-1515- Waiting for you

When the lights in the hall suddenly went out, all the Sky Wizards were startled and instinctively responded by gathering their magic.

Especially Kanata, Chloe, Yuri, and Mena, who had just learned that there were human-shaped Armored Beetles from Zeth's faction present. Their vigilance was higher than anyone else's, and they were ready to take action.

However, before they could move, Rozen spoke up to stop them.

"Don't worry, it's fine."

Rozen's brief words made the group stop in their tracks.

At that moment, a spotlight from the ceiling illuminated a stage in the hall.

Standing there was the emcee of this pre-tournament banquet.

"Attention, everyone. The opening speech is about to begin."

The emcee spoke while calming the Sky Wizards in the hall.

"Please welcome the representative of the event's organizer, the Council Chairman of the Floating Cities Alliance."

As soon as these words were spoken, another spotlight shone from the ceiling, illuminating a young man who slowly walked onto the stage.

The man, dressed in a dark gray suit, took the microphone and immediately smiled brightly at everyone present.

"I am Zeth Wiegert, Chairman of the Floating Cities Alliance Council."

The person who appeared was Zeth.

"Is that Zeth?"

Kanata, Chloe, Yuri, and Mena widened their eyes, then stared intently at Zeth.

Rozen also watched him but quickly averted his gaze indifferently.

"He's truely cautious."

Rozen's comment wasn't without reason.

Because, just like the previous day when he met Rozen, the Zeth on stage was not the real one but a puppet acting as his doppelgänger.

Clearly, Zeth was still not ready to meet Rozen in person.

It was evident just how wary Zeth was of Rozen.

Yamier and the others seemed to notice this as well, gazing calmly at the Zeth on stage.

Aside from them, no one else in the hall appeared to notice the puppet. All eyes were on Zeth.

Calmly facing the crowd's gaze, Zeth began to speak.

"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend. We, the Floating Cities Alliance, express our deepest gratitude."

With that, Zeth launched into a lengthy speech.

It was the typical rhetoric, talking about world peace, resisting the Armored Beetles, how humanity was progressing, and how the Sky Wizards were the future hope of humanity. He emphasized that they looked forward to the performance of the Sky Wizards in the upcoming Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival.

Despite the speech being standard fare, the crowd was enraptured, a testament to Zeth's eloquence. He managed to make a dull speech captivating. If Chloe and the others hadn't known the truth about Zeth, they might have been deceived as well.

After five minutes, Zeth finished his speech and stepped off the stage, looking as composed as if nothing had happened the day before.

At this moment, the emcee's voice rang out again.

"Next, we have a speech from His Holiness the Pope's representative, Hartmann Endycase."

Taking Zeth's place, an old gentleman with a monocle ascended the stage.

"Hartmann Endycase..."

"Her Holiness the Pope's representative..."

"That's someone you don't often see."

Kanata, Chloe, Yuri, and Mena whispered among themselves.

"Is that him?"

Rozen also cast a few more glances at Hartmann.

It was said that not only was Hartmann the President of the Council, but his family had long served the Pope. He was more trusted by the Pope than even the Council Chairman.

Thus, Hartmann not only had the right to meet with the Pope directly, but he also acted as the Pope's representative, conveying the Pope's will to the outside world.

However, since Hartmann, in his role as the Pope's representative, had wielded the real power over Vebel for many years, and because only he had the authority to see the Pope, there were rumors that he had used this privilege to push through many policies, including the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival. His reputation outside wasn't great, and some even speculated that he had killed the Pope and was using the Pope's name to do as he pleased.

Of course, Rozen and the others knew the true purpose behind the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival.

Considering that the festival was likely a pretext for gathering Sky Wizards from around the world to Vebel to resist Zeth, Hartmann's forceful promotion of this event suggested that he was likely aligned with the Pope and was genuinely trusted as her representative.

So, Rozen took a longer look at Hartmann.

And perhaps it was not a coincidence, but Hartmann also glanced briefly at Rozen, his eyes flashing with a light that only a few could detect.

Then, Hartmann withdrew his gaze and began his speech.

This time, Hartmann's speech was not the usual rhetoric.

As the Pope's representative and the primary advocate for the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival, Hartmann was there to explain the format and rules of the competition.

Yes, the format and rules were finally being announced.

Moreover, it was an astonishing revelation.

"For this Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival, we are starting with a battle royale between the representative squads from each academy's Floating City."

Hartmann spoke without a hint of emotion.

"A battle royale?"

Everyone in the hall looked at one another.

"Yes."

Hartmann nodded.

"Starting tomorrow, the representative squads from each Floating City academy will engage in a three-day, two-night survival competition on the Ninth Artificial Sky Island."

"Each squad will be given a gem and must fight to claim the gems from other squads. A squad will win this survival competition by obtaining three gems."

"After the survival competition, the winning squads will participate in mock battles to determine the final victors."

These were the rules of the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival.

"Her Holiness the Pope is eagerly anticipating your performances. We hope you will give it your all, for the honor of Sky Wizards, and emerge victorious in this survival competition."

Hartmann's words seemed to carry hidden meanings.

"After overcoming this challenge, you will witness a broader sky."

Leaving those words behind, Hartmann descended from the stage.

The entire hall buzzed with discussion as the Sky Wizards expressed their thoughts on the survival competition starting the next day.

Only Rozen's group remained silent.

"A survival competition, huh?"

Kanata's quiet murmuring weighed on everyone's hearts.

This would likely turn into a brutal survival contest.

Hartmann seemed to know something but wasn't revealing it.

Zeth remained calm as ever, in line with Yamier and the others.

No one believed this survival competition would go smoothly.

Kanata, Chloe, Yuri, and Mena were prepared for the worst.

And Rozen...

"Hmm?"

Rozen suddenly raised his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.

At that moment, a voice quietly reached Rozen's ears from behind him, without any warning.

"I'll be waiting for you at the warehouse district on the outskirts."

A whisper that only Rozen could hear drifted into his ear.

Then, the presence of the speaker disappeared.

Rozen didn't turn around. He merely smiled before silently leaving the hall.