Chapter 222: Final Qualifiers

Lyra did not take offense. After all, her mother was considerably older than the Beast-Folk Emperor and the other Emperors as well.

Still, if the Phoenix Empress had heard those words in person, she would have been truly angry. Lyra answered politely,

"She is well. Though she spends most of her time resting... her wound has not completely healed yet."

"I see," Vaorak said. He fell silent after that and turned his attention back to the arena.

The Phoenix Empress had been badly wounded during the great battle between the Emperors and Demon Lord Raze.

And even after all these years, she still had not recovered completely. Such was the terrifying power of Demon Lord Raze — he had managed to wound aSovereign to such an extent that the injury lingered even now.

And that was despite the fact that five Emperors had fought against him alone. Returning to the tournament, the final twenty contestants had been decided.

They were the ones who would continue fighting for the championship. Yet twenty was a rather awkward number for deciding a single champion.

Those who understood the structure of these competitions already suspected that the organizers must have something different planned this time.

One thing was certain — the people behind the tournament had their own arrangements in mind.

[Alright! All twenty contestants will now receive two hours of rest before we begin the third round, so they may recover both their bodies and their mana.]

....

Resting Hall...

All the contestants were seated inside a spacious hall large enough to comfortably hold hundreds of people.

Several halls of this size existed within the Grand Colosseum, a clear reminder of just how massive the structure truly was.

Comfortable couches and a variety of food and refreshments had been prepared. Every contestant was also given an A-rank mana-restoring potion and a stamina-restoring potion.

Nova sat on a couch with Asia and Rieka on either side of him. He already possessed S-rank mana and stamina potions of his own, and in truth he had no need for the A-rank ones. Thanks to his Vitality Core, recovery was never an issue for him.

Instead, he simply handed the two potions to Asia and Rieka so they could return to peak condition before their upcoming matches.

The three of them drank quietly while observing the other contestants in the hall. Liam was present as well, openly glaring at Nova. Celine, on the other hand, ignored everyone around her and calmly consumed her potion.

Rieka glanced around the hall with curious eyes before turning to Nova.

"Darling... who do you think are the strongest among them?"

Nova smiled slightly.

"That guy who’s been glaring at me nonstop — Liam Everhart. From his aura alone, I can tell he’s the strongest here. You two still aren’t a match for him, so I’d say he’ll most likely take second place in this tournament."

Asia and Rieka exchanged a glance. If Nova was speaking about someone in such a manner, then that person was definitely not ordinary.

Nova wasn’t exaggerating either. Among everyone he had encountered here, Liam was the only one he considered superior in both level and pure battle skill. Others were strong, but Liam stood at the top.

More importantly, the young man possessed two rare affinities — Shadow and Light. Nova himself had neither. He still wasn’t certain whether he could even awaken Light affinity.

{I don’t think you should try right now,} Liya’s voice echoed in his mind. {You already possess Darkness. But then again... with your Infinite Adaptation Core, nothing is truly impossible.}

Yeah... but I won’t take that risk yet, Nova thought. I want to at least reach Sovereign realm before I try my luck. Still... I do need the Shadow affinity.

Nova planned to use this opportunity carefully. If he ended up facing Liam, he would attempt to adapt the Shadow affinity. Doing so would further strengthen his Elemental Lord Authority.

"Next is that girl, Celine... she’s also quite strong," Nova continued, briefly pointing out a few other notable contestants as well.

Deep down, he simply hoped both Asia and Rieka would secure places in the top five.

From what he could guess, the first and second place finishers from the previous round might receive some form of advantage in the coming stages — though it was also possible that only the first-place contestant would gain something special.

Whatever the case, only time would tell. Nova had full confidence in both of them.

Putting those thoughts aside, however, there was still one matter that weighed heavily on his mind — the mysterious quest he had received. He still had no real knowledge about it.

In the end, he could only face whatever came his way.

....

Two hours later...

All twenty contestants once again stood on the arena grounds. Despite how difficult the previous rounds had been, every one of them now looked confident.

Those earlier stages had only been eliminations. Now it was finally time to display their true combat skills against fellow contestants.

[Welcome back, contestants! After a short break, I hope you are all ready for action... because we are extremely excited to watch what comes next!]

The audience continued cheering loudly, clearly eager for the next round to begin.

Seeing the confident expressions on the contestants’ faces, Slickmouth continued.

[Alright, ladies and gentlemen... let us begin the third round!]

[The third round is a rather special one. It’s called "Final Qualifiers" All twenty contestants will face each other in randomly assigned pairs.]

[Ten will emerge as winners and advance directly to the next round, while the other ten will be the losers.]

[But... those ten losers will not be eliminated immediately. They will be given one more chance to fight their way back into the main rounds.]

Both the contestants and the audience were surprised by the announcement. At the same time, relief and excitement spread through many of them.

Even if they were unlucky enough to face an overwhelmingly strong opponent, they would still have one more opportunity to return to the competition.

[From those ten losers, only six will earn the right to rejoin the winners in the following rounds. That will give us our final top sixteen contestants. After that point, there will be no more second chances — only pure elimination.]

[If you encounter a particularly strong opponent, you may still be eliminated. However, once we reach the top sixteen, the matchups will no longer be random. From then on, the organizers will decide the pairings based on overall performance.]

[After all, we need the strongest to rise. The weaker ones will be eliminated first, while the true powerhouses will face each other in the later stages and finals.]

Slickmouth’s explanation left the audience both surprised and even more excited.

The contestants glanced at one another. None of them knew exactly what the organizers had planned, but one thing was certain — every single one of them wanted to defeat their opponent.

At the same time, a quiet nervousness lingered in their hearts. What if they were paired against one of the true monsters?

[Now then... let us see who will face whom.]

A large mana projection suddenly appeared in the sky. Every member of the audience and all the contestants immediately turned their full attention toward it, eager to see who would be fighting whom.

On the arena grounds, those who were still nervous silently prayed that they would not be paired against monsters like Nova, Liam, or Asia.

Even the high-level figures — Vaorak, Aurora, Draeven, and Lyra — watched with clear interest. After all, these pairings were completely random.

All twenty names appeared on the projection in neat rows. Moments later, they began rapidly shuffling and blinking like a lottery draw.

Many contestants tightly crossed their fingers, and so did their families in the stands — parents, siblings, and relatives who had watched them come this far and desperately hoped they would not be eliminated just yet.

**

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