Chapter 297 - Aquarius Alorde (1)
There were minor differences in the Championship's setting, mainly the security. There are double the guards now with the scanning of the people who goes inside got stricter.
"The stadium is almost full," Hope pointed out. "Where will the others go?"
Aquarius shrugged and waited for the bleachers to be filled with the people who had gathered to witness the event. It didn't take long before all the seats were taken and the gates were closed.
"What will happen now?" Elliot asked out loud with no one around him knowing what to answer.
"Good morning Avancia!" Irv shouted from the sound amplifiers. He hovered around the area with his floating island and grinned at the people. "I know, I know. There were still tons of people waiting in line, but they didn't fit inside so they had to go down."
"But we have precautionary measures for that," Zia spoke as she did her entrance. She floated beside Irv and smirked. "By each the end of the stairs that will lead to this stadium, we placed giant screens that will record and play the events of the Championship simultaneously."
"They're gonna place larger screens?"
"That has to take a lot of energy from the Casters."
"I want to see that too. I only saw the small ones, but never the large ones."
…
The entire population inside and outside of the stadium was filled with glee. Not only were the screens showing multiple angles of the stadium, they showed clear recordings. It was a magnificent sight to see for everyone who wasn't able to get inside.
"This is the power of our kingdom's newfound technology," Irv said. "Glassblade City, the most advanced city in the kingdom has developed these stones called a recorder and a player."
"Just as the name suggests, the recorders record the event while the players play it on a screen," Zia added. "Using these advanced magic, we are now starting to build a brighter future."
A loud round of applause filled the entire city. People from inside and outside of the stadium were filled with happiness after seeing the progress of their kingdom.
"With this, we will now start the Battle of the Greats," Irv announced. "Our fifth round will begin in five minutes. Champions and audience, prepare yourselves and sit tight. This will start the end of the competition."
"The intensity will double, and the thrill will be multiplied even more!" Zia cheered. "I am so excited. For a short break, we will first let the Champions condition themselves. They're all in it for a surprise. And everyone else too, watch out."
The two hosts rushed out of the air and into their designated balcony, which was the one below the judges. There were looks of seriousness in their faces that started to worry Elliot, making him gulp and sweat in fear.
"It's fine," Aquarius said. "It's probably just a threat."
Just as the hosts said, five minutes had passed before they hovered back on the air again. Irv had a wide grin on his face while Zia was shaking her head, a smirk plastered on her face.
"I feel something bad about this," Ed whispered. "I feel like something's about to pop out and surprise us all."
"I have here," Irv raised his hand that held a piece of paper. "The list of participants and the type match. What will it be?"
"First, let us see who our lucky participants are!" Zia announced. She raised her right hand with the scepter and a screen appeared behind her.
[ Battle of the Champions
- Round Five -
Veena Night
Aquarius Alorde
Susan Freet
Barbara Sweet
… ]
While his teammates were shocked that his name showed up, Aquarius held a stoic expression. "I'll be done with this soon."
The blue-haired man smiled at his teammates before he walked down from their balcony. The other Champions did the same, walking down until they reached the field where the event will take place.
It was odd that the mages didn't arrange anything for the match. There was silence that wafted the air, both the crowd and the hosts were not speaking.
It wasn't until all nine Champions walk down the stairs that Irv spoke, "As you can see, Vulture Torch Guild was eliminated in the Battle of the Champions due to a violation. They will be moved to the rank before the impostor attacked them."
"And speaking of impostor," Zia added. "We have received information from the Raven Justice himself, that the police worked hard and thoroughly to eliminate the threat."
The whispers filled the crowd again. They were discussing amongst themselves what could the woman mean by her words. Was the impostor subdued? Or was she killed.
"Long story short, the police and the officers hunted the woman," Irv said. "She was killed and we are now free from breaching threats. Our guards are working harder and harder day by day to protect everyone."
"Damn these people," Connor spat like poison. He was mad, and it showed. He didn't even try to hide his anger while he stared at the hosts. "They took the credit by themselves. That's not how it should happen."
"What?" Minos quirked his brow and crossed his arm knowingly. "What do you want to say to the people? That the person who was powerful enough to breach the competition and battled a lot of Adventurers was killed by someone stronger?"
"You're going to scare them even more," Midnight muttered. "I know the Raven Justice and he doesn't want something like this to happen. Him taking the credit for something he didn't do takes a lot of guts for him to do."
"Why do it then?" Ed scoffed. "He should be telling the truth right now. He should be facing the crowd and tell them that we're in a war."
"And what?" Minos chuckled sarcastically. "And tell everyone that the world is in a dangerous position? We need the Championship of the Greats as a stepping stone to unlock the Twilight Bless. If the crowd doesn't want the Championship, there will be no Twilight Bless."
"I hope everyone understands," Midnight sighed. "Everything is planned by the King, Raven Justice and the Holy Crow. Polschk is helping them out to save our realm, I hope you understand that."
"I-I think I get it now," Ed said while him and Connor looked down in shame. They both scratched the back of their heads, embarrassed for suddenly lashing out like that.
"It's starting," Minos finished the conversation by distracting everyone.
"And now that everyone knows that they're safe, let the ball in!" Zia yelled, raising her hand to the side where two large horses were dragging a wagon that had a cloth covering above it.
There was one guard who took out the covering and the roof of the wagon, showing a large green sphere that was placed in a grotesque-looking metal stand.
"The hell is that?" Ed scrunched his face after seeing the large item.
"For this round, we will all see how powerful our Champions' strongest attack is!" Irv excitedly said. "This is a magic measuring device. This will measure how much magic is in an attack. So far in the history if the Batrle of the Champions, the highest record is 109,337, and this was recorded for over seven decades ago."
"Very interesting," Zia continued. "This event will appear twice in every decade. This means that there were fourteen Battle of the Champions before that didn't break this record."
"I wanna hear your thoughts," Irv said. "Will this year be the year that the record for the Magic Measuring Device Round be broken?"
The crowd was filled with hollers and cheers, clapping loudly and some whistling in anticipation. They were all excited to see the capabilities of the Champions by how strong their magic are."
"Alright, the first on the list is Veena Night from the Alpha Blasters Guild," Irv said. A woman with a long straight hair walked in front of the large ball. "When I count to three, I want you to blast your strongest magic into this ball. Is that okay?"
"Is this durable?" Veena smirked. The host just shrugged and floated away slowly, preparing to give the signal to the woman.
"Let us start," Irv said. "In three, two, one, attack!"
Veena raised her palm in front of her, sparks of yellow light trailed from her foot and into her palms. "Direct Lightning!"
The yellow sparks fired a thick and fast lightning. It was directed on the ball, charging it as a group of holographic numbers started counting her magic.
"And Veena has, 30,711!" Zia cheered. "This is a good start. Our average is only 21,000 and our first Champion has passed that fully!"
"For our second Champion, we have Aquarius Alorde!" Irv yelled, raising her hand to let the man walk closer to the ball. "Alright, let's do this, three, two, one–"
"I want to go last," Aquarius said.
Irv stopped and tilted his head, "W-What?"
"Let's draw lots, I'll go last," Aquarius said confidently.. "I want to give everyone a chance before I destroy this gem."