w

C1267

"Unfortunately, we cannot stop nor postpone the tournament." Headmaster Delbrand said with a strained voice, as his gaze shifted to the other instructors of the Magus Academy.

Sitting next to the Headmaster, Griffith, the Magus Alliance Magister nodded his head in silence, declaring his approval of the matter.

The Headmaster just got briefed regarding the incident in Golden City. As much as it pained to continue while risks were high, there was nothing he could do as his hands were tied. Stopping the tournament would only bring more chaos, which he believed to be exactly what the culprits wanted to achieve.

"Let's increase security and make sure these last two days go as planned," Griffith added.

With the strained atmosphere between Zodiac City and Golden City continuing to grow due to the recent tragedy, the tension between the two parties gradually reached the breaking point – which certainly was not a good thing.

Because of this, the Magus Alliance even requested the presence of one of the Supreme Magus elders to come and oversee the tournament. It was the best thing Delbrand could do for the situation with the tight time frame.

******

The sixth day of the Magus Tournament arrived and Emery finally came out from his training in prime condition.

As Emery walked out with a steady gait, two familiar faces appeared before him. Unsurprisingly, the Eastern Sage was one of the two, while the other was Magus Shena who was accompanied by two magus guards.

"Please do not sneak out of us again." The female half-blood said in a calm tone. Realizing his wrongdoing, Emery quickly apologized to her respectfully.

Today, the Eastern Sage decided to come out of concern for his safety and, joining along with the old man, was unexpectedly Yuria, Lord Izta's youngest wife.

"Let's go."

All 6 figures made their way out of Terra Castle and headed for the teleportation portal to the Magus Academy with a relaxed outer appearance that betrayed their inner turmoil. The moment the group arrived at the open field outside the portal gate, they were welcomed by a view filled with brim by thousands of people.

"That's Emery Ambrose!" Someone loudly pointed Emery out from the crowd.

"That's the Savage Acolyte!" exclaimed another, shouting his known Moniker out loud.

Since he had entered the quarterfinals which meant he had the prospect of becoming the Champion, Emery was inevitably forced under the unwanted limelight. All the crowd recognised him and moved at once, accompanied by their shouts.

The situation outside the portal gate started to turn rowdy but at that moment, two dozen Magus Academy guards appeared and quickly jumped into the crowd in droves, creating an open path for Emery and his group to pass through.

Emery calmly followed the path that headed straight toward the Grand Hall. Along the way, apart from the fact that the number of guards has increased, he noticed there was something different with the crowds.

Although not as many as the ones in Golden City, Emery still spotted some faces that returned his gaze with intense hatred and those who darted their eyes with an ashen face among the crowds.

Fortunately, Emery and his group arrived at the grand staircase smoothly and entered the hall without incident.

"Half-blood and hybrids are this way!" shouted one of the guards with indifference.

It turned out that now there was segregation with the allocation of the seating arrangements. By doing so, it was hoped that it could prevent unwanted conflicts between the people, or more precisely, humans and half-bloods.

Getting recognised as the quarterfinalist, however, Emery was led to one of the 8 corners of the terrace which has been transformed into his own personal waiting area.

A few moments later, one by one his four friends returned. They, however, came in with a frown on their face, an expression that foreboding of bad news.

As they expected beforehand the talks with Nephilim did not yield a positive result. It was foolish to even expect another result. but they had tried at the very least. On the other hand, Chumo and Thrax had it much worse as they couldn't even catch a glimpse of Headmaster.

This resulted in Emery having no one else to depend on regarding his decision. Unfortunately, it all came down to his hands. He either had to kill Eeshoo or let his Master die.

Emery heaved another heavy sigh and threw the messy thoughts out of his mind. Whatever his decision was, he could only make his choice after defeating Eeshoo. After all, if he didn't manage to do so, then that meant his decision had been made already.

As the designated time arrived, under the eager eyes of the audience, Magus Serena again made her appearance in the center of the arena, welcoming all the guests and viewers through the drones.

Instead of hastily beginning the event to the longing viewers, the female magus took a moment in respect for the death of Roran Harlight before shooting the fireworks more majestic than its predecessors into the sky.

"Now let the quarterfinals begin!!!!" shouted the female magus, which was immediately followed by the loud cheers of three millions crowds present in the Grand Hall.

As there would only be 4 quarter-finals and two semi-finals matches today, the participants were given extra time to prepare while Magus Serena as the host gave out information about the acolytes that would fight it off in the arena.

The first contender came from a line of rare breeds of Titan Bloodline, said to be the descendant of the God himself, Zetto the Berserker.

The one fighting him would be the current holder of the Rank 1 in the privileged class leaderboard. Someone who was raised in a secluded monastery, the Divine Monk, Mahinder Nieves.

All the spectators stood in ovation drumming their feet against the ground, shouting out the air in their lungs. As the first match finally began, all they were hoping for was for a match that would cure them of yesterday's disappointment, and Zetto's berserker ability and double axes battle art managed to tend to their needs.

However, only to their regret it lasted only for a quick few minutes before Mahinder the Monk started his one sided attacks.

He countered the Berserker's relentless attacks with each palm strike seemingly able to tore and broke apart Zetto's muscles and bones as a sickening cracking sound echoed through the arena followed by blood spilling from Zettos mouth.

It was clearly a mismatch between the opponents, as Zettos started to lose his ground with his inner body being crushed.

To do such things to a warrior claiming to be god among men certainly reminded the people how far their strengths are apart.

In the end, the Berserker stood still, lay down his axes and admitted defeat.

"Mahinder Nieves wins!" declared the announcer.

Time arrived for the battle deciding the fate of two lives arrived, as now Emery and Eeshoo readied themselves to fight.

To be continued