"Can I leave the second match to you as well?" he asked. I grinned and showed him a thumb's up.

"Of course."

"Oho! Is Jing Tian Academy team serious? They have no intention of swapping out their individual partic.i.p.ant?"

There were a buzz of disbelieving murmurs amongst the crowd, but a few mutters of approval and understanding. There were arugments for and against having a single member fight consecutively or fielding him or her again in an individual match. The logic for it was not too hard to support, particularly when so many team captains fielded the same individual for the team match anyway.

However, there were those detractors who rightly pointed out that the current member would be exhausted from his previous fight – for example, I had clearly expended quite a bit of mana when fighting Lute Dragoon, and so I would be at a disadvantage against a fresh new individual from Saint Teresa Academy coming in to fight for the first time.

On the other hand, this was a valid strategy and there were advantages to keeping me in the field – which was why several teams (especially Saint Teresa Academy) did it. Normally it was against the rules for someone to cast spells (like summoning spells, for example) before the match begins. It was obviously against sportsmans.h.i.+p and gave the caster an unfair advantage – otherwise everyone would start casting their ultimate spell right before the match, and then walk up the stage and blew everything up from the first second.

That didn't count as a "match." If you wanted to watch people spam ultimate techniques instead of watch a fight, you might as well have them cast their spells in a range and measure the destructive power, the amount of energy released, etc. with gadgets (like how they measured the destructive power of a hydrogen bomb back during the Cold War era). You wouldn't bother with having people match their skills against each other. The whole point of holding duels was to see the dynamic, evolving battlefield where different tactics came into play.

In any case, that rule was circ.u.mvented somewhat if you were already on the stage. Obviously you couldn't expect the individual to dismiss all of the spells he had cast or was in the midst of casting during the previous duel. You might as well swap him for another member if you wanted to reset everything to zero. Of course, the advantage of him staying on the battlefield and already having spells at the ready was offset by the fact that he had already expended a lot of mana and was a lot more exhausted than his new opponent, who was fresh and rested, and still at full power.

Furthermore, many teams exploited this tactic, using the member they already had on stage as a sacrificial lamb, to ensure they would still be able to save their trump card for the team match rather than lose their ace so early in the individual matches. It was better to lose one exhausted member after he did his job and took out at least one of the opponents than to send a fresh member and risk losing her if she was defeated in the second match. In comparison, losing me in the second match wouldn't be as big a blow because not only was I unlikely to figure in the team match, I would have exhausted the second member as well and more than likely keep her out of the team match. Not a bad trade. According to theory, anyway.

And if I won, then the advantage for my team would increase further.

Kureha didn't seem to panic. She was pondering over the choice of who to send out next, and then a confident smile curled over her lips.

She was not discouraged at all by the fact that I had three Celestial Guardians summoned and ready to face her next selection. Rather, she seemed to think that everything was going according to plan. She probably knew that maintaining so many powerful Soul Beasts in existence was a ma.s.sive drain on my mana pool, and I wouldn't be able to keep them in reality for much longer. As long as she could continue to wear me out with a particularly powerful member, then I could be taken out fairly easily. The question was…who should she choose?

"Eliza."

Kureha made her decision and nodded to her cousin. In the spectator seats, I noticed Melina stiffen and clenched her hands tightly. Beside her, Adrian reached out and squeezed one of her hands, giving her some comfort and a.s.surance.

That gesture was not lost on me. I wasn't sure what the relations.h.i.+p between Eliza and Melina was, but judging from the fact that they were both from the Franklin family, I could guess somewhat the reason for Melina's tension accurately. Evidently Eliza, a member of the branch family, had been chosen and trained in the Franklin swordsmans.h.i.+p, whereas Melina had been ignominiously pa.s.sed over. It was only natural that she would hold some measure of resentment.

Melina was from the main family, whereas Eliza was from the branch family. Yet their positions and statuses were reversed…

Taking a deep breath, I forced away the sympathy I felt for Melina. Whatever her circ.u.mstances, there was currently nothing I could do for her. If I wanted to help, I could only do so after this whole tournament was over. For now, I should focus on my own battles. My priority was to help my team advance as far as possible.

Pus.h.i.+ng my gla.s.ses up my nose, I watched as Eliza climbed up the stage, she was a fairly pet.i.te girl, with shoulder-length blue hair cut into a bob, and two small stylish buns on each side of her head. Despite her diminutive size, she carried a ma.s.sive broadsword that was easily as long as she was tall, and she wielded its huge ma.s.s effortlessly.

"Eliza Franklin. I am of the Paladin cla.s.s, which is often considered the strongest cla.s.s. It is a well-roundd cla.s.s that boasts a high level of combat power and also has the ability to support allies. Thanks to my blessing, Paladins also have incredible endurance and staying power."

"Why are you ripping off that description from a light novel?" I asked dryly. "And why the h.e.l.l are you telling me all about yourself right before a battle? What kind of idiot gives away her personal information for the opponent to exploit?"

"Exploit?" Eliza smiled. "I'm afraid you misunderstand. This is merely a courtesy. So that the battle will be a bit more balanced. Even if you know about my cla.s.s and my strengths, you can't do anything about it."

