In the final phase, the team from the top power-bracket had to duel the other teams, starting from the team in the lowest power bracket. If the team from the top bracket won all duels, they would be the overall winner. But if they lost any duel, then the other winning team would continue to duel the remaining teams; the final standing winner would be deemed the overall winner.
Unsurprisingly to many, the top-power-bracket winner was Crown Prince Rian and his team. Crown Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood had scary levels of magic recovery—that, or scary levels of baseline magic. When other teams were starting to lag towards the end of the tournament, despite all the magical-energy recovery potions, those two were just as powerful as day one.
After all the duels in all the power-brackets were completed, there was a break, before everyone returned to the Imperial Palace’s duelling stadium.
The winners of the five power-brackets all gathered just off the main stage.
King Edric and Queen Mira walked onto that stage to address the stadium.
“Welcome to the final stage of the team duelling tournament,” Queen Mira said. “First, let us applaud all the participants.”
Everyone in the stadium clapped.
“Firstly, we will award the winners of each power-bracket,” King Edric said. “From the fifth power bracket, I invite onto the stage…”
One by one, teams walked onto the stage and received a medal and applause from the audience.
Alexius and his team went up to receive their medals, and then Ayden and his team went up. Rian gave Alexius a smile; Alexius smiled back just as falsely.
“To determine the final winners of the team-duelling tournament, each team in the lower bracket has an opportunity to duel against the winner of the top bracket,” Queen Mira said. “Let us begin.”
Alexius and the other teams moved off to the side to their dedicated seating, while the fifth power bracket winners and Ayden’s team descended onto the duelling field.
Alexius leaned forward in his seat. Thump. After one year, he and his team were going to duel against Ayden again.
“Let the duel begin!”
Metal chains and fire flashed across the field. This was soon followed by a storm of ice. In less than five minutes, the first duel was over.
“The duel has now ended, with victory to Crown Prince Azure and his team!”
All teams returned to the stage area while maintenance mages rushed in to check the condition of the duelling field before the next duel commenced.
“Let the duel begin!”
Alexius’s heart thumped faster as he watched. He clenched his fists. He and his team already had their strategy chat. They knew what they wanted to do, and how they wanted to defeat Ayden’s team.
Ice and fire came down like a hammer.
“The duel has now ended, with victory to Crown Prince Azure and his team!”
“Let the duel begin!”
FLASH-BOOM!
“The duel has now ended, with victory to Crown Prince Azure and his team!”
Alexius jolted, still have stunned from the lightning. It was his team’s turn now!
“And now, we are onto the final duel of the tournament,” Queen Mira said. “From the second power bracket, Prince Alexius, Lord Günter Blewitt, Lord Tierri Mauveine, and Lady Adrienne Obsidian, step forward.”
Alexius and his friends stepped forward together, onto the same stage as Ayden, Rian, Baltasar and Prince Pollux.
“Do both teams agree to magically duel?” Queen Mira asked.
“We agree.”
“Mage personnel, cast and check the personal shields.”
His Imperial Father gave him an encouraging nod after he cast the personal shield on Alexius.
Alexius’s eyes were firm.
“Teams, take your positions.”
Alexius, Tierri, Adrienne and Günter stepped onto the floating platform, and then onto the duelling field.
Alexius met Ayden’s eyes across the field.
Queen Mira’s voice filled the stadium: “Let the duel begin!”
Tierri established their telepathic team connection while Adrienne, Alexius and Günter immediately targeted Rian.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Alexius was realistic about their chances of winning. He knew that although targeting Baltasar and Prince Pollux first was good on paper, the previous duels had shown that Ayden and his team had already factored this in their tactics. The choice of the first person to target had to involve more than just power level.
And Alexius really really wanted to knock Rian out.
Bam bam bam! Ice and shadow and water slammed into a shield.
