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BUSTERS' BANNER FALLS TO the ground and everyone immediately started going insane. This was something that even the white uniforms weren't expecting, so seeing them all hyped up like this made the surprise even more thrilling.

     "What on earth is going on?" Magnus asked while covering his ears as siren sounds could be heard throughout the campus, which would most likely alert the professors by now.

     "This is a brotherhood battle," Nox explains to the guests who had no idea on what the fallen banner was about.

    "A brotherhood battle?" Gengxin confusingly asks while staring at the brotherhoods who were all now standing from their seats, waiting for the next banner to fall so they'd know who the kings challenged.

     Nox, Nicolás, Asahi, and the rest of the white uniforms from the other houses were all looking excited as this was their first brotherhood battle in the House of Kings, and to top it all off, the one who was going to battle are the kings. This was the greatest honor they could ever receive.

     "What on earth is a brotherhood battle?" Kingston then asks while the students continue to shout the names of the brotherhood who they want the kings to challenge.

     "A brotherhood battle is something like an event where a brotherhood will pull down another brotherhood's banner to declare war against them," Nicolás explains.

     "And when you say war, you mean..." Kingston still wasn't sure about the entire concept, and he was assuming that this was going to be some type of dodgeball game or something normal, but when he heard what it was really about, Kingston, and even the other guests who were listening, couldn't believe a single thing that they just heard.

     "War is like what it implies. The brotherhoods will fight, maybe even till death, to win the battle," Nox explains further, making the guests look back at them with their mouths wide open.

     "You got to be joking, right?" Magnus asks with an awkward laugh, but Nicolás and the others were so serious that he couldn't help but gulp.

     "So technically they fight for entertainment," Jontell Rosario, who heard what they were talking about, suddenly asked, making Nox and the others turn their heads to look at him.

     Jontell, who seemed calm about the whole situation, yawns and continues, "A normal school wouldn't do this, but if you're implying that they're going to fight for real then what's the point?"

     Nox and Nicolás didn't say anything, not because they didn't know the answer, but because they were afraid to speak up. This is Jontell Rosario we're talking about. He's from a family who runs multiple businesses around the world, but only a few know that they're actually a criminal organization. No one really talks about it because they're afraid to get involved, but if it really was true, then Jontell grew up in an environment where fighting was the norm.

    "Shedding blood for a bunch of kids who act like this is some kind of cockpit is irritating," Jontell then says.

     Kingston and the others thought that no one was going to answer him back, but to their surprise, Tsukumo Asahi—who has been quiet ever since they got here—looks back at Jontell and seriously tells him, "You have no right to mock our system like that."

     "What did you just say?"

     "A Brotherhood Battle is the symbolism of our house's strength. It showcases our pride and beliefs, and it stands as a reminder of what we are capable of," Asahi seriously explains, making the other guests look back at him too so they could listen to what he has to say.

     "Those who fight aren't just fighting for the fun of it. They don't just shoot guns and swing swords like it's some kind of joke. Every move, every battle ground, and every strategy has been perfected because they are aware of the weight they carry," He explains further.

     "And those who watch aren't just watching for entertainment either. The adrenaline, the excitement, and the respect they have for the brotherhoods who are in battle are what make this war as meaningful as it is. If you still don't understand what this battle means to us, then it makes sense that you can easily talk down on us like this," Asahi finishes with an even more commanding tone, making all the guests quiet. Even Jontell couldn't think of anything else to say.

    After saying all that, Asahi takes a deep breath and looks back at the stage, pretending like he wasn't nervous about standing up for J.S High like that.

     "You just talked back to Jontell Rosario. That's pretty gangster Asahi," Nicolás teases, making Asahi nudge his side so he could shut up.

     Kingston and the others then looked back at the stage where Kim Hee-joon was. Tanis arrives too and takes a seat on his throne. Everyone was still shouting and screaming, while the brotherhoods anxiously waited for the next banner to fall.

     "Looks like everyone's ready!" An unknown voice announces, and the white uniforms erupted in an instant. "To officially begin our morning assembly, let us count down and see who our great kings have challenged! Starting from five..."

     Four...

     Three...

     Two...

     And as everyone shouted the word one, a banner finally falls to the ground, leaving the entire stadium speechless. Even the brotherhoods couldn't help but open their mouths in shock.

     "Pretty, Hot, and Dangerous!" The host announces, and finally, the students jumped from their seats and started cheering even more, while PHD, whose banner was pulled, looked like they weren't fazed. They didn't know that their kings would pull their banner, but they were ready for it nonetheless. After all, they're the princes for a reason.

