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

　The old king, trying to make conversation, forced himself to come up with a topic.

　Pope Sith glanced at him and said bluntly, "From my perspective, of course I would hope that the Holy Mystic Academy wins the championship."

　"Well, that's understandable." The old king smiled, his eyes narrowing, then turned to Alvitt and asked, "And what about you?"

　Arvit frowned and said, "St. Marian Academy." She felt this was utterly meaningless, utterly pointless. But the old king simply nodded and continued, "In that case, I have no choice but to side with the Royal Academy… How about we take a gamble?"

　He suddenly suggested making a bet.

　But how could the Pope and the Valkyrie possibly respond to that? They simply pretended not to hear.

　However, the old king persisted: "If the Royal Academy won by chance, Austin, that's not appropriate." Pope Sith interrupted him directly, "I have never gambled in my life."

　The old king smiled, not angry at all: "Then let's not gamble. But I say, don't you all think the weather is lovely today?"

　Why don't you just ask what we ate this morning? Aylvit rolled her eyes, her anger rising.

　However, when the three of them got together, they couldn't utter a single normal sentence.

　You can only blame the old king for having a brain fart, for insisting on dragging the two of them over to watch the game together!

　Arvitt really wanted to ask him, "Don't you have any friends?"

　Austin: "..."

　Alvit: "Oh no, I accidentally said it."

　Austin: "..."

　Sith: "Ahem! The contestants are about to enter."

　It's exactly eight o'clock.

　The chimes from the spiral clock tower echoed through the open-air dueling arena, instantly energizing the audience who had already arrived via the spatial nexus. A stirring melody then resounded throughout the arena.

　Suddenly, Judy descended from the sky, her pure white light illuminating the stage and making her face appear especially sacred.

　Wearing a pure white, fitted long dress and holding a golden microphone, her delicate oval face radiated a gentle and kind smile, as if she were a pure girl who had stepped out of a holy church, and she unknowingly attracted the attention of the audience.

　"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the St. Marian Duel Arena! I am your host, Judy, Judy forever!"

　A gentle breeze blew, causing her long hair to flutter. Senior Judy straightened her light brown curly hair and dyed it gold, giving her a completely different aura than before.

　The new audience members were simply amazed that there could be such a beautiful girl in the world.

　Longtime viewers know she's a versatile fairy—she seems capable of mastering any style, delivering a different kind of amazement with every appearance. But as a pillar of St. Mary's Academy, perhaps only in this way can she remain steadfast.

　"It's been a week since we last met, and I'm sure viewers all over the world have been eagerly anticipating our return. We just wonder if you've already gotten to know all the participants in this year's 'Academy Championship' through the player profiles we've distributed."

　As soon as she finished speaking, enthusiastic responses erupted from the audience in the stands.

　Surprisingly, almost everyone answered "yes".

　It seems that the audience's enthusiasm for this "Academy Showdown" is much higher than the academy anticipated.

　But the college was naturally happy to see it happen.

　Members of the "Magic League" located in various places all smiled with satisfaction after seeing this enthusiastic opening.

　The initial publicity campaign was clearly very successful; whether it can be sustained depends on how well the contestants perform.

　"Then, the first Academy Championship, Lower Grades Challenge, officially begins!"

　Once the audience's noise subsided slightly, Senior Judy suddenly announced, "Now, please welcome the contestants to enter the arena!"

　All the lower-grade contestants, from the twelve lower-grade students of St. Mary's Academy to the twelve lower-grade students of Ocean Magic Academy, entered the arena.

　A total of ninety-six students took to the stage and stood slightly apart. The female host waved her hand slightly with the microphone, and a projection filled with introductory text lit up next to each student.

　By focusing your attention on these projections, they will automatically magnify and come into view.

　Viewers quickly found the contestant they wanted to support by referring to the contestant profile.

　Even before the athletes began entering the stadium, supporters were already waving flags and cheering from the stands.

　A quick stroll around reveals that each academy has a supporter array, with huge banners displaying not only the names of each academy but also the names of all the contestants.

　They waved banners and flags, cheering for their respective colleges with loud, clear voices, clearly prepared.

　A week of preparation is definitely necessary.

　The atmosphere of the main competition a week later was noticeably different from the hastily held opening ceremony last week.

　If last week's audience came more to watch exciting duels, this week's audience is more there to "achieve victory," driven by a strong competitive spirit!

　[8k views, bonus chapter +2]

Chapter 1183 [60% Off Full Subscription] Academy Showdown, Gathering of Heroes (5k)

　On the hosting stage.

　The ninety-six contestants were divided into eight groups according to their colleges, with twelve people in each group standing together, and only the team leader standing at the front.

　The captains' figures were magnified on the projector and highlighted. Even the new audience members quickly remembered their names.

　When the captain of the lower grades of St. Marian Academy is seen, some viewers who seem to have come from nowhere can't help but ask those around them why the captain of St. Marian Academy isn't the "hero" predicted. They are then often met with a bunch of eye rolls.

　Times have changed, my lord!

　As we all know, what fans love to do most is to educate others about their idols.

　Unbeknownst to him, Dak also enjoyed this treatment.

　This allowed him to gradually develop from being a household name in the capital to becoming a household name throughout the kingdom.

　Looking at her increasingly dashing baby, the anger in her heart naturally subsided.

　Judy interviewed Dark briefly before moving on to the captains of the other colleges.

　Although this is St. Mary's College's home ground, as the host, we should pay even more attention to hospitality and make sure our guests are present.

　However, among the eight captains, there are not many who can truly take charge like Dark.

　After all, they are only third-year students, and it is difficult for them to compare with the older students in terms of status within the team.

　Therefore, their answers during interviews were relatively restrained.

