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

　This doesn't mean that students from other colleges aren't good enough; it's more likely due to different strategies for handling this preliminary round.

Chapter 1519 The Last Fifteen Minutes (5k)

　Based on the points system for this preliminary round, strong competitors will not only not refuse challenges from weaker competitors, but will also welcome them.

　Therefore, if the contestants are only there to gain experience, they can challenge any strong opponent in the preliminary rounds.

　This is an extremely valuable opportunity for almost all nascent mages.

　They have absolutely no need to compete in the preliminaries to challenge the strong; they can get what they want just by participating in the open selection.

　If you are fixated on securing points, you will miss the rare opportunity to fight against a strong opponent.

　After all, it's virtually impossible for them to make it into the top 16, and even if they do enter the preliminary rounds, it wouldn't make any difference.

　Therefore, colleges that do not value the so-called "top 100" honor will not put unnecessary pressure on their students because of it.

　In fact, apart from the "Holy Church Mystic Academy", the other academies that participated in the academy competition did not set any requirements for their students.

　Some colleges even encourage students to participate more in the preliminary rounds and not to worry about the increase or decrease of points.

　St. Mary's College is one of them.

　However, the students of St. Marian Academy did indeed gain more after winning the Academy Championship. Therefore, their strength improved significantly, resulting in a better performance in this World Cup qualifier. Consequently, even without deliberately trying to secure points, several of them still made it into the top 128.

　Sofia emerged from the inner room in just five minutes.

　Dark took out a magic card, blew out a warm breeze to dry her long hair, and then continued the match.

　In the last two hours, he spent some time in the normal category competition area before entering the dark category competition area.

　The Dark faction region could be considered his home turf, but he's different from most players. He's not as reliant on the environment, and with his qualification prospects already secured, he naturally doesn't need to linger in this region.

　After that, he crossed the Light type zone and came to the Dark and Rock type zones that he had skipped before. He took the initiative to challenge several elite players there and gained [Experience +1].

　At 7:45 PM, Dark returned to the Light System competition area to wait for the competition to end.

　At this point, only fifteen minutes remained in the game.

　However, fierce battles continued in the Light Element Division. Students from the Holy Church's Mystic Academy, along with contestants belonging to the Holy Church, were still fighting for every second.

　Similarly, it is foreseeable that the players in other regions who are just one step away from advancing are also racing against time.

　But Dark Dimon's audition journey was pretty much over. He and Sophia strolled through the competition area, which was as bright as day and filled with a sense of light, enjoying the refreshing feeling of the wind blowing through their hair.

　After two days and one night of non-stop fighting, even he felt deeply exhausted.

　Not to mention the other contestants.

　Therefore, in addition to the athletes who are still competing, there are also a significantly larger number of athletes resting on both sides of the road.

　"256 points in total, ranked 38th, not bad." Dark was relatively satisfied with his results.

　Moreover, after extensive practical application, his understanding of mental power, bondage, and great sins has deepened further.

　In particular, the evolution of some Pokémon achieved using "Demon Lance: Seven Deadly Sins" gradually gave him a glimpse into the concept of "Bond Evolution".

　This greatly helped him understand "Bond Evolution," which allows Pokémon-type magical creatures to achieve their final evolution solely through mental power and bond connections.

　"Let's sit here for the last fifteen minutes."

　Passing by the flowerbeds, he saw an empty bench at the edge of a flower bed, so Dak simply sat down and reminisced about the duels he had experienced during the two days of auditions.

　The saying goes, "Reviewing the old helps one understand the new." If you don't reflect on what you've learned after a duel, then the duel was pointless.

　"Fifteen minutes left," Sofia murmured.

　She clutched the plush toy tightly in her hands, tilting her head back to look at the distant sky.

　The boundary between darkness and light appears exceptionally clear at this moment.

　Before arriving in the City of Freedom, she never imagined that she would one day be so close to her favorite contestant, and even spend two whole days together.

　But this seems... to be the reality.

　Her family members, who must be seeing this on the projection screen, are probably so regretful now that they can't even eat.

　They said there's no difference between watching live and watching on screen, since you can't actually interact with the athletes anyway.

　Unfortunately, these exciting and joyful days are about to come to an end.

　Although she had also purchased tickets for the qualifying and main tournament venues, watching from inside the venues was certainly not as exciting as being with her favorite players.

　However, the experience of these two days will definitely become an unforgettable memory for her.

　"When I get home, I'm going to brag about it to them!" Sofia clenched her fist and smiled smugly.

　"..."

　"BOOM!"

　Suddenly, the sound of an explosion pierced our ears like thunder. The ground beneath our feet shook violently.

　Two extremely terrifying auras erupted in that instant, enveloping the entire competition area like dark clouds.

　Dark suddenly looked up and saw a thick, dark mushroom cloud rising in the direction of the Dark Element competition area.

　Then, a terrifying, chilling roar pierced the night sky, bringing fear into reality.

　A jet-black bone dragon, seemingly with ink dripping from its skeleton, emerged halfway out of the mushroom cloud, unleashing a terrifying pressure in an instant.

　"What is that?" Sofia asked, trembling.

　Dark's pupils turned gold in an instant, and information about the bone dragon flooded into his mind like a stream.

　"The Card of God!"

　With only fifteen minutes left before the end of the preliminary rounds, the second "God Card" appeared!