     "Holy shit! They chose the princes!" A student from the House of Bishops stated, unable to contain his excitement either.

     "What's happening? Is this some kind of big deal?" Magnus then asks when he saw everyone's reaction to the banner being pulled down.

    "That's fucking PHD," Nox excitedly says. "PHD is a part of the Royals, they're like official allies of the king, so the fact that Busters pulled their banner means that the kings are really here to make an impression."

     "To the brotherhoods who aren't challenged, as well as our dear guests, please step out of the grounds," someone announces, and the brotherhoods started walking towards the bleachers, some still in shock that Busters pulled PHD's banner.

     Tanis, who was still sitting on his throne beside the leader of PHD, leans toward Joon and whispers something to him. Joon doesn't react, but he sighs, almost like he expected whatever Tanis whispered to him. After that, Tanis and Joon finally stood up from their thrones so they could head to the armory to get ready.

     "Our dear guests, please follow me so you could safely step out of the grounds," a member of the Alpha Society stated, and so the guests stood from their seats and followed the alpha to a perfect spot where they could watch the battle.

     "Wait, did he just say...safely?" Magnus confusingly asks while other members of the Alpha Society ran to the middle of the stadium to take the seats and clear the area. When the middle was finally cleared, one of the members who were wearing an earpiece, said something and made a go signal before running away from the middle.

     As the guests sat comfortably on the bleachers, the middle grounds where they were just in, suddenly opened, instantly making their mouths drop in shock.

     "Holy shit! What is that?!" One of the guests shouted. Even those who were bashing the school earlier were starting to look excited as well.

     As the floor pulls apart, another floor gets lifted up, showing Buster's Battle Grounds. As soon as they saw it, the white uniforms, and even the brotherhoods, couldn't help but be amazed. The grounds were a replica of a chessboard, and in that chessboard were large chess pieces.

     "I knew it. This design really was from Busters," Hans says as he and the rest of the brotherhoods looked at the grounds in complete awe because even they were impressed by it.

     When the entire grounds were now locked in place, members of the Alpha Society ran to the battle grounds to check everything, making sure nothing malfunctions or breaks. This was their job after all, so if this fails, the blame would be on them.

     "Okay, I'm not going to lie, this is pretty impressive," Kingston admits with a grin, especially since this was the most exciting thing that ever happened to him apart from his participation in Mr. Brains & Brawn.

     "Wait till you see the actual battle," Nicolás assures him.

     "Now, as we wait for the challenged and the challengers, the members of the Elites will be going around to collect your bets, so Elites, let's get that money!" The host says, and the Elites started walking around the stadium, holding tablets and card scanners.

     Nox also explained to the guests what the bets are for, so some of them got excited and placed their bets too even though they wouldn't get anything from it. While the bets were rolling, the two large LED screens beside the stage changed. The left screen showed a list of weapons the brotherhoods could use, while the right screen showed the body parts that cannot be targeted.

     "Wait, the weapons on the screen, are they for real?" Gengxin asks. "Or are they like the ones in the pageant where it's fake bullets?

     "I think it's best if you guys just watched," Nox answers and Nicolás and Asahi nod their heads to agree to it.

     "Now for the mechanics of the battle. Within twelve minutes, the first brotherhood to place its flag on the enemy base wins. Any weapon is allowed except for the weapons listed on the screen. Long-range weapons are only allowed for those who have permits. And the body part with the X marks is the part that cannot be targeted. If no one gets to place their flag on the enemy base when the twelve-minute count is over, it is an automatic draw. The brotherhood that does not follow the rules will automatically be disqualified, leaving the opponent the winner. Good luck, and let the best brotherhood win." The voice explains, and the crowd cheers even louder.

    When the bets were finally done, the screen changed and showed the number of bets from each brotherhood. For the bets, though it was a close match, PHD won the advantage with $64,300 compared to Busters who had $60,620. Apparently, most of the guests placed their bets on PHD because Busters scared them too much.

     "Pretty, Hot, and Dangerous has the highest bet. They are given the ten-second advantage."

     After the results from the bets, a host suddenly appears on stage, and to their surprise, it was their speech professor, the club advisor of the Public Speaking club, and the regular battle host, Mr. Vincent Coleman.

     "Good day J.S High!" He announced, making the students cheer. "You really gave us professors a scare," Mr. Coleman says as the professors start arriving at the stadium with the other professors from the visiting schools.

