Within the Inazuma camp, Raiden Shogun frowned as silence once again took over. She had already pulled the score back for them—this was the moment to press the advantage. And yet, they were hesitating again.
"For the women's division, Kujou Sara will go. As for the men… Kaedehara Kazuha, you're up."
Since no one volunteered, she simply assigned them herself.
She had already figured it out. The pole vault looked dangerous, but Sara had wings. That alone should secure first place. As for the men, Kazuha was usually agile enough—he should manage.
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Kujou Sara accepted without hesitation. Whether she was suited or not didn't matter. If it was the Shogun's order, she would obey.
"…Understood."
Kazuha, on the other hand, looked utterly miserable. With his build, how was he supposed to compete against the others? For a moment, he even missed the Crux Fleet. Maybe he should have joined Liyue instead—he was sure that if Beidou spoke up for him, it would have worked.
Meanwhile, Valerius had already opened a portal and arrived at the rooftops first.
Watching the contestants appear one by one with bitter expressions, he nearly burst out laughing. It was obvious—none of them had volunteered.
Mondstadt: Razor.
Liyue: Xiao.
Inazuma: Kaedehara Kazuha.
Sumeru–Fontaine Alliance: Tighnari.
Xianzhou Alliance: Jing Yuan.
Penacony Coalition: Dr. Ratio.
Belobog Alliance: Sampo.
Zenless Zone Zero: Anton Ivanov.
Valerius lingered on Jing Yuan for a moment, clearly surprised. They had sent out their general directly? Then again, the Xianzhou didn't have many male players left. Only Jiaoqiu remained, and he clearly wasn't suited for this kind of event. It made sense—they were being forced into it.
"Line up. I'm about to blow the whistle."
Now that they were chosen, everyone had no choice but to give it their all. They gathered at the starting point.
"Tweet!"
At the signal, Xiao shot forward instantly, moving so fast he left afterimages behind.
He reached the pole, grabbed it, sprinted forward, planted it at the edge of the rooftop, and launched himself into the air with perfect form.
It was a flawless jump—
But—
Whoosh!
A gust of wind tore through the air. Sampo didn't even bother jumping. He swung his pole horizontally like a bat.
Crack!
Xiao's pole snapped in half.
"Wha—!"
With no support, Xiao dropped straight between the buildings.
[Notice: Player Xiao has been eliminated.]
"Hiss—!"
The others immediately stopped in their tracks. Sampo stood at the edge, gripping half a pole, and suddenly no one dared to jump.
"Heh."
Seeing everyone hesitate, Dr. Ratio walked up calmly, picked up a pole, and snapped it in two. He kept one half for himself and handed the other to Jing Yuan.
"Take him out first."
"Agreed."
The others quickly followed suit, grabbing poles as weapons.
With Sampo guarding the edge, no one could jump anyway. They might as well eliminate him first.
"Hey, hey—this isn't fair!"
Sampo panicked. He had only intended to stop others from jumping by knocking Xiao down, but now… why did it feel like he was about to be beaten up?
"Go!"
No one wasted time arguing. They charged in with their poles.
Bang! Crack! Thud!
"You youngsters have no honor!"
Sampo's final complaint echoed as he was beaten off the rooftop.
[Notice: Player Sampo has been eliminated.]
Silence fell over the rooftops once again.
Everyone understood now—whoever jumped first would die first. The situation reached a deadlock.
Dr. Ratio calmly stepped beside Jing Yuan, standing back-to-back with him. He could see the situation clearly—the Teyvat side had the numbers. He needed an alliance.
He even waved at Anton. "Join us, or you'll be eliminated immediately."
"Hah! As long as I've got my brothers, I'll never lose—this is the spirit of a real man!"
Anton didn't take the offer at all. He spun his two poles like windmills, full of confidence. Who cared about being outnumbered?
In the stands, Grace Howard covered her face. She had known Anton was unreliable. And sure enough…
"Big sis, isn't Anton's 'brother' supposed to be his drill? Why is it a stick now?" Koleda Belobog asked, confused.
"Does he just adopt a new 'brother' every day?"
"Is he stupid or what?"
"He's seriously trying to take on everyone alone?"
"Yeah, he's definitely next."
The audience was utterly baffled.
Even Jing Yuan seemed to see a familiar shadow in Anton—like Arataki Itto, but somehow even more reckless.
He stepped forward and swung his pole.
"I'll block!"
Anton reacted quickly, parrying the strike and immediately counterattacking with his other pole.
Jing Yuan didn't even bother dodging.
Clack!
As expected, Dr. Ratio stepped in and blocked the attack.
"Oh? So you two really teamed up."
"Not just two," Dr. Ratio replied flatly. "Watch your back."
"What do you—"
"It means you're done."
The answer came from Tighnari, along with a pole already swinging toward him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
[Notice: Player Anton Ivanov has been eliminated.]
The situation was now clear.
Jing Yuan and Dr. Ratio versus three from Teyvat.
"The Xianzhou general… confident?" Dr. Ratio asked.
"Somewhat."
Jing Yuan still looked relaxed, but his grip on the pole tightened slightly. Even with his abilities sealed, his years of combat experience were unmatched.
"Razor, hold off Professor Ratio. We'll eliminate Jing Yuan first."
Tighnari began assigning roles. In his view, Jing Yuan was the real threat. As for Dr. Ratio—just a scholar. His combat ability shouldn't be that strong.
If Razor could stall him, then with Tighnari and Kazuha working together, they had a chance.
"O-okay."
Razor nodded, gripping his pole and charging toward Dr. Ratio.
"Kazuha, let's go."
"Got it."
As the battle erupted, poles clashing across the rooftop, Valerius stood off to the side laughing uncontrollably. This was supposed to be pole vaulting, and they had turned it into a full-on brawl.
"Good coordination, but that strike should've been three centimeters lower."
"Not bad—five points."
"Incorrect posture. You should've lifted your right foot and engaged your core. Minus three points."
Dr. Ratio calmly lectured as he fought, analyzing every move in real time.
Even so, he steadily forced Razor back to the edge of the rooftop.
"Distance: sixty-one centimeters. Angle: forty-one degrees. Down you go."
With a precise sweep of his pole, Razor lost his balance and slipped off the building.
[Notice: Player Razor has been eliminated.]
From the side, Valerius gave a thumbs-up.
Impressive. The professor's calculations were flawless down to the last detail.
To Read 60+ ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146