　But this wasn't a bad thing for St. Marian's Academy; at least they got through the start smoothly.

　They originally intended to skip this segment if it weren't truly necessary for the audience to gain a deeper understanding of the contestants.

　After all, the orcs and elves had just experienced such an incident last week, and the academy was quite worried that they might make some extreme remarks during the interview.

　However... even if they don't say it now, they can say it during the preparation phase before the duel begins.

　Since we can't stop them anyway, we might as well just let them say what they want. The word "duel" itself originated as a means of resolving disputes.

　If the two sides have a grudge, let's settle it with a duel!

　In short, Judy herself actually hoped that some contestants would speak more freely, and she felt very sorry about this.

　In the end, the team captains interviewed only talked about their learning experience at St. Mary's College this week and their expectations for victory.

　The competition hadn't even started yet, and no one was saying anything discouraging; everyone's goal was to win the championship.

　Even the students of the public magic academy, who seem to care the least about winning or losing, declared that they would let the glory of robots illuminate the whole world.

　—The interview has ended.

　Host Judy began explaining the specific rules of this round of the competition to the audience.

　After she finished speaking, she casually tossed aside the rules that had been projected as text, and at the same time displayed the new rules for the duel.

　Then came the part the contestants were most eagerly anticipating: the draw. "Shh—"

　Suddenly, Judy raised her hand, put her index finger to her lips, and smiled with her eyes narrowed.

　Then she reached out and touched something, and found a piece of black cloth in the empty space in front of her.

　When the black cloth was lifted, a box appeared before everyone.

　Let's meet the dream and experience.

　Then, Judy briefly explained and drew the competition schedule in the air.

　The black box, covered with a black cloth, contained a total of eight number plates. Next, the captains of the lower-grade groups from each college will come forward to draw a number plate.

　In the first round of the main competition, the college that drew number one will face off against the college that drew number two. And so on, until finally the college that drew number seven will face off against the college that drew number eight.

　In the second round, the winner between number one and number two will face the winner between number three and number four, and the winner between number five and number six will face the winner between number seven and number eight.

　The third round is the final!

　The second and third rounds will be held tomorrow. Today, only the first round of matches will be played.

　The subsequent drawing of number plates will determine each college's first-round opponent.

　If you are unlucky enough to draw a powerful opponent that you cannot defeat, you will have to leave the game with zero points.

　Therefore, this draw is still very important. "Since that's the case..."

　After explaining the rules, Senior Judy turned around with a smile to look at the captains behind her.

　The audience, following her gaze, also turned to look at the contestants. Suddenly, Judy said, "In that case, let's draw lots according to the order of entry! Ladies and gentlemen, do you remember which team entered first?"

　The audience was so engrossed in the interaction that they shouted out the team's name almost immediately.

　The stadium was immediately filled with shouts of "Saint Marian! Saint Marian!"

　Of course, there were also many shouts of "Dark Dimon" mixed in. Dark raised an eyebrow and stepped out.

　As the host country, it's only natural that we draw the first number.

　However, this gives people the feeling of waiting for an opponent to challenge them.

　He walked a few steps to Judy's side and asked, "How do I draw it?" Judy covered the box completely with the black cloth and explained, "You don't need to lift this cloth. Just reach in and your fingers will penetrate the black cloth and touch the world inside the box."

　达克

　He frowned slightly, then followed her instructions and reached for the black cloth. The projection zoomed in.

　The slender, fair fingers touched the black cloth and passed right through it as if it were nothing.

　However, Dark, the owner of the finger, felt a thin film covering his finger, preventing any magical effects from penetrating it.

　This black cloth clearly has the function of isolating spells and abilities! "An anti-cheating measure?"

　Dak reached into the box, his fingers clearly touching the round number plates. Without hesitation, he picked one out.

　The number plate pulled from the box is about the size of a palm, with the St. Mary's College emblem on the back and a prominent number on the front.

　→ "6"!

　"The 6th? Looks like today will be a lucky day."

　A slight smile appeared on Dak's face as he took his number and returned to the queue.

　Subsequently, the name of St. Mary's Academy appeared on the schedule, replacing the original number six.

　After Dark returned to the group, the captain of the Royal Academy, who was the second to appear, also stepped forward.

　The captain of the lower grades at the Royal Academy was a man with long, golden-orange hair. His name was Lesliejad, and he was the son of a marquis.

　He held considerable influence within the Royal Academy's student body. If it weren't for the presence of a sixth-year royal student in the academy, his influence would be even greater.

　Leslie Judd was under considerable pressure as he represented twelve students from the lower grades in the draw.

　He mainly didn't want to draw number five!

　As a nobleman of the same age as Dark, Leslie had also had contact with Dark many years ago. However, due to factional issues, he was told that he was no longer allowed to have contact with Dark and his group, so he switched to a circle of people in the same faction.

　After that, Leslie almost forgot that she had such a playmate in her childhood.

　It wasn't until a year ago that he remembered Dark's existence because of the name he kept hearing.

　Then came a year-long period of attention.

　Therefore, although he no longer had much contact with Dark, he knew Dark very well.

　Naturally, it becomes very clear why the son of the Valkyrie is the son of the Valkyrie!

　In short, you absolutely must avoid St. Mary's Academy in the first round. Otherwise, being eliminated with a zero score would be too embarrassing!

　While the professors at the Royal Academy didn't have high hopes for them, their parents had placed immense expectations on them, making it impossible for them to simply give up and lie low; they had to fight tooth and nail for victory. Leslie certainly wanted to win too, but he was a more rational person, so he would hold back at this point.

　His point was that even if you want to win the championship, you have to take it one step at a time and win the first round first!