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

　He was eager to consolidate his power and prepare for the great changes to come.

　In the current situation, this is an irreconcilable contradiction.

　Dark was actually quite aware of this situation. However, he didn't want to get too involved in politics at the moment, as it would be too detrimental to maintaining his composure. Therefore, he had no intention of engaging in much further contact with Franklin Doron.

　But now, Franklin Doron's initiative to ask for help is a different story altogether.

　He has been suppressing his feelings until now.

　He has passion and a desire to win, but his overly rational thinking suppresses him—this has almost become a habit.

　"Shrek Holmes, or Noah Sharp, let's see."

　The objective was already clear. Dark picked up the silver chain wrapped around his finger and released it. The chain quickly shrank into a silver thread worm and then returned to the magic card.

　Franklin Doron didn't receive a direct answer. But he had said everything he could, and there was no way to force things to develop further.

　Meanwhile, on the red team's side of the court.

　Host Judy was surprisingly restrained, not asking any overly tricky questions, but simply asking Pandora why she chose Noah, the strongest sixth-grader, in the challenge against someone of a higher level—even though she could have gotten the same points by challenging the other two contestants.

　Pandora smiled faintly and said, "Perhaps, she just wants to settle things once and for all. After graduating, Noah Sharp found it difficult to find a worthy opponent among the senior students."

　I might not participate in the next Academy Cup.

　Yu...

　After the winner's interview, Pandora Drogon stepped down from the contestant's platform.

　As for the "post-match analysis" segment, she wasn't very interested.

　However, Noah Sharp did not leave, but remained on the contestant's platform, reviewing the game using a projector.

　Although the main reason for his defeat in this duel was "insufficient strength".

　However, when humans experience failure, they will subconsciously doubt themselves and want to find other "reasons for failure" in the review, which is quite normal.

　However, the "post-match analysis" segment went by very quickly. Joe William edited it effectively, skipping over the complex details and focusing on highlighting the strength of "Dragon King" and "Ultra Dragon".

　This, in turn, elicited excited shouts from the audience.

　I imagine that when I wake up tomorrow morning, the same headline will appear in all kinds of newspapers.

　Noah Sharp, long hailed as the "strongest," suffered a crushing defeat in his farewell match before graduation, relinquishing his title of "strongest." If such a major news story doesn't make headlines, who will?

　Many professional writers hidden among the audience have begun writing on the spot.

　When Noah Sharp returned to his seat on the stage, the new round of contestants had already risen and stepped forward.

　This time, the first to launch the challenge were the fourth-year students from Fool's House. Fool's House had already withdrawn from the Academy Cup competition, and the contestants had no interest in "making a fool of themselves," but they had a good headmaster.

　At the request of that kind dean, all contestants except for sixth-year student Sandra Wesley had to take on a challenge against someone from a higher level, even if they had no chance of winning.

　The College Cup's cross-level challenge is actually a very rare opportunity to play against opponents stronger than oneself.

　Moreover, after this year's Academy Cup ends, opportunities like this will definitely become much fewer.

　Polly Bruno, a fourth-year student at the Fools' House, challenges Shrek Holmes, a fifth-year student.

　This is quite surprising.

　After all, the first person that comes to mind when thinking about challenging a fifth-grader is Edwin Clarissa, who has a record of zero wins in three matches.

　But each of them had their own ideas.

　After confirming that Polly Bruno had not made the wrong choice, the duel began immediately.

　Polly Bruno greeted Shrek Holmes with a questioning attitude.

　The latter, being very tactful, went easy on her, allowing Polly Bruno to learn something from the duel without suffering a humiliating defeat.

　After the duel ended, Mars Carey, a fourth-year student from the Knights Academy, finally took to the stage.

　In order to seize the last glimmer of hope, Mars Carey selected one of the sixth-grade students and launched a challenge against someone from a higher grade.

　If you challenge a sixth-grader as a fourth-grader and win, you will receive 20,000 points.

　However, even when Mars Carey was challenging fifth-graders, he struggled to win, let alone sixth-graders.

　But he was forced into this situation, clinging to only a sliver of hope. Under such circumstances, the outcome of the challenge was naturally predictable. Mars Carey challenged Debra Nellie, the sixth-year student with the worst record at the Magic Academy, ultimately helping her escape the humiliation of "zero wins."

