Even though Dark had lowered his voice, the microphone inside the card table still amplified his voice.
Emma suddenly realized that she had been obsessed with mural research and had neglected the most fundamental summoning practice recently!
Although the 8-second summoning was fast enough for young magisters of her age, it was essentially on the same level of White Gawd, which was much slower than Dark Demon's speed!
By the time she completed the two summons, Dark had almost completed the sacrifice summoning.
The basic ability gap between them was already as wide as a gulf!
With such little skill, how would she be able to defeat Dark?
Emma felt ashamed as she thought of the opening statement she made because of her confidence in her deck.
She reflected on her mistakes on the player's platform for quite some time.
When she came back to her senses, there was no longer anyone on the opposite player's platform.
...
As soon as Dark stepped off the player's platform, he was surrounded by Noble House students, who congratulated him on advancing to the finals with the first place in the winner's group.
After he politely responded, he led the students of Noble House to arena ②.
Dianna was dueling player ⑦ Justin Wayne there.
At this moment when the duel between Dark and Emma had already ended, the duel between Dianna and Wayne seemed to have just begun and both sides had two magical spirits on the field.
Wayne's magical spirits seemed to belong to the knight series. He had a Human Knight and a Beastmen Knight on the field, both of which were magical spirits of Fighting type.
And on Dianna's side of the field, there were [Bear Spirit] and [Gaia Bear].
The power of [Bear Spirit] was greatly increased with the buff of [Bear's Power]!
However, Wayne seemed to have used a special magic spell card to hold it in place, so Dianna could only use [Gaia Bear] to barely cope with the fight.
But this situation changed when the third bear was summoned. [Gaia Bear]'s magic energy, attack and defense suddenly increased by 600 points by relying on the effect of [Bond of Bears]!
This allowed the two-star magical spirit to gain powerful stats that not even 3-star magical spirits could have and successfully kill Wayne's Human Knight.
[Bear Spirit] was also finally released from immobilization then.
Amidst the roars of the three bears, the third magical spirit Wayne urgently summoned also proved ineffective and was completely overwhelmed by Dianna.
The game finally came to an end.
...
In the other battle,
Player ⑭, the Fool House student who had come this far relying on a large number of white cards, finally lost under the stormy attack of Sara Swati.
At this point, the tournament reached the final round of the loser's group.
Emma, who lost in the winner's group finals, would duel the winner of the battle between Dianna and Sara.
Then the final winner of the loser's group would be able to once again challenge the champion of the winner's group - Dark Demon!
...
Loser group:
Arena ①: Player ② vs Player ⑨
...
While waiting for the next match to begin, Dark realized that his initial calculation was slightly wrong. There would actually be an extra thirty-minute interval as compared to his estimate but it was of no consequence to him.
Dianna was visibly nervous as she prepared for the next round.
She looked like she really wanted to get back to the finals and fight Dark for the championship.
But Sara Swati's deck was stronger than expected, and her summoning speed was faster than even that of Emma and White. She was second only to Dark among the first-year students.
When dueling Dark, Sara only used a deck that was designed to counter Dark's deck. She also had a powerful 3-star magic card that she didn't get a chance to use.
On the other side, Dianna's strongest combination was [Bear Spirit]+[Bear's Power]. Once [Bear Spirit] was restricted by [Sphynx Cat]'s "Shadow Tag", her combat power would be greatly reduced.
When the trump cards of both sides were already known, some results could be predicted.
Half an hour later, the players from both sides who had restored their magic energy entered the arena respectively.
At this moment, except for Professor Jones who was still refereeing, the other three professors were all free.
They watched the duel from the sidelines, all feeling not so optimistic about Dianna's victory.
The results were as expected.
Dianna couldn't advance to the next round and left the arena in fourth place in the first year.
...
In the next round.
Loser group:
Arena ①: Player ⑤ vs Player ⑨
...
Emma Mortis VS Sara Swati!
The attention this game received was not inferior to the semi-finals of the winner's group.
Because there was only one match this round, all the first-year students had gathered here.
Emma, as the representative of Knight House, would have a showdown with Sara, the representative of Magister House!
The Knight House and the Magister House, which did not have a lot of interactions in the past, suddenly were at odds with each other.
Dark stood with Dianna, who had recovered from her defeat, and watched the game as a spectator.
