[Start!]

The barrier lifted, allowing the players to run to their lanes. Aegon was the same, as he dashed fast into the Mid Lane. After a few matches, he had gotten used to being weak, so he didn't even mind that.

Just as he reached the Outer Turret, he found Raphael standing on the other end. He smiled at the prince but said nothing as he had important matters to deal with.

Instead, he just raised his right hand and began rapping his fingers on the Turret's surface, making the prince confused but also curious.

"The Turrets can't be modified, you know," Raphael said. "What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing much. Just checking its quality," Aegon shrugged and said. "I'm just curious if I can copy its structure outside."

"That's a hopeless subject," Raphael said, before smiling. "Oh, I want to apologise for my behaviour. It really was my fault for not confirming the information first before accusing you."

"You jest, Your Highness," Aegon said, still playing with his fingers on the Turret. "I actually commend you for admitting your mistakes. Truly, whoever provided that information was a piece of shit."

Raphael's lips twitched slightly, as he laughed and said, "Indeed. Also, I don't plan to hold back against you, even if I value our friendship."

"I'll have to stop you there," Aegon said, still not looking at Raphael. "I choose my friends not so casually, so they are few. I don't think our relationship is like that."

"Well then, we can reach that someday," Raphael said, taking a step forward as his minions walked past him. "Hope we have a great match."

Aegon smiled, but didn't move from his place. Even as Raphael continued to slaughter the minions, he kept his work on the Turret going.

For an outsider, it felt like he was just doing timepass in fear of a direct clash with the Prince. But he didn't care.

On the other hand, Raphael grew apprehensive seeing his actions. He couldn't understand what Aegon was doing, but it gave him a bad feeling, so after killing the minions, he went after Aegon.

Raising his staff embedded with multiple gems, he muttered some inaudible words. Bright light flashed around Aegon, making him stiffen for a moment before returning to normal.

Raphael frowned upon seeing that and said, "You aren't casting any Skills."

"Obviously. Why would I when you can just disable them?" Aegon said, as he focused back on the Turret. "It's quite an annoying ability against mages, you know."

Raphael was a Light Mage, but unlike Xavier who chose the Healer profession, the prince took the combat way. He also held the ability to mess with someone's Rune Sphere, affecting the spell or outright cancelling it.

He dominated his way to the finals using it. And Aegon knew he would be a victim too, as he was weaker than Raphael as a mage, so he couldn't counter against his ability so easily.

So, he didn't even bother trying.

"Then die!" Raphael had enough, as he first let the minions enter the Turret's range and then cast yet another Spell.

Due to the restriction, it came out weak but still four white lances spiked out of the ground, piercing at Aegon from all angles.

Just before they could pierce him, Aegon waved his hand, making chains of darkness sprout out of the ground which tied around the lances before dismantling them.

While keeping his right hand on the Turret, Aegon flicked his left hand at Raphael who prepared to defend against any strange tricks, but all he saw was a blackened soap flying at him.

'A soap?'

Still wary, Raphael backed away and shot a light beam at the soap, blasting it into smithereens. But the explosion released a thick black smoke which quickly spread around Raphael.

It wasn't harmful, but it made his skin itch all over his body. He couldn't believe it for a second, as he blinked in surprise before hurriedly casting a spell to get rid of the smoke.

"Itching powder?" He asked, his tone strange.

"Yes. Isn't it fun? Also, it's not normal itching powder so be careful," Aegon laughed and said.

Raphael was even more confused, but then a terrible urge to scratch his backside filled his mind. He couldn't even think of spells because of it, let alone focusing on casting them.

He stood frozen on the spot, resisting the urge to give in. The embarrassment was too much for him to bear. If he actually scratched his back and buttocks before the whole Empire like a monkey, then he would be embarrassed for eternity.

Gritting his teeth, he glared at Aegon and said, "Underhanded tricks!"

"Oh, definitely not," Aegon said, before taking out a desert eagle and blasting open all the minions. "It's called using resource management."

'Management my ass!' Raphael cursed, before backing away. Even that proved to be a struggle, as his hands almost went to his buttocks.

He needed to get rid of this somehow first.

Meanwhile, Aegon had already forgotten about Raphael and focused on the Turret. While a part of him used the soap to have fun with the prince, he still just wanted to get him away from his place.

He couldn't fight properly while fixing the Runes in place for the Rune Formations. It needed a lot of focus, so even talking had taken a toll on his mind.

'Phew! At least he didn't notice what I was doing,' Aegon heaved a sigh of relief. 'Still a bit surprising to see no one died yet.'

In the next moment, he heard the monotonous voice announcing the first kill, making him raise an eyebrow in surprise. After all, the one to die first was the Rank 6 Fighter, the strongest of this match technically.

"Cali! What the hell are you doing?" Aegon asked, even though it took away his focus from the Rune Formations.

[Cali: Oh, nothing much. This guy was apparently some old pursuer of mine. He seems to have a crush on me.]

[Xavier: Crush? On you? More like he wanted to crush you, right?]

[Rosa: Xav, you innocent lamb. Where do you think the term crush originates from? When people become obsessed with someone, they want to crush them to oblivion. In love, it means when someone is so obsessed that they want to crush others in bed.]

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