　The duel was essentially a complete rout by Debra Nellie.

　This clearly demonstrates that even if Debra Nellie is the weakest of the sixth graders, she's not someone a fourth-year student can easily fool, even if that fourth-year student has a respectable record.

　However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that several players with zero wins successfully broke their zero-win streak by challenging lower-grade students!

　Mars Carey's defeat was a very harsh reality for the Knights' Academy.

　This means that the Knights Academy only has one contestant left who is qualified to challenge, and he can only challenge sixth-year students at most. Even if he wins, he can only get 10,000 points.

　After the daytime intra-grade competition concluded, Knights Academy topped the standings with a score of 90,000.

　However, in the evening's cross-level challenge, the Knights Academy failed to score a single point, and all their cross-level challenges to date have ended in defeat.

　Furthermore, both of the contestants who have successfully overcome challenges from higher-level opponents are from the Knights Academy.

　One of them is Ida Sawyer, a third-grader. The other is Noah Sharp, a sixth-grader.

　To be honest, it was completely unexpected, as thrilling as a roller coaster ride.

　After that, Shrek Holmes, a fifth-year student at the Knights Academy, crossed his arms and showed no further intention of going into battle.

　In this duel, the Fool's Academy still has 70,000 points, the Magic Academy has 100,000 points, and the Noble Academy has 60,000 points.

　Even if he wins the challenge against opponents of higher levels, he can only share the score with the Magic Academy, but the Magic Academy still has a duel to fight.

　Shrek Holmes has completely given up on the Academy Cup, but if given the chance, he would still like to try for the victory in this dueling competition.

　The premise is that Winnie Skadi fails in the challenge against someone of a higher level!

　Time passed bit by bit.

　During this halftime break, no one rushed to make a move. Even Gina Grant from the Fool's House didn't make a move.

　She might be observing, or she might simply be too lazy to heed Professor Hoddle Bode's instructions.

　So the five-minute countdown continued to advance.

　With only two minutes left, someone suddenly stood up. Winnie Skadi had finally made her move!

　Two sixth-grade students remained who did not accept the challenge from a higher grade.

　These two were Franklin Doron of the House of Nobles and Sandra Wesley of the House of Fools.

　Fortunately, Mars Carey was challenging Debra Nellie from the Magic Academy; otherwise, she would have had one less option.

　Currently, neither Gina Grant, a fifth-year student at the Fool's House, nor Edwin Clarissa, a fifth-year student at the Noble House, has made a move—if either of them does, then Winnie Skadi will only have one opponent left to challenge.

　She disliked this situation where she had no choice.

　"Franklin Doron and Sandra Wesley... Franklin Doron it is."

　Winnie Skadi pondered for a moment before pointing to Franklin Doron, a sixth-year student at the Noble Academy, as her challenger.

　The reason is not only that Sandra Wesley has "Ancient Tombstone", but mainly because Franklin Dorron's preferred decks are all Dragon-type.

　Ice Dragon can gain a slight attribute advantage, thus narrowing the gap between the two sides.

　Winnie Skadi was well aware that her magical spirit was no match for Franklin Dorron at its peak. However, she possessed unique advantages when dealing with dragons, giving her at least a 50% chance of winning this duel!

　"If we can win this duel, we can gamble on Dark's failure to challenge someone of a higher level... Even if we don't succeed, we can at least take first place in today's duel competition."

　Winnie looked serious; for her, this duel was one in which there was no turning back.

　...

　"As expected."

　Franklin Doron took a deep breath, got up, and walked out.

　If Winnie Skadi were to challenge a sixth-grader, she would most likely challenge him, and he has already prepared for that.

　For him, the outcome of this match was no longer that important. In fact, it might be better if he lost!

　After all, if he loses, Dark will have to challenge a fifth or sixth grader.

　If he wins, Dark will only need to challenge the third-year students to win the Academy Cup.

　It's easier to get into sixth grade than to choose between fifth and sixth grade.

　But Franklin Dorron wasn't the type to deliberately hold back; he still gave it his all.

　The two quickly took to the contestant's platform, and after exchanging only a few words during the "preparation phase," they began their duel.

　This duel is fundamentally different from the duel between Pandora and Noah Sharp.

　Most duelists' tactics revolve around "Magical Spirit Cards." However, Winnie Skadi's tactical system has always been built around "Spell Cards." While her Magical Spirits are not weak, they are not the core of her strategy.

