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

　Shrek suddenly put his arm around her shoulder and said enthusiastically, "But it's okay. Now that we're all together, how can we break up our plans over such a small thing? Let's continue to the Blue Restaurant!"

　If even the sixth-graders are saying this, what can the third-graders do?

　Vitgot, Emma Metis, and Saraswati exchanged glances and could only reluctantly agree.

　In short, the target of our actions remains the Blue Restaurant.

　While the Duel City was initially impressive, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that its overall size is not particularly large due to the limitations of the Duel Arena's space.

　Even if they split into eight groups, it wouldn't be difficult for them to meet.

　Furthermore, the blue and red restaurants, as iconic buildings of the entire Duel City, will significantly influence the players' movement patterns.

　Players with a strong desire to duel will gravitate towards the two restaurants. Players with a low desire to duel will generally linger around the perimeter of the arena, hiding in the shadows.

　Both of these action modes are easy to understand.

　Based on this, the contestants naturally took similar actions and soon clashed.

　Darkdemon, Diana Gretebayr and Aurora

　The trio consisting of Montilfali planned to first operate on the outskirts of the city, looking for those who were avoiding duels and reaping points from them.

　The remaining four senior students, besides these two teams, did not act entirely alone.

　Winiscat took the initiative to approach Pandora. Since they were both members of the Literature Club, they decided to work together temporarily.

　The remaining Eluri Clarissa then teamed up with Gina Grant.

　This initial combination is not solid and may break up at any time.

　It's just a temporary arrangement.

　Just like St. Mary's College, the other colleges also made quick decisions at the entrance.

　For example, at the Sky Magic Academy, the siblings Disney Nehm and Tiffany Nehm teamed up to search for Darkdemon.

　Meanwhile, at the Ocean Magic Academy, the duo of Carola Marjorie and Tim Doris share the same goal and are always ready to act.

　The teams from each college were basically divided into several different groups.

　Only the Royal Academy of the Kingdom remained steadfast in its course, always holding Quintinanos close and unwavering, with all its members acting together.

　To their left is the Ocean Magic Academy, and to their right is the Elf Magic Academy, so the pressure of their location is quite significant.

　As the initial plans of each college were being finalized, the exhibition matches atop the Red and Blue Restaurant also came to an end.

　This exhibition match featured two substitutes from St. Mary's Academy against two substitutes from the other two academies.

　The two substitutes from St. Marian Academy were two princesses, Anna and Angie, who were still in their second year.

　Sending second-year students to perform the final "show" of this year's academy championship was naturally a deliberate decision.

　St. Maryan Academy had its own agenda. After all, a second-year vs. third-year match was a win-win situation; losing wouldn't be a huge loss, but winning would be a huge bonus. And with the two princesses' status and position, their opening performance would naturally attract attention and build up the atmosphere.

　Their performance turned out to be surprisingly good.

　Although the process was difficult, they ultimately won the duel.

　The arduous process also meant it was incredibly exciting, immediately raising the audience's emotions to a high level from the very beginning.

　at last.

　As the two little princesses excitedly waved their arms and left the dueling arena atop the restaurant, the final round of the Academy Championship officially began.

　"Duan!"

　The clock struck nine o'clock sharp. The contestants entered the venue simultaneously.

　The most anticipated team from St. Mary's Academy instantly split into four groups and headed in different directions!

Chapter 1292 When Paths Meet, the Brave Wins (4k)

　"The competition has just begun, and the St. Mary's Academy team has already split into four groups, with a firm and clear objective. It is evident that they must have had a meticulous plan before the competition."

　The commentator's voice bypassed "Duel City" in a very special way, reaching only the ears of the audience outside the venue.

　This time, the commentators are professional commentators Kingsley and Donya, who haven't been online for a long time.

　The two manipulated sound with magic cards, ensuring that no matter how they spoke, their voices would not be transmitted to the designated area, thus completely eliminating any concerns about commentary reporting.

　But today's match is still a huge test for the two commentators.

　The commentary continued uninterrupted from nine in the morning until nine at night. This was an unprecedented experience in the history of duels at St. Marian Academy.

　In fact, St. Mary's Academy has been pioneering new competition formats since last year.

