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

　This means that even if you have a lot of points, you could lose them all in one go.

　If the opponent is too arrogant, it is possible to turn the tide in one fell swoop.

　Of course, this is on the premise that both sides possess a sufficient number of badges to serve as stakes. Then...

　The next day.

　The blue restaurant will no longer retain the safe zone feature. Of course, the nine-point limit will also be gone.

　However, the duel protection time will still exist, but it will be reduced from thirty minutes to ten minutes.

　In addition, players will no longer have the restriction that they can only initiate one duel against the same player.

　In other words, if your opponent doesn't use the duel protection time, you can even challenge them to an unlimited number of duels.

　Therefore, overall, the rules of the competition have become more flexible, and theoretically, it will become more intense.

　However in reality.

　Given that most of the points are concentrated on the senior students, the junior students who have few points left will probably be quickly eliminated.

　Senior students with more points will likely be more cautious in order to protect their points.

　Of course, the specifics will depend on the actual situation. Just like today's match, the connection between the Public Magic Academy and the other two academies has changed the entire competition landscape.

　Now that their chances of winning the championship are slim, the remaining colleges are not without the possibility of collusion outside the competition.

　"In short, we must be mentally prepared for the possibility of being besieged by all the colleges."

　Emma put down her pen and said with some concern.

　"In addition, those of us in the lower grades who still maintain a score of nine or above will probably become the target of everyone's pursuit."

　But as soon as she finished speaking, Senior Pandora waved her hand and said...

　"No problem. They take points from you, we'll take them back from them. The key to tomorrow's match is managing the 'Duel Time.' If 'Duel Time' occurs frequently and the multipliers are high, probably no one will duel outside of 'Duel Time.' They certainly don't want their targets to enter Duel Protection Time during 'Duel Time.' Of course, they might also use this to their advantage, keeping themselves in Duel Protection Time throughout 'Duel Time.'"

Chapter 1321 Darkdemon, Midnight Tales (5k)

　[60% off full subscription] Chapter 1321 Darkdemon, Midnight Tales (5k)

　Making good use of the duel protection time is obviously the best way to avoid being sniped during the "duel time".

　However, this method relies on the opponent's cooperation. In other words, it requires cooperation from players from other academies. "Based on the currently announced rules, if two academies cooperate, they could even mutually boost each other's scores, maintaining the duel protection time and thus becoming invincible. But in reality, even the academies that coordinated in today's match didn't do that," Dark said.

　“But it’s not explicitly stated in the rulebook that you can’t do that,” Shrek Holmes said.

　“That’s true,” Dark said. “But the Academy Championship is an open tournament for everyone. If we do that, even if the organizers don’t impose restrictions, the players will face moral judgment. That’s something we can hardly afford.”

　“Just like in the existing dueling rules, duelists are allowed to bring their own weapons, even magic scrolls. But in reality, no one does that in a match,” Gina Grant chimed in with a smile.

　Dark said, "That's right. Rules are just the most basic restrictions. Morality, environment, customs, and other factors often supplement the basic rules."

　"But we can't always rely on our opponents' morality," Mars Carey said, looking up.

　Dark smiled and said, "If someone actually did that, then..."

　Mars asked, "Then what?"

　Dark said, "Then we'll just have to compete on speed."

　Follow your target and engage them in combat as quickly as possible after their duel protection period expires. This is the basic concept of a speed contest.

　However, in practice, that is obviously very difficult to achieve.

　Therefore, if such a situation really occurs, what they need to do is, while the target is still under duel protection time, prevent them from dueling with others in a way other than dueling.

　It's explicitly stated in the rulebook that you can't attack or harm a player. But in reality, there are countless ways to restrict a player without attacking, harming, or even using magic cards on them.

　The simplest method is to use a magic card on the "place" where the player is located, thereby changing the player's position.

