Chapter 228: Quarterfinals

Their opponents this time were no pushovers, and both women had to fight seriously to advance cleanly. After several hours of intense matches, Round Four finally came to an end.

The final eight winners had been decided.

[We now have our eight contestants who will enter Round Five — the Quarterfinals.]

[Their names are: Nova Valencrest, Liam Everhart, Asia Frost, Rieka Vargirth, Celine Varkhess, Kael Aster, Mira Vance, and Ethan Valtor.]

[These eight will compete in the Quarterfinals. The losers of the Quarterfinals will still have the chance to fight for fifth place, as we need to determine the final top five winners.]

Slickmouth continued explaining the structure clearly. The winners of the Quarterfinals would advance to the Semifinals.

After the Semifinals, there would be a match for the championship, with the runner-up taking second place. An additional match between the Semifinal losers would decide third and fourth place.

Through this process, the tournament would properly determine its top five, including the champion.

Once the explanation was finished, the audience grew even more excited. Everyone was eager to see the new pairings and learn who would advance from the Quarterfinals.

[Now then... let’s see who will be facing whom.]

Slickmouth’s voice rang out as every head turned toward the large mana projection. After a few seconds, the pairings appeared clearly.

...

Quarterfinal Pairings:

[Liam Everhart vs Ethan Valtor —1st Match]

[Nova Valencrest vs Celine Varkhess—2nd Match]

[Asia Frost vs Kael Aster—3rd Match]

[Rieka Vargirth vs Mira Vance—4th Match ]

...

The Colosseum erupted into an uproar the moment the pairings were revealed. With only the strongest remaining, every match was bound to be intense.

Among the contestants, Ethan Valtor — a black-haired youth with an average face — was from the Kalemor Kingdom. Like Nova, he was a commoner.

Reaching the top eight as a commoner was already an extraordinary achievement, and many people across the continent praised him for it.

While Nova’s circumstances were unique, Ethan’s rise was considered genuinely remarkable.

When Ethan saw that he had been paired against Liam Everhart, he did not panic. His expression remained calm, as if he had already accepted his fate.

For him, simply standing among the eight strongest youths of the entire Human Continent was already a tremendous achivement.

Nova looked at his own pairing and saw that his opponent this time was Celine Varkhess .

He turned his gaze toward the woman and found her already staring at him, her expression making it seem as though she were looking at some unknown creature. Nova paid it little mind.

His eyes then moved to Asia and Rieka’s pairings. Both of them had been given difficult opponents, yet he remained confident that they would be able to win.

[Let us begin the Quarterfinals without wasting any more time.]

With that announcement, Liam Everhart and Ethan Valtor stepped onto the platform. Ethan held a sword in his hand. His affinity was Earth — the same as Celine’s.

The moment the signal was given, Ethan moved first.

The platform trembled slightly as he stomped forward, earth energy surging around his legs and reinforcing his steps.

His sword came down in a heavy, straightforward slash, the blade carrying the weight of the ground itself.

Liam sidestepped cleanly, his figure already blurring into faint shadows. He counterattacked with a series of sharp, silent thrusts aimed at Ethan’s openings.

Ethan blocked two of them, the impact forcing him back a step, but the third scraped across his side, drawing blood.

Ethan did not retreat.

Instead, he slammed his free hand against the platform. A low wall of stone rose between them, forcing Liam to leap over it.

The moment Liam landed, Ethan was already swinging again, this time with greater force. The ground beneath Liam’s feet suddenly hardened and cracked, trying to restrict his movement.

For a short while, Liam stayed within the shadows, weaving around Ethan’s attacks with cold precision. Several more cuts appeared on Ethan’s arms and shoulders.

Yet the commoner youth refused to fall. Every time Liam tried to close in for a finishing blow, Ethan reinforced his body with earth energy or forced distance with rising stone spikes.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

Shadow alone was taking longer than he liked. He realized Ethan was able to predict the trajectory of his shadow movements and raise protective barriers just in time to block the more dangerous strikes.

In truth, Liam’s control over Shadow was less refined than his Light affinity. He had focused most of his training on developing high-level skills related to Light.

While that was impressive for someone his age, it still fell short when compared to true monsters like Nova, who already stood on a completely different level.

What separated ordinary high-level warriors from those who had lived for hundreds of years was the understanding that one was not limited to affinity.

The truly powerful eventually learned to develop skills beyond their element. Liam, despite being a genius, had not yet reached that stage.

A soft radiance suddenly bloomed around his sword. Light affinity mixed with the lingering traces of shadow, creating a sharp, piercing brilliance.

The temperature of the air changed slightly as the two opposing energies intertwined.

Ethan’s expression hardened. He poured more power into his sword and charged forward one last time, aiming a powerful downward strike meant to crush Liam’s stance.

Liam did not dodge.

He stepped in and met the attack head-on. Light flared violently along his blade as he cut upward in a single clean motion.

The earth-reinforced sword in Ethan’s hands was split apart. In the same movement, Liam’s glowing blade pierced straight through Ethan’s chest.

Ethan’s eyes widened. Blood spilled from his mouth as his body stiffened. For a brief second he remained standing, then collapsed to the platform.

The protective formation activated immediately, removing his body from the platform.

The entire exchange had lasted only a few minutes. Liam stood calmly in the center of the platform, the light around his sword slowly fading.

"That guy is truly a monster."

"Yeah... though Ethan still lasted longer than most of the others who faced Lord Liam before."

"Let’s see what happens in the next match."

The audience murmured and cheered after the first Quarterfinal. The fight had already been intense, and with his victory, Liam Everhart advanced to the Semifinals.

Next was the match between Nova and Celine.

Both of them stepped onto the platform. Nova noticed Celine looking at him and spoke first, his tone calm.

"I know I won’t be able to win against you... but I will still give my best."

Nova smiled charmingly.

"As you should. I wouldn’t want to harm a beautiful woman like you by forcing you to concede too quickly."

Many women across the Colosseum — and even those watching the broadcast across the continent — felt their hearts skip a beat.

Quite a few had already fallen for Nova, and even Celine’s face flushed red for a brief moment before she regained her composure.

"That idiot!" Nyxara said angrily as she watched Nova casually using his natural charm to flirt with Celine and captivate women everywhere.

"Calm down, my princess... that’s just the Lord Nova’s natural charm. He can’t really do anything about it," Velena said, defending him.

Edward simply shook his head, while Jenna laughed lightly at her son’s behavior.

Rieka and Asia rolled their eyes, as they knew their husband’s personality all too well.

"That guy is definitely a playboy," Lyra muttered in mild annoyance, though a small smile still tugged at her lips. Aurora remained as composed and expressionless as ever.

Draeven, for some reason, seemed displeased. "Hmph! He’s just a little good-looking. Still far behind me."

Vaorak and the others wisely chose not to respond, ignoring the narcissistic comment entirely.

**

Thanks for reading...