The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Neither Charles nor Elizabeth would abandon this path. Taking them as examples, many old nobles who heard the news hurriedly had their family members with magical talent resume dueling. Those family members were not told the reason and were all confused, but they were all passively trying.

　Since the Shinto ritual began, although there haven't been any major changes on the surface, things have actually started to quietly ferment in the shadows.

　At this moment, the old king had already obtained the list of contestants for today's duel, and to his left was a brief profile of each contestant.

　The same items were also at the hands of Charles and Elizabeth. The three of them, father and sons, rarely gathered together outside the palace, yet there was not a trace of the warmth of fatherly love and filial piety.

　This is not to say that Charles and Elizabeth are unfilial, but rather that the King himself has been putting increasing pressure on people recently, causing them to become more reserved.

　However, the king himself seemed to want to ease the awkwardness between himself and his children. After briefly looking at the contestants' information, he took the initiative to ask, "So, what do you think? Are there any promising talents among them?"

　Upon hearing his question, Charles and Eliza's gazes instinctively fell on Dark Dimon's name.

　The two exchanged a quick glance, and then Charles spoke up, "This Noah Sharp from the Knights Academy is not bad."

　Eliza also said, "The Knights Academy has always produced talented people. I've also seen Noah Sharp's duel. There shouldn't be anyone more powerful than him at St. Marian Academy now."

　The king nodded slightly in satisfaction, but said, "Noah Sharp is indeed a rare talent. But when it comes to the most promising one, it is definitely that child from the Dimon family."

　Charles and Eliza then chimed in, "Indeed."

　[Last night I suddenly got a blind date number, which stopped me from writing a lot of chapters. I'm so tired of this. I'll try writing another chapter through the night.]

Chapter 1054 Facing Challenges Head-on: The True Warrior (6k)

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　Chapter 1054 Facing Challenges Head-on: The True Warrior (6k)

　The situation is changing too fast.

　Although the eldest prince and princess are not officially united, they have developed a certain level of cooperation due to the king's overbearing influence.

　On the contrary, the Valkyrie faction gradually stood in opposition to the king. Of course, this opposition was not outwardly apparent.

　The relationship between the two sides is more accurately described as that of "competitors".

　When a true god descends, worldly royal power will indeed lose its meaning, unless that royal power is also protected by a god.

　At this point, both the royal family and the Valkyrie faction were essentially on the same starting line.

　The current hierarchy of power and influence may undergo dramatic changes in the future.

　Besides the Valkyrie faction, there are many other powerful families within the kingdom that require vigilance, but due to information blockades, most of them haven't yet realized what's happening.

　Since the king himself could no longer achieve anything in magical duels, he could only win over talented people in advance and appease them by "bestowing favors" in the hope that they would reward him after they succeeded.

　Noah Sharp was just such a chess piece.

　It was for the same reason that the old king tried to ease the tension between himself and his children.

　After all, his children are quite talented.

　Well, if you don't compare it to that monster from the Dimon family!

　The king looked at the information about Dark Dimon in his hand and couldn't help but sigh again.

　Life is inherently unfair.

　He had a deep understanding of this statement since childhood. It's just that now, his position has been reversed.

　More than a decade ago, it was those so-called "golden generation" of the proud sons and daughters who made him feel the gap between people. He barely made it to the end of the war, and his last bit of spirit was completely extinguished as the heavy responsibility of defending his country was completed.

　This is why Charles and Elizabeth fought for the throne. Now, looking at that little monster from the Dimon family, he seems to have returned to that period, his emotions still unsettled.

　But having sat on the throne for so long, he had naturally learned to "compromise," especially to compromise with himself.

　Even if the little monster from the Dimon family is powerful, that's a matter for the future, and his recruitment of the Twelve Heroes is for the sake of that future.

　It's not him who needs to confront him head-on.

　The real concern now is the Valkyrie group. Fortunately, he's not entirely without a solution.

