Above the mage!

Chapter 563 The Unparalleled Magic Fighting Tournament
"Does Your Majesty not know that this might be a trap?"

The young officer walked between the marble columns of the Hall of Justice, following the smooth, mirror-like marble walkway outwards.

Each step on the stone surface produced a clear echo.

The midday sun poured down from the stained-glass dome of the Hall of Justice, falling on the white marble floor and refracting into colorful patterns of light.

Just like the history of dynasties.

He had no interest in appreciating the scenery, as his mind was preoccupied with his conversation with Liszt XII.

A sense of doubt churned within him, along with an inexplicable unease.
Richard was indeed very young, but he was already a high-ranking officer in the Silver Dragon Cavalry, one of the three great mage legions of the dynasty.

More importantly, Richard possessed the most prestigious surname in the Plantagenet dynasty, second only to the royal Liszt.

Wang Mian.

Richard Wang Mian, that's his full name.

A gentle breeze blew by, carrying with it a faint fragrance of flowers.

This is because the broom flowers in the City of Glory are in full bloom.

That's not entirely accurate.

The broom flower is a very peculiar plant. Once it blooms, it will bloom forever, 360 days a year, unaffected by seasonal temperature changes. Therefore, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a flowering period.

Glorious City was the capital of the Plantagenet Dynasty, and many noble families of the Plantagenet Dynasty also lived there.

However, as the heir of the Wang Mian family, Richard spent most of his time in the Wang Mian family's fiefdom, namely Liuge County.

The reason I left Rugge County and came to the capital this time was because I received a message from King List XII.

Richard had expected some difficult task, but upon entering the Hall of Justice and meeting His Majesty, he received a notification instead:

The upcoming Mage Fighting Tournament in Ruka County will be subject to changes.

……

The military magic duel competition is one of the traditions of the Golden Flower Dynasty.

It has been held since the first year of the Norlan calendar.

It has been held every ten years since then, and now in the year 9658 of the Norlan calendar, it has been held 966 times, and has never been suspended in the past.

By 9660, it will be the 967th Military Mage Fighting Tournament of the Golden Flower Dynasty.

Although this was just a magic duel within the dynasty.

However, due to the status of the military mages organization in the dynasty, those who perform well in the magic competition often become important figures or even the backbone of the dynasty after ten or twenty years, and have a great influence on the entire continent.

For the Golden Flower people, this is not just a competition, but a symbol of the dynasty's succession.

More importantly, the influence of this magic duel tournament has long since transcended the boundaries of the dynasty, radiating throughout the entire Nolan continent.

To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, it's like how the US election, in its previous form, wasn't just a US affair, but something the whole world was watching.

In short, the name of the winner or outstanding performer in each Golden Flower Army Mage Tournament will soon be known to many major powers on the Nolan Continent.

The Holy Empire, in particular, which has been eyeing this covetously, is paying close attention to it—every shining name in the Golden Flower Dynasty's military mage duel tournament is a potential enemy of theirs.

Although the Holy Empire and the Plantagenet Dynasty have not yet gone to war, everyone knows it is only a matter of time, so the relationship between the two has always been very delicate.

It was under these circumstances, just as the 967th Magic Battle Tournament was about to begin, that the Holy Empire proposed to jointly host the first Nolan Continent Magic Battle Tournament, based on the Dynasty Army Magic Battle Tournament.

It is still based on the Golden Flower Army Mage Fighting Tournament, including the location of the fighting tournament, which is still Liuge County of the Golden Flower Dynasty, but the scale and rules have been upgraded.

Therefore, Liszt XII specifically summoned him.

The original venue for the 967th French Bulldog Tournament was Mithril City, the home of the Wang Mian family.

As the eldest son of the Wang Mian family, he had already been appointed by his father as the organizer of this year's Military Mage Fighting Competition.

The upgrade in scale refers to the transformation from a magical duel between military mages within the thirteen elite military mage organizations of the Golden Flower Dynasty to a magical duel between young mages from all independent forces across the entire continent. Of course, while it's said to be "all," in reality, it's just a competition between the Golden Flower Dynasty, the Holy Empire, and Linhai City.

Other countries or forces are not saying they cannot participate, nor that they will not participate, but in a magical combat competition of this level, the possibility of them making any waves is very small; they would just be supporting characters.

The changes to the rules are even more significant.

The original French Bulldog competition was a group system, with three groups from the second ring to the fourth ring.

Each military mage organization can send two mages to participate in the competition from each group. Each group is scored according to its ranking, and the scores of the three groups are added together to get a total score.

This total score is the final ranking.

Such rules are both fair and can comprehensively assess the strength of the mage teams in each military mage organization.

However, the mage level grouping has now been removed, and there are no longer any mage level restrictions; instead, only age is restricted.

Applicants must be under 20 years old, with five people from each faction. There are no restrictions on mage level; all applicants must meet the age requirement.

This is the basic framework, which has been finalized. The specific details and competition format will be determined later.

In addition, the name has been changed. It is no longer the Nolan French Fighting Tournament; it is an alias based on its actual nature.

Its official name is: The First World Unparalleled Magic Fighting Tournament.

The saying "unparalleled in the world" is said to have been learned from the Central Continent by the Holy Empire after its expedition to the Central Continent.

In this respect, the Holy Empire differs significantly from the Plantagenet Dynasty:
The dynasty upheld traditions, especially its own cultural heritage.

The Holy Empire, however, made no attempt to shy away from incorporating foreign cultures.

Richard had no idea why the Holy Empire would suddenly have such a whimsical idea, extending an "olive branch" to the dynasty and proposing to hold this unparalleled magic duel competition.

In most people's view, there should only be one reason:
The empire wanted to flex its muscles through this magic duel tournament, before it was too risky to launch a military operation against the dynasty. This would help to solidify the resolve of smaller nations that were wavering between the two countries and bring them to the empire's side.

At the same time, winning the French fighting match on the home turf of the Plantagenet Dynasty would be a huge blow to the Plantagenet Dynasty's reputation, further solidifying the empire's strength in people's minds.

From this perspective, this French fighting tournament should be considered an open strategy, not a trap, and his unease is somewhat unnecessary.

But for some reason, Richard's innate keen intuition made him feel that the Holy Empire's ideas were not so simple, which gave rise to a strong sense of unease.

But His Majesty has already agreed.

So no matter how uneasy he was, it was to no avail.

Richard could certainly understand His Majesty's decision.

Because the Holy Empire had already created a great deal of momentum for this magic competition, and more importantly, they had persuaded Linhai City first.

Therefore, what His Majesty received was a joint proposal letter from the Empire and Linhai City.

If His Majesty refuses, it could be interpreted as His Majesty lacking confidence in the strength of the young mages of the Golden Flower Dynasty, fearing the Empire, and being unwilling to accept the challenge.

This was absolutely unacceptable to an ancient dynasty that valued honor.

The dynasty has been able to survive to this day not only because of its profound heritage, but also because of these things engraved in the hearts of its people, which must be protected.

Richard never doubted in his heart that the ultimate winner of this unparalleled magic duel tournament would inevitably be the Plantagenet Dynasty.

It wasn't a self-hypnotic drive driven by honor, but rather an absolute trust in his younger sister's abilities.

If it weren't for this restriction, it would be hard to say.

But with this restriction, Richard couldn't think of a reason why his sister would lose.

The only thing worth noting is that there were five participants, not just one.

This is a variable.

(End of this chapter)