C ogjmalbc bo j rfmbcv ijafg, atf rtlfiv ibkfgfv jcv Uglcmf Ubiiez’r mtjlcr jcv Djiajrjg’r aklralcu olgf gbqfr rtba atgbeut atf fzqibrlbc vfyglr.
Klfggl delmxis obiibkfv eq klat j rtlfiv ab vlnfga atf jaajmxr mbwlcu yjmx ja atfw, ktlif Cvglfccf abbx atf jlg jcv ijecmtfv j rfglfr bo rtjvbk jggbkr. Ktf jggbkr yegca eq lc j rtlfiv bo oijwfr.
Decoy! Attack Baltasar! Alexius commanded. Don’t get too close!
Got it, Adrienne replied.
Tierri broke the duelling field into rocks, and the afternoon sun made long shadows across the duelling field. Adrienne’s hands shifted, and the shadows grew even more intense. In a split second, they became jagged and raced straight for Baltasar!
Alexius and Günter worked together to produce a huge wave of sharp ice. Crack crack bam FWOSH!
CRACK—BOOM!
Prince Pollux’s metal chains broke up the ice, while Baltasar’s fire turned the ice attack into steam. Meanwhile, Ayden’s lightning flash completely obliterated Adrienne’s shadows.
Alexius immediately followed up with his secret attack: earth magic below Rian’s feet!
Rian smirked, flying into the air to avoid Alexius’s attack.
“Ah!” Tierri suddenly cried out.
What happened? Alexius asked, while casting ice arrows.
The… “The link! Someone is attacking—” Tierri pressed a hand against his temple, while the rocks he had been holding up crashed to the ground.
Rian, it’s him! Alexius immediately put up a complete magic shield around Tierri, cutting off Rian’s magic connection.
In a split second, the battle changed. Chains sparkling with lightning and ropes of fire shot across the field again, this time aiming for Adrienne.
Adrienne swiftly dodged in the air,
Ayden’s fire blasted towards Alexius. Alexius gritted his teeth and formed another shield to block Ayden’s attack. His stomach dropped when he felt his shield around Tierri breaking up—
“Prince Rian Azure has taken out Lord Tierri Mauveine!”
The telepathic connection between the remaining three of them immediately weakened.
Stick to the plan, Alexius told Adrienne and Günter.
Yes!
Adrienne latched onto the shadow of the stadium wall that fell onto the duelling field and made it bigger and bigger, pulling it across the duelling field. Everything within that shadow was under her control.
Alexius and Günter worked together. Günter produced attacks of water and ice, while Alexius narrowed his eyes and cast lightning down.
ZZING!!!
Rian blocked Alexius and Günter with a thick wall of earth. Then, fire rose over that wall and cascaded onto the ground like lava and crashed over the shadows on the ground.
Rian’s earth shield broke into pieces and turned into moving projectiles targeting Adrienne and Alexius. Prince Pollux, in his wheelchair, flew up. Lightning-wrapped metal chains crisscrossed the air, forcing Adrienne to dodge them and the earth pieces. And then—clink-clink-clink!
The chains struck Adrienne and wrapped around tightly. Adrienne struggled for a split second, then tried to manipulate the chains’ shadows to take down Prince Pollux. But Prince Pollux’s lightning was faster.
“Prince Pollux Lūpiter has taken out Lady Adrienne Obsidian!”
Alexius gritted his teeth. Should he try to knock out Baltasar or Prince Pollux? No! He had to defeat Rian!
Time seemed to slow down as Alexius saw Rian move, forming a magical ice attack. As those knives of ice hurtled towards him, Alexius felt a burst of internal power, as though something had unlocked within himself. He suddenly felt like he understood direct magic manipulation, that he understood the world.
His magic surged out, instinctively pulling water and magic from the air. With a growl, Alexius pushed that magic, all his magic, and formed the most powerful magic-ice beam he had ever made. It had to work, he was going to hit Rian!
The magic-ice beam completely swallowed up Rian’s attack. Alexius formed the tightest point he could and pierced through Rian’s shield with a crash of magic and ice.
