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

　Players with a calm mindset felt it was great not having to go out.

　The contestants ate quickly and then used their lunch break to rest fully in preparation for the next round of the duel.

　After lunch break, the first round of the winners' bracket will begin.

　This round of competition will not eliminate any players.

　The winner of the duel will advance to the second round of the winners' bracket.

　Players who lose this battle will be relegated to the loser's bracket.

　Dark will appear in the second duel of this round.

　The two contestants in the first duel were "Bloody Saintess" Hayley Saint Meredith and "King of the Mountain Giants" Pava Jones.

　Professor Jones's strength was already demonstrated in his duel with Professor Lily in the previous match.

　However, "Bloody Saintess" Hayley only made it into the top 12 after receiving two byes. Her title of "Cheating Saintess" has spread far and wide, and the audience does not have a complete understanding of her current strength.

　However, as a contestant, Professor Jones has a very deep understanding of all aspects of this former saint.

　Hailey's body is already old and frail, and she is only a hair's breadth away from passing away.

　If she were to exhaust herself to the last drop of fuel, she might be able to unleash the peak strength she possessed at the end of the war.

　But she originally participated in the World Cup to fight for a chance to survive, and now that she has advanced to the final twelve, she certainly cannot put the cart before the horse.

　Therefore, Professor Jones was absolutely confident of winning the duel. But she had also noticed the audience's reaction.

　Out of respect for the war heroes, she was not prepared to win too quickly. It wouldn't be accurate to call it letting them win easily.

　However, magical duels vary in their approach, with some employing a more cautious and methodical approach.

　These tactics are not inherently superior or inferior, but the final victory brings very different feelings to the audience.

　For example, taking on enormous risks by employing a swift attack tactic, defeating the opponent within one or two rounds before they even have a chance to react, would create the impression for the audience that there is an insurmountable gap in skill between the duelists.

　But this is not the case.

　The reality is simply that one side adopted the correct tactics, while the other side failed to anticipate this and only utilized one or two tenths of its full strength. However, this does not mean that the other side was weak.

　Moreover, the risks borne by the side that adopts a quick attack tactic are invisible to the audience; they are hidden costs.

　After careful consideration, Professor Jones abandoned the quick-attack strategy. In short, secure victory, and make it as spectacular as possible.

　However, compared to Professor Jones's relatively cautious approach, the "Bloody Saintess" herself was much more relaxed.

　She never cared about the audience's opinion. Just like during the war, she often encountered people who were intimidated by her fighting style or nickname.

　If she cared about what others thought, she wouldn't be the "Bloody Saintess".

　This duel.

　Hailey did not back down.

　Her goal is to maximize her existing strength without overdrawing her own resources.

　As for who will win or lose, that can only be determined on the battlefield!

　……

　The first duel of the afternoon thus began.

　After eating and drinking their fill, the audience returned to their seats, their expressions slightly languid, showing a relaxed feeling after satisfaction.

　But once the two players took to the stage, their attention was unconsciously drawn to them.

　Those two contestants possess that kind of charisma.

　Dark put aside his thoughts for the moment and prepared to watch the game.

　He has completed the construction, and his mind has already pre-programmed multiple coping methods for various situations.

　Next, he prepared to watch the duel between Professor Jones and the Bloody Saintess intently in order to achieve the effect of "brain warm-up".

　As for the outcome of the duel, he naturally favored Professor Jones in this one.

　Although "Bloody Saintess" Haley is a very good person, what student doesn't support their professor?

　"Professor Jones will win!"

　Dark raised his hand, waved it, and then laughed to himself.

　But just as he was about to concentrate on watching the game, he suddenly heard a small voice behind him.

　"Saintess Hayley will prevail!"

　He turned his head abruptly and saw the female staff member who looked somewhat flustered for a moment.

　I couldn't help but smile.

　Then he turned his head back.

　"It seems there are two people with opposing views in this room."

　Thinking this, he mentally added another word of encouragement for Professor Jones.

　The duel begins.

　Professor Jones didn't immediately flex his muscles. But Saint Haley pounced first!

　Nothing changed; she still chose her most effective fighting style—transforming into her armor and personally engaging in combat!

　Given her current physical condition, switching to conventional tactics would be the best option, but she didn't.

　With a transformation into an armed warrior, his actions are as swift as lightning.

　As she sped forward, her armor turned from white to red, as if stained with blood.

　He gripped the spear tightly in his hand, and a crimson wind swirled from all around, turning into a whirlwind at the tip of the spear.

　Her strength is increasing, and her speed is accelerating.

　As she crossed the center line, she was completely transformed into a streak of blood. To the average spectator with dynamic vision, all they could see was a red line traversing the court, instantly piercing Professor Jones's chest!

　Professor Jones abandoned his quick attack.

　Hailey, however, opted for a quick attack!

　"boom!"

　Professor Jones was unable to complete the second summons.

　There was only one giant beside her.

　But the giant had no time to react.

