"Theodore Griffith has a God Rank Blessing?"
"Having a clone that powerful, it's weird if he doesn't have it."
"His brain is also on par with Ignazio as both of them have been clashing in the entire competition."
"That's right. I wonder how many countries will approach him this time."
"We don't know. That depends on the next performance. Whether losing or winning, he will have two more rounds to compete after all."
Laust gradually opened his eyes after recalling what people's thought about Theo. Most of them were his imagination, but half of them had been discussed by Sheira out loud.
He couldn't help but clench his fist when he saw Theo looking at the screen with a calm expression as if he had expected the outcome of the fourth battle.
He never cared about Alea, whose head was on his lap. Instead, his focus remained on his blessing this whole time. Although he already knew about his blessing, no one knew about its rank and identity.
His brother, Ben Lange, acted almighty in front of him, showing an action he would never understand whenever they met. He felt his brother was actually mocking him for not understanding his actions and words.
His father's continuous insults also haunted him.
"You're useless."
"Why were you even born? If not because Ben wants you alive, I would have disowned you and fed you to the dogs."
"Trash, don't make this house smell with your continuous failures."
Everything had been haunting him for a whole ten years. Laust knew if they returned right now, Theo and Alea might become the hero in the citizens' eyes while he became an eyesore, considering he once wanted to kill Theo with his skill in a sparring match.
If he didn't participate in this competition, his fate would have been the same as Scott's. And even he couldn't imagine what kind of things his father would do after that.
"…" Seeing the match had ended, Laust grabbed his sword and used his shoulder to support it while rising from the floor. "There's no more battle after this. No need to wait, right?"
Theo glanced at him and nodded. He then tapped Alea's shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"
Alea's body shook as she quickly raised her head from his lap and fixed her hair. "A-Ah, yes. I am fine now, I think. Thank you."
Since her face wasn't red anymore, Theo nodded and rose from his seat before taking a peek at Phyrill, who actually had left the room.
"He's fast," Theo muttered and turned around, leaving the room with a calm expression.
"Theo…" Alea called his name with an unsure tone. When Theo glanced at her, she couldn't help but flinch while saying, "Ehm… Win, okay?"
"No one can predict the future, but I will do my best." Theo nodded and left the room.
When she saw the door closing, she scratched the back of her head, feeling embarrassed by what she had done this whole time.
Ellen and Sihan returned soon, while the three guys had headed to the arena.
…
"This is it… This is the last battle. The moment we have been waiting for!" Sheira shouted. "Whether Italy Team wins or loses, we shall see it through. Sir Diego passed me a message for all of you.
"He said, we are not stronger than Thersland. Thersland is also not stronger than us. Only the winner of this battle is stronger!" Sheira was about to continue but got interrupted by a sudden cheer. She looked down to the arena and saw three figures standing right in front of the gate.
Theo, Phyrill, and Laust made their appearances in the arena with a cool and aloof expression. They soon became an "eye candy" for the female audience as all of them wished to see a good performance from them.
"There they are… Thersland Team members. With Theodore and Alea's leadership, the team has stepped on this stage and achieved this level of result. Now, the big question is can they defeat Italy Team in order to advance to the semifinal?"
However, the cheers were once again changed as Sheira quickly noticed three people coming out. They were Lavinia, Marco, and Enrica.
Theo widened his eyes in surprise when he looked at Enrica. Although her eyes were closed, she didn't wear her blindfold anymore, making Theo shudder.
As he expected, her eyes must be something special. Now that the condition had become like this, Enrica had no choice other than to release those eyes.
Depending on the eyes' abilities, the chance to beat Italy Team would decrease significantly.
"On the opposite team, Italy Team has sent their remaining fighters! We don't know who will win anymore as this is the battle that will decide the outcome of everything. Will their hard work be rewarded? Or will they swallow their pride and return with regret?" Sheira kept talking while seeing the two teams gradually walk to the center of the arena.
She declared, "Now, let us witness whether Italy Team can fight in the semifinal! Or… Will we witness the birth of the biggest dark horse in history?!"
Listening to Sheira, Enrica couldn't help but smile. She faced Theo and said, "You've messed up our entire plan and made Ignazio a run for his money."
"It's nothing. We're just a small country. We can only do our best to defeat a country with a deep history like you." Theo shook his head. He remembered Ignazio's message and continued, "Whatever you throw at us, we will face it."
"If you can do it, that is." Enrica smiled and turned to Diego, nodding her head as if telling him she was ready.
Theo also asked his teammates to move back a bit because he felt Enrica would open those eyes at any moment.
And his prediction turned out to be true. Enrica gradually opened her eyes, revealing her golden eyes. However, in those golden eyes, they found a yellow cross that humans weren't supposed to have normally.
Although her eyes were beautiful, Theo could only perceive its eeriness and strangeness that made him flinch.
"This is going to be a bit more difficult." Theo smiled and informed his teammates. "No change of plan. We will defeat them."
The two nodded as they all raised their swords.
Since the two teams were ready, Diego raised his hand and declared. "Match Starts!"