No one knew who the final place would go to.
"Second place is~"
"Noah—"
Upon hearing this, the Director and the Little Sea Dragon Girl both trembled violently in their hearts.
Even Leon and Rossweise in the audience below were drenched in cold sweat.
Claudia crossed her arms, quietly leaned on the back of her chair, elegantly crossed her legs, and seemed not anxious at all.
"Noah, who do you think will be second?"
Leon, in the audience, had black lines all over his face, turned his head and asked, "Can I go up there and stab this teacher to death with a thousand birds?"
Rossweise silently facepalmed, "Endure it, endure it, be good."
Amid the audience's sighs, the judge teacher also put away the playful attitude, and seriously said, "The final champion will be decided between Noah's group and Vivian's group."
"The types and styles of works from both sides are completely different."
"What Noah's group wants to express is the meaning of 'breaking free from worldly views and bravely pursuing the life one wants.' It's a very serious topic, but there are still some humorous and interesting segments within, showing the deep foundation of the actors, screenwriter, and director."
"Whereas what Vivian brings has a core of thought that delves deeper into life, with the main plot being how a minor dragon clan member lives an ordinary yet not mediocre life. This is the true portrayal of most of us."
"So, in this clash of ideas, who will win?"
The judge teacher turned to the last page of the letter paper.
On it was the name of the champion.
She smiled and her gaze slowly landed on the girl named Vivian.
Vivian couldn't help but sit upright, her pupils filled with joy and anticipation.
The judge teacher finally looked toward the one next to her—
"Noah K. Melkvei, and her little screenwriter Helena Poseidon, congratulations to them~"
Hundreds of hearts that were hanging on the scene all settled with this final announcement.
Noah let out a breath of relief, her little face even slightly flushed from holding it in.
Helena hugged her, rubbing against her cheek, "Noah, we won! We won!"
"Yeah, we... won."
The audience below stood up and applauded.
Noah looked at that group of people, listened to the deafening applause, and suddenly remembered what her dad said to her before the performance began, "Did you hear that applause, Noah? That's all for you."
Once again, it proved that Dad would never lie to her.
"Congratulations, Noah," Vivian and the small directors from other groups all came forward to congratulate.
"Ah geez! Why are your dad and mom's acting skills so good! Totally defeated us wow!"
"That blue-haired aunt's temperament is also great, almost thought she was a professional actress."
"Just wait, Noah, next time I'll definitely surpass you!"
The young dragons gathered together, praising each other, also setting flags for each other, without so many schemes and tricks, after all, friendship comes first, competition second.
After the brief celebration came the photo session.
All the actors in Noah's group went on stage, and both the principal and vice principal, as well as the judge teachers, gave full face, standing together with them for a group photo.
Leon looked at the vice principal next to him, quietly leaned over, and asked in a low voice, "Vice principal, for us to get first place, it must be because you gave us all the points, right?"
"No, Mr. Leon, Principal Oullette anticipated I'd have personal feelings involved, so she specially nullified my scores."
"Principal is righteous."
'In other words, everyone won this first place with their own ability, huh.'
'Mm, now it feels solid,' Leon thought secretly.
After the group photo ended, Leon picked up Noah and went into a frenzy of cuddling with his eldest daughter.
At this time, Claudia walked over from the side, "Got a minute, Leon."
Leon, holding Noah, turned around, "What's up?"
Claudia raised her hand, waved the camera in her hand, "I want to take a photo with just you and Rossweise, just us three."
Leon was stunned, turned to look at Rossweise beside him.
Rossweise shrugged, indicating no problem.
"Sure, come on then."
Leon bent down and put Noah down, then stood together with Rossweise and Claudia.
Claudia raised the camera and clicked the shutter.
"All done, thanks for cooperating."
The beautiful mature woman lowered her eyes to look at the preview photo in the camera, nodded in satisfaction, "Mm, not bad."
The couple looked at each other, somewhat puzzled.
"Daddy, Mommy, let's go eat barbecue tonight to celebrate!"
Luna ran over, Leon naturally bent down and picked her up, "Little greedy dragon, always thinking of food."
"Hehe~ eat eat~"
"Alright, we'll go eat barbecue tonight."
The St. Heath Academy drama competition officially ended;
———
But at the same time, far away in the Human Empire, another 'drama' was slowly opening its curtain...
