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

　Their competitive goal—to defeat their opponent—would be difficult to achieve. Therefore, to avoid falling into a disadvantageous position, they had no choice but to cooperate with the public magic academy.

　At this point, only the public magic academy has successfully gained the ability to compete with the royal academy for "second to last place".

　In this competition, some are vying for first place, some are vying for ranking, and some are vying for "second to last".

　In the end, the only institution left that was idle and neither here nor there was any left: the Holy Church Mystic Ritual Academy.

　The leader of this delegation from the Holy Mystic Academy was Archbishop Calenoris.

　The goals of the Holy Mystic Academy can be decided by him alone.

　But Archbishop Calenoris spent most of that month observing.

　Therefore, the power of discourse within the Holy Mystic Academy fell into the hands of "Holy Son" Evan Pearson and "Judgment Knight" Saint Zachary Lancelot.

　However, Evan Pearson and Saint Zachary Lanslot's decisions clashed.

　Evan Pearson felt that competing for the championship was unrealistic and hoped that the team would focus on competing for a higher ranking, aiming for a top-four finish and striving for a top-three finish.

　It is evident that after analyzing the combat strength, he ranked the Holy Mystic Academy below the Sky Magic Academy and the Ocean Magic Academy.

　Although his analysis was somewhat conservative, Saint Zachary Lancelot's goal was unequivocally set on the championship!

　His goals were well-founded and based on solid reasoning.

　The main competition team of the Holy Mystic Academy consists of the "Holy Son", the "Holy Daughter" and ten "Knights of the Round Table".

　Among them are traditional powerhouses like Saint Zacharias Lancelot, as well as powerhouses beyond the norm like the "Saintess".

　The merging of teams from different grade levels is a disadvantage for many colleges.

　However, for the Holy Mystic Academy, this is an absolute boost. Because the Holy Mystic Academy's team has virtually no weaknesses! According to the "weakest link" principle, their competitiveness is actually very strong. Furthermore, after the decisive battle against Darkdemon, "Battle Saintess" Audrey Jeanne's potential has been further unleashed, resulting in a significant increase in her combat abilities.

　After all, she possessed the "spirit of a warrior," the ability to create miracles. Therefore, Lancelot set his sights on the championship, believing that only the honor of the championship was worthy of their team.

　Lancelot also engaged in behind-the-scenes maneuvering in his pursuit of the championship. Evan Pearson disapproved of this.

　However, after losing to Witte, his prestige declined slightly, and he lost his edge, leaving him to watch Lancelot make his plans.

　Lancelot first approached the Royal Academy of the Kingdom, which was also composed of "humans".

　Although the royal family and the church are at odds, they have always maintained a friendly facade. However, this time, Lancelot was given the cold shoulder. The Royal Academy may not be tough enough on the field, but they are truly tough off the field.

　The Holy Mystic Academy rejected him outright. But Lancelot was not discouraged.

　The Royal Academy could offer very little help to begin with.

　His purpose in joining forces with others was to gather everyone's strength to fight against St. Marian Academy.

　Because he knew very well that St. Mary's Academy was just like them. After merging the upper and lower grades, they gained a stronger force.

　He hoped for a miracle.

　But miracles only favor those who are prepared. So he had to prepare.

　Lancelot's second target was the Sky Magic Academy.

　It's not that I look down on War Totem Academy, Elf Magic Academy, and Public Magic Academy.

　He even approached the Royal Academy of the Kingdom, so naturally he wouldn't look down on the other three academies.

　The reason for this is simply that the Holy Church is indeed incompatible with demi-humans. Although the Sky Magic Academy is actually a gathering of demi-humans, double standards are inherent in human nature.

　There are also differences between sub-human races.

　But even the Ocean Magic Academy failed to reach an agreement with the Sky Magic Academy, so they naturally failed as well.

　But like the Ocean Magic Academy, they also received satisfactory information.

　Finally, they went to the Ocean Magic Academy!

Chapter 1291 Duel City, Peak of Red and Blue (4k)

　Amidst cheers from the crowd, the contestants of the first College Championship entered the arena one by one, organized by college.

