"What a rollercoaster! From one shock after another, Theodore has proved himself as the leader of Thersland. Now, we would like to see the other leader of Thersland Team, the one who has been officially named as the leader.
"In any case, Italy Team has lost their momentum and Thersland has gained a huge boost in their morale. No one can predict the outcome of this match anymore. After taking a fifteen minute break, the participant will start the first 1 vs 1 fight."
Sheira kept saying everything about her observation, especially regarding Theo. It was such a scoop because Theo's life wouldn't be the same anymore.
At the same time, the audience was perplexed as to why Thersland put Alea's name as their leader. Usually, the leader was chosen by one of the three criteria. They could be the strongest person, someone with extraordinary leadership or talent, or the oldest.
People didn't like the last one because it was simply demeaning those who had the talent. Just because you were older didn't give you the right to suppress the young. Even Diego understood this principle and kept making constructive comments no matter how poor their performance was.
If Thersland put Theo in that situation, despite the fact he had the potential to be the first Mythical Rank Expert from Thersland in the future, the people would have become disappointed.
However, those who wanted to scout him actually hoped this was the case. After all, it would make the process of inviting him to their country easier.
Everything would be relying on Alea. Yes, the country's name would go bad if Alea couldn't show something big to prove she was worthy of being their leader.
Alea also understood the entire situation and clasped her hand with a grave expression. As she had expected, the number one threat in this competition was none other than Theo, not anybody else.
The waiting room fell into silence as Alea raised her head, finding Ellen, Sihan, and Theo returning.
She quickly rose from the seat and walked to Theo.
Theo had expected Alea would try to do something without thinking it through. Before she could say anything, he had stopped her. "Rejected. Keep your calm first."
Alea clenched her teeth. For the first time in her life, Alea lowered her head to someone, let alone the fact that Theo was two years younger than her.
"Theo. I beg you. Please let me participate in the first round."
Even so, Theo didn't want to risk the competition just because that person wanted to do it. His job was to win, not to satisfy his teammates after all.
"I already said, calm your head first," said Theo with a cold tone.
"I am calm. This is a decision I have made as the leader of this team. I promise you that I will defeat whoever my opponent is."
"Did you even listen to me?!" Theo raised his voice, feeling he might need to argue with Alea to stop her. No one said anything because they knew the third battle was important. Theo knew the best person to go, so they believed in Theo's decision.
"I…" Alea raised her head and looked Theo in the eyes. "I promise you I will defeat my opponent. Even if I need to put my title, reputation, or family name, I will defeat my opponent. If I fail to do so, I am ready to carry this shame for my entire life. You can even tell the world that I am just using my family name or my authority to become the leader."
Theo widened his eyes as he knew what it meant to say something like that. Reputation to a big family or someone who received a God Rank Blessing was a big part of their life. Not only would it affect them, but her family might also start declining. That shame indeed would be together for the rest of her life.
On the other hand, if she managed to win with something special, it would restore people's faith in the government and Alea's family would become a "hero" in the government's eyes. In other words, depending on the result, Alea could become either the greatest loser or the bravest hero.
Seeing that determination in her eyes, Theo closed his eyes for a moment and sat on the chair, contemplating this matter. As expected, this was a hard decision for him. This matter might not affect him since if Alea came up in the next match, people would think Thersland used their authority to force Theo to choose Alea, but it would affect the chance of winning.
After several minutes of waiting, Alea finally received the answer.
"Our opponent for the next round will be either Agata or Ignazio. They are the only two who can regain momentum with their extraordinary prowess. And you just lost to Agata…" Theo looked at her intensely and asked with a cold tone. "Tell me one thing that makes you think you can win against her."
Alea had been waiting for this. She would get what she wanted if she passed Theo's test. And it seemed Alea had an answer even before he asked this question. She opened her mouth. "It's…"
…
While those two continued their argument, Enrica chuckled as they were talking about the next battle. "So, it seems there won't be any strategy for the third round, right?"
"Yes. The one-on-one battle is the battle of might. I believe Theodore will send their strongest fighter or win it by himself. If they win this battle, they will gain huge momentum and settle it in the next match.
"However, I don't know whether he's influenced by the political parties or not because everything can change if that's the case." Ignazio pondered for a moment.
"What makes you think he will play by the rules?" Enrica smirked.
"…" Ignazio had thought about it as well, but he still shook his head. "That's impossible. He won't throw away this match because our strength is still superior in this brawl. I can guarantee it. That's why it will be either me or Agata who will fight in the third round."
Remembering the battle earlier, Ignazio couldn't help but clench his fists. "He used my own strategy to defeat me. There's nothing more frustrating than this in war."
"Fine, fine. In that case, I can choose who will fight in the third round, right?"
"Yes. It's useless to read what's inside that guy's mind, so it's better if we go unpredictable as well. The leader will choose!" Ignazio agreed without hesitation.
"In that case, for the next battle, I choose…" Enrica licked her lips as if she thought something good.