Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

The competition concluded two days ago, and the tournament moved on to the second phase of the promotion matches. At this point, there were still about 600 contestants remaining, and the battles shifted from having 12 contestants to 6 contestants, with only the top two advancing.

"The upcoming matches are all on you guys," Efnie said as she adjusted Tilan's hair and collar before giving her advice.

Having participated in the first three rounds of competition, she had stopped at the third round. One more student from Edith Academy, a fourth-year, had been eliminated, leaving only four, one of whom was Wei Ke from the Three Moons.

Despite not advancing to the later matches, Efnie was quite at peace with the outcome, considering she was only a second-year; there would be more opportunities for her. Besides Tilan, all the remaining students were in their fourth year.

"Do your best~"

"I will."

At the dinner gathering that evening, the teacher encouraged the four of them before everyone dispersed.

On the third day, the 'Inverted Star Lake Sword Fighting' event heated up dramatically.

After three rounds of elimination, the remaining contestants were elite representatives from their respective Star Domains. The attendee demographics reflected what the leading teacher had mentioned before: among them were the cosmic space station's Star Children, the elegant mermaids, and a few Elves from the Shattered Court.

The challenge was starting to present itself; in the new day, Tilan clearly felt that the opponents were no longer as easy to handle as before.

"Now, let's turn our attention to the sixth game of the fourth round of advancement matches. In this game, we have a familiar face, Miss Dantalion, the 'Sword Princess of Books,' whose serene and scholarly swordsmanship is loved by many fans. Also, from the Shattered Court, we have Miss Pelola, the 'Whirling Feather Flying Sword,' whose swordplay blooms like an opulent flower, dazzling and overflowing. And, from Gris Great Land, we have Li Xing, the 'Magnetic Dual Swordsman,' whose magnetic broad swords are difficult to counter and have defeated numerous opponents on his way here..."

The host introduced each of the six contenders of the match, providing a brief overview of their unique titles and general styles to help the audience, who might not remember the contestants' names, become familiar with them quickly.

"Alright, no more chatter, let's officially start the match!"

"Dong——Dong——Dong——"

Inside the massive dial of the arena, majestic bell sounds signalled the start of the match. At this moment, the six contestants entered the field from six equally divided markings.

Compared to before, everyone was much more cautious in this round, and didn't immediately take action. Instead, they stood in place, observing one another and weighing their options, looking for an opportunity.

With six competitors needing to be whittled down to just two, the other four would lose the chance to advance to the next phase. The competition had now become one where the earlier style of playing safe could no longer be relied upon.

Tilan too stood still with her sword, not taking immediate action. It wasn't that she felt challenged, but rather, she wasn't in a rush and wanted to observe how the others were planning to respond. If she truly went all out, she felt that within one minute of the game starting, she could cause all five opponents to leave the arena.

The wait was soon over, the first to move was the 'Magnetic Dual Swordsman' Li Xing, who rushed towards the closest contestant. His dual longswords crossed continually, occasionally throwing one, guided by magnetism, allowing the thrown sword to change direction flexibly and still maintain its formidable power without being deflected on impact.

"Whoo——" The whistling sword edge flew past, drawing a trail of blood and causing a shiver in the heart of the contestant facing Li Xing.

In the ensuing fight, the contestant tried his best to handle Li Xing's frontal powerful attacks, as well as the constantly moving other magnetic sword blade at his side and back. To avoid being sandwiched between the two, the contestant continually weaved through the complex components of the clock, making it harder for Li Xing to swiftly defeat him.

The outcome seemed inevitable; Tilan could tell that the dual-wielding Li Xing clearly outmatched his opponent.

Elsewhere, Pelola was executing her intricately beautiful swordsmanship, overwhelming her opponent. Had it not been for the need to control her sword edges to not destroy the components on the dial, she would have claimed victory sooner; it seemed the terrain and the competition's special rules still confined the Elf girl.

Last but not least, Tilan also faced a challenge from the only remaining contestant.

"Such flimsy swordsmanship, how boring." The opponent, roughly 2.5 meters tall, brandished a broad sword that seemed taller than Tilan herself, yet it was handled with ease in his hands, swinging like a flexible whip.

The straightforward and fast strikes, filled with robust power, could easily lead to weaker combatants slowly exposing their weaknesses under the relentless assault, leading to their defeat.

"Clang——"

Once again, during a parry, Tilan's sword collided with the opponent's, ringing out a crisp metallic sound. Following this, her opponent's wrist twisted, and the blade spun back, striking fiercely.

"Clang——Clang——" Tilan blocked the swooping sword wind time after time, but due to the weightless environment which impaired leveraging power, these blocks gradually caused the lithe girl to drift upward.

After another exchange, seizing the moment Tilan's feet left the clock, preventing any leverage, the opponent changed his move, rushing forward to block Tilan's landing points with even greater speed, preparing to keep Tilan levitating and breach her defense.

"Ha!" His sword-wielding wrist twisted, followed by a vigorous slash aiming diagonally at Tilan. Just when he thought the strike was sure to hit, the girl before him vanished. The next thing he felt was a chill at his back; a sharp sword edge had pierced through from his chest, quickly retracting afterwards.