Standing in the glaring sunlight of the arena, Lucian’s gaze naturally drifted toward the VIP box. Behind the massive enchanted glass windows, his eyes met with his father, Duke Valemont. The Duke maintained his usual unreadable blank expression as his gaze equally fixed on him. Sitting right next to him was, Duchess, and slightly behind them were his younger sisters, Cassia and Lysandra, watching the arena with keen interest.

"Huh..." Lucian murmured with a mocking smirk. "Cold as always. Let’s see how long you can keep that stone-faced expression of yours today."

His gaze then shifted away from the VIP box down to the general spectator stands. There, amidst the massive crowd, Aria was waving both her hands in the air, cheering for them with absolute enthusiasm. She had a bright, innocent smile on her face that looked completely out of place in this blood-pumping atmosphere.

Seeing her safely cheering from the sidelines, Seraphina, who was standing to Lucian’s left, let out a soft sigh of relief.

"In a way, it’s a really good thing Aria isn’t down here with us. If she were here, she would also have to fight... and as far as we all know, that sweet girl hates hurting anyone."

"Or rather, Iris would have loved to create a scenario where Lucian had to step in for her," Elira pointed out in a completely blunt, matter-of-fact tone, slowly folding her arms.

"Her not being here is just practically better for her."

Sera’s soft smile vanished, replaced by an annoyed sigh as she looked right at Elira.

"Do you really have to be so painfully blunt about everything? You could just nod and move on, you know."

"Alright, enough. Break it up," Lucian interrupted, the relaxed vibe instantly dropping from his tone. Without even looking at the girls, he stared straight ahead at the loud crowd while speaking quietly.

"Remember what our main mission is, you two. We aren’t just here to win this flashy tournament."

As soon as Lucian said that, all the annoyance and banter vanished from the girls’ faces. A seriousness settled over them.

"Yeah..." Elira said, keeping her voice extremely low as her icy blue eyes calculatedly scanned the Zandar and Grandhold teams standing further away.

"It’s actually a good thing that we already informed Zenith and Lyria’s and they agreed to this.. We have one chance to end this worldwide hypocrisy which has been going on for years."

Whatever true motives and underground plans they were hiding remained completely submerged in the shadows, entirely unknown to the 25 rulers and the thousands of spectators cheering around them.

"ALRIGHT, PEOPLE!"

Cutting sharply through their intense conversation, Lumen’s magically amplified voice echoed across the stadium once again, snapping the entire Colosseum back to reality.

"Listen closely, because the rules are going to be as simple as they are brutal!" Lumen shouted, spinning on his floating platform to hype the crowd even further.

"This isn’t a team game! Nor is this going to be a jungle survival test! This is a STRICT 1-ON-1 TOURNAMENT! Two prodigies will enter the arena, and only one will walk out on their own two feet! Whoever is left standing by the end of the match... is the one who qualifies for the next round!"

Lumen thrust his hand straight up toward the sky, and a gigantic, glowing holographic screen suddenly projected high into the air right in the center of the arena.

"So hold your breath! And keep your eyes glued to the screen! Because we are about to shuffle the tournament bracket! Let’s see who draws the first blood of the Grand Final!"

Match 1: Cassian vs. Selene Verya

Match 2: Lucian Valemont vs. Adrian Valemont

Match 3: Nyx Verya vs. Isla Fenrir

Match 4: Morven Shade vs. Viktor Ashford

Match 5: Zenith Korr vs. Cain Marrow

Match 6: Seraphina Ashenblade vs. Theron Ashgar

Match 7: Elira Frostveil vs. Dante Solari

Match 8: Kaelen Nebyrss vs. Garrick Stone 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Match 9: Eryx Valmar vs. Vesper Nightshade

Match 10: Lysin Hollow vs. Doren Daven

Match 11: Lyria Draven vs. Mira Blackthorn

Match 12: Zeri Liora vs. Riven Duskfall

A sudden wave of murmurs washed over the crowd, especially when they saw the second match. Lucian Valemont vs. Adrian Valemont. Two sons from the exact same prestigious Duke family, pitted against each other in the very first round. Even in the VIP box, the nobles leaned forward, eager to see how the Valemont family drama would unfold on the battlefield.

Yet Lumen didn’t give the crowd time to overthink. He instantly ramped the energy back up to a fever pitch.

"You see the screen, you know the stakes! And now we aren’t going to make you wait any longer!" Lumen shouted, dropping his hand in a swift, dramatic chop.