　In the end, it was Hailey herself who caught the spear!

　She suddenly grabbed the tip of the spear, which was wrapped in blood-red wind. Although the spinning blood-red wind was eroding her health, it did not cause her any harm.

　"Is this the bloodline of the Mountain Giants?"

　Hayley let out a soft moan, her hand holding the gun suddenly releasing and then grabbing it again. The blood-red spear instantly dissipated and then reformed, thus quickly breaking free from Professor Jones's grip.

　Hailey's tactics were very simple: to limit the opponent's magical summoning by launching a preemptive attack.

　Intense battles can distract mages, preventing them from concentrating on casting summoning spells.

　The fewer times an opponent summons, the more she can bring them down to her own level, and then defeat them through her rich experience... cough, I mean, her powerful combat skills!

　But this time, her opponent is Pava Jones, who has inherited the original legacy of the Mountain Giant!

　A slight smile appeared on Jones's lips.

　She realized she was overthinking things, and her opponent didn't need her meaningless "mercy" at all.

　When faced with Hailey's second attack, Professor Jones seemed to have springs in his feet, leaping backward with a sudden burst of speed.

　The giant she had summoned at the start immediately lunged forward, taking her place to hold off her opponent.

　She quickly switched to a magic card and summoned at lightning speed! The armed transformation system was also her forte.

　Every time she builds a deck, she can't help but add one or two "armor cards" or "transformation cards" to it.

　In this duel, she happened to draw one of the "Armed Cards" from her starting five cards.

　"Get dressed!" he shouted.

　Professor Jones's eyes sharpened instantly. She was not merely a theorist.

　Although his identity prevented him from going deep into the battlefield, he still sought opportunities to participate in wars that infiltrated the kingdom and experienced bloody battles.

　That's why she has so much respect for war heroes who can do things she can't.

　The voice just fell.

　The armor card she wore on her chest radiated endless light, transforming into golden armor that enveloped her body layer by layer.

　She raised her hand and grasped it, and the armed rifle materialized.

　"kill!"

　The style of this duel completely changed. Regardless of what the audience thought, regardless of how astonished the commentators were.

　No matter how jarring Alva's laughter may be, it cannot change the battle tactics on the dueling platform.

　Based on "armor," the two sides constantly clashed, maneuvered, and sought opportunities to summon more magic cards to assist in the battle.

　Meanwhile, the health points of both players dropped steadily during this intense battle.

　Professor Jones's health dropped faster at first.

　However, the rate at which both sides' health points decreased gradually became the same.

　Later, Professor Jones defied the odds and began to catch up rapidly.

　"The strategy of keeping the old man up"

　Although it is probably possible that Professor Jones did not do it intentionally.

　But Dak couldn't help but think of that particular term.

　After Professor Jones chose to don the "Armed Card" for the fight, her battle with Hayley escalated to its most intense level almost instantly. There was no gradual escalation whatsoever.

　With her superior combat experience and strong will, Hailey withstood Professor Jones's fierce attacks and even gained the upper hand at the beginning.

　However, by the middle of the game, Professor Jones's offensive showed no signs of slowing down, maintaining its strongest and fastest momentum.

　Then Hailey started to fall behind.

　Her will and spirit remained, but her aged and overworked body could no longer keep up with her thoughts, and she gradually became powerless.

　Later, Professor Jones learned some of Hailey's skills in battle, and his combat power not only did not decline, but actually increased.

　However, Hailey's decline in combat power is already unstoppable.

　Even though her magic cards were more suited to this tactic, she was no longer able to keep up with Professor Jones's Power.

　This duel.

　The final image freezes at the moment Hailey's health points reach zero.

　Professor Jones seized the extended spear in that instant, demonstrating terrifying control over the weapon.

　A look of lingering satisfaction appeared on her face.

　Having inherited the original legacy of the "Mountain Giant," if she were to fight with all her might in a fully armed duel, the only opponent she could possibly be is a Valkyrie who is not currently competing in this tournament.

　A surge of emotion welled up within her, a desire to engage in armed duel. But she quickly suppressed it.

　She sheathed her spear and extended her hand to Hayley.

　Hailey removed her armor, her body returning to its hunched posture, and shook hands with her. The two smiled at each other.

　Professor Jones couldn't help but think, "How wonderful it would be if the Bloody Saintess could regain her former self."

　The first duel of the first round of the winners' bracket has ended. Professor Jones has emerged victorious and advances to the second round of the winners' bracket.

　Meanwhile, "Bloody Saintess" Hayley has fallen into the loser's bracket and will face off against Lily Laplace, who won by default in the previous round.

　The applause from the audience inside the Alliance Duel Arena lasted for a long time.

　None of the spectators who came here to watch the match probably expected to witness such a fierce armed confrontation.

　From this duel, people seemed to see the unparalleled charm of the "Bloody Saintess" again, and couldn't help but recall her many achievements.

　Those noises, such as "the cheating saintess," vanished without a trace under these circumstances.