The fight between Venessa and her Frozen Sun opponent ended a lot sooner than was expected. However, it can be mostly attributed to the excellent strategic lineup of the Frozen Sun staff, they knew which of their students would have the most advantageous time against her, and chose to have him go first.
Moreover, since only 3 contracts at a time could be summoned in Phase One, Dark Moon hadn’t known that this particular participant would be so difficult for Venessa to handle since this ice golem and another powerful contract weren’t revealed in Phase One, nor did he participate in any of the earlier Phase Two matches.
Did they intentionally not reveal much of their strength in Phase One to bank on a higher ranking in Phase Two?
If so, Kain had to admire their guts. If anything went wrong and Frozen Sun had a lackluster performance in both phases, they may be the subject of unfavorable public scrutiny.
Although being part of the top 5 colleges comes with many privileges and resources, it also comes with a lot of pressure. Kain vaguely remembered the adults in his hometown ranting about Starfire College losing a single match in Phase One against a “no-name school” many years ago.
Of course, that “no-name school” was Black Star College, which has consistently held a rank between 6 and 7 for decades, but the fact that Starfire dared to lose to a school outside of the top 5 was a great source of shame for all the people of the Southern region at the time.
Therefore, for Frozen Sun to gamble with their Phase One rankings like this to maybe perform better in Phase Two was risky…
However, despite the critiques over their strategy, it couldn’t be denied that their choice to conceal their strength in Phase One has led to Dark Moon being completely out strategized.
They knew much more about the Dark Moon participants than Dark Moon knew about theirs.
Kain and the audience all admired the tactical ability of Frozen Sun, and they couldn’t help but wonder about their performance in the following matches.
Suddenly the team that was expected to safely come in at fifth was showing its fangs and showing that it was aiming for a higher ranking this year.
They secured 2 higher rankings than usual for the first- and second-years in Phase One, and while limiting their strength revealed for the upper years in Phase One resulted in lower rankings for the third- and fourth-years, it increased the likelihood of attaining a better rank in Phase Two.
Dark Moon had sent Venessa first in order to secure a strong start, but now they’d lost one match, while their opponents still had 5 participants. Moreover, the boy on stage didn’t even appear too tired.
Jade took to the stage following Venessa’s defeat. Many of the members of Dark Moon shifted in their seats while watching, knowing that they should get comfortable since they would probably be in for a long and tiring match.
On one side was Jade with her perverted regenerative ability that tired out all of her opponents, if they weren’t injured by her offensively powerful contracts.
On the other side was the student from Frozen Sun, Axel Berg, whose contracts had an extremely formidable defense.
Both sides were used to battles of attrition as their enemies could seldom hurt them enough to cause a quick defeat.
Jade took the stage under the excited gazes of the audience, summoning all 5 of her contracts—3 blue-grade, and 2 green-grade.
Surprisingly, she and Axel were perfectly matched with 3 blue-grade, and 2 green-grade spiritual creatures each.
Standing at the center of the formation on Jade’s side was the blue-grade Shadowstrike Jaguar, Jade’s initial contract. The dark-attribute jaguar had a sleek, muscular frame covered in dark fur that allowed it to blend into the shadows with ease. Its glowing amber eyes exude intelligence and predatory focus, while watching their opponents.
To its left was a blue-grade massive tiger with striking orange fur and yellow, jagged stripes that looked like lightning bolts—the lightning-attribute Thunderfang Tiger. Its raw power was apparent in its muscular form, as well as based on its claws and fangs that crackled with electrical energy.
To the right of the central Shadowstrike Jaguar, was the dual Earth and Fire attribute Earthshatter Lion, and Jade’s last blue-grade contract. It had a golden, thick mane and muscular body that exuded strength and authority. Its amber eyes burned with a fierce, commanding presence, and its slow and deliberate march forward brought an intimidating feeling. movements are slow, deliberate, and incredibly powerful.
The remaining two contracts that stood on each end were green-grade: a Viperfang Lioness whose claws and fangs secreted a paralyzing venom useful for when hunting prey; and a Windstrike cheetah whose body was built for speed.
Jade wasted no time. The Shadowstrike Jaguar sprang forward, its dark body blending with the shadows as it streaked across the arena, its amber eyes glowing fiercely as it launched a deadly flurry of claw strikes toward Axel’s Ice-Golem. The Ice-Golem, made of black ice, stood motionless, its impenetrable form absorbing the hits with a resounding screech like nails on a chalkboard
“Ugh!” Many in the audience couldn’t help flinching at the unpleasant noise.
However, even the jaguar’s clearly powerful body, couldn’t break its defenses.
On the other side, the Thunderfang Tiger let loose a terrifying roar that echoed through the arena, the sound crackling with the energy of Lightning. It pounced toward Axel’s ice-attribute fox, which responded with a chilling burst of cold energy, aiming to freeze the tiger’s path.
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But the Thunderfang Tiger was faster. In a blinding flash, it sidestepped the blast and unleashed a bolt of Lightning from its claws, surging through the air to strike the Ice-Fox, sending the creature skittering back in a puff of steam.
At the same time, a rare Frost-Warden Behemoth, equal to the ice golem in height, but even broader in girth, had an icy wall surge up from the ground, blocking the Earthshatter Lion powerful assault.
Meanwhile, Axel’s remaining green-grade spiritual creatures: a Frozen Bloodhound and an Icecargot, that looks like a blue snail, met their respective green-grade opponents on Jade’s side.
Looking at the evenly matched pairings, Kain could tell that they’d be in for a long match…