　Within the kingdom, there are many powerful individuals loyal to the royal family. "Hmm, Franklin Doron?"

　The king suddenly noticed a name and casually asked, "Is it from the Doron family?"

　Charles frowned instinctively, clearly unaware of the situation.

　But Eliza clearly stated, "He is the youngest son of Count Chevrolet Dorron, who dotes on him because he was born late in life."

　The king exclaimed in realization, "So it's him! He's already in sixth grade? How can his talent compare to Noah Sharp's?"

　Eliza quickly glanced at Franklin Doron's information and shook her head, saying, "He's very low-key and not famous at all. In fact, it's quite unexpected that he was able to represent the House of Nobles in this competition."

　The king's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately understood: "So that's how it is. It seems the Dorgon family still can't resist."

　He then let out a long sigh.

　Charles listened intently, inwardly cursing, "You've pushed the Doron family to this point, how can they not make a move?"

　Of course, he wouldn't dare say that in front of the king.

　The three of them chatted about the contestants' information, and gradually the atmosphere became more relaxed, making it less awkward.

　"Look, Principal Arte is coming onto the field," the King suddenly said. All three then looked towards the arena.

　On the hosting stage.

　Principal Cynthia Arte suddenly appeared after a flash of light, eliciting cheers from the audience.

　But in the lounge, the players had no time to appreciate Principal Arte's demeanor.

　Staff suddenly flooded into the lounge and began grooming each athlete, preparing them for their upcoming performance.

　After Principal Art finished her speech, the band took the stage to perform. Around nine o'clock, the performance ended, and the host, Judy, returned to the stage, raising the microphone and announcing, "Next, please welcome the twenty contestants of this year's Academy Cup!"

　After tidying up their appearance, the twenty contestants stepped out from behind the scenes and onto the stage.

　They were dressed in their respective college uniforms, wearing college badges and dueling badges, and each of them looked spirited and exuded a sense of dignity—at least on the surface.

　After that, the host, Judy, began by introducing each contestant from the House of Nobles.

　Basically, each contestant's introduction was followed by a cheer.

　With all twenty contestants introduced, it was just past nine o'clock. The audience finally had a preliminary impression of the duelists who would be appearing today.

　After the contestants left the stage, the host, Judy, repeated the rules of the duel match.

　Simply put, you earn 10,000 points for each winning duel, and the winning academy will receive an additional 100,000 points as a prize.

　This is not important to the audience outside the venue.

　What they actually care about is the outcome of today's duel, not the final outcome of the Academy Cup.

　However, the necessary formalities must still be followed.

　After the rules were explained, the most important part—the selection of the competition schedule—finally arrived.

　Senior Judy loudly announced the start of the draw, and the audience, both inside and outside the venue, fell silent.

　The twenty contestants who had retreated to the backstage all turned their attention to her. She smiled slightly, then chanted a normal summoning spell, activating a magic card in her hand, and summoning the symbols of the four houses—a crown, a lance, a grimoire, and the Tarot card of "The Fool."

　With a wave of her hand, the four symbols formed a circle, and a pointer appeared in the center of that circle.

　Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Senior Judy reached out and pressed the thick, long pointer, then suddenly flicked it with all her might!

　"Metaphor—"

　The pointer instantly accelerated, spinning rapidly clockwise.

　Nearly a minute later, the pointer slowly came to a stop, finally pointing to the lance!

　Judy couldn't help but smile and said, "It seems that our Knights Academy will be the first to appear today!"

　Before she could finish speaking, deafening cheers suddenly erupted from the Knights' Academy section within the circular area.

　Two tall, strong knight academy students stood at the back, waving a flag with a knight's emblem.

　The cheerleaders shouted in unison, instantly boosting morale.

　In the lounge, the five contestants from the Knights Academy were also inspired by that morale, and their tension and anxiety immediately lessened.

　In such a competition, starting is not a good thing. But the students of the Knights Academy are never afraid of challenges.

　Witt Gold, as a second-year student, is confirmed to be the first to appear today.

