When the commentators and the VIP guests returned to their seats, the sky was decorated with colorful fireworks. They painted the sky as though each firework was a master artist. The fireworks exploded into all kinds of shapes such as dragons, birds, lions, dancing men, and finally, the name Ghost. The Sunrise sect pavilion erupted into cheers when they saw the name 'Ghost' occupy all the sky above them. Nightmare flew straight into the air, decorating the golden words with his crimson red dragon breath.
The fireworks weren't arranged by Ghost or anyone he knew. On the contrary, it was arranged by people he never knew, the merchants and the tournament committee. Lailah was looking at the sky as the flashes of light reflected in her beautifully crafted hazel eyes.
"Welcome to the Quarter final, ladies and gentlemen" Looking at the sky, Darius snapped as all the fireworks merged to form the words 'Quater Final'
"As usual, we will go through the rules and regulations. Just like the 3rd round, participants can use whatever is necessary to defeat their opponent. Each battle will be one on one. The judges and the guests will score the battle according to how long the battle lasted, how the battle ended as if it was a knockout or surrender and the 5 winners will be ranked according to their total score. The one with the least score will be eliminated and the first four will go to the semi-final"
"Since Miss Celina withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons, we will select a random participant among the nine and send him or her directly to the Semifinal" Ishihara said. The commoners sighed hearing the news but the nobles did not seem surprised. They expected Celina to leave the tournament. Everyone knew it wouldn't have been her choice, rather her family forced her to withdraw from the competition instead of facing Ghost and ended up being killed or worse.
Although there were only one of five chances for Celina to end up facing Ghost, her family didn't want to take the risk.
Soon, the giant mirror broadcasted all the nine participants' figures as each figure had a color coin beside them. For instance, Andrews had the color gold coin while Paul Oswen had a blue coin. Nine participants were assigned nine coins. When the mirrors broadcasted Michael's figure, the entire arena once again let out their thunderous cheers. Coincidentally or intentionally, he was assigned a black coin.
Under the crowds' excited gazes, nine bright orbs emerged from the battle stage. In a few seconds, the bright light faded away to reveal the palm-sized coins.
"Her Royal Highness Katherine would pick the lucky participant who will go to the Semi-final without competing in the Quarterfinal. He or She will also be safe from the elimination" James Hall said. While the coins were floating in a circle, one of the coordinators landed before the coins with a wooden box in his hand. He picked the coins one by one and put them into the wooden box.
The coordinator then flew towards the stage where the Princess was sitting alongside the king and the other VIPs.
"Who do you think will get the lucky chance guys?" Ishihara asked,
"It's luck Ishihara, we can't predict luck," James Hall said while the coordinator was flying towards the princess.
"Some would call it luck, some would call it fate, " Darius said in his rough voice,
The arena was rather silent as they were too focused on the wooden box. They wanted to see who is the lucky one. Many prayed that the princess wouldn't take the black coin. They wanted to see Ghost fight. Unlike many young masters, they knew they can't see Ghost fight very often. Until this tournament, many didn't even know he could fight. He was the least controversial prodigy in Elon who liked to mind his own business and make fewer enemies.
"Please be Andrews, please be Andrews' ' Emelda prayed to the gods while Diana prayed to be her son. She didn't want Andrews to get on the same stage as Ghost. The last thing she needed was her son to kill his cousin. After destroying Skyhall and everyone who would hurt her son, Diana wanted him to have a family that he never had.
"Your Royal Highness" the coordinator bowed his head slightly, handing over the wooden box to Princess Katherine. Despite the thousands of eyes on her, Katherine sported a smile on her face. No one except a few didn't know she was praying to pick the golden coin which was Andrew's.
It took a few moments for her to grab a coin in the wooden box. Even though she couldn't see the coin she grabbed, she just hoped it would be the golden coin.
"Im excited" Ishihara giggled,
Everyone's gaze was on the princess as she slowly retrieved her hands from the wooden box.
