The thunderous ovation from the crowd showed absolutely no signs of dying down when the commentators' voices once again echoed throughout the entire colosseum.
"MAGNIFICENT!" Hart roared, his voice dripping with pure excitement. "Team Barley is single-handedly making this entire tournament baseline chaotic and thrilling, Barnet!"
Barnet nodded in profound agreement. "Indeed, Hart. The sheer intensity of this year's festival already feels worlds apart from the previous year."
Hart let out a sharp chuckle. "If I were to make a prediction right now, the finals will undoubtedly be a historic clash between Thoe Alastrina and Kyra Zevienthe."
"Don't count your chickens just yet," Barnet countered smoothly. "Princess Kyra has yet to even step onto the battlefield. In a high-stakes festival like this, surprises are always lurking around the corner."
Hart nodded, acknowledging the point. "Fair enough. And now, moving swiftly to the next matchup! We have Team Jio Kongo facing off against Team Lawey Gon!"
The Competitors' Waiting Room
Back in the designated waiting lounge, the atmosphere was drastically more relaxed and celebratory.
"That was amazing, Reika!" Alisa raised her hand high in the air, a bright grin on her face.
Reika matched her energy, lifting his hand. Slap! The two of them shared a crisp, high-five.
"Hey, what about me?" Zian protested, a half-playful, half-pouting expression on his face.
Reika let out a rare, subtle smile, stepping forward to loop an arm around Zian's shoulders. "Relax."
Zian looked at him, his eyes practically gleaming with hope. "Teach me your ways, man. Seriously, I still feel like I'm lagging behind."
"You're already plenty strong," Reika answered honestly.
With a shared grin, Reika and Zian slammed their palms together in an enthusiastic high-five.
Alisa chuckled at the display. "Hey, you two want to head out and watch the next match?"
"Duh, absolutely!" Zian cheered.
"Let's go," Reika replied concisely.
Match: Jio Kongo vs. Lawey Gon
Out on the sands of the arena, the two subsequent teams traded relentless, punishing blows. The battlefield became a chaotic blur of mana detonations, clashing steel, and spells colliding to neutralize one another, keeping the audience completely spellbound.
However, as the match dragged into its final seconds, sheer exhaustion became the ultimate deciding factor.
Team Lawey Gon successfully managed to bring down their opponents at the exact millisecond Team Jio Kongo's mana reserves completely dried up.
"MATCH OVER!" the referee's voice boomed. "THE WINNER—TEAM LAWEY GON!"
Hart clapped his hands enthusiastically. "An absolutely grueling battle of attrition!"
Barnet nodded in sheer admiration. "A razor-thin victory. Jio Kongo actually had a solid path to win, but running out of mana at such a crucial juncture proved fatal."
"And now!" Hart's voice spiked to a deafening crescendo. "The final match leading directly into the coveted semifinals!"
"TEAM PRINCESS KYRA ZEVIENTHE vs. TEAM SECOND PRINCE SARARIN KIRO GALEREST!"
The colosseum erupted into a deafening, earth-shattering roar.
Princess Kyra stood at the absolute front of her formation, her striking features completely calm, steady, and cold.
"Leon," she commanded softly. "Wait for my signal. Freeze the entire arena."
Leon offered a thin, confident smirk. "Way ahead of you. I was thinking the exact same thing."
Kyra turned her gaze slightly toward another teammate. "Bortos, do not squander your mana needlessly. Save the bulk of it for the finals."
"Understood," Tristan replied shortly.
"Rina," Kyra continued seamlessly, "activate your heal booster the absolute moment I initiate my assault."
"Right away, Your Highness," Rina answered with a respectful bow.
On the opposite side of the battlefield, Prince Galerest flaunted a wide, mocking smirk. "Hello there, Princess Kyra. Feeling a bit nervous?"
"Fear?" Kyra shot back, her voice dropping to a freezing sub-zero tone. "That word doesn't exist in my vocabulary."
"Fascinating," Galerest laughed haughtily. "Ready to taste defeat?"
Kyra offered a brief glance toward Leon, completely ignoring the prince's bait. "Too much talking."
Leon instantly raised his hand, his eyes flashing. "Glacier Ice—Freeze the Land!"
A sudden, violent wave of frost erupted across the stone floor. The ground beneath Team Galerest's feet froze solid in the blink of an eye, trapping them.
"Damn it—!"
"Ice Sword—Dual Burst!"
Before they could break free, two members of Galerest's team were struck cleanly, collapsing instantly and rendered entirely incapable of movement.
Kyra lunged forward, a blade woven from shimmering, concentrated light materializing in her grip, pointing directly at Galerest's face. "Now, it's just you. Surrender."
Galerest bared his teeth in a bitter, defiant grin. "Wind Gale Barrier!"
Kyra swiftly backflipped to create distance as the violent gust erupted.
"Wind Chakram!" Galerest roared, hurling a spinning disc of razor-sharp air.
"Ice Wall!" Leon countered, erecting a thick barrier of frost in front of his princess.
The flying wind chakram sliced clean through the ice wall—its residual trajectory still managed to clip Kyra.
"Augh!" Kyra winced slightly as the force grazed her.
"Heal!" Rina barked instantly.
A soothing, radiant light blanketed Kyra's form, sealing the shallow wound within seconds.
"Thank you," Kyra muttered under her breath. "Light Velocity Movement."
In a literal blink, her silhouette vanished into thin air, reappearing directly in the blind spot behind Galerest.
"What?!"
Her blade of light swung down in a lethal arc, but it was abruptly halted by a condensed shield of wind.
"Too close!" Galerest gasped, sweat dripping down his temple.
"Ice Lance!" Leon bellowed from afar.
"Light Slash!" Kyra capitalized instantly.
The dual onslaught of piercing ice and blinding light converged upon him simultaneously. Galerest staggered backward, his defenses completely overwhelmed and fracturing under the pressure.
"Sial!"
"Now," Kyra commanded coldly. "Bortos."
"Dual Iron Walls—Crushing Pincer!"
Two massive, monolithic walls of solid iron erupted violently from his left and right, converging to trap him like a vice.
"Wind Pressure!" Galerest yelled, desperately trying to manifest enough air currents to push the crushing iron back... before finally letting out a heavy, defeated sigh. "...I surrender."
"Dispel," Bortos ordered flatly.
The towering iron walls vanished into particles of light.
"MATCH OVER! THE WINNER—TEAM KYRA ZEVIENTHE!"
A deafening storm of cheers shook the very foundations of the colosseum.