     "For what I remember, this wasn't part of our meeting, but it seems like our dear students have decided that this is the path we're taking. President Janus was a bit annoyed earlier after hearing the siren sounds, but we all expected it anyway. J.S High is all about our dear students after all, so if this is how you all want it to go, then let's show them what our house is all about!" Mr. Coleman explains, and the students cheered even more.

     The guests, and the professors who just arrived, were just as shocked by what they heard, but they couldn't even say or react to it.

     "Anyway, let's not make our guests wait any longer so to officially begin the battle, let's give it up for our challengers: rank 1, the kings, Busters!" Mr. Coleman finally announces, and the members of Busters went out from the armory, holding their own weapons.

     Everyone started cheering, but then they notice someone walking in the middle. It was a student wearing a phantom masked.

     "Wait, there's nine of them now," one of the guests stated.

     "Who's that?" Kingston asks next.

     Nox, Nicolás, Asahi, and the rest of the white uniforms from the other houses were shocked to see the student with the phantom masked. Even with his face covered, they knew exactly who it was. Especially when his presence alone made them gulp in fear.

     "Do you guys know him?" Gengxin continued to ask, but no one could give them an answer. They were afraid to even say his name out loud.

     "I can't believe he's here. This is fucking amazing," Nox whispered to Nicolás and Asahi, and the two nodded their heads, surprised to see their king too.

     "Now, let us all give our respect to the challenged, the unbreakable princes, Pretty, Hot, and Dangerous!"

     The ten princes went out from the armory as well, and the two brotherhoods finally went to their respective bases so they could get ready. As Busters and PHD got themselves ready on the grounds, a white uniform suddenly appears on stage. It was the Elites vice president, Gavriil Alexeev. Gavriil had a blank expression on his face, but when he got to the middle of the stage, another white uniform runs to his side, holding a case that contained one of Viktor's guns.

    Since the kings and the princes were battling, the next person to officially begin the battle is not BND, but Busters' underling. So Gavriil, who is part of the Clan, takes the gun and pulls out a handkerchief to clean it, something that Viktor usually does too.

     "Now the battle will begin in 5...4...3...2..."

     Gavriil takes a deep breath and fires the empty gun, the sound instantly making the guests flinch. But as the gunshot was heard, a countdown was shown on the screen, indicating the 10-second advantage that PHD won during the bets.

     "You five, go!" Killshot announces, and the members of Dangerous Five immediately ran towards Busters' base.

     As mentioned earlier, the ground was a large chess board, and so the large pieces were standing just right behind the members of PHD. They didn't really know what the pieces were for, but when the princes ran forward and stepped on the tiles, the chess pieces suddenly started moving, surprising them.

     "I knew it," Joon says, immediately avoiding the large pawn piece that moved forward. "Each tile triggers a chess piece," Joon then explains.

     When the members of Dangerous Five noticed it too, they immediately stopped moving, and so the chess pieces automatically stopped moving as well.

    Before the 10-second countdown could end, Joon looks at the members of Dangerous Five and shouted, "Ready your aims!"

     "Yes sir!"

     And so the members of Dangerous Five got close enough to Busters' base. Soon after that, they pulled out their slingshots and circular ammo that looked like mini bombs. They got the ammunition ready, and just as their 10-second advantage comes to an end, the five princes shot the bombs toward Busters.

     As soon as the bombs hit the floor, cold smoke suddenly oozes out of them, instantly blocking Buster's view of PHD.

     "PHD's 10-second advantage has now ended," a commentator explains as everyone, including the guests, watches the battle in complete focus.

    "Busters probably knows what tile triggers what. If we just run around the grounds, those big ass chess pieces might come running towards us and send us flying," Killshot explains while he, Blade, and Joon stood close to their base to protect it.

    "That's possible, but what's even more possible is that they might not even know the pattern like last time," Joon then tells them, referring to the moving glass maze that Buster's had during their first battle with Jokers.

    "What's the plan then?" Blade then asks.

    Joon stares at the smoke that was slowly dispersing. Once this clears, Busters is going to make their move, so they have to plan something out now before they get the upper hand.

    "Joonie, what are we gonna do?" Blade asks again.

     Joon, who was still calm despite the unpredictable situation, stares at the tiles before looking at the chess pieces, thinking of the perfect way to get through this battle without receiving a humiliating checkmate.

    Meanwhile...

     "They're probably figuring out if we know the pattern or not," Tanis explains while Busters stood in a straight line just in front of the smoke that the Dangerous Five created.

    "They might figure that out eventually, but the truth is, the pattern is more complex than what they might expect. Before they could even figure it out, we'd already be placing our flag on their base," the man wearing the phantom mask says before looking back at his brotherhood with a confident grin.

