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THE SECOND DAY HAS begun, and yesterday's results still dumbfounded the students from all five houses. No one expected how much the ranks would change, especially the other brotherhoods that had to leave their houses. But as unfortunate as it may sound, everyone in J.S High was glad because none of them were eliminated.

     "What time is it?" Cj asks, looking out of the bus's window with a bored expression on his face.

     Anthony—his right-hand man that was sitting beside him—looks at his watch and answers, "7:28 AM."

     "It's fucking early!" Cj then loudly complains, making Krist, who was sitting behind him, kick his chair in irritation because he was just sleeping a couple of seconds ago, and now he was forced to wake up because of his supposed best friend.

     "For someone who ranks lower than me, you have no right to complain," Krist says, massaging his aching temple since he wasn't able to sleep well last night after Day 01's ranking.

     "For someone who ranks lower than me, you have no right to complain," Cj repeats with a mocking voice, making Krist kick his chair again.

     "I fucking heard that."

     The six brotherhood leaders of J.S High, along with their right-hand men, were riding the bus which would bring them to where they'll have their first actual battle, while their other members were riding a different bus. There was a reason for this because the association didn't want the groups to be discussing strategies anymore before they arrived at the battle grounds, so they thought having to separate the leaders and the second in command would help.

     "You shouldn't be too stressed, Master Joker, or you might end up ranking lower, and that would be very embarrassing. But then again, you're already used to making a joke of yourselves, so that wouldn't be much of a problem," Viktor then teases with a sadistic grin, making Krist roll his eyes back in annoyance before flashing Viktor with his two middle fingers.

     "The battle will start as early as 9 AM. We all have to be there early to assemble," Hans then says, staring out of the window as well so he could amuse himself since they weren't allowed to bring their phones either.

     "Anyway, where do you think we'll have our battle today? MJ and I made a bet. I said it would be at the House of Bishops, while he said it might be at the House of Pawns," Brave then says, standing from his seat so he could look at the other leaders.

     "Looks like both of you lost that bet. Judging by the road we're on, we're not heading on either of those schools," an unfamiliar voice then says. If Brave didn't stand taller, he wouldn't have seen that it was Felix who said that.

     "Damn, it's strange how you're wearing a black uniform now," Brave says, staring at Felix, who was sitting beside his leader, Siren. "But what's even more strange is that you're the youngest one here. This is your first Annual Reranking, right? You nervous?"

     "I'm calculated," Felix answers with a blank expression, making Brave blow a raspberry like a kid.

     "Boo! That's such a boring answer," Brave says. "You're more like a member of PHD than Crazy 8."

     "And what does that suppose to fucking mean?" Killshot asks back with a taunting expression, immediately making Brave sit back down to hide beside Master Joker, who only sighed and gave Brave a lollipop so he'd just shut up.

     "Brave might have made it sound stupid, but I am quite curious about it too," Arjun then says, turning his head to look at Felix. "Among all the brotherhoods in J.S High, Crazy 8 is the only group that has new members. This is going to be your first reranking, Felix Campbell. Do you think you can handle it?"

     "I am the 7th executive of Crazy 8, and I decided to prove my worth in this battle. I do not have time to be nervous, especially when I have calculated everything which will bring us victory," Felix then answers, and Arjun can only nod his head in understanding.

     "Looks like you really are a friend of Max," he then whispers under his breath.

     But as everyone respected Felix's standing, Cj—who was still looking out of the window—took a deep breath and then asked, "You've calculated everything? You must know whose going to lose among us then."

     The moment Cj opened that up, everyone on the bus became quiet, and the atmosphere instantly got awkward.

     "Cj..." Krist scolds, but then Cj just stands from his seat and looks at everyone on the bus with a much more serious expression. "I thought I was the only confident one here, but it seems like things have changed. Someone has planned for our demise for who knows how long, and all you can do is pretend it's fake and hope for the best. I guess the past months have made you all weak."

     "Charles," Krist calls out this time, finally making Cj shut up and sit back down, crossing his arms and looking out of the window again.

     Everyone on the bus has turned silent because they knew deep down that Cj was right. There have been rumors going around that one of them was going to fail and get demoted. They were already warned about this too when their flags were violated at the Great Hall, but for some reason, no one was doing a damn thing.

     Or so Cj thought.

     During the exchange of secrets between Siren and Viktor, Viktor actually did do something when he found out who the spy was.