　The moment they sensed that divine aura, the powerful figures inside the Duel City all turned towards the Dark Element competition area.

　Some duelists even involuntarily stopped their duels and looked in that direction at the same time.

　Darkness, divinity, the undead, dragons!

　These four elements came together and instantly created a terrifying scene.

　The contestants who were looking at the bone dragon from afar almost simultaneously felt an extreme sense of oppression and a thirst for death.

　Humans are born towards death.

　If Dark didn't know Professor Steven Harvey well, he would have immediately assumed it was a magical spirit summoned by Professor Harvey. The second candidate after ruling out Professor Harvey was Noah Sharp.

　But since Noah Sharp didn't use such a trump card in his duel with Reich Hodge, why would he reveal his "God Card" now that he's already secured a spot in the next round?

　At this point, the only players who would use the "God Card" so irrationally are likely to be among the very few whose rankings are hovering around the advancement line.

　Dak immediately recalled the names around number 128 when he last saw the rankings.

　But none of them seem like it.

　"In the name of Darkdemon, a magical summoning—'MoeMoemon'!" "MoeMoemon's Mega Evolution—'Fairymon'!"

　"Fairy Beast - Fairy Barrier!"

　At this point, instead of standing still and making random analyses, it's better to go directly to the site and observe.

　Dark summoned the "Fairy Beast" and ordered it to deploy the "Fairy Barrier," enveloping Sophia as well.

　"Let's go over there."

　he whispered.

　The "Fairy Beast" grunted and immediately activated the long-distance teleportation function, sending the "Fairy Barrier" to the Dark Element competition area.

　Sophia was experiencing long-distance teleportation for the first time. After landing, she screamed and instinctively grabbed Dark's arm.

　After screaming, she looked up abruptly and found herself near a duel arena, surrounded by a dense crowd of competitors and spectators. The bone dragon appeared even larger as it drew closer. However, its oppressive aura, diluted by the duel arena and the "fairy barrier," was no longer as terrifying as before.

　Sophia turned to look at Dark and found that Dark's attention was completely focused on the duel.

　The mage who controlled the bone dragon was a slender, masked contestant.

　However, the mask he originally wore had broken in half after a series of intense battles, revealing half of his face underneath.

　Half of his face was withered and sunken, ugly and terrifying, like a dried corpse. If people saw him in everyday life, they would definitely think of "demon" immediately.

　But he cannot be considered a demon. Although there are beings of this appearance among demons, he is not. He is a lich.

　A "lich" transformed from a human!

　……

　Liches are automatically classified as demons during wartime, and only a very few liches who side with humanity are exempt from military attacks.

　But now, after the war ended and the demon race was wiped out, humanity has no choice but to rehabilitate the "lich".

　Because "liches" should theoretically be undead creatures, not demons.

　"Liches" are all transformed after birth, while demons are a naturally occurring species; there is a fundamental difference between the two.

　Both humans and demons can potentially transform into "liches". Among humans, only necromancers have the ability to transform into "liches", and even then, they are extremely rare master-level figures.

　Since this "lich" has openly appeared in the World Cup qualifiers, it can only be a human lich.

　However, the Holy Church has always opposed the existence of "liches." Therefore, the appearance of this "lich" was still beyond everyone's expectations.

　Dark learned about "liches" from Professor Harvey, and that was only from Rune Ragnar, the author of the "Necronomicon".

　But he instinctively felt that the "lich" in front of him was not Rune Ragnar.

　So, who exactly is he?

　And why risk being condemned by the Holy Church to participate in this World Cup?

　Dark was unaware of this, but he knew the Holy Church had work to do next.

　"Oh, so it's already underway!"

　Dak turned to look at the other side of the field.

　Over there, the mage who appeared in the smoke and dust just now, floating in mid-air, was undoubtedly a bishop belonging to the Holy Church.

　The Paladin is the "military force" in the Holy Church.

　However, members who are able to be promoted to the rank of bishop all possess the necessary or higher level of ability.

　However, they have the strength and

　Being able to fight is one thing.

　Most bishops spend most of their time on clerical work. Therefore, even if they possess the corresponding level of strength, their abilities will be significantly weakened due to a lack of combat practice.

　Therefore, not many bishops were commissioned to participate in the World Cup. But those who did participate were all special cases.

　The bishop before him was someone Dak had seen in the capital. Like Bishop Sabrina Melville, he was probably from the Inquisition.

　"If I remember correctly, his name should be Laureate."

　This is a duel between a "lich" and a holy bishop.

　Laureate was a well-known fighter within the Holy Church.

　His reputation is not good, but it mainly revolves around his cruel and ruthless personality.

　Since his opponent is a "lich", he cannot afford to hold back.

　It's even possible that they might try to do something irrational during this duel.

　relatively.

　The "lich" could have acted spontaneously or been provoked by him. In any case, he turned what was just a preliminary selection duel into a life-or-death battle with only victory and no defeat.

　So much so that he actually used his "God Card" in this duel!

　But now that the "Lich" has made its move, what will the Bishop do?

　Dak couldn't help but become extremely interested in this.

　"Could this bishop, who came from the Inquisition, also suddenly pull out a 'God Card'?"

　"Snapped!

　Pope Sith accidentally used too much force and broke the right armrest.

　Galenoris, who was beside him, also remained very silent.