　As each academy enters and each contestant appears, a video and personal introduction are displayed on the massive hemispherical barrier.

　The host, Judy, only had to call out the names of the colleges, and the audience would then call out the names of the contestants.

　After nearly a month of competition, those academies and those contestants have become household names.

　Although the volume of cheers from the audience varied depending on the popularity of each contestant, even that difference was part of the competition.

　Dark Dimon walked at the very front of the group, just behind Pandora.

　This time, the contestants entered the venue in alternating groups of higher and lower grades to show that "there is no distinction between them".

　He walked along the road, slightly turned his head, looked at the excited cheering audience outside the stadium, and only showed a faint smile.

　Although this wasn't exactly the stage he "dreamed of," he was certainly not in a bad mood at the moment.

　After walking out of the contestant passage and onto the host's stage, it was a short walk.

　When the last contestant in the main competition stepped onto the stage, the entire audience applauded almost simultaneously.

　The applause was deafening, completely engulfing the venue.

　Host Judy, microphone in hand, waited a long time before finally getting a chance to speak. She coughed slightly, a hint of exasperation in her voice, before beginning to explain the specific rules for this final round of the competition.

　Despite the fact that rulebooks have been published everywhere, there are still many people who don't like reading them.

　As an essential part of the competition process, she still explained the competition rules clearly and in detail.

　Meanwhile, Dark and the others listened patiently, confirming that there had been no last-minute changes to the rules of the official competition.

　Then, Judy handed the microphone to the captains of the upperclassmen groups from each college. Although the scripts had been changed, the question they all ultimately asked was the same: "Are you ready?"

　Of course, the answer to all of them was "ready".

　Even if their goal isn't solely the championship, being timid before the battle is a major taboo, and at this point there can only be one answer.

　After asking the last college, Judy immediately handed the microphone to the audience and shouted, "So, are you ready?"

　"Ready!"

　A deafening roar

　"Now, let's take a look at today's competition venue—Duel City!"

　When the emotions of the audience and the contestants reached their peak, the barrier surrounding the entire arena suddenly bloomed like a flower bud, revealing the dueling arena hidden within the barrier—the City of Duels!

　Exclamations erupted, and the atmosphere intensified.

　It was a steel city that resembled a work of art, a dueling city designed with "machine species" as its theme.

　Although the size of the city is condensed into a single venue, it is small but complete.

　Every type of building that comes to mind at first glance can be found in this Duel City.

　Moreover, not only that, but the buildings that crisscross the city streets and reveal their inner landscapes are home to a variety of intelligent beings, including humans, orcs, elves, goblins, dwarves, sea creatures, long-lived species, and many more.

　These creatures are not real in theory, but they do exhibit the ecology of normal humans, acting independently and communicating with each other, much like the majority of people watching a game.

　In the center of the venue, two tall buildings stood with smooth, mirror-like exteriors, suddenly displaying scenes of city life.

　At the top of those two tall buildings, there are restaurants with red and blue glass facades respectively, which are clearly the red restaurant and blue restaurant specified in the rules.

　The host, Judy, slowly introduced the unique features of this dueling city, as if she were introducing a civilization.

　The audience in the entire arena gradually quieted down, listening attentively. This city of duels not only blends multiple races but also diverse cultures. A closer look reveals that every aspect of this city is filled with astonishing details.

　The one who created this city in the form of "venue cards" is none other than the principal of St. Marian Academy, the irreplaceable bright moon—Principal Cynthia St. Arte!

　As the introductions concluded, the room was filled with the name of Principal Arte. As if summoned by them, Principal Cynthia Saint Arte appeared silently beside the host.

　Then came the principal's speech, brief yet powerful. Finally, she loudly announced the start of the competition. All ninety-six main contestants temporarily left the stage. Four substitute contestants took to the stage.

　This exhibition match warm-up will take place at the same time. Four substitute players will be divided into two pairs for a duel. One pair will be located at the top of the Red Restaurant.

　A pair located atop the blue restaurant.

