All that could be said was that the duel had ended far too quickly and abruptly.
It took several seconds before most people suddenly realized that Matthew Bilbom had lost.
At that moment, the clamor of the spectators outside could no longer be contained.
Only Matthew's supporters held their breath in the face of that extremely abrupt, hard-to-accept reality, unable to speak for a long while.
As for Matthew Bilbom himself, he suddenly choked on his own laughter and fell into a violent coughing fit.
In a life-and-death duel, even a minor misjudgment could be enough to cost someone their life.
Much less when Matthew's misjudgment had been anything but minor.
He bent over, coughing violently, using the motion to cover his eyes.
A trace of gray drifted out through his fingers, only to instantly retract.
At the same time, Dark suddenly felt something and raised his right hand, a doubtful look appearing on his face.
Just then, he had keenly sensed the [Underworld Flame] hidden in his palm twitch slightly.
That alone did not prove anything, but combined with the inexplicable feeling he had experienced at the start of the duel, it immediately made him realize where the problem lay.
He quickly calmed down from the lingering excitement of victory.
There had always been another unknown holder of [Underworld Flame] within the academy.
Dark had learned of this some time ago.
However, he had not discovered it himself. He had heard it from Patricia Bolin, a fourth-year senior from the Magister House, so he had never been fully convinced.
Yet afterward, neither Patricia Bolin nor Dark himself had detected any unfamiliar aura related to [Underworld Flame].
And so the matter had dragged on until now.
Who would have thought that, in this seemingly unrelated duel, he would unexpectedly discover