The battle between Arcanis Dominion Academy and the Blade Clan began, sending the entire crowd into a frenzy of cheers.

The clash was brutal and wildly entertaining, all because both teams held nothing back, they knew that only victory would allow them to continue in the tournament, so the moment the battle started, they charged straight at each other.

After an intense back-and-forth exchange, the match ended with the Blade Clan’s victory, while not many were surprised, a few in the crowd had hoped Arcanis Dominion would pull off some kind of upset.

However; In the end, it was over quickly.

Before the spectators could disperse, the draft for the next round was announced:

School of Silent Night vs War God Mage Academy

Bloodline Academy vs Blade Clan

Ember Citadel vs Shinsei Academy

As soon as the new layout was revealed, Old Man Alderic couldn’t help glancing toward the upper VIP stand, where he saw the King of the Northern Kingdom smiling as he spoke with one of the tournament judges.

It was obvious to him that the War God Mage Academy had been targeted again, it was no stretch to assume they were being deliberately matched against teams expected to defeat them.

Though at this stage of the competition, none of the other Academy teams were weak, in fact any matchup would have been a serious hurdle, but Alderic was certain this wasn’t coincidence.

After all, everyone knew just how mysterious and terrifying the School of Silent Night was, especially since no one had clear answers about how to contain the little abilities the captain of the School Of Silent Night, Takeda had already displayed.

He could sense the Northern King’s silent maneuvers in the shadows, trying to eliminate his academy.

That way, if the Bloodline Academy eventually advanced further than them, no one would question why a team stronger than the proclaimed Northern Kingdom’s champion academy hadn’t even made the rankings.

Normally, if Alec were present, Alderic wouldn’t have been this troubled.

But things weren’t normal.

Because not only was Alec not present, but the team’s morale was at an all-time low, but even knowing that unseen hands were working behind the scenes, there was nothing he could do about it.

All he could do was prepare his academy’s team as well as possible for the tribulations that lay ahead.

_ _ _

Back in Estonia City, news of the Gordons Clan’s victory over the City Lord’s forces spread far and wide, as for the many clans that had supported the City Lord—or had their members directly or indirectly participate in the attack on the Gordons Clan, they fled the city in haste.

Clans like the Raisa Clan, whose new Patriarch had personally led a group of mid-rank mages in support of the assault, were forced to scatter as their foundations crumbled almost overnight.

Because their Patriarch had taken what few mid-rank mages they had left to join the attack force, while many had only sent the low-rank mages to join the combined forces that had fought against the Gordons.

They had all been promised riches and future benefits if they won, with the City Lord assuring them that the treasures within the Gordons’ Auction House would be up for grabs for every clan involved in the attack.

That promise, along with pressure from the City Lord, had been used to rally them under a single banner, yet even with all those extra mages gathered together, they still failed to annihilate the Gordons clan, instead they had been wiped out.

Now, the clans whose influential figures had moved against the Gordons, whether out of old grudges or personal ambition, found their foundations severely weakened.

They understood all too well that if they waited any longer, the Gordons Clan would come for revenge once they had fully recovered from the losses of this battle.

For the moment, however, the Gordons were more concerned with sending messages to the checkpoints they had established for their clansmen, calling back those who had escaped earlier and informing them that the clan had survived the attack.

They had also taken over the City Hall.

With the City Lord dead and the next Blood Moon War fast approaching, someone had to restore order to a city that now felt eerily empty, after so many clans had fled, fearful of retribution for their role in the assault on the Gordons Clan.

For now, the Grand Elder was overseeing the repair of the Space Axis so Alec could teleport back to the capital on time to join his team, while the Patriarch went door to door among the clans that had remained.

Those who stayed were either neutral toward everything that had happened and had never intended to get involved in the first place, or they harbored some goodwill toward the Gordons Clan, often because they had benefited in one way or another from items acquired at the Gordons Clan Auction.

All in all, George Gordons made it his mission to personally visit every remaining clan in Estonia City for a single reason: to rally them to stand together with the Gordons Clan in defense against the coming Blood Moon.

Even though no official from the capital had arrived yet, he wanted them to take the vanguard and fight, rather than wait for the capital to send a new City Lord and an army that would end up bearing the full brunt of the Blood Moon waves, because he believed that the capital wouldn’t be having their time anytime soon.

Though his intentions were sincere, but after receiving only a handful of positive responses, George realized just how difficult it would be to unite them.

Most of the remaining clans had already adopted a mindset of protecting only their own during the Blood Moon events.

And so the day passed, with only a few clans accepting the Gordons’ proposal to maintain an outer defense of the city, and holding the line outside the gates and preventing invaders from the Second Dimension from entering unchecked.

Those clans had a much deeper understanding than the rest, they understood that if everyone chose to protect only themselves, then any clan unlucky enough to face an overwhelming number of enemies would be wiped out.

It was precisely because of this realization that they agreed with the Gordons Patriarch’s plan: to continue defending beyond the city gates and stop the invaders before they could reach the city at all.