     Magnus McKay, a young boy from Westminster College, had no connection with them other than being a participant in Mr. Brains & Brawn. The members of Busters sought him out and threatened him, and the way he confessed was something that surprised them.

     But, of course, that encounter would have to wait for now.

     "I have an idea of who it may be," Felix suddenly announced, making everyone turn their heads to look at him, except for Viktor and Hee-joon, who weren't as curious to know what the young one had to say.

     Felix doesn't say anything at first and just turns his head to Siren, who doesn't really stop him from speaking his mind. But as Felix was about to finish his sentence, Viktor sighed loudly, forcing Felix to stop.

     "You guys really be worrying about others when you should be more worried about yourselves. After all, there is nothing more terrifying than preoccupying your mind with the 'who?' question and then ending up with the answer being 'you,'" Viktor says, instantly making everyone quiet.

     Felix looks at Viktor, but then he sighs and decides not to say anything.

     After that conversation, no one said a thing anymore and just waited to arrive at their destination in silence. Instead of worrying about the rumor, they meditated and thought of strategies instead. While some decided to rest to save their energy for the real battle.

     The ride took around an hour and a half. So when they finally arrived, Everyone immediately looked out of the window and practically started grinning when they saw the location.

     At first glance, you'd think that they were brought to the biggest prison one has ever seen, but when the bus got to the main entrance, a familiar logo was found. It was the school logo of Roland's High School.

     "We're having our first battle here? The association is really changing things up," Hans says, staring at the enormous walls that protected the students. The wall height was actually similar to J.S High, but the only difference was that there were wires on top of the walls, just like what you see in prisons.

"House of Rooks. To be studying on an actual prison-looking campus is insane. But I guess we're just lucky since our campus looks like a castle," Krist then says as the buses drive past the school gate.

     They were the last to arrive, so when the bus parked in front of the main building, the other brotherhoods were already waiting for them there.

     "Alright, let's head out," Hans says, and everyone stands from their seats and gets off. This was Felix's first time visiting Roland's School for Boys, so he decided to stick close to Siren.

     As soon as the leaders got off, the rest of their members immediately ran to rejoin them.

     "Master Joker!" Rome shouted, hugging Krist tightly like they had been separated for days.

     Everyone regrouped and joined the rest of the remaining 22 brotherhoods. But as soon as the other brotherhoods saw them, they all instantly became quiet. Despite some of them, specifically, Cigarettes and Crazy 8, ranking lower than most, most of the brotherhoods were still intimidated to approach them.

     "J.S High! You finally arrived. Looks like you guys are still late," someone suddenly says, making Cj and the others turn their heads to see who it is.

     They were all ready to intimidate the hell out of this person, but when they saw that it was actually Uchdryd Rease, the leader of the current rank 7, Checkmates, they instantly put their guards down.

     "Oh, it's just you," Cj says with disappointment.

     "Hey, what's with the long faces?!" Uchdryd asks, draping his arm around Cigarettes leader like they were close friends.

     The other brotherhoods couldn't help but be surprised by how close they were with each other. After all, Checkmates were the previous princes alongside Paradox. Even when Viktor and the others came, Checkmate still stood strong as the previous Barons. It was only when Uchdryd became their leader that they were demoted to the House of Bishops.

     "Don't get too depressed. This is just the second elimination. It would be a shame if your journey ends here in the House of Rooks, right?" Uchdryd teases, immediately making Cj push his arm off him.

     "You asshole. Who said we're depressed?" Cj asks back, and Uchdryd just shrugs his shoulder before looking at Siren and Felix.

     "And we meet again, Crazy 8. You're the brotherhood that got us kicked out of the House of Kings. I was honestly so embarrassed at that time since it was my first year being a leader, but I guess we just didn't have a chance anymore, especially when most of the original members graduated," Uchdryd explains, not showing any grudge at all.

     "Well, I'm glad there are no hard feelings. I hope we have another amazing battle this time around, especially when it's my turn to be a new leader," Siren says, showing Uchdryd her hand, making Uchdryd smile before shaking it.

     After letting go of her hand, Uchdryd looks at Felix this time before revealing, "An underling of mine mentioned that they made an unexpected encounter with you. He also said how terrifyingly keen you were. For a newer member of Crazy 8, I'm impressed."

    "Thank you for the compliment," Felix then replies.