"Will the fighters for the very FIRST match please step forward into the arena! Cassian! Selene! Your time is NOW!"

Eighty thousand voices violently slammed into the arena floor all at once. The raw force of their screaming and stomping rattled the stone, officially triggering the Grand Final Battle Tournament.

Cassian and Selene walked out into the open center of the arena.

Without a word, Cassian slid his sword from its sheath, dropping his stance into something relaxed yet completely secure. Opposite him, the pink-haired girl just stood there trembling. Selene gripped her heavy staff with both hands, her knuckles turning bone white as she visibly shuddered in place.

H-How... how am I supposed to fight him?

During the second exam, Cassian had been incredibly kind to her, even putting himself at risk to help her survive against the instructors. Yet, just by looking at Selene, it was obvious from the start that the girl’s crippling nervousness wasn’t just born out of simple gratitude. To her hopelessly biased mind, even the harsh language Cassian muttered during that exam had sounded like sweet poetry. She ended up harboring a secret crush on him ever since.

Come on, Selene, focus! Put your feelings aside! she yelled at herself, trying to gather her mana, though her legs still felt like jelly. But how was she supposed to fight the guy she was crushing on?

"LET THE MATCH... START!" lumen shouted.

Instantly, the ground beneath Cassian cracked, and he shot forward with blinding speed.

Seeing him blur toward her, the girl let out a short squeak of panic.

Thrusting both her hands forward, she hastily manifested a glowing magical barrier right in front of her, squeezing her eyes completely shut in pure anxiety.

Watching from the sidelines, the zenith team observed the exchange. Dante crossed his arms and scoffed immaturely. "Well, what else did we expect? A healer going up against a front-line vanguard. Guess we’re taking an embarrassing loss in the very first match."

Smack.

ouchhh..

Viktor drove his fist into the back of Dante’s head. "Watch it, Dante. Keep your mouth shut."

Zenith, standing slightly ahead of them, didn’t join the bickering. She watched the arena with calm eyes, fully aware of how capable Cassian truly was.

"It’s just a bad matchup that’s all," Zenith simply stated.

Back in the ring, Cassian didn’t even bother attacking Selene’s panicked barrier. Instead, he smoothly ducked low, driving his momentum under her line of sight, and slipped right past her defenses like a ghost.

In a fraction of a second, he was standing directly behind her. There was no aggression or killing intent on his face at all. Selene was still standing there completely stiff, her eyes squeezed shut, pouring her mana into a shield that was protecting her from absolutely nothing.

For a brief second, Cassian scratched his chin. Then, with a calm, precise motion, he reversed his grip and lightly tapped the metal pommel of his sword right on the top of her head.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

Selene’s grip on her staff went loose as her eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed smoothly onto the arena floor, knocked completely unconscious.

The entire Colosseum fell dead silent. Leaving the crowd blinked multiple times, struggling to process the lack of flashy magic or drawn-out combat.

Then, Lumen’s voice shattered the quiet.

"I... I DON’T BELIEVE IT! A FLAWLESS TAKEDOWN! THE FIRST MATCH IS ALREADY OVER, CLOCKING IN AT BARELY TWO MINUTES! CASSIAN TAKES THE WIN!"

Following Lumen’s announcement, the delayed crowd finally erupted into a deafening but confused roar, completely baffled by the silent, instantaneous takedown instead of the flashy, bloody magic they expected.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, the rest of the waiting contestants just watched, some of them left completely dumbfounded.

"Wait... what exactly just happened?" Dante muttered, squinting his eyes in disbelief. "Did he even hit her? It looked like he just gave her a friendly pat on the head!"

"He bypassed her shield and struck a precise pressure point," Viktor frowning slightly as if trying to convince himself. "Though... the impact didn’t seem nearly heavy enough to cause an instant knockout."

From the sidelines, Riven, Eryx, and Seraphina frowned in confusion, trying to analyze the golden boy’s supposedly deadly technique.

In truth, there was no technique. Between the light tap and the overwhelming panic of fighting her crush, Selene’s brain simply short-circuited, causing her to safely pass out.

Medical staff rushed in, carefully loading the pink-haired healer onto a floating stretcher.

Without a single glance at the roaring crowd, Cassian sheathed his blade and calmly strolled back to the waiting area, entirely unbothered and looking like he just finished a morning walk.