    "Do we start now...Viktor?" Tanis then asks, and Viktor—who bravely joined the battle despite being warned by president Janus—looks back at the smoke and says, "We're starting with the pawns. Go!"

    As soon as Viktor gave the signal, four of his men started running towards the smoke, stepping at different tiles to make the chess pieces move. Two of the large pawns on both ends automatically moved, giving way for the large rooks to move forward. As soon as the two rooks got through the line of pawns, they immediately rushed towards the smoke.

     PHD, who was waiting behind the smoke, were surprised when they saw the large chess pieces racing toward them at full speed.

    "Get out!" One of the members of Dangerous Five shouted, immediately making the others run out of the way.

    As the black rook pieces collide with the white pawn pieces, the white pieces start falling one by one, mimicking an actual game where a player knocks a chess piece over so they could take them.

     One member of Dangerous Five, who was standing close to the falling chess piece, didn't even notice the large pawn falling behind him, but thankfully Ren was able to push him out of the way.

     "These pieces move like an actual chess game," Ren realizes.

    The pawn pieces moved one step at a time, while the rooks could go in any tile, but they only go in straight lines. This means that the other chess pieces are the same. The bishops would only move diagonally, the horses could only move in four tiles, the kings can move one tile at a time, while the queens could move everywhere.

    "We have to look out for their queen. If that gets out of the line, we're going to have a hard time running away from that thing," Killshot explains.

     "We don't know how to control the pieces on our side. It will only be a disadvantage for us if we try to figure out the pattern," Joon then says as the smoke finally clears out, giving them a full view of what Busters are doing.

    "They're moving their pawns so the bishop could move out of its formation! We gotta move!" Aki from Pretty Duo announced.

     "Then we gotta do what we do best. Shooters, get ready!" Joon then said, and Killshot and Blade nodded their heads and ran closer to Buster's base.

    One member of Busters, who was controlling the rook piece, steps on another tile, making the Rook rush towards the princes. But just in time, Blade pulls a thick metal stick from his coat. He clicks a button, and the metal stick automatically transforms and turns into something that looked like a bow.

    "Light's out big boy," Blade whispers before pulling out a pointy metal arrow that's only a size of a pen. He puts the arrow inside the bow and adjusts his leather gloves. Soon after, he pulls the string and shoots, and the arrow flies towards Busters.

     The kings were too busy controlling the pieces, but then, an unfortunate member of Busters got hit by Blade's arrow, instantly making him drop to the ground as the arrow directly hit his leg.

     The crowd was surprised, and for a moment the guests thought that it was fake, not until blood started oozing out of the king's leg.

    One of the rook pieces finally stopped moving, making Blade sigh in relief. He was about to target another king, but then a large bishop piece rushes towards him this time, immediately making Blade run away from his position.

    While the others were busy dominating each base, Killshot got himself ready next. Unlike Blade, he doesn't use arrows or guns, but he does use kunai's instead, or if you're not familiar with them, a knife that's shaped like a diamond.

    Killshot and Blade's specializes in long-range combat. Of course, they're not as accurate as their leader Joon, but the two's accuracy ranges from 95 to 96 percent, which is still very high compared to other brotherhood leaders.

    "Dangerous Five! Move forward!" Killshot instructs, and the members of Dangerous Five, who were acting as tanks, nodded their heads and trusted their wingman, running towards Busters' base at full speed.

    One of the members of Dangerous Five, who was face to face with a large horse piece, was about to get hit by it, but thankfully Killshot throws his kunai at one of the kings, and the chess piece instantly stops moving.

    "Go! Run!" Killshot continues to say, and the five members continued running towards Busters' base.

     Blade, Killshot, and the two members of Pretty Duo assisted them, but the chess piece—especially the rook—moved so fast that two of them got knocked off by it. The battle ground was a complete war that the students couldn't even say anything. Even the guests were left speechless as they watched the battle unfold. They couldn't help but watch with great concentration, almost like they were part of the battle themselves.

     But while everything was chaos, Kim Hee-joon, who was still guarding their base, looks straight ahead and saw Viktor standing on the other end.

     They were meters away from each other, but then Joon pulls out his personal gun and aims at Viktor. Joon didn't know if Viktor could see him, he also wasn't certain if he would be able to shoot him since the chess pieces were moving around, as well as the members of Busters and PHD.

     But Joon was known to be the best shooter among all the brotherhoods after all. This should be easy.

    "Let's see who will fall down first, my sweet little Vi," Joon says with a smirk, aiming his gun at Viktor and finally pulling the trigger.

- END -