Both Emma and Sara were sent to the loser's group by Dark, and both of them failed to use all magic cards in the duel with him. But Dark didn't take them lightly. In order to find out more information about their decks, he watched the match seriously.
Dianna asked lively, "Dark, who do you think has a better chance?"
Dark pondered slightly, shook his head and said, "It's hard to judge."
The difference in summoning speed between the two parties was not that big. Although Sara was faster, it was not fast to an extent that it would give her a great advantage in the duel.
And their magic cards also had different strengths.
So it was really hard to judge.
Dianna pouted, "I think Sara will win."
Dark asked curiously; "Why?"
Dianna: "Because she beat me!"
Dark held back the urge to laugh.
Rose joked on the side: "But Dianna, Sara was eliminated by Emma in the first intra-class competition."
Dianna; "It's different now, people can change!"
...
"Player ⑤, Emma Mortis, and Player ⑨, Sara Swati. As leaders in their respective houses, they are worth learning from by all students. Especially in their learning attitude. Their present abilities are entirely the result of their hard work and their accumulation of knowledge. I hope you all can understand that although magister does not require as high a level of knowledge as ancient magic, it is still a learned profession. Now, would two players please enter the arena!"
Professor Jones' voice echoed through the hall as Emma and Sara stepped on the player's platform respectively.
...
"Hey, I heard that you lost in just one round?"
Sara said casually after activating the card table.
Emma's face changed instantly when she heard the words. This taunting effect was outstanding!
Looking back, she seemed to have regarded Dark as a competitor since the beginning of school; but so far, the only place where she seemed to be ahead of Dark was in the study of murals and that was an area where Dark did not seem to have any intention of putting effort.
She would try to correct her weaknesses she became aware of due to the battle last round in the future.
But all this had nothing to do with the woman in front of her
Emma responded angrily: "I lost in the second round, but you also lost in the third round, didn't you? When I defeat you, I will go back to the final and compete with him again!"
Sara smiled sweetly: "What a coincidence, this is exactly what I have in my mind too!"
Before the duel even started, the temperature between the two sides had already dropped to freezing point!
...
[Preparation Phase][30s]
Both sides drew cards at the same time!
Emma pursed her lips.
But Sara's mouth curled up faintly.
However, in fact, both of them got the magic cards they wanted the most.
...
[Battle Phase][30s]
"Magic summoning!"
Sara pulled out a magic card and held it up in her hand.
Her summoning speed was faster than Emma's, so it gave her an overwhelming momentum.
What appeared in the blue player's summoning area was a magical spirit that did not appear in the duel she had with Dark!
→[Dead Mummy]!
It was a mummy wrapped in snow-white bandages all over!
...
[Card name: Dead Mummy]
[Type: Spirit card]
[Level: ✪✪✪]
[Race: Undead-type]
[Attribute: Shadow]
[Magic energy: 1000]
[Attack: 100]
[Defense: 1600]
[Ultimate: Fake Death]
...
The arms of the two meter tall Dead Mummy were fastened with bandages to the sides of its body. Except for a small gap for the eyes, even its face was covered by bandages. Its legs were tightly wrapped together, so it could not bend its knees or jump, seemingly having no offensive power.
At the cost of having only 100 attack power, Dead Mummy gained over 1500 defense stats.
Its ultimate [Fake Death] had been used in previous battles, which could grant it two lives!
...
As soon as it appeared, the two long stripes of bandages hanging on either side of Dead Mummy began to move.
This was its only attack method, but the attack strength was about equal to the one-star little Eevee's paw strike.
Under the watchful eyes of the audience, the mummy used the bandages to wrap around the Magic Ball suspended in the air, and pressed it into its belly.
Its belly was originally bulging, but when the magic ball was pressed against it, most of the magic ball actually sank into its belly! The two long stripes of bandages then wrapped the exposed part of the magic ball to secure the Magic Ball in place!
After that, it hid in the corner of the field with its back to the field, holding its head and squatting to defend!
...
This was another tactic of Sara - ostrich tactics!
With Dead Mummy's two lives, Magic Ball was now completely protected.
If the opponent couldn't penetrate Dead Mummy's defenses, Sara would be invincible.
...
The other side.
Although Emma was a little slower, she still summoned her own magical spirit.
But it was the Golden Beast that had appeared in the previous battles!
Golden Beast's attack power was only 1300. It couldn't penetrate Dead Mummy's flawless defense at all.