　Therefore, spatial traps can also be set up in "Duel City" so that players who step into the spatial trap will be directly teleported to their front, thus making them easy prey.

　However, based on the same moral considerations, virtually no one did that during the first day of the competition.

　Moreover, the stronger players don't often refuse challenges, even when they are in the duel protection period.

　But if the opponent disregards morality, then there is naturally no need for this side to uphold morality either.

　Over-analyzing the rules, trying every possible loophole, everyone is testing the limits.

　—Hopefully tomorrow's match won't turn out like that.

　After all, the duel had lasted all day, so the post-match meeting didn't last long.

　After discussing the possible scenarios and corresponding countermeasures for tomorrow, the students from St. Mary's Academy announced their disbandment.

　Dark waved goodbye to Pandora and then returned to the Noble Academy's tower with the other contestants.

　In order to prepare for tomorrow's competition, every athlete needs to get a good rest.

　Of course, the reason they were able to end the meeting so quickly was because St. Mary's Academy had such a large advantage in points, and each of them was very confident, so there weren't many issues to discuss.

　The only place that ended even faster than their meeting was the Royal Academy of the Kingdom—which had become Quintina North's personal fiefdom.

　Meanwhile, the other colleges that were holding meetings were still engaged in heated discussions, and their meetings were unlikely to end anytime soon.

　Pushing open the doors of the Noble House tower, the warm air that hits you immediately puts your mind at ease.

　The common room was still crowded with students from St. Mary's College. As soon as they saw Dak and the others return, they immediately swarmed around them, chattering and praising their wonderful performance in the competition.

　Dark and the others could only respond with smiles.

　But this scene continued for several minutes and showed no signs of dissipating.

　At this moment, Duolong suddenly stood up and shouted that the players needed to rest, and the enthusiastic students gradually dispersed.

　Dark gave Doron an "OK" sign, and then walked through the common room with Diana and the others, and went up the stairs to the dormitory.

　Aurora left on the third floor, while Dark and Diana parted ways on the fourth floor. After saying goodbye to them, Elurly Clarissa also headed to the seventh floor.

　All the athletes returned to their dormitories to rest.

　Dark casually took out the "Little Demon Beast" magic card, transferred its consciousness back into the Sorting Card, and then summoned it in its familiar form.

　[Devimon] immediately and shrewdly surveyed the area, and upon discovering that it was indeed the only one who had been summoned, it couldn't help but let out a smug laugh: "Hehehe!"

　Dark listened to the sly laughter of "Little Devimon," and simply took off his clothes one by one, heading towards the bathroom to take a good bath.

　Around 10:30, he came out of the bathroom, already dressed in thick winter pajamas.

　The temperature dropped tonight, and it was indeed a bit chilly. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Dark began to check the magic cards one by one.

　Besides replenishing mana, he also interacts with those inside the magic cards.

　The magical spirits communicated.

　Time passed quickly, and it was already past eleven o'clock when he finally sat up cross-legged to practice the "Netherworld God Technique".

　At 11:30, he finished his practice and went to sleep fully clothed. At midnight, his eyes were closed, and he was fast asleep.

　"Little Devimon" lay on the pillow, its sharp wings occasionally poking at his pajamas.

　The cat grass slept soundly in the sleeping basket, making even breathing sounds.

　The entire castle finally fell silent, devoid of the daytime hustle and bustle.

　bedside.

　The cardholder that Dak had placed there suddenly trembled very slightly.

　Then, just once more.

　Another click.

　The card pack is shaking more, but still very little.

　A faint, almost imperceptible black light peeked out from the crack. But it flickered only slightly before disappearing completely.

　Complete silence returned to the bedroom.

　But in the darkness, a pair of golden eyes slowly opened, illuminating the bedroom.

　Darkdemon sat up silently, his eyes fixed on his card bag.

　It's impossible for a mage to detect such a subtle fluctuation while sound asleep.

　However, the connection between Dark's magic cards and him is many times deeper than that between ordinary mages.

