Capítulo 1069: He Is Back 4.

“Yes!!!” The fans erupted into loud cheers, proclaiming they were ready to see the mages emerge, they all urged the judge to wrap up his speech quickly and summon the participants so the battle could finally begin as swiftly as possible.

“However!” He paused after saying this, raising just one hand in the air to silence the crowd, then they began to wonder what clause had prompted this unexpected “however.”

“A new rule has been added to this round of the loser’s bracket match, due to the escalation of power levels displayed by mages in past loser’s matches, we’ve decided the first thing we won’t do is confine them to a single stage. Now, the entire ground is the arena.”

The judge, who had been floating slightly above the ground said before finally descending, allowing his feet to touch the stage.

As he did, the stage began to transform, almost as if it were being compressed downward, as he black brick surface started spreading outward, soon enveloping the entire ground floor.

From the stands where the spectators watched, it appeared as if a vast, circular black battle ring stretched all the way to the three tunnel entrances which was left open for this match, the tunnels were left that way to allow the three participating academies to emerge from separate tunnels.

That way, they wouldn’t clash prematurely or even catch sight of each other before the fight.

“Yeah!” In response to this magical feat they’d just witnessed, the crowd cheered even louder, as they believed that with this expanded battle ring, the fight would be far more brutal and captivating.

And it was simply because they knew this new setup eliminated the possibility of victory by merely pushing a mage off the stage.

Now, it could be said that only a complete K.O.—one that fully knocked out the opposing mage, would count as a win, however, while many thought this was done to make the battle much more interesting, others who sensed a conspiracy brewing felt it was the Northern Kingdom’s king tweaking things from behind the scenes.

Because as much as this new format prevented mages from being eliminated simply by getting pushed out of the battle ring, it also meant that weaker mages couldn’t escape easily by just stepping down.

With no boundaries now, they’d have to endure punches and beatings to be considered out of the fight, if a weak team faced one that swiftly dispatched them, it might be bearable.

But if they encountered a team that decided toying with them was more entertaining, no one could intervene if they were unable to surrender, and since many believed the War God Mage Academy was the weakest, it wasn’t surprising why some felt this format had been created specifically to target them.

After this buzz spread, the first thing the dean and Old Man Alderic did was glance up toward the Northern King’s seat. There, they saw his undisguised smile, and it was a no-brainer for them that he was pulling strings behind the scenes once again.

But while all these tricks were being played, they believed that in the face of overwhelming power, all of it would be crushed.

“So, join me in calling on the members of the first academy to grace this new battle ring: leading the Shinsei Academy team, Captain Hoshino Ren!” The judge began announcing the names of the mages participating in the battle.

When they heard the first name, many in the crowd seemed to go into shock, there had been no news of Hoshino Ren since his endurance battle against the Ember Citadel team the day before.

All this while, many had been led to believe he wouldn’t be able to participate, but after the judge called his name, and they saw him walk out from the tunnel the judge was pointing to first, it dawned on them fast that he was truly participating.

At that moment, he looked completely healed to them, with no signs of fatigue or hidden pain on his face.

In an instant, the crowd began to speculate that the healers of Shinsei Academy must have endured a grueling session, using precious resources as a medium to restore him to such peak condition before this battle. Or perhaps he’d simply taken high-grade healing pills.

No matter which option they considered, it all circled back to one thing: how much Shinsei Academy must have invested to make it possible.

“Followed by Takeda Shun, the vice captain; Aoyama Kiri; Mizuno Rei; and Kagura Yato.” After letting the entire Eastern crowd cheer wildly for their returning captain, Ren, the judge didn’t pause any longer.

He called out the names of the rest of the Shinsei Academy team members one by one, with each name announced, those in the Eastern Kingdom’s section would stand and shout it back, echoing the judge’s words.

It created a surge of morale for the mages emerging from the tunnels as their names rang out.

Once all five had appeared, the Eastern corner went absolutely wild, the mages waved to them, some even blowing kisses, as they stretched and waited for the judge’s next move.

And indeed, he gave the crowd ample time to cheer for the academy team they supported before raising his hand high once more.

“Now, that’s enough, we shall move on to the next team: the Blade clan, led by their captain, Kealus Blade. Followed by the vice captain, Aeron Blade.” The judge said, pausing just after calling those two as they emerged from their own tunnel.

At that moment, it was time for the mages from the Central Kingdom to cheer out loud, though they disliked how the Blade clan seemed disunited, however they couldn’t help but roar even louder—after all, the Blade clan team was the only group from the Central Kingdom to have reached this far, with a real shot at advancing further.

If they lost now, the Central fans were sure they’d forfeit their bragging rights.

They also felt their team deserved it the most, considering their other competitors: the War God Mage Academy hailed from the Northern Kingdom, which already had one qualified academy; The Bloodline Academy, and the Shinsei Academy came from the Eastern Kingdom, which was the same kingdom the School of Silent Night hail from and they had advanced too and they stood as a strong contender for the winner of it all; and as for the third academy coming from the Southern Kingdom, they’d already given up on that.