Chapter 228
Light, playful music flowed through the spacious hall.
All eighty-five dancers leaped simultaneously, their pointed toes slicing through the air with blade-like precision.
The audience gasped, stunned by the perfect synchronization.
As the music's rhythm changed, everyone turned their heads, tilted their chins, and raised their arms. Each shift in angle perfectly replicated the movements and posture of little swans.
The floor transmitted resonant sounds like muffled thunder.
Like dense, powerful drumbeats.
Pounding against everyone's hearts.
All the judges and audience members watched the contestants on the projection screen intently.
During the first formation change, a light beside me went out.
A girl made a brief sound of dismay before consciously walking off stage.
Her elimination affected several others.
In less than ten seconds, two more people were eliminated for hesitant movements due to unstable mentality.
As lights extinguished one by one, tension and anxiety quietly spread.
I observed my surroundings while striving to stay focused.
I noticed the remaining contestants' eyes held traces of vigilance and panic, their movements becoming overly cautious, afraid their overhead lights would go dark.
But the more careful they were, the easier it became to make mistakes.
I noticed a contestant in the lower right losing her balance during a turn.
About to fall, she reached out to grab the person next to her.
That grab pulled the other person down with her.
The moment they hit the floor, both their lights went out simultaneously.
"You lost your balance yourself—why grab me? Now I'm eliminated too! How will you compensate? Why did I have to be standing next to someone like you!"
The girl who'd been dragged down was furious and even struck the other girl's arm.
The girl who'd fallen knew she was in the wrong and kept apologizing.
Others watching this scene felt both alarmed and relieved.
After that, everyone tacitly increased their distance, avoiding such disasters befalling themselves.
Just one complete run-through of the piece, and twelve people had already been eliminated.
The music started over from the beginning.
I was about to assume my position when I suddenly noticed the music's rhythm was off.
Recognizing it as the second segment's formation change, I immediately switched movements.
Initially, people near me looked at me in confusion. When the music came in, they realized their mistake and hurried to change movements.
But it was too late.
Three more overhead lights went out.
"That was close—I almost jumped wrong! The organizers are so sneaky, not replaying the music in order!" Someone couldn't help complaining.
The person beside them agreed. "Yeah, good thing I saw Lucinda's movements, or I'd have been eliminated too."
"Me too. She really deserves being an international ballet competition champion. Her skill is truly formidable."
While some felt fortunate not to be eliminated, naturally, others were displeased that people weren't being eliminated.
By the second movement variation, I noticed more people gathering around me.
Everyone stared at me intently.
Like they were copying from my paper.
I used a spinning opportunity to escape the heavy encirclement.
"Lucinda, you refuse to take the path to heaven, yet you willingly walk into hell. Don't blame us then."
Just as I bent down, I heard Olivia's voice.
Glancing sideways, I realized that in my focus on shaking off those people, I'd inadvertently ended up between Olivia and Sophia.
I didn't respond, summoning twelve times my usual alertness to deny them any opportunity for sabotage.
But during the second formation change—requiring four people in a row, mimicking little swans clustering together—Olivia predicted my escape movement and grabbed my hand first.
My heart sank.
Noticing her deliberately alter her stride while closing in on others, I pressed my lips tight.
If I maintained standard stride now, I'd definitely crash into her and be eliminated.
But if I matched her movement, the line wouldn't maintain horizontal alignment, and I'd still be eliminated.
In a split second, I reacted swiftly.
On the first step, I followed standard stride and timing. Just as I was about to collide with Olivia, on the second step, I executed an extremely precise half-toe pivot and glide, perfectly catching the beat.
The entire process flowed naturally.
No one noticed anything amiss.
Olivia hadn't expected me to resolve it. Annoyance flashed in her eyes, but she suppressed it and continued completing the movements.
At this point, the music was halfway through.
Thirty-eight people remained on stage.
The stage had opened up considerably, while the competitive atmosphere between us had intensified.
The audience had been cheering earlier, but now didn't dare make a sound, afraid of affecting our performance.
Just then, the host reminded us.
"Next is each person's thirty-second solo. Please showcase your individual abilities in turn without changing your current formation."
Without changing the current formation.
I quickly secured my position.
Immediately after, the music entered the little swans' playtime.
The rhythm was upbeat, the drumbeats dense.
Sophia and Olivia exchanged glances. Using the gliding movements meant for play, they directly squeezed me into third position.
Sophia even raised her eyebrows at me provocatively.
I gritted my teeth, holding back my reaction.
Sophia's solo music was relatively slow but demanded extremely high balance and control. She executed it well.
Next was Olivia. Her movements were continuous, rapid spins, each rotation precisely hitting the music's beats, not off by a fraction.
Thirty seconds passed. She didn't stop.
Every muscle in my body tensed to the breaking point.
A full three extra rotations later, Olivia finally stopped leisurely and performed a curtain call gesture.
By the time she finished that sequence, only ten seconds remained for my solo.
Such a short time couldn't even display one complete technique with proper buildup and resolution.
People in the audience noticed this too and couldn't help speaking up. "Only ten seconds left—what will Lucinda do?"
"In just ten seconds, she can't even complete a fouetté sequence. Will she become the next elimination target?"
"If she doesn't want to be eliminated, she'll have to take the fourth person's time. Then the fourth person will be eliminated instead."
"But Olivia didn't do it on purpose. Her continuous rapid spins are naturally hard to stop. That she stopped so quickly without making mistakes shows she tried her best. Lucinda didn't secure second position earlier!"
"Lucinda's in a tough spot."
I'd already considered what they were saying.
"Lucinda, you won't take my time, will you?"
The contestant behind me looked at me nervously.
Before I could answer, Sophia chimed in with a reminder.
"Lucinda, if you don't want to be eliminated, you'll have to sacrifice someone else. In that case, your good reputation will be gone."
"Don't compare yourself to me. You're not qualified."
I spun to the front of the formation, using my body's rotational momentum. My toes suddenly pushed off powerfully.
My entire body soared upward like an elegant swan taking flight, leaping lightly into the air.
Mid-air, I executed three lightning-fast battements, legs crossing in rapid succession. Rather than landing in the typical cushioning crouch, I transitioned smoothly into a single-leg spin and held an elegant pose.
Perfectly catching the final powerful chord!
The audience erupted in incredulous gasps and thunderous applause!
The judges all nodded in approval.
Sophia and Olivia's expressions changed dramatically, staring at me with shock and venom.