A Bug In Fate

It was now afternoon in Umbersoul as the sun hung in the middle of the sky, and five duels had decided which participants would advance to the next round.

Alice looked at the audience with an amused smile. Some were whispering among themselves, while many people were eating their snacks. The children’s eyes were brimming with excitement and happiness after witnessing so many amazing spells.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will take a short break as the participants need to rest, and some of them are even injured." Her gaze lingered on Rain, who had small cuts all over his body.

The crowd didn’t object this time, as they could see that most of the participants had already used a large portion of their mana.

On the ground, the participants were given healing potions, as even a small wound could become the cause of one’s defeat. Alden was the only one who declined the potion because he was completely untouched. His clothes were still clean, and if he wasn’t standing among the other participants, many would have doubted whether he was even a participant.

Even if he had been injured, there was a high chance that he would still have rejected the potion, as it could weaken a cultivator’s foundation due to the impurities contained in most potions.

While the participants were being healed, Alice’s gaze swept over the crowd as she smiled.

"My dear audience, while they are resting, I will tell you what will happen in the third and final round."

She paused for a moment, giving the crowd enough time to build tension and anticipation.

"Tell us!"

"What is the final round going to be?"

"Come on, don’t keep us waiting!"

"Is it going to be another duel?"

"I want to see all five fight at once!"

"Five people in the final round... this is going to be interesting!"

The arena quickly became filled with voices as everyone began discussing their own guesses. Some leaned forward with curiosity, while others shouted their questions toward Alice.

Alice simply smiled as she watched their reactions, clearly enjoying the anticipation she had created.

"Well..." she finally said, her voice echoing throughout the arena. "Why don’t I tell you?"

She smiled as she faced the crowd, clearly enjoying the anticipation that had filled the arena.

"The last round will be quite interesting, because this time, the participants won’t only have to fight each other, but..." She paused, letting the tension build for another moment before continuing. "They will also have to fight monsters that we captured specifically for this round."

The entire arena fell silent for a moment as everyone processed her words.

Then—

"Hooo!"

"Let’s go!"

"Now that’s interesting!"

"How many monsters will there be? Haha!"

The crowd erupted with excitement. After watching the participants fight each other, the thought of seeing them fight actual monsters had only made their anticipation grow.

The participants, however, had completely different reactions.

They knew how to fight monsters, but exactly how many would they have to face? More importantly, Alice hadn’t said they would only be fighting monsters.

Did that mean they would have to fight each other while dealing with the monsters at the same time?

"This is getting troublesome..." Elara muttered.

Her gaze slowly shifted toward someone standing nearby with a completely relaxed posture.

As if this guy wasn’t enough... Sigh. It seems we’ll have to fight monsters while also being careful of another monster.

She couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

She wasn’t the only one thinking that way. Liam and the other participants also looked toward Alden, their expressions becoming complicated.

Unlike them, Alden simply stood there calmly, as if Alice hadn’t just announced anything particularly troublesome.

Floating in the air, Alice’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction, as this was exactly the reaction she had expected.

"Yes, they will have to fight each other while also fighting the monsters," she said, confirming the rules.

"The round will continue for thirty minutes. Once the time is up, everyone will be automatically teleported out of the battlefield, regardless of whether all the monsters have been killed or not."

People looked confused, but they waited for her to explain further.

Alice, meanwhile, seemed to be enjoying their reactions as a smile remained on her face and her voice echoed throughout the arena.

"You might be wondering how the winner will be decided, right?" she asked, and several people nodded.

"This round will be based on points. And how do they gain points? It’s simple—by killing monsters. The more monsters one kills, the more points they gain, and those points will be displayed on the screen above."

She raised her hand toward the screen where the participants’ names had been displayed earlier.

As Alice finished speaking, the screen changed, and the names of the five participants appeared, with a 0 displayed in front of each name.

It didn’t take long for everyone to understand that those were their points, which would increase as they killed monsters.

Alice waited for the crowd’s attention to return to her before continuing.

"And there’s one more interesting thing..." She smiled. "Monsters aren’t the only way to gain points."

The crowd became curious as Alice continued.

"They can also eliminate each other, and whoever eliminates another participant will receive half of the points that person has collected."

The crowd erupted once again, their voices echoing throughout the arena.

"That’s it! Let’s go!"

"This is amazing!"

"You’re the best host, even though this is my first time coming to a tournament!"

Alice’s lips twitched at the last comment, but she maintained her smile as amusement swirled in her eyes.

"And that’s not all. As I mentioned earlier, they will have thirty minutes to collect points, whether by killing monsters or eliminating other participants. Once the time is up, everyone will be teleported out, and the round will end."

She paused briefly before delivering the final rule.

"The number of points each participant collects during those thirty minutes will decide the winner of this tournament."

A wind blew across the arena as everyone fell silent.

Alice didn’t disturb them, giving the crowd time to understand the rules they had just heard.

For a few moments, the arena remained completely silent.

Then, one by one, excitement began to appear in their eyes.

Everyone had finally realized what this final round meant.

It wasn’t simply a battle.

It was a race for points, where every monster and every participant could become a target.

The crowd remained silent for a few moments as everyone processed the rules, but the silence didn’t last long.

"Wait... they can steal points from each other?"

"HAHA! Now that’s interesting!"

"So they don’t even have to focus on monsters. They can hunt the other participants instead!"

"Then the strongest participant will have a huge advantage!"

"Not necessarily! Someone could avoid fighting and focus on killing monsters."

"Thirty minutes... that’s more than enough time for things to get crazy!"

"Who do you think will have the most points?"

"There’s no way to predict it. Anything can happen in thirty minutes!"

The excitement in the arena continued to rise as people began discussing different strategies, while some were already choosing their favourites.

"Rain! You better get as many points as possible!"

"ELARA!"

"Amon!"

"LIAM!"

"Let’s see who becomes the champion!"

The cheers grew louder, and the atmosphere that had been quiet only moments ago was once again filled with excitement and anticipation.

Alice watched the crowd with a satisfied smile, clearly pleased with their reaction.

Alice smiled at their enthusiasm before nodding toward a certain direction, where her classmates were standing. She signaled to them, and two of them immediately walked away.

Her gaze then returned to the audience as she slowly raised her hand, causing the crowd to fall silent. It seemed their host still had something to say.

"There’s still one question left unanswered, right?" she asked, a mysterious smile appearing on her face. "And that is... how many monsters are going to be there?"

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"Instead of telling you, why don’t you see them with your own eyes?"

She then gestured toward one side of the arena.

The crowd fell silent, but their eyes immediately lit up with excitement and anticipation as they followed her gaze.

At the entrance of the arena, where the participants had entered earlier, two figures were walking inside. They were students of Nebulon Academy and Alice’s classmates, the same two who had walked away moments earlier.

At first, the crowd didn’t understand why they were there.

Then their gazes slowly shifted behind them.

Their expressions changed.

The crowd wasn’t looking at the two students anymore.

They were looking at what was coming behind them.

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