerve to even ask? This son of a bitch— he's acting like the brat that he is. Hades definitely had an intention to piss them off.

"Alright! Hades, are you still good to go? We can finish your turn in one go if you want to?" Corin suggests, and Hades' expression brightened unnaturally. He looked as if he was a child being offered a treat, which somewhat made Corin feel a little nostalgia.

'He reminds me of my niece', he thought, and chuckles. Corin once again, faces the crowd. "It's been decided! Hades will continuously face the third year up to the tenth year of the sword course! How long do you think will this young star last?!" Naturally, his words stirred the entire crowd.

"Holy, are you kidding me?! No matter how strong he is, he won't be able to take on forty five seniors continuously!"

"Ahhh~, I've always wanted to cheer for an underdog."

"Does he have a death wish?!"

"He'll pass out before he could even face the seventh year."

And well, of course, the crowd was in disbelief. Hades was more worse than someone who had a big head, he was too overconfident! They thought that as an official student with so much talent, he would at least know his current limits, and wouldn't be so cocky. Turns out he only had a pretty face.

Heading to the side, Corin greets the grave Nowela with a grinning face, and said, "… think I could whip that fool of a junior?"

Nowela smiles back. "The others will, even before you get the chance to do so."

However, Nowela had to eat her words after all eight years had finished their turn in taking out the first year representative. She—they all thought wrong… Hades was better than they thought.

He was an absolute monster.

"… I can't believe you defeated all of us in less than an hour… I wonder how it would have ended for us if this was an actual battle," Corin had the nerve to speak without breaking eye contact with the junior who had his sword pressed against his throat.

With a smile, Hades replies, "You would have died, Senior Cor." Hades had him pinned on the ground, just enough to have him completely surrender. Corin laughs, Hades was right.

"Get off me then, we're wasting time here," he says, and Hades obliged. With just that motion, cheers were heard, loud and clear. Hades had proven them wrong, and they're happy about it. Hades sheathes his sword, and walks away to the side.

The moment he took down Corin, the fight with the tenth years of the sword course has already concluded. Wouldn't this affect of how people see him? Oh, he doesn't care about image at all. If possible, he'd want to be alone. However, that won't be possible as long as Rufus hangs around him.

"You bastard, stealing all the attention…" Hades heard Rufus' voice, Rufus was wearing a proud smile on his face. "As expected of you, my friend, you're not an ordinary commoner," he comments.

"Ah , so you're saying that if he was ordinary, you wouldn't have been friends with him? You're an attention seeker yourself," Hollis interjected. Like her, Jarrett, and William were also looking at Rufus with suspicion. The others completely agreed with her words.

"That's just how he is, he rarely makes proper friends. It would've been strange if Hades was ordinary," Lorenzo joins in, and Tevin nodded at his words as if he knew Rufus well.

"You were great out there, Hades!" Griffith comments, his fiery gaze shows how much he adored Hades' performance as a whole. Hades couldn't contain his smile as he gazed at his classmates. They were acting as usual, and it somewhat relieved him—

… huh? Hades came to a realization. 'Relieved? Me? Hah…' Hades chuckled to himself as he covers his face. 'I can't believe I'm letting them influence me, maybe I've been too impatient', he thought to himself, and sighs. 'Ugh, who would give a damn, I know at the very least that all of them will be disappointed in me when that time comes…

… resentment is the only emotion I'll need to get rid of the other.'

"Hades? Are you okay?" Curtin approaches him, and asks. Hades simply smiles as he uncovers his face.

"I'm okay, I'm just tired. I'll go, and sleep on the side," he responded, and yawns. "And oh… make sure to show them you're not far inferior from me," he added, and his words alone were enough to make them smile.

"Worry not, we planned to do that," Silver himself replies to Hades.

"That's good to hear," he says.