By the time it was 2 a.m., the rest of the matches were also finished.
There weren't any surprises in the rest of the quarterfinal matches. Everything went as the experts expected.
Team Solar from the Sun Academy won against Team Maple from the Maple Academy and advanced to the semi-finals.
Because the three of the representatives from the Maple Academy are only grade-8 of which everyone just broke through to the 5-star realm, no one expected they would win either.
From the start, the Sun Academy students completely dominated the battle and finished it in a mere 4 minutes. It was the shortest quarterfinal match with the first one considering all the categories.
After them, a long battle occurred between Moon Academy and Heavenly Academy, almost as intensive as the first group match took place.
Finally, after little more than 90 minutes, Barbara and her sabertooth tiger gave the finishing blow to the captain and ended the match.
Maybe, it's because the tournament is an international one or maybe, it's because of Leon's death.
For whatever reason, the cowardly prince Theodore Light showed his new side for the first time, displaying tenacity as he battled his enemies.
Even though he lost in the end, as Leah praised him, Theodore couldn't help but grin from ear to ear for the rest of the night, making the legendary sword spirit Excalibur fume in anger.
After all the battles are ended, the hosts once again took the stage to announce that the following day will be a break for all the participants.
"Ladies and gentlemen, now, it's time to see who is going to battle who in the semifinals. Look at the screens."
A few moments later, the fixtures were displayed on the two giant screens.
<strong>Solo Category:</strong>
Leah Pendragon (Heavenly Academy) vs Skylark Flame (Central Academy)
Vann Hildegard (Moon Academy) vs Mason (Maple Academy)
<strong>Duo Category:</strong>
Irene Ash and Albin Ash (Freyles Academy) vs Lucius Hornette and Cedar (Dragon Academy)
Essie and Delta (Central Academy) vs Laura Drake and Izetta Smoke (Phoenix Academy)
<strong>Group Category:</strong>
Team Solar (Sun Academy) vs Team Merciless Executioners (Dragon Academy)
Team Twilight (Aclein Academy) vs Team Crescent (Moon Academy)
***
"Moon Academy?" In one of the waiting rooms where the members of team Twilight are watching the matches, everyone glanced at Azzy for a moment as soon as they saw the fixtures.
Of them, Gideon was the most worried for Azzy that he couldn't display his full strength against her.
He thought facing Barbara in a real match might be the toughest for him, considering his relationship with her.
Despite how Azzy look on the surface, Gideon knew that his friend was kind inside.
On the other hand, he doubted the girl would go easy on her friend either…
Even with more than a hundred cuts and heavily injured, she didn't back out in battle against her opponent who was in the realm of peak-rank-5. It is her tenacious nature that secured team Crescent's victory.
In their next strategic meeting, he decided to express his desire to battle against her.
As Gideon found Azzy staring at the screen, his suspicions only became solid further.
He didn't know that Azzy was thinking about the message he received a while ago.
Meanwhile, Claire had this smile of joy on her face. She was actually looking forward to defeating her fair and square in a real battle for a while now.
Now that the opportunity is before her, she too thought of the same thing as Gideon.
"Let's go..." Claire stood up and started to walk towards the door.
The rest of the team also followed her to the outside.
As they continued to walk in a corridor that leads to the exit, on the way, by coincidence, a door was opened and a team of six exited the waiting room and crossed paths with Azzy and others.
"Oh! Hello…" Claire was the first to greet them, followed by Gideon and others. Azzy stayed silent. His eyes were fixed on Vann.
"Azzy…" Barbara then greeted with a cheerful smile.
However, just as she stepped forward a bit, her arm was caught by Vann, who had this serious look on his face. As he shook her head slightly, her expression dimmed and she stepped backward and became silent.
"Greetings, we meet again." Vann returned Claire's greetings. After taking a look at everyone, he spoke to his teammates, "let's go."
The team members of Crescent quietly followed him. Barbara turned her head back for once and looked at Azzy for once before continuing to follow her teammates.
"Fuu… now, that was some unwelcoming atmosphere. It was quite different from three weeks ago." Gideon commented as he let out a sigh of relief.
"Indeed." Snivy and Mia nodded in agreement.
"That's because they have finally taken us as serious opponents." Claire shrugged her shoulders as if it was normal. She didn't expect friendliness from them either. "Anyway, let's go."
After leaving the training grounds, she said to everyone, "We'll meet after lunch at our usual spot. Don't be late. Now, get going."
Just as Gideon about to part his ways to go towards the dormitory, Azzy opened his mouth, "Umm… guys…"
Everyone abruptly halted their steps and turned towards him.
"My guardians, I mean, my foster parents wanted to invite all of you to lunch. I wonder if anyone will be free…" After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Azzy spoke of the message he received from Affea.
Upon receiving a positive reply from all of them, Azzy inwardly sighed in relief and thanked them.
Before parting his ways, he also stopped Gideon for a moment and further asked him whether he could follow him until the entrance.
Azzy doesn't want to treat Gideon like the other four. So, he intended to introduce him first to Affea before others.
Gideon didn't know what's going on in Azzy's mind.
He just wondered whether Azzy wanted to talk about something important or whether it is because of the fear of attention from the people who are leaving the academy at the moment.
Still, he accepted the request and followed him quietly without asking the reason.
Both of them walked towards the entrance of the academy.
Thankfully, no one recognized their faces because of dim lights.
After exiting the academy without any issues, Azzy waited beside the gatekeepers until a woman called out his name, "Azzy."
"Aunt Affea, this is Gideon." After greeting her, he introduced them to each other. "Gideon, this is Affea Snieca."
"Snieca!" Gideon was taken aback by surprise. It is no secret that Azzy was taken in by the Divine Physician Oakley who is considered the best healer in Aclein. However, he didn't expect that Azzy's foster mother belongs to the royal family of Snieca.
<strong>The next morning at Affea mansion;</strong>
*Whistle* "Now, this is one big mansion." Gideon let out a whistle as he was standing at the front of the gate.
Looking at Azzy, he grinned, "I didn't expect that your family is very rich, Azzy."
"It's as big as ours." Mia let out another comment, not expecting him to live in such a huge house.
"Let's go…" Ignoring their comments, Azzy lead everyone inside the compound.
And as usual, from the rooftop of a nearby building, a familiar teenage girl was watching them through binoculars and then, reported the news to someone.
***
Meanwhile, at a secluded place in the outskirts of the city, an intense battle was going on between a teenage-looking girl and Zona.
"Vivi, use Thunderball"
Heeding the order, Zona's slime that is now disguised as a Galarian beast, opened its mouth to shoot a ball with sparks dancing all over it towards the opponent.
Her opponent, who was barehanded without any Arcana, raised her slender right hand.
Just as the ball of thunder was about to hit the girl's palm, her hand was transformed into the head of some kind of dark attributed monster.
It opened its mouth and swallowed it before spitting it towards Zona into a Thunderball except that it is a level stronger with dark attribute adding to it.
Looking at the incoming attack, Zona used her skill card and summoned her clone.
It fearlessly took it head-on and tried to block the attack. However, the attack was over high-rank-5 level and she suffered heavy injuries because of it.
*Clap* *Clap*
A teenage looking boy suddenly descended from the sky and started to clap as he walked towards Zona.
Reaching her, he put forth his hand, "You passed the test. Welcome to Abel Tower."
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)