　The entire duel was displayed on the walls of the two buildings. Furthermore, screens were erected throughout the entire Duel City, showing the two duels atop the red and blue buildings.

　Viewers are free to choose their perspective and watch any duel at will.

　The entire viewing mode was presented during the pre-match warm-up for this exhibition match.

　But at screening locations outside the venue, only one game can be shown.

　If they want to watch another game playing at the same time, they have to switch screens.

　That naturally doesn't have the same atmosphere as watching in the dueling arena.

　The main event contestants who temporarily left the stage were not idle.

　They were summoned to one place by the Minister of the Duel Club, Inia Knight, and then the senior captains of each college stepped forward to draw team numbers.

　Teams numbered one through eight will enter the "Duel City" through its eight entrances.

　The sixty-second countdown after the start of the competition was naturally eliminated. The academy did make some minor adjustments to the competition rules.

　Pandora Drogon was the first to enter, drawing number "1" directly from the box. Upon seeing this number, she couldn't help but smile slightly. [Number 1] naturally symbolizes first place.

　Next up was Selena Teresa, the captain of the Ocean Magic Academy, who drew number "7".

　Tiffany Nehm, the captain of the Sky Magic Academy, drew number "3".

　Saint Zachariah Lancelot, the captain of the Holy Mystic Academy, was the fourth to go on stage and drew number "4".

　Then there's the War Totem Academy, whose captain, Grace Leon, took the number "2" tag.

　Next up was the Royal Academy of the Kingdom, whose captain, Kennick Andrew, drew number 6. Then came Chloe Artemis, captain of the Elven Magic Academy, who drew number 5.

　Cairns Manan, the captain of the last public magic academy, took the last remaining "number 8".

　There are a total of eight colleges and eight entrances, arranged in clockwise order from number one to number eight.

　「1号」的两边是「2号」和「8号」，以此类推。从「1号」到「8号」依次是：

　① St. Marian Academy ② War Totem Academy ③ Sky Magic Academy ④ Holy Mysticism Academy ⑤ Elf Magic Academy ⑥ Royal Academy of the Kingdom ⑦ Ocean Magic Academy ⑧ Public Magic Academy

　The numbers are completely random.

　The different numbers drawn represent different entrance positions for each college, which necessitates different responses.

　After learning the numbers of all the colleges, the contestants immediately gathered together and began to discuss it rapidly.

　But Inia Knight only gave them less than two minutes to process their thoughts before having staff lead them to the entrance.

　The various colleges quickly separated and proceeded through the underground athlete passage to their respective entrances.

　The entrance to St. Marian's Academy is number 1, located near the entrance to this open-air dueling arena.

　They arrived at the entrance first and, following the instructions, temporarily stayed inside the athletes' passage, waiting for the competition to officially begin.

　The official start time for today's match has been adjusted to 9:00 AM, and the end time has also been postponed to 9:00 PM.

　This temporary change isn't bad news for players who excel at fighting at night.

　The students from St. Mary's Academy didn't seem to care about this.

　However, the change in the allocation of different entrances based on numbers affected their original plans.

　Shrek Holmes had to gather his team to discuss a plan.

　His original plan was to escort the three lower-grade students to the Blue Restaurant, thereby luring the other students from different colleges to "ambush" them.

　Then they won't need to search anymore; they can simply keep moving forward and attract a steady stream of challengers, thus increasing their efficiency.

　However, a slight change to this entry rule rendered the plan futile.

　The teams from each college were assigned to different entrances. No one knew they were escorting the lower-year groups to the Blue Restaurant.

　What's the point of talking about "bait" then?

　"It seems our plan is doomed before it even begins. But this kind of unpredictability is part of the wonder of the world."

　Shrek Holmes shrugged and said with a hint of helplessness.

　Marscare's lips curled slightly, clearly wanting to laugh.

　He was coerced by Shrek into participating in the plan, but before the competition even started, the plan collapsed. This is really, really great!

　He couldn't wait to act alone and activate his favorite "lone wolf" mode.

　But he just said, "Then there's no other way, let's split up."