The Mysterious Black Magician

"Ladies and gentlemen, good morning!"

"My name is Mora Liz! Your announcer for this round!!!" A new female announcer shouted at the mic.

"Mora Liz?"

"Wait, that name sounds familiar!"

"What are you talking about, idiot?! That's Miss Mora Liz! The popular announcer!"

"Right! That's her!"

"That's her?"

"Yes, that's her!"

"Woah! Miss Mora Liz!"

Whoooooo!!!

The onlookers pumped their fists in the air when a cute bunny girl took the mic and began announcing.

"Woah, am I dreaming?"

"Is it truly Miss Mora Liz herself?"

"Damn! I'm so in love!"

The audiences were going crazy, especially the men. 

Those who recognized Mora Liz knew how popular she was. 

"Today, we will witness the final round of the competition!"

"Who among our participants is going to become the champion?!"

"If you have someone in your mind, then shout their names!"

Almina! Almina! Almina!

As expected, most of the audience shouted her name first. Then it was followed by the names of other participants, especially the elites. They didn't even shout her code name. It looks like her popularity could not be belittled.

There are a considerable number of people who shout Kiko's names, though not as many as Almina's.

Unexpectedly, Kiko knitted his brows when many of the audience shouted Yman's Crimson name.

Even Yman himself was surprised as well.

"I never thought there would come a day that my brother would receive other people's recognition," Yana suddenly became emotional. Although they weren't shouting his real name as they did to Almina, it was still a good achievement for her brother.

"Hmm, yeah, not bad for him," Rea followed while rubbing Yana's head to soothe her. But in Rea's mind, 'Isn't it only natural? It's clear as day that Crimson was the strongest participant.'

She wondered why Crimson was still hiding his real strength till now. Perhaps because of his duty as her bodyguard.

She also wondered why these people could not see the difference of Crimson power from the others.

It's Crimson's fault, though. If he only showed his real power, these people would be shouting his name only. Rea strongly believed it.

The VIPs are already in a special viewing room. At this point, most of them already had a student they felt was worth investing in.

"The first battle will be—!" Mora Liz announced the start of the first battle.

It was Jami against Josie Finn. A classmate, who uses a saber as a weapon.

"Good Luck, Jam!"

"Miss Jami, win it!"

"You can do it!"

You can do it!!!

She gathered some cheers from Almina and the others. Though, they noticed something weird from Jami.

Wielding her two daggers in hands, Jami's figure instantly disappeared after the bell.

Her enemy was strong. She defeated all her opponents with little effort. She could not belittle her. But, she needed to defeat her quickly. Jami thought.

"Weird," suddenly, Dianne muttered.

"Why, Miss Dianne?" Maku asked.

"It isn't her style to just rush over without gauging her enemy's strength first," said Dianne in a worry.

The two of them were currently watching along with their friends and the ordinary audiences.

Dianne was defeated by Rei-Rei last round, and Maku chose not to continue for personal reasons.

Dianne felt a foreboding feeling about Jami's action. She also noticed something unusual at Jami before her fight. But she could not tell what it was. 

Without moving an inch, Josie Finn was calmly standing in her original position while her hands were ready to unsheathe her sword anytime that Jami appeared. Her eyes were closed. A scar was apparent on her left eye. Though, there was a strange aura around her. 

Unexpectedly, Jami appeared behind her.

"A sneak attack to finish her enemy quickly!" Mora Liz announces. 

"HeYah!" Jamie screamed out as she attacked from her enemy's blind spot.

Swoosh~

Ting!

"It's blocked!" Liz announced.

Then it was followed by a rapid exchange of attacks on the stage.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

Everyone noticed that the stage was much larger than the previous one. It was two times larger. Perhaps they did it because, in this round, it was between the strongest students in the Academy.

Swoosh~

A strong horizontal swing surprised Jami. Luckily, she was able to block it by crossing her daggers.

Their weapons collided.

There was a grating noise when they tried to push back each other. In terms of strength, Jami was clearly at a disadvantage. So Jami was slowly getting pushed back.

Seeing that her struggle was useless, she intentionally let her body be dragged by that force.

Jami distanced herself. 

"Hehe, is that all you've got, My dear cousin?"

Josie Finn chuckled before she asked Jami with a mocking smile.

"What? They were cousins?" Dianne and the others were surprised to hear it.

Even Almina, inside the waiting room, was as surprised as them. Though, she didn't really mind it. Her mind was still floating somewhere. After yesterday's training, there was something that was bothering her. 

Their match lasted at the last second. In the end, Jami lost. Though she didn't suffer much. Everyone could see that her cousin's technique was the complete counter of Jami's technique.

It seemed as though her cousin trained those techniques for the sole purpose of defeating Jami.

Even her Advanced Resonance was useless. Her cousin's Advanced Resonance was also a good counter to her.

So.

It was an understandable defeat. And Jami fought hard even with such a disadvantage. Actually, she almost defeated her cousin, but she ran out of time before she gave her last attack.

No one was unconscious and the two of them remained standing on the stage. However, it wasn't a draw. There was a new rule to avoid having a draw result. 

If the two participants remained standing on stage after the time's up, the one with higher remaining health points would be declared as the winner.

It also applied when the two fell unconscious or knocked down at the end of time.

Unfortunately, her cousin's health points were 5 percent higher than hers. That's why she lost and her cousin was declared the winner of the first match.

That said, Bob was sighing heavily. He wondered why they just implemented such a rule. He would surely win against Bert if it was implemented in early rounds.

Clapping sounds resounded from the audience. No matter what, it was a good opening for this finale.

After Jami's match, it was followed by another pair.