"Black coin!" Many gasped in shock including the princess herself. Katherine's heart skipped a beat looking at the black coin in her hand. Drops of sweat formed on her smooth forehead. He got one step closer to marrying her.
If Andrews couldn't defeat Ghost, her father would announce that he will marry her to Ghost. Katherine would rather die than marry that monster in human form.
"It's decided then. Ghost will go to the semifinals directly" James Hall said as the participants felt relieved. After seeing what he did to Alex and Peter, of them wanted to face him in a battle.
Andrews on the other hand had a mixed feeling. He was glad that he didn't have to face Ghost in the quarter-final but he was troubled thinking that he needed to eventually face him.
"Now without further delay, let's begin the quarter-finals" Darius's voice reverberated through the arena. As usual, the Body Strengthening stage warriors came to the battle stage to pick their opponents while Core Formation participants were busy strategizing.
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"It's time for us to witness the final fight of the day" The crowd wasn't as excited as before when the last fight had Ghost.
"Let's have thunderous cheers for our competitors, Paul Oswen and Andrew Winston"
"Andrew has become the dark horse of the competition guys" Ishihara commented while waiting for Andrew and Paul to come to the battle stage.
"Yes, it's really stunning to see a runemaster with level 3 Core Formation stage cultivation to come this far" Ishihara nodded as James Hall continued,
"Many commoners even root for Andrew. People seemed to love underdogs"
"I can see a resolution in Andrew's eyes. It's like he's fighting for something, something valuable and bigger than the championship title and the rewards" Darius's words echoed in Katherine's mind. Andrew was fighting for her, no one knew that except her.
"Humph, underdogs are good for entertainment but not for life" King Bredia snickered. He wanted Ghost to win the tournament so he could make him the baron of Bradford barony and marry Katherine to him. If Ghost married Katherine, he knew Ghost would protect his daughter as a good husband should. No matter what he would only marry his daughter to a warrior who could protect Katherine in all situations.
"The last time Andrew fought, he didn't seem like an underdog to me. He defeated his opponent with a single spell" Ishihara reminded everyone of Andrew's third round fight,
"Ghost had the longest fight with Peter and Alex while Andrew had the shortest fight" James Hall paused for a moment and continued,
"Everyone knew Noah Winston" the moment James Hall uttered the name Noah, the entire arena shook in thunderous cheers. The commoners screamed his name as loud as they could. The three commentators had to go silent for a few moments. Michael had the undying support of River town because he took care of River town, a small town. Noah however helped and took care of several small towns, villages, and hundreds or even thousands of commoners in his life. After becoming a Guardian, he had the authority and the resources to really help people as well as punish the evil.
Hence commoners loved Noah. The admiration towards Noah was still growing up among the commoners.
"Andrew's cousin is a warrior prodigy but no one knew Andrew was just as talented as his Guardian cousin. They were both blessed with specializations too" After the cheers died down, James Hall spoke
"They are here"
Before Ishihara could speak about Paul Oswen, both the participants landed on the battle stage.
"I always thought I would end up fighting your cousin but never thought I would face you," Paul smiled. He didn't radiate any pride or haughtiness or arrogance.
"Life is strange that way Paul"
"The spell you used earlier, was that a Legendary one?"
Many people gasped in shock just by hearing the word Legendary. Even nobles leaned forwards to hear Andrew's answer.
"I was not that fortunate Paul, it was an Epic spell. I enhanced it with a few runes"
Paul's brows arched up as he nodded. He then looked up at the coordinators,
"Shall we start the battle? I have places to be" Paul asked the coordinators before turning his gaze back to Andrew,
"There is no shame in surrendering Andrew. We, Oswens have a wedding in our family so starting it with murder will be a bad omen"
"I will give you the same advice Paul '' Andrew's words didn't make Paul mad as many expected. He just smiled. Unlike many other young masters in prominent families, Paul avoided making unnecessary enemies. He forced on cultivating and minding his own business. Because of his character, some loved him while some loathed him in the Oswen family.
"Let's begin the battle"
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Michael will be back on the next chapter. This chapter needed to be written to let the story flow smoothly.
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