Chapter 242 Only Three Seconds...
A hush fell over the crowd as Lyrian spoke up. With a raised brow and his arm leaning over his chair, Lyrian retorted, "If you want to cut my tongue off, how about you go ahead and try."
A wave of shock suddenly fell upon the banquet hall as many mouths went agape. No one had anticipated the boy to say something like that.
Teachers on the sidelines were flabbergasted. Others had even more shocked reactions. Some were confused, some were irritated, and some even found the situation amusing.
One of the latter was Julius, who chuckled with a grin on his face as he witnessed what was going on. A teacher at the academy, Edward, turned toward Julius, who was right next to him, with his jaw on the floor.
"Aren't you going to say anything to stop this?" he whispered, only for Julius to reply with, "Why would I? This is hilarious. Another official should step in." He raised his hands as though under arrest.
The boy who initially said that Lyrian's tongue should be cut off had a shadowed expression. He stared downwards, but Lyrian could tell that the boy was clearly seething in anger.
After a few seconds of deafening silence, in which time itself felt as though it had frozen, the boy suddenly stood up, revealing his luxurious robe, indicating that this boy was most likely of higher-status origin. His face was contorted with anger, his eyebrows furrowed, and his gaze furious.
With a clenched fist, he appeared right in front of Lyrian. It all happened so quickly that no one had seen it coming. The crowd held their breath as Lyrian made his move. Enhancing his quads, he darted up to his feet.
In an instant, Lyrian's left hand grabbed the luxurious-robed kid's collar, and his right hand glowed green before unleashing onto the kid's face... multiple times.
Like a bullet ricocheting from one side of a thin room to the other, Lyrian's fist slammed into the robed kid's face over 15 times in 3 seconds. His nose was caved in, crushed, and gushing with blood. His eyes were swollen black, and both of his lips were busted open.
By the time this torture ended, the robed kid's fist was finally released, only for its target to swiftly dodge out of the way. Lyrian let go of the boy's collar, allowing the momentum of the boy's punch to propel him forward towards the ground.
*Thump*
The boy landed flat on his face. For a moment, he took in a deep gasp of shock, unable to comprehend what just happened. Then, he screamed at the top of his lungs, exclaiming the excruciating agony he felt all over his face right now.
Lyrian's expression remained nonchalant as his gaze turned to the other boy who had spoken out against him.
"You want to try it too?"
The boy whom he was speaking to quickly turned around, clenching his fist, but unable to retaliate.
"Well?!" Lyrian said in a louder tone, looking around the room at those who whispered negatives about him.
"Not a single person wants to speak their bull shit in front of me? You were all saying it just a second ago. What? Too scared to actually say it to my face?"
He raised both hands slightly to address everyone as he spoke, before pausing to allow anyone to speak up.
No one peeped a single word. Those who had spoken badly about him just a few seconds ago now lowered their gaze to avoid confrontation. Finally, he scoffed. "Bunch of cowards." He returned to his seated position.
"Wait!" A voice cut through the silence. It was Israthel. "He just beat up a kid! Shouldn't that constitute a punishment!?" He looked to the school officials and teachers.
"What kind of example do we want to set here?" he exclaimed, expecting to garner some nods from people in the banquet. And, his expectations would have actually been correct here if not for Lyrian's speech just one second prior. Right now, no one wanted to speak out against him.
'That guy again...' Lyrian thought to himself. 'What an irritating fool.'
After a long moment of silence, another voice, slightly familiar as well, spoke out.
"It was only self-defense. Completely justified in my view. The boy on the ground right now is the one who initiated first. Lyrian, on the other hand, simply fought back. Unlucky for the first guy... he bit off more than he could chew."
Nevin, the boy from the Religion Sector whom Lyrian met while on his way to buy the BF Module, said firmly. This time, what Israthel expected to happen with his statement happened to the opposite one instead. Many found logic in Nevin's statement, and others simply nodded out of fear of being picked on.
"What!? But how can you say it was self-defense when the kid's laid out like that--" Israthel tried to retort but was abruptly cut off.
"Be quiet, man. Let's get to the auction already. You can have an in-depth conversation with a teacher after it's over if you want," Lyrian retorted out of nowhere, as Israthel felt the eyes of everyone staring at him awkwardly.
Once again, he felt humiliated. After another few seconds of silence, of Israthel staring at Lyrian as he breathed ragged, angered breaths, the auctioneer finally made his way into the conversation.
"...Uh... well..." He scratched his head, "Let's continue with the auction I guess then, everyone! Things happen, but we must learn to forget and not let those things disrupt the flow of the moment! Now, who's excited for the final item!"
With this, a short second of silence sounded through the calls, giving some doubt to the auctioneer. However, his doubt was quickly erased. A few people exclaimed their excitement, and then, a few more joined them. Just like this, before long, the entire room was buzzing with an eager feeling once again.
"Now that's more like it! The starting price for this grand item is 800 Riftstones, let the bidding begin!"
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