18 Chapter 3 (3/7)

"But Arthur, if we do that-"

"Sofia, trust me."

The two minutes break time was over. The announcer continued to announce, "For the second round, Mages' Academy of Nosh will have three mages. Sofia Verardi, Randall Oakbar, and Astra Falck."

After Sofia, Randall, and Astra walked inside the arena. The announcer continued, "The Mages' Academy of Smot also has a small change. Entering into the arena is Ballard Donoghan."

The audience was waiting to see who Ballard's teammate was, but the announcer stopped. Sofia's team and the audience quickly realized that Ballard would fight this match by himself. If Ballard dared to fight alone, which means he was either terrifyingly strong or the Mages' Academy of Smot didn't care about winning in this turn.

As the signal for battle to start was fired. Ballard immediately surrendered which surprised everybody. Nevertheless, they then realized what happened. It was because Mages' Academy of Smot wanted a guaranteed win for the third match. They knew the Mages' Academy of Nosh would not want to lose the second round and have to send out three Mages to fight. If Mages' Academy of Smot also sent out three Mages to fight, then their victory chance would be only fifty percent. Notwithstanding, if they send out only one magic caster then they will lose the second round. But in the third round, they will have three Mages left while Mages' Academy of Nosh only has one. In another way to put this, Mages' Academy of Smot will have a guaranteed win in the third round.

Vincenzo was so angry to see that, he cursed out loud as Faziel was trying to stop him from embarrassing the Mages' Academy of Nosh, "Damn you! Damn you all! How can the ranking number three Mages' Academy play like that? The Watcher will damn you all!"

On the other side, the students and professors of Smot laughed. This was a tournament, not a game. All wins and losses count toward the reputation of their Mages' Academy. The reason why Mages' Academy of Smot is ranking number three was that they know how to win.

The announcer quickly announced, "Mages' Academy of Nosh won the second round. The current result is 1-1. Now, both teams please exit the arena."

Sofia Verardi, Randall Oakbar, and Astra Falck were forced to leave the arena while Ballard Donoghan left as soon as he surrendered.

A minute later, the announcer announced, "Now, let's move on to the last round. Representing Mages' Academy of Smot is Samm Lancaster, Milos Greenguard, and Belka Holland. Representing Mages' Academy of Nosh is Arthur Castillon. Arthur, I hope the Watcher will watch over you in this match."

The announcer felt bad for Arthur, so did the audience. Everybody could have predicted this was a one-sided battle as there was no way a Student Intermediate Mage of Nosh could have defeated three Student Intermediate Mages of Smot.

After Samm, Milos, and Belka walked into the arena, Arthur also walked in. He looked around and saw that the audience did not cheer either for him or the students of Smot. Arthur looked at how his opponents were smiling and couldn't help but felt sorry for them as they were too naive. There is nothing such as absolute victory until the battle is over, as he has learned after getting defeated by Kain in the past.

In this battle, Arthur would not let other people attack first because he was at a disadvantage. As soon as the signal for battle to start was fired. Arthur immediately casted [Conjure Phantom Knight], a Phantom Knight appeared and stood next to him. Arthur smiled and confidently said, "Mages' Academy of Smot, I do not look down on you. That is why I will show you my true power. You should feel honored to witness it."

Student Novice Mages have joined the audiences as their battle for today was over. Adela, Calley, Rosa, Ana, Golda, and Jaane were also watching the battle between Arthur Castillon and three Student Intermediate Mages of Smot. They immediately prayed to the Watcher for Arthur to win this match. Nonetheless, they knew that would not happen. In the history of Toria Continents, no Student Intermediate Mage has ever won against three other Student Intermediate Mages in a tournament battle. All Student Intermediate Mages in the tournament were carefully selected from the best of the best through Principals of their Mages' Academies. They knew Arthur was very strong compared to other Student Intermediate Mages but his fate won't be any different if he had to fight three at the same time.

Back to the arena. Standing next to his Phantom Knight, Arthur calmly provoked his opponents, "Weaklings, I normally let the weak attack first. But since you have the advantage in numbers, I think I should attack first. If you need time to pray, let me know now because all of you will die in this battle."

Samm, Milos, and Belka laughed as they heard this.

Arthur commanded his Phantom Knight to attack Milos since he was the only Light Mage in that team. The simple tactic is to always take out the healer first.

Milos casted the [Circle of Protection] spell to create a bright white circle around him. That bright white circle could protect him from any kind of harm, whether it was physical or magical damage.

Samm casted [Exploding Fireball] to create a giant fireball that explodes on contact. Because of that, it would be impossible to dodge the exploding fireball when it was casted at close range. This spell alone could kill Arthur since he was currently being defenseless as his Phantom Knight was busy fighting with Milos.

[Exploding Fireball], level 20 Fire spell.

Nonetheless, they have heard of the duel between Arthur Castillon and Carmen Lancaster. They wouldn't be stupid enough to not take Arthur seriously. Belka casted [Demonic Hordes] to create a small one-dimension portal connected to Toria Continents from Hell Realm. The small portal can transport up to a hundred low-tier demons at once. Belka was not lucky today because only thirty-two low-tier demons walked through the portal before it closed. Still, that should be enough to kill Arthur if he somehow manages to avoid the [Exploding Fireball].

[Demonic Hordes], level 20 Black spell.

Arthur said, "Your team has two Student Intermediate Mages reached level 20. Including Krynt Browser, that would be three Student Intermediate Mages have reached level 20. I expected no less from Mages' Academy of Smot."

As the [Exploding Fireball] was about to hit Arthur, he activated [Warp Infusion] to switch places with his Phantom Knight. The Phantom was killed as the [Exploding Fireball] hit and exploded on it.

Appearing in front of Milos after switching places with the Phantom Knight, Arthur casted [Conjure Fire Demon] four times. Four Fire Demons appeared and instantly attacked the [Circle of Protection] that was protecting Milos. Milos casted [Holy Smite] spell on one of the Demons to force it to kneel on the ground. The Demon was constantly receiving new injuries as [Holy Smite] was greatly effective against undead and demon creatures. Even so, three other Demons broke through the [Circle of Protection] and tore Milos to pieces on flame using their fire punches to barbequed him to death. All of this happened in seven seconds.