　He stared intently at the stage, waiting for Judy to draw the second academy to perform.

　But Judy deliberately waited quite a while before turning the hands again.

　The pointer spun rapidly, gradually slowing down after more than a minute, and finally pointed to—the crown!

　"It's the House of Nobles!"

　The moment the pointer finally pointed to the crown, Witt's heart skipped a beat.

　The pointer pointing to the House of Nobles' result foreshadowed that he would face his least favorite opponent in his first duel—Dark Dimon!

　"Don't panic, we have to face it eventually."

　Fifth-grader Sherlock Holmes walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him.

　But he clearly wasn't good at comforting people, and he was so strong that he patted Witt's shoulder until it hurt.

　With great difficulty, Witt looked up and smiled, "I know, Senior Holmes."

　Shrek Holmes nodded and said, "Good luck. I need to go study my opponent some more."

　"Fifth-grader Edwin Clarissa is no easy opponent," Witt said.

　Shrek Holmes grinned, "Watch me smash his head in." Vitor Gold was finally encouraged: "Then I'll go rebuild my deck too."

　After saying that, he found a chair, sat down, and began to think seriously.

　On the stage, Judy looked at the clock with some surprise and said, "I never expected that this year's opening match would be between the Knights Academy and the Noble Academy, these classic old rivals. Let's take a look at the specific schedule."

　After she finished speaking, she drew a magic wand and waved it in the air. The list of contestants from the Knights Academy and the Noble Academy immediately appeared in mid-air.

　The ten contestants are arranged according to their grade level.

　The first to appear were none other than Wit Gold and Darko Dimon.

　Outside the stadium, a deafening roar of cheers erupted.

　Although Witt Gold was slightly less popular, he was, after all, the "son of a hero," and after a brief promotion, he gained many staunch supporters.

　Dark Dimon, as the son of the Valkyrie, has already made a name for himself, with a fan base that is almost catching up with the top star players.

　Meanwhile, in the stands outside the stadium, the supporters of both sides seemed to be competing fiercely, their cheers growing louder and louder.

　In the circular seating area, the atmosphere between the Knights' House and the Nobles' House was extremely tense. If each side had a crossbow, a hail of arrows would likely have filled the sky.

　However, with professors from both sides in charge, a fight is unlikely to break out.

　The Lounge of the Noble House.

　After learning that the House of Nobles had also been selected, Dak and the others looked serious and immediately began to think of countermeasures.

　The Knights' Academy is not an easy opponent.

　According to the contestants from the Noble Academy, it ranks second in terms of difficulty, second only to the Magic Academy.

　If they could choose their starting opponent, they would definitely want to face the Fool's House. Then, after watching the duel between the Knights' House and the Magic House, they would face them individually.

　That way, we can have a real understanding of the current strength of the Knights Academy and the Magic Academy, and we can also devise more detailed tactics to increase our chances of winning.

　But now that we're already facing off, dwelling on other things will only damage morale.

　Moreover, facing the Knights Academy in the first match is better than facing the Magic Academy. Dark looked at senior Franklin Dorron and suddenly found that he was like a sword drawn from its sheath, full of sharpness.

　Perhaps for others, facing the Knights Academy in the first match wouldn't be a good choice. But Franklin Doron clearly didn't care.

　It could even be said that he participated in this duel specifically for this match.

　Darke even worried that, regardless of the outcome of this match, Franklin Doron would lose interest in the upcoming games.

　As for himself... he doesn't care.

　In fact, in his opinion, of the three second-year contestants, only Vittor from the Knights Academy was the easiest to deal with.

　After all, Vittor God is very similar to him, both specializing in magical spirit cards and not having much involvement in other areas.

　Furthermore, Witt's tactics are all straightforward and lack any variability. He is very pure, focusing solely on intensity.

　But his pride and joy in strength are nothing but a joke in front of Dark. His transformed "Holy Sword Curse" is a variable. Perhaps he has some hidden trump card.