"I see." I nodded in understanding. "Because the Paladin cla.s.s has no weaknesses?"

"Exactly."

Eliza's confident smile widened. Even with my Celestial Guardians still around me, I couldn't help but feel a chill. Despite being confronted by at least three gigantic monsters, Eliza showed no fear. No, rather than anxiety, she seemed extremely confident.

That meant she had a way of dealing with my Celestial Guardians. Then again, that was the Paladin's role. They were meant to extermiate monsters. Saint Teresa Academy had dedicated its curriculum to training its students – especially the top, elite students among its ranks – to slaying monsters.

My Celestial Guardians were mere obstacles to them, nothing more. It could be said that this was an extremely bad matchup for me. Paladin skills and techniques specialized in dealing with monsters, and my Constellation spirits were no exception.

Kureha had made the right choice in sending Eliza forward to finish me off as soon as possible. She would undoubtedly need to expend quite a bit of mana, so as long as I did my job and exhaust her, even if I didn't win, I would ensure that my friends wouldn't have to face a figure as powerful and skilled as Eliza in the team match.

"The second coming, was it?" I murmured to myself, recalling the data I read last night. Eliza Franklin, while still not on the same level as Kureha the Sword Saint, was recognized as one of the top students in Saint Teresa Academy. She was the Sword Saint's Second, their ace or trump card. The second in command who would take charge and lead the team should Kureha fall in battle (like the last time when I defeated Cain and the whole Adorno Academy fell apart during the team match because they didn't have a proper second).

If she was allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the team match, our chances of winning would be drastically reduced. In fact, Harrison had antic.i.p.ated Kureha sending her out, and because he didn't want to risk losing a member against her, he kept me in the ring. Of course, if I failed to wear her down, Kureha would keep Eliza in the stage and it would become a difficult battle of attrition. It would be Harrison's turn to wear Eliza down and ensure her chances of partic.i.p.ating in the team match were as minimal as possible.

Of course I would prefer to do my job.

The both of us took up positions on either side of the arena and waited for a moment. The commentator watched us, and was giving a general overview of Eliza before he finally returned to the main event.

"All right, match begin!"

Eliza surged forward immediately, swinging her ma.s.sive broadsword down upon me. Vermillion Phoenix soared up high and unleashed a torrent of flames, but the Paladin darted across the arena, evading the fiery projectiles effortlessly.

"They really are a well-rounded cla.s.s," I mused to myself. Not only was her defense st.u.r.dy – I saw her cleave through a fiery feather and weathered the explosion without taking any damage – her speed was also incredible. Eliza was practically a blue blur that streaked across the ring, not only evading the hail of fire from above, but also dodging the earth spikes that Golden Kirin launched from below. Zigzagging across the arena, she surged toward me, her ma.s.sive broadsword raised above her head for a killing blow.

Fortunately, Black Tortoise stepped forward and conjured a st.u.r.dy water sphere around me. Eliza's broadsword clanged against the barrier and she was forced to bounce back. Staggering a few steps, she then threw herself to the side to dodge another volley of earth spikes, and rolled to escape the h.e.l.lish fire from above.

"She's good," I acknowledged. Even in the face of so many monsters, she continued to attack aggressively, undaunted by the odds. Spinning about to cleave a gigantic fireball from Vermillion Phoenix, she then kicked off the ground and charged at Golden Kirin, who conjured a ma.s.sive wall of earth spikes to impale her.

In one blow, she obliterated the earth wall and spikes.

"!!"

"If I can't get to the summoner, then I'll start by eliminating his Soul Beasts one by one."

In a single slash, she cleaved Golden Kirin in half, causing the Celestial Guardian to split apart and dissipate into golden orbs of mana. Without missing a beat, she shot upward at Vermillion Phoenix, who just barely managed to dodge her strike by diving to the side. Swinging around in midair, Vermillion Phoenix retaliated with a ferocious bombardment of fireball, which the plummeting Eliza couldn't dodge.

She didn't bother to. Instead, she cast a spell and blessed herself, her body wreathed in glowing golden mana. The flames slammed into her and exploded, but she crashed out of the inferno and rolled to her feet, smoking but otherwise unscathed.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered. There was no way she could have survived a bombardment straight-on from Vermillion Phoenix and get away with nothing more than a few smudges and smoke. Not unless…

"Blessing," Eliza explained somewhat smugly. "A unique ability of Paladins that allow us to heal ourselves, and boost our defense, which is why a single Paladin can enhance the combat power of an entire unit by so much."

She then swung about and launched herself at Black Tortoise, who conjured a wall of water to deflect her. However, her blade actually managed to penetrate the watery veil and stop just a few centimeters away from the great Celestial Guardian.

"It doesn't just boost our defense, though. It also amplifies our attack power."

With a yell, Eliza cleaved the barrier of water apart, causing Black Tortoise to tumble away helplessly from the sheer power of her blow.

"I'm sorry," she sneered as she walked through the mist of water that was left over after she destroyed Black Tortoise's water barrier. "Blame the bad matchup if you have to…blame the fact that my Paladin abilities completely counter your Summoning skills…but this is my win."