　The duelists are having a blast, and the commentators have to keep up too.

　At the start of the competition, the walls of the buildings housing the Red and Blue restaurants displayed projections of the various colleges at a rapid pace. At a certain point, all the teams' projections were condensed onto a single screen, allowing the audience to see all the players' actions simultaneously, as if watching a monitor.

　The audience's voices rose and fell in response to the changing movements of the contestants. It was also the first time they had seen a duel with such rules. After all the contestants' movements were displayed on a large map, they couldn't help but feel as if they were overlooking a marching route.

　That sense of novelty was incredibly exciting.

　However, this type of competition actually puts the director and commentator to a very high level of skill, and can easily lead to chaotic screen switching.

　Thanks to the witty banter of Jinlis and Donya, even though the contestants hadn't met yet, they were able to connect them with just a few words, enhancing the viewing experience.

　Although their "bold guesses" about the players' psychology were not accurate.

　"In the name of Dark Demon, I summon the 'Adventure Bird'." The parrot-like "Adventure Bird" flew out from the summoning light and landed skillfully on Dark's shoulder, affectionately nuzzling his cheek.

　Dark scratched its chin and said, "Adventure Bird, Feather of Concealment."

　"Whoosh whoosh whoosh." The "Adventure Bird" chirped twice, and then released a concealment barrier from its outstretched wings, surrounding Dark and the other two within the barrier.

　Concealment is an essential tactic under the current competition rules. This is not out of fear of battle, but rather for the purpose of better selecting opponents.

　However, in contrast, all participants will definitely prepare methods to break through the stealth barrier.

　After summoning the "Adventure Bird", Dark summoned the "Phantom Bug".

　The "Spirit Insect" with the "Illusion-Breaking Eye" is quite useful in this situation.

　As soon as he finished speaking, Diana and Aurora summoned their respective "phantom insects".

　Aside from that, they did not take any further action, but simply continued moving quickly in a counter-clockwise (right-hand) direction in a very ordinary manner.

　Judging from the distribution of the academies, to their left are the War Totem Academy and the Sky Magic Academy, and to their right are the Public Magic Academy and the Ocean Magic Academy.

　Regardless of the sky or the sea, if choosing only between War Totem Academy and the Public Magic Academy, the Public Magic Academy would naturally be the better choice as the opponent. In such a competition, to gain points or divine merit, one must learn...

　Try to avoid any opponents that could lead to a tough battle, and only target those you can defeat quickly.

　This is the simplest, most intuitive, and most effective logical approach.

　This approach will not go wrong, at least when the game has just begun and the situation is not yet complicated.

　A little more analysis reveals that the Ocean Magic Academy, which is adjacent to the Public Magic Academy, will inevitably have some members eyeing the Public Magic Academy as well.

　So now it's time to race against time.

　They need to find the team from the public magic academy before the Ocean Magic Academy can, so they can have the first duel.

　Without hesitation, Dark activated "Eye of Truth" after advancing a certain distance, ensuring that he could spot the hidden players as soon as possible.

　While the "Eye of Truth" doesn't possess specific functions like "breaking through concealment" or "breaking through illusion," it can see through the essence of things and identify "anomalies," which is sufficient.

　From above, all the academies except the Royal Academy of the Kingdom had been divided into different teams and began to act with relatively clear objectives.

　"Duel City" does not prohibit airspace, but apart from the two red and blue skyscrapers, the buildings are not actually that tall.

　Therefore, once someone flies into the sky, they immediately become a "target" that everyone can see.

　Invisibility is unreliable.

　With prior preparation, almost everyone has a way to break stealth.

　Among them, there are quite a few methods that can be maintained continuously, such as the "Eye of Truth".

　Therefore, even Eva Hearst, the "Eagle-man Royal Family" of the War Totem Academy, did not easily take to the sky.

　However, while some were wary, others were completely unconcerned. Disney Neham and Tiffany Neham of the Sky Magic Academy took to the skies shortly after the competition began.

　The two made no attempt to conceal themselves, simply walking directly through the sky. However, their actions did not attract any "attack." One reason was...

　They possess a peculiar power, seemingly merging with the sky when they are in the air. If one doesn't look closely, their existence might even be overlooked.