The crowd roared.
Just a bit more—
Alexius’s eyes widened as Ayden suddenly moved between the attack and Rian. Ayden’s red eyes glowed as his fire magic latched onto Alexius’s attack and wrestled over for control.
Shocked, Alexius’s control loosened for a fraction of second. In less than the blink of an eye, Ayden stopped the ice beam and turned the ice into super-hot steam. The steam flooded back to Alexius, and lightning crackled through the vaporous water.
Alexius was absolutely spent. He tried to dodge, but the attack was too wide.
“Earl Ayden Rosewood has taken out Prince Alexius Azure!”
No!
Alexius felt a crashing sense of loss as he was magically pulled out of the duelling field.
Günter, the only one remaining, started to curse. He formed an ice shield. The shield went up in steam, which turned into a super-hot wind attack.
“Earl Ayden Rosewood has taken out Lord Günter Blewitt! The duel has now ended, with victory to Crown Prince Rian Azure and his team!” Queen Mira announced.
Loud applause filled the stadium.
When Alexius saw his friends again, standing on the stage, he felt extremely disappointed in himself and also very guilty.
If only he had been stronger, then they wouldn’t have lost, or wouldn’t have lost so badly. Maybe he was wrong to target Rian, maybe they should have tried to target Baltasar or Prince Pollux instead.
Ayden and his team returned to the main stage. Ayden took the lead in walking over and holding out his hand.
Alexius grasped it.
“Good duel,” Ayden said. “You almost had Rian there.”
Alexius bit back his knee-jerk response (why did you have to protect him?) and said, “Good duel, you were awe-inspiring.” He let go of Ayden’s hand and shook Rian’s hand. “Congratulations on winning, brother.”
“Thank you, Alexius,” Rian replied.
Alexius felt very reluctant as he and his team were ushered off the stage.
King Edric stepped forward. “The winner of Sedaveria’s inaugural team tournament is Crown Prince Rian, and his team Prince Pollux Lūpiter, Earl Ayden Rosewood, and Baron Baltasar Cordovan! Give the team a round of applause!”
The claps and cheers became even louder.
Prime Minister Duke Mauveine came over and handed Rian a big shiny trophy.
“That is all, this tournament has ended, thank you all for your attendance,” Duke Mauveine said.
With that, the stadium was full of chatter and movement.
Queen Mira walked over to Alexius and gave him a good look over.
“Don’t worry, the personal shield still held,” Alexius said.
“Magical exhaustion?” Queen Mira asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Alexius said. He looked past her, his gaze going to Ayden who was approaching. “Ayden!”
Queen Mira: “…”
Ayden quirked up his lips. “Yes?”
“I have so many things I want to talk to you about,” Alexius said.
“Maybe at a quieter place,” Ayden said.
Alexius nodded. “Okay, how about my quarters?”
Rian: “…”
“Try harder next time,” Rian said.
Alexius snorted. “If it weren’t for Ayden, I would have taken you out.”
“How sure are you about that?” Rian countered.
“If you weren’t going to be taken out, Ayden wouldn’t have blocked for you,” Alexius retorted.
Queen Mira: “…”
“Thank you for organising the tournament,” Baltasar said.
Alexius nodded politely. “Did you enjoy it?”
Baltasar nodded and smiled. “Yes. When are you planning the next one?”
“Next time, we should have a season-long tournament series,” Alexius said seriously. “We can have a round of duels every Saturday and Sunday and then teams won’t need to duel back-to-back.”
“That sounds like a lot of work,” Ayden said.
Alexius lifted his chin. “I’m not a child anymore, I can organise things too.”
Ayden smiled faintly. “Good. Come on.”
The big group headed out of the staging area.
Hadrian quickly walked over. “How are you, Your Highness?” his eyes going to Prince Pollux.
“I’m well,” Prince Pollux said.