[Empire, Fusion Spell Laboratory]
A vast underground space, with more than a dozen top members of the Royal Sorcerers gathered here, they would witness a historic moment together with the Empire's Chief Steward Elanti.
"Lord Elanti, I assure you, this time's fusion spell is even more perfect," A sorcerer said respectfully.
Elanti stood with hands behind his back, expressionless, looking at the dragon-headed monster in the large cultivation tank ahead.
He didn't speak, and the sorcerer beside him continued enthusiastically, "This time the fusion dangerous species and the dragon clan we chose have a very high compatibility, so whether in terms of magic usage or body coordination, it far surpasses the first time."
Although Elanti's research on magic wasn't as deep as these professional sorcerers, at least from appearance, this time's Constantine was much more harmonious than the previous "neither fish nor fowl".
At least it looked like a fusion creature with 'dragon' as the main body.
Seeing Elanti still wearing a serious expression, the sorcerer had a thought and brought up the issue that the steward cared most about, "My lord, the reborn Constantine will become the Empire's strongest biological weapon."
Strongest.
A trace of emotion passed over Elanti's cold face.
These simple two words, 'strongest', did stir up some of his memories.
Years ago, the Empire also had a man once called "the strongest."
During the most intense period of the human-dragon war, he almost single-handedly broke the deadlock, and for the first time, the scale of victory tilted toward the human side.
No one would deny his power, of course, no one was not afraid of that terrifying strength either.
At that time everyone thought this world-shaking war would end under this man's crushing posture.
But, the Empire did not need, or rather, could not allow, this war to end so quickly.
This was not really a racial conflict, just a huge and complex chessboard.
And that man, was a disobedient chess piece.
That piece killed the Constantine in front of Elanti, and declared that a third player had entered the game.
Elanti was ordered to eliminate him, but so many years had passed, and that guy was still alive and kicking.
Really infuriating.
Elanti's memories caused his expression to soften slightly.
The sorcerer beside him caught this fleeting emotional change and continued to claim credit, "My lord, the reborn Constantine is enough to surpass Leon Casmodeous."
That man's name was like a foreign object stuck in Elanti's throat, if it were up to him, he truly could not say it so easily.
Fortunately the sorcerer said it for him, Elanti then slowly turned to look at him, with a slightly displeased tone, "I remember last time you all did this fusion spell just to kill Leon, and in the end?"
"Not only did Leon not die, he also blew up all of our Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales."
That incident was basically the biggest stain in Elanti's wise and mighty life.
The Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales he had painstakingly saved over half his life were all blown up by that Casmodeous.
When the king found out, he almost chopped Elanti in half.
If Queen Elizabeth hadn't pleaded for him, Elanti might have been exiled to some birdless wasteland to grow vegetables.
So Elanti had always brooded over this.
The sorcerer quickly explained, "What happened last time was indeed unexpected, who would've thought that shameless Leon would bury thunder magic in the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales, we—"
"Enough, I don't want to hear your endless excuses."
Elanti raised his hand to stop him, "This time without the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales, are you sure Constantine will be stronger than before?"
"Certain, my lord, because this time you specially allowed us to use the Primordial Energy."
The sorcerer said, "That is a power even stronger than the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales. For the dragon clan, it's a treasure left by their ancestors, no dragon can resist this power."
"Primordial Energy is also the result of many years of the Empire's efforts, and extremely rare. The 'Blade' trio has already begun trying to fuse with Primordial Energy."
Elanti said, "So if Constantine fails again, the Empire has no extra Primordial Energy for a third attempt, understood?"
The sorcerer bowed, "Yes, my lord."
Elanti withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
He looked at Constantine in the breeding tank.
This dragon had its eyes half-closed, and bubbles rose rhythmically inside the tank.
The sorcerers were busy back and forth, adjusting various spells and materials.
After a while, Elanti grew a bit impatient.
"When will it be done?"
Although he had put a lot of pressure on these sorcerers on the surface, deep down Elanti had high hopes for Constantine.
Rather than "high hopes," it was more like "a gamble."
He had almost bet all of the Empire's high-grade resources on this Constantine.
All the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales were lost, and now the only remaining Primordial Energy was on the line.
If it failed again, even if Queen Elizabeth was his godmother, she might not be able to save him.
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