　On the other hand, it's also because they are strong enough and move very fast!

　With a very clear purpose in mind, the siblings flew quickly in a counter-clockwise direction toward the original location of St. Mary's Academy.

　They flew through the air, thus avoiding the group from the War Totem Academy. When they finally found the entrance to St. Mary's Academy, they discovered it was deserted.

　But they only exchanged a glance before taking off again in perfect unison, continuing their counter-clockwise flight towards the Public Magic Academy.

　At this very moment, Darkdemon's trio had already found the team from the Public Magic Academy.

　The public magic academy reached agreements with both the War Totem Academy and the Elf Magic Academy. The agreements were largely the same, with only two key points.

　One of the rules is that neither side will engage in battle before noon today. The second rule is to adjust the strategy and launch a siege against the Royal Academy! What's the best way to avoid being "last place"?

　It's about creating a "last place"! The relationship between subhumans and humans is already bad.

　The elves might hesitate when reaching such agreements. But if the target of concentrated fire is a human noble, any hesitation will vanish instantly.

　Unlike their minor skirmishes with the orcs, the elves' aversion to humans, especially human nobles, has deep historical roots.

　It's just that humans are currently in a dominant position, and having just experienced the "Hundred Races Alliance," they can't easily vent the lingering resentment from that history.

　Now that they have a legitimate reason, the elves are naturally not afraid to get involved.

　And above the map distribution.

　The Elf Magic Academy happens to be adjacent to the Kingdom's Royal Academy. Therefore...

　A team from the Elf Magic Academy was the second to find their target, second only to the Darkdemon trio!

　However, because the entire Royal Academy of the Kingdom was united, they could not take action for the time being and could only observe from a distance.

　Today, in the third round of the academy competition, St. Mary's Academy took the initiative and started the duel!

　The Public Magic Academy's team split into three groups at the start. All three groups were in a "two-on-two" formation, with two upperclassmen leading two lowerclassmen.

　After they split into groups, they each sent a team along an upward-sloping route, heading towards the War Totem Academy and the Elf Magic Academy respectively.

　The last remaining team stayed put. While remaining concealed, they advanced steadily towards the blue restaurant.

　In other words, if we had gone any slower and had only searched along the city's outskirts, we wouldn't have been able to find the Public Magic Academy's team.

　But Dacdimon's speed was simply too fast.

　Their group, which was in the center, had only just set off when Dark spotted them and quickly caught up.

　The team from the public magic academy consisted of two upperclassmen and two lowerclassmen, but the leader was one of the lowerclassmen—the "genius inventor" Babayevnidam!

　The other lower-grade student besides Babayevnidam was the dwarf warrior Prit, whose strength was similar to his.

　Prit is skilled in using "cyborg weapons" and lost to "Art Knight" Trinsina in the first round of the competition.

　However, his defeat can be attributed to insufficient intelligence gathering and failure to prepare targeted defensive measures in advance, allowing him to be easily defeated by Trinsina's sonic and mental attacks.

　In short, his raw strength is not weak, and his physical strength is extremely formidable, making him a formidable opponent.

　With two strong junior students and two senior students, this combination is not actually that afraid of encountering enemies.

　Therefore, when their "radar" sensed someone approaching rapidly, they did not choose to run away immediately.

　This brief moment of poor decision-making cost them their "first blood."

　"Here comes the first skirmish!"

　Commentator Kingsley's eyes lit up as he shouted excitedly, "This encounter is between a trio of lower-grade students from St. Marian Academy and a combination of upper and lower-grade students from the Public Magic Academy!"

　Donya quickly added.

　"In a three-on-four duel outside of the competition, St. Marian Academy would probably be at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. But in this competition, the duel is only one-on-one, so the specific advantages and disadvantages need to be analyzed based on the situation."

　"Now let's take a look at the number of badges each player has." With a slight prompt, the director displayed the names and badge counts of both players on the screen.

　The number of badges a contestant has is counted by a special badge worn on their chest.

　The count on the badges is clearly visible the moment the two players encounter each other.

　Compared to the three badges of Babayev and others, the nine badges of Dak and his two companions were extremely conspicuous.