　Even in his sleep, he was suddenly awakened by the sudden realization. However, the pair of golden "eyes of truth" did not detect anything unusual in the bedroom.

　Even the card pack fell completely silent, no longer making any noise.

　Dark stared at the card pack for a long time, about to reach out and examine it more closely, when he suddenly sensed an extremely strange aura. But that aura did not come from the card pack.

　He frowned, suddenly flipped himself up, and strode towards the balcony. [Little Devimon] was startled awake by the noise of him getting up, instinctively flapping its wings and wobbling after him.

　As it flew to the balcony, a sudden gust of cold wind swept across its face, instantly snapping it back to reality. It turned out that Dak had opened the window outside the balcony.

　It flew and landed on Duck's shoulder, turning its head around in confusion like an owl: "What's wrong?"

　Dark narrowed his eyes slightly, the golden light gradually receding: "For some reason, I have a bad feeling."

　"Little Devimon" tilted its head and asked, "Did you have a nightmare?" Dark pondered for a moment, "It shouldn't be."

　He was startled awake shortly after falling asleep, and his mind was inevitably hazy. The faint feeling he had sensed earlier seemed to have become a vague experience in a dream, and he could hardly make it out.

　Looking out the window.

　The lights inside the academy were completely turned off, with only faint spots of light remaining in the direction of the dense forest.

　There should be golems patrolling the castle at this time. But their patrols are always quiet, and they don't make any pointless noises.

　"What could it be, or is it just an illusion?"

　Dark's mind began to fog up, and drowsiness washed over him again. He started to consider whether to wait until tomorrow morning. After all, there was a match tomorrow, and he needed to get some sleep.

　He stood on the balcony for another three minutes, but nothing happened. After a moment of contemplation, Dak finally closed the window, went back to bed, and continued to sleep.

　He fell asleep very quickly, almost instantly. It was clear he was exhausted.

　But "Devimon" took on the role of guard, standing on the pillow and looking around very alertly.

　Of course, nothing was found.

　Silent all night.

　It was already morning.

　A slightly chilly light streamed into the room through the gap in the curtains. "Little Devimon" groggily opened its eyes, suddenly realizing with a start that it had actually fallen asleep last night!

　It clearly intended to keep watch, but ended up sleeping soundly like a pig.

　But it quickly looked around and found that nothing had changed, so it became smug again.

　Thank goodness he fell asleep, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to muster the energy for today's match. Lord Devimon, you are truly incredibly clever.

　After a while, Dak finally woke up from his sleep.

　He took two minutes to fully wake himself up, then immediately got out of bed and went to the balcony. Only after finding the traces he had left on the balcony did he realize that what he had done was not a dream.

　He did indeed wake up suddenly from a deep sleep and went to the balcony to check. "What exactly happened last night?"

　He couldn't help but think that.

　But naturally, no one answered his question.

　Now, when I try to recall that eerie feeling, I can't remember it at all.

　But even if he tried to recall it, he probably couldn't explain it clearly. He could only attribute it to his talent for divination.

　After all, being suddenly awakened from sleep at night is something that fortune tellers and prophets often encounter.

　Because it is so commonplace, some fortune tellers have even become accustomed to it and have therefore missed crucial premonitions.

　Similar experiences are common among fortune tellers, and Professor Mitia often tells them to her students as anecdotes to liven up the classroom atmosphere.

　But when these kinds of little stories happen to you, they're not exactly funny experiences.

　I had a premonition, but after waking up, all I remembered was that I had a premonition.

　If someone is a serious and indecisive person, they will definitely suffer a lot from this. Dark is feeling very bad right now.

　After returning to his bedroom, he took out his card holder, pulled out his "Professor Card," and sent it to Professor Cazell... and then sent a message to Professor Sylph instead.

　The inquiry was whether anything unusual had happened the previous night. Professor Sylph replied quickly.