     "Well, speaking of new members, look at that," Hans says, joining their conversation. He then points at the members of Busters and PHD who were talking to the newly ranked groups, the Clan and Dynasties. Conveniently enough, they were all wearing masks, so no one could tell who they really were.

     "Those are their kids, aren't they?" Uchdryd then asks with a softer voice so the others wouldn't hear them. After all, no one else knows that Busters and PHD actually have underlings, so they weren't able to connect that Viktor and Hee-joon are taking care of those two new groups.

     "So they did what the Queens did. For what I know, the princesses were the Vixens' previous underlings, but Cindy and her sisters personally trained them and helped them become rank 2," Uchdryd explains as they were staring at Viktor and his underlings...who was technically a brotherhood of their own.

     "They're still young. Even if a demon like Viktor and an ice prince like Joon would train them, they'd still need a lot of fucking experience before they could beat a bunch of brotherhoods here," Hans then says, referring to not only the brotherhoods in J.S High but as well as those in St. George Academy, who are also considered to be very strong brotherhoods.

     "By the way, we've been debating about this since yesterday," Krist then changes the topic. "What the hell happened to the Reapers? They were in your house, and then all of a sudden, they got demoted to rank 26. It's a shame because I remembered they were the best hand-to-hand combat group during last year's reranking," he finally asks, looking at the leader of Checkmate.

     "Oh yeah, news about other houses isn't as interesting as J.S High. But if you're all wondering, a member of Reapers shot another member of the student council at our dining hall and got him sent to the hospital. The leader kicked him out, and he go expelled, but I guess it left a huge impact on their evaluation," Uchdryd finally explains, surprising Hans and the others.

     It has never crossed their minds to just shoot someone so easily, let alone a council member. Even Cj, who's known to be merciless, found it extreme.

    "And here I thought they set the campus on fire."

     While everyone got comfortable and started talking amongst each other, Roland's High School student council, the Stewards, got out of the main building to greet everyone who was waiting outside.

     "Brotherhoods!" The man in the middle, wearing a golden military sash, shouts, automatically making everyone stop talking. "In your lines, now!" He shouts next, and with no hesitation, everyone starts rejoining their brotherhoods so they can properly line up with them.

     The white uniform standing in the middle with an intimidating aura was none other than the Steward's president, Henry Chen, who just so happened to be the third son of the chairman of Golden Lion's Corporation, who is one of the biggest real-estate developers in Singapore.

     Yes, if you noticed, it is the same name as Golden Lions, who are currently ranked 4. The leader of that brotherhood is Henry's older brother and is the second son of their family.

     "We welcome you all to Roland's School for Boys. For reassurance, your battle zone was not touched by any member of the students in this school, as the Association has prepared it all for the battle. Now please, follow us, and we'll lead you to your battle ground," President Henry says, heading back inside, making the rest of the Brotherhood follow.

     The brotherhoods entered by their current rank, so Busters and PHD went inside first, followed by the Gallants, and then the other high-ranked brotherhoods.

     When they got inside, Felix was relieved that it wasn't really like a prison. It had the inspiration, but it wasn't as depressing as he expected. There weren't any actual cells either, but most of their windows had metal bars on them.

     After walking through the campus, the 22 brotherhoods slowly started hearing loud cheers that even made some of their hair stands. They walked towards a large door that had a bright light coming out of it. A couple of steps after, everyone realized that they were now outside. Or more specifically, the courtyard, which looked exactly like a prison courtyard.

     "And here they are now, the top 22 brotherhoods!" A host announced, making everyone start cheering and stomping their feet.

     Felix looked around and took a deep breath. Unlike J.S High, where there's a stadium, Roland's High School had a large concrete courtyard that was surrounded by tall walls and wires. He then looked up and saw that the students were on some sort of balcony, staring down at them as if they were waiting for a prison fight to happen.

     "This is it, Felix! The second day of the Brotherhood Reranking!" Siren shouted so Felix could hear him among the loud cheers.

     Felix touched his rapidly beating chest as he continued to look around the unfamiliar area. But after a while, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down. All of a sudden, an image of his friends appeared: Max, Ari, Ervin, and Keigo. As soon as Felix saw them, he opened his eyes back, and all the noise around him became silent, almost like he had put them on mute.

     Everything went in slow motion, but after a couple of seconds, siren sounds were suddenly heard throughout the courtyard, and the door they had just exited from started closing.

     "Brotherhoods...this is the official opening ceremony of Day 2! May the best fighter win!"

- END -