Emma's face darkened. She did not attack easily, but silently waited for the CD.
Both sides seemed very calm.
After a few seconds.
Sara started to summon the second magic card.
It was a [Sphynx Cat]!
The appearance of the black hairless cat with golden pupils caused applause from the Magister House students who knew about this card.
After that, Emma also summoned her second magical spirit.
But it was not a [Golden Worm], but [777 Treasure Chest Monster]!
...
It was different from the treasure chest monsters that could be seen everywhere in the dungeon.
The [777 Treasure Chest Monster] had a joystick on the side and a box on top that showed three numbers side by side.
If the joystick was pulled, the numbers would flip from 0 to 9 like a slot machine.
Once the player got "777", the player would be blessed with good luck.
...
[Card name: 777 Treasure Chest Monster]
[Type: spirit card]
[Level: ✪✪]
[Race: fairy-type]
[Attribute: normal]
[Magic energy: 700]
[Attack: 700]
[Defense:700]
[Ultimate: 777]
...
When the 777 Treasure Chest Monster appeared, the joystick was automatically pulled down.
The three numbers on top of the treasure chest immediately began to flip.
After 3 seconds, the joystick bounced back and the numbers stopped flipping.
→[233]
The treasure chest monster did not have any changes.
After a few seconds of silence, it suddenly turned sharply and swallowed the Magic Ball!
The 777 Treasure Chest Monster didn't have the defensive capabilities of Dead Mummy, but it could run and jump!
...
The first round ended with the appearance of four magical spirits.
The two sides were unexpectedly tacit and did not launch an offensive.
But it was more like the calm before the storm.
[Second round][30s]
Draw card!
"Yes!"
Emma's eyes lit up.
Among the two new cards in hand, one of them was [Golden Worm]!
She immediately started summoning without hesitation, and as soon as the gold coin with wings flew out, she shouted, "Golden Infest!"
Six tiny mechanical feet stretched out from the bottom of Golden Worm and inserted into Golden Beast's spine with a "click"!
Then the infest began!
"Roar!"
With the Golden Beast's roar, the liquid metal coming from both sides of its body formed a thicker golden armor on its body, and then a pair of golden wings was spread open!
[Magic energy: 1000→1300]
[Attack: 1300]
[Defense:1500→1800]
The Golden Beast that suddenly spread its wings and flew high, flapped its wings, kicking up the strong wind and shooting out like a golden arrow!
...
Meanwhile, Sara pointed her index finger forward calmly.
In her summoning area, [Anubis] that had just been summoned roared murderously, the shadow under its feet suddenly spread rapidly in the direction of the treasure chest monster.
It was [Shadow Hunt]!
Anubis' body rushed along the shadow. Its sharp claws slashed in an instant, leaving three extremely obvious scratches on the 777 Treasure Chest Monster's body!
The magic energy value of the 777 treasure chest dropped by about 200 points.
Meanwhile, the Golden Beast had flown above Dead Mummy.
But instead of attacking with its claws and fangs, it grabbed Dead Mummy's neck and tried to drag it into the sky!
However, [Sphynx Cat] came in a blink of an eye and stepped on the shadow of Golden Beast!
"Shadow Tag" activated.
The Golden Beast instantly froze in place.
...
Despite this.
Emma didn't panic.
Sara's [Sphynx Cat] had already been exposed once, so she was well prepared.
The summoning speed of the two differed by just over a second.
Considering actions like thinking, drawing cards, and the time it took for magical spirit summoning, this difference was so small that it could be almost negligible.
In the second summon of the second round, Emma used the [Golden Treasure Chest]!
Sphynx Cat was immediately attracted by the golden light emitted by the treasure chest, and its eyes turned into Φ symbols representing the sacred coin.
Thus Sphynx Cat's "Shadow Tag" was interrupted as it was temporarily under Emma's control.
The freed Golden Beast immediately turned to attack Sphynx Cat with its deadly claws, causing the Sphynx Cat to bleed heavily.
But a magic circle of blood suddenly appeared under Sphynx Cat's feet, absorbing the blood of Sphynx Cat in an instant.
When Sphynx Cat turned into light and disappeared from the field, a gray-white distorted shadow shot out from the bloody magic circle and got into Golden Beast's body.
Then the mech-type Golden Beast actually let out a painful whimper!