　Therefore, her duel with Franklin Dorron was different. Ice magic is both offensive and defensive, and also has a control effect. Winnie Skadi's ice magic is exceptionally powerful, capable of instantly killing most first and second-tier magical spirits.

　There are very few students in the entire St. Marian Academy who can achieve what she has.

　She's a complete rookie killer; there's no way any junior could beat her in a duel.

　Even a senior like Franklin Doron was struggling against that terrifying ice magic, and could easily be killed in the first few rounds if he wasn't careful.

　However, Franklin Dorron possessed extensive experience and had prior knowledge of Winnie Skadi's ice magic. Therefore, with a targeted build, he was able to mitigate some of the damage.

　Once he successfully fuses the ten-star "Super Dragon Knight", he can rely on "Dragon Knight's Body" to launch a powerful attack and end the duel with unstoppable momentum.

　But with his blatant maneuvering, his opponents certainly wouldn't allow him to call up his desired players.

　Winnie Skadi skillfully employed tactics and targeted every aspect of the game, causing the tide of battle to constantly turn.

　Until the end of the duel, she failed to allow Franklin Dorron to successfully fuse into a ten-star "Super Dragon Knight"!

　The duel ended with a narrow victory for Winnie Skadi. But at the moment of triumph, she felt only extreme exhaustion, not much joy.

　This duel was definitely the toughest she had experienced in recent years. Her previous duel with Pandora, due to the significant difference in their strength, was not as arduous as this one.

　In the end, she only managed to win by a very narrow margin. If she were to do it again, she would have absolutely no confidence in winning.

　But she did win after all, defeating Franklin Doron, the top sixth-grader, as a fourth-year student!

　The referee and commentator were loudly announcing her victory, the excited shouts of the Magic Academy students still echoed in their ears, and her name continued to resound throughout the arena.

　She ultimately emerged victorious, becoming the third contestant to successfully complete the challenge in this year's higher-level competition!

　You'll notice it if you turn around a little at this point.

　Throughout the entire challenge against students of higher levels, only three students from the Magic Academy successfully completed the challenge!

　In today's duel, the Magic Academy is undoubtedly number one! For most viewers, they have already won the championship. However, that's only the victory in the eyes of the audience; what the students care about more is still the Academy Cup!

　"Congratulations to Winnie Skadi for winning the cross-class challenge on behalf of the fourth-year students of the Magic Academy! As of now, the Magic Academy has accumulated 120,000 points. The only remaining possibility of surpassing the Magic Academy is the Noble Academy, which has yet to make its move! The academy that wins today's duel will also receive an additional 100,000 points. Who will ultimately claim those 100,000 points?"

　After the host, Judy, finished speaking, all the audience members in the venue turned their attention to the contestants from the Noble Academy.

　So far, only one contestant from the Noble Academy has remained unmoved, passively accepting the challenge.

　But now the situation is very clear, and the House of Nobles can no longer stand by and watch.

　"It's our turn."

　Edwin Clarissa took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

　"Have you decided which one to challenge?" Snake Harriman turned to Dark and said, "We'll pave the way for you."

　Of the five fifth-grade contestants, besides Edwin Clarissa, Pandora Drogon and Gina Grant have yet to accept the challenge. Of the four sixth-grade contestants, only Sandra Wesley from Fools' House has yet to accept the challenge.

　No matter which contestant Dark wants to challenge, the third, fourth, and fifth year students of the Noble House can pave the way for him.

　Dark hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's go with Noah Sharp." The other contestants from the Noble Academy immediately brightened up, their spirits rising.

　Edwin Clarissa exclaimed excitedly, "A carefully calculated victory is not for us. Let's challenge the highest point!"

　They had been anticipating this moment and, of course, wouldn't try to stop it. Darke Dimon was still too composed, lacking the flamboyant, unrestrained air of the aristocracy.

　Since we have a chance of winning, we should go all out!

　Noah Sharp

　I've disliked him for a long time!

　[Hedgehog Cat's Little Tip: A hedgehog cat's day runs from 6:00 AM to 6:00 AM the next morning. The dates in the table of contents are the last edited dates for each chapter, not the publication dates.]

　[I only took one day off this month, on the first day of the month, using a free leave slip. Other than that, I haven't been absent as of today (super diligent).]