With Team Twilight entering the finals and secured a spot in the Champions League, Gideon, Mia, and Snivy withdrew from their single and duo matches respectively.
On the other hand, Leonard also quit his team Unicorn to participate in the single duel tournament finals.
At first, Zona recommended Azzy for the position and told them that she will request the Principal but it was rejected by Bay and Dale right away, although for different reasons.
While Bay just hates Azzy because of Claire, Dale just doesn't want to depend on someone he's not comfortable with.
So, they chose to ask the only remaining rank-5 student that is available to recruit.
However, very soon they realized that this ninth-grader withdrew from the tournament after his plant beast is being killed in a duo match, on the very first day and it still takes three days for his Arcana spirit to be revived.
Taking advantage of the dire situation, Zona recommended her two years younger boyfriend, Lark, who was eliminated from the tournament.
According to the tournament rules, as long as one was eliminated before the top 8, they can be used as a substitution in case if something happens to semi-finalists or finalists' teammates.
Using such a rule, she brought him into the team. As Lark was Zona's duo partner in the tournament and also knows how to blend into a team, the rest of the team members also reluctantly agreed with her choice.
The day-4 of the tournament started with knock-out rounds of the singles matches in respective stadiums.
Originally, out of twenty people that participated in the single matches, only four participants who won all the matches entered the knockout rounds.
Now, with the withdrawal of Gideon and non-participation of other rank-5s who chose to battle in group finals except for Leo, the knockout rounds became semi-finals with everyone getting grabbing the spot in the League.
Leo's opponent forfeited the match as he knew there's no way he would win against him. The audience was disappointed as they weren't able to see Leo fighting.
After that, the second match was between Rowan and Reid Stripes, a close friend of Bay.
With no time limit, both of them fought for a long time with giving everything they got. Both of them aimed at only one thing. To acquire the runner-up's rewards.
After an hour-long battle, Rowan managed to win. Upon confirming his win, he fell to the ground and fainted. Gideon picked him up and took him to the waiting room to rest.
On the other hand, the heavily injured Reid was also picked up by Bay and was brought to the infirmary where he was healed.
Both of their tenacious spirits brought huge applause from the public as well as the guests.
After a break, duo battles' knockout round began. In the end, a team from grade-10 and a team from grade-9 ended up for the finals.
By lunch break, all the knockout rounds seemed to be finished and the staff announced everyone to go to Arena-1, the biggest stadium with a capacity of a hundred thousand.
Unlike the one at the smaller arenas, the battle platform in the middle of this stadium stretched to as long as a hundred meters long and wide. Principal Barton personally created a rank-8 golden barrier around the platform.
***
"C'mon, cousin. It's getting late…" Barbara picked up her eating speed after looking at the wall clock.
"There's still half an hour," Azzy replied in his usual plain tone as he calmly lifted the spoon and drank the soup.
But, Barbara isn't in a mood to listen. "No way. I listen to you last time and we missed a lot of battles. Today is finals." She quickly finished her lunch.
Azzy didn't even get to fill his stomach properly before she dragged him out of the restaurant after paying the bill. "You are a rank-5. You can stay on empty stomach for a week. We can't miss the battles."
"I can just use the hourglass and rewind the time," Azzy grumbled inwardly while continue to follow her.
Within ten minutes, they returned to the school. Upon arriving at the stadium, they saw a long line.
"Can we go through the back entrance like last time?" Barbara asked him. She appeared too impatient.
"No, it's better if we don't," Azzy suggested to quietly line up here. Unlike last time, higher rank government officials and true experts will be watching from the VIP rooms.
So, he felt it would be better if he doesn't bring any kind of attention to himself. He still hasn't forgotten that mid-rank-7 expert who sat beside him two times.
The first time might be a coincidence but the second one, Azzy thinks it isn't. That's why he even applied seals on his soul orb and suppressed his soul rank to 3-star.
Now, with Azzy refusing to go through the back door and Barbara wanted to tag with him instead of her teammates, both of them ended up staying in the line for more than 20 minutes.
Both of them took empty seats on the second row of the south wing as the first row is reserved for the guests. A while later, a team of eight girls wearing school uniforms instead of civilian clothes entered the stadium and took their seats, right before Azzy and Barbara.
"Hmm…" The youngest girl of the team frowned as she spotted Azzy while she was walking towards her seat.
Azzy didn't pay any attention to them and focused on the golden energy barrier. "Chronos, is this barrier different from the usual one?" He asked the Reaper.
"It's performed by a rank-8 Arcana Master. And the only one with such rank is your Master. I guess he created it to impress the guests but when you reach rank-7, you can destroy this barrier with a mere finger." The Reaper replied casually, implying that there's nothing exceptional about it.
Just then, Exea and a handsome-looking teacher entered the stadium. Azzy was distracted.
The crowd cheered in excitement while looking at both of them, be it whether they are male or female.
Even Azzy can't help but stare at the teacher who teaches the subject of Runes.
With her hair dyed to blonde and styled into a thick side braid, somehow, in that light blue long gown, she looked a lot beautiful today like a princess from fairytales.
Azzy remembered a character from an animated movie while falling into a daze.
However, his expression on the outside still appeared indifferent.
"Hello, I'm your host, Exea." "And I'm Falcon." "Welcome to the Aclein Academy's Annual Tournament Finals-1994."
"Whoo…" The crowd screamed in excitement.
"First, let us welcome our Academy's founder who was also currently serving as the Principal, Mr. Barton Everglade."
Principal Barton made his appearance in front of everyone. Amid the gazes of everyone, he folds his hands to the back and steps forward.
At the instant, he appeared a few meters away, he stepped once again, disappearing and appearing elsewhere. With the third step, he appeared beside the two hosts.
Except for the rank-7 experts, none of the audience was able to see his movements. All they saw is a blurry figure that made it to the center of the stage.
Some foreign students thought that the old man was just showing off.
Meanwhile, the only peak-rank-7 in the audience except for Barton's friends, realized that the principal is a rank-8 Arcana Master, not a peak-rank-7 like they thought.
He was actually deployed by the Central Academy to investigate secretly so that they will make WAMO change the venue to a worthy academy.
From Day 1, he was indeed watching the battles in patience and also noting down a couple of worthy talents to recruit. While all of the scouts' eyes were on Leo, he was watching Zona, instead. He was extremely intrigued by her mimic ability.
Looking at the Principal, he narrowed his eyes, "Now, this changes everything. The academy wouldn't want to offend a rank-8 over such a petty issue. Maybe, I should try to recruit him."
After Principal Barton's opening speech is over, he left for the VIP section in the east wing where it is reserved for the Academy teachers and the instructors of the teams that came here to participate in the league.
"Now, without further ado, let's start the finals with the grade battles. The first battle is between Cedar Stripes and Elvera of grade-3."
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