“We’re going to Prince Alexius’s quarters,” Ayden said.
“Join us,” Alexius said generously. He was much better than his big brother.
Then, Baltasar’s siblings joined in, then Florence, then Nicola Storm and her friends—
—and thus, Alexius ended up having an after-duel “party” in his quarters, full of discussions about the duels they fought in or had watched. It was super fun and lively.
Alexius sat next to Ayden and asked him many questions about all of Ayden’s different battle moves, and he even took out a small notebook (gifted by Ayden) to make notes.
His sadness about losing faded away, replaced with a new-found determination to do even better next time!
That evening after the tournament, there was a big celebratory feast at the Imperial Palace.
From where he sat, King Edric could see the entire hall. His eyes rested for a moment on Earl Rosewood, seated between Rian and Alexius.
His wife, Queen Mira, had been talking to him about everything Earl Rosewood was doing these days, including his contribution to the kingdom and how he was supporting Rian and Alexius. Earl Rosewood wasn’t a bad person, but that didn’t mean Earl Rosewood was suitable to marry Rian.
He had seen how Earl Rosewood had protected Rian in a split second.
King Edric grudgingly felt approval for Earl Rosewood’s move. In retrospect, he also knew that Earl Rosewood had taken the majority of the attack from King Augustus last year, sparing Rian major injuries…
This didn’t mean that King Edric accepted Earl Rosewood! It just meant that he might consider putting Earl Rosewood on probation.
Prince Alexius evolved broke through to the next power stage!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to defeat Ren Xiyang (ᴗ_ᴗ) 😮💨
King Edric: Why does your notebook pages have dots in them?
Queen Mira: Oh, this is a notebook gifted tome by Earl Rosewood. It makes it simpler to draw diagrams and ensures straight writing with ease. If you want one, I can ask him.
King Edric: …*gits teeth* Don’t you have several? Give one to me.
Queen Mira: *smirk* Yes, Your Majesty.
website | tumblr | twitter | email newsletter
that was a protagonist-worthy move, alexius!
Alexius is meant to be the male lead of this novel 😉😉
Omg King Edric has fallen into Ren Xiyang’s trap: amazingly efficient work methods!
Also, I’m so proud of Alexius! And that scene with Queen Mira was so funny! Ditched in favor of Earl Rosewood, and she can’t even be mad cause she’d do the same 🤣
Ren Xiyang is just so productive, and when you compare him with other nobles, he looks even better in comparison 😆😆😆
Alexius worked hard and did well! And poor Queen Mira 😆😆😆😆
Probation… how long that will last, I wonder? 🤣🤣 I think he’ll also be conquered soon…
teehehehe
Holy (insert word of choice)!!!! I was half way through reading Salted Fish before I realized that YOU wrote that one too!!! 😳😮😳😮😳
Stunned, I tell you, I was stunned!! On another note can I have your autograph 😁🙏😁🙏?
Hahahah can you tell how both Ren Xiyang and Wen Zhihao photosynthesise? 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆
You could have my autograph, if I had one to give 😆
I had the “the woman was too stunned to speak” meme in mind when the queen was ignored by both sons😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Ren Xiyang is just too awesome!!!
King Edric is so calm his first time seeing a dot journal! (i was feral for a few weeks)
🤣🤣🤣🤣 dot grid notebooks are great~
Calm me evil, but I really like how detached from reality and deluded King Edric is I can keep my Schadenfreude on overdrive and snicker at him forever 😈🤣Also, not bad, Alexius, not bad! He’s growing up! Maybe he’ll even mary Adrienne…🥰
HAHAHAHA poor King Edric? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Alexius is indeed growing up~
Congratulations to Alexius on evolving, er, breaking through! 🤣
Ren Xiyang is awesome, as always.
Hadrian is worrying about Pollux! I’m sure it’s just subject loyalty…
Thank you for the update.
Yes, congrats to Alexius~
Oh Hadrian, oh Hadrian 😏