The tournament continued with match after match happening, and it was primarily boring so far; even the strong contestants like Maga were put against some weak nobles, so it was always an easy win. A few matches after my match, I did get to witness Idonea fight, but she was also matched up against a weak noble, so the match lasted only a short time.
So after an hour had passed with me eating lightning cherries while watching the tournament, the first part of the tournament had finally ended, and there was going to be a half-hour intermission before the second part of the tournament started.
(Note: The first part of the tournament consists of the entire first bracket, the second part will consist of the second bracket, and so on.)
There wasn't anything I wished to do, so for the thirty-minute intermission, I just sat on my throne and did some light meditation to pass the time while doing what is called 'Image training' that Illumia taught me. Image training, as we call it, is when you go into your mindscape and imagine an opponent you'll fight against; usually, the opponents I fight against are either Maga, Kare, Alf, or Marley, as they are the only nobles I currently have trouble fighting against.
I've won sixty percent of my battles against Maga, sixty five-percent of my battles against Kare and Alf, and a whopping zero percent of my battles against Marley. If I were to advance to the Saint Emperor realm, then my chances of beating everyone would become ninety-five percent, but my cultivation base isn't at the Saint Emperor realm, is it? However, while my chances of fighting everyone except Marley look better than you would predict, that is because I don't have enough information on any of them; I don't know what type of techniques they've mastered or what secret abilities they could have, so I don't have an accurate read on their strength.
'When it comes down to it, my chances of beating any of them is most likely around fifty percent or less; well, except for Marley, even if I had awakened sword Aura, it would only increase my chances of winning by ten percent against her. However, since I'll be fighting in the real world, anything could happen, so who knows, I might somehow win against Marley, though I highly doubt it; but you never know unless you try.' Thought Elif while meditating.
"Your highness, the second part is about to begin." Informed Illumia when she noticed Elif was still meditating.
"Hmm, I was lost in thought and must've forgotten the time." Muttered Elif as he quit mediating and watched the match play out.
The first match of the second part was quite intense and lasted for several minutes, which for reference, is very long since almost all the previous rounds were concluded within one minute; however, it only makes sense considering as the tournament continues, the weak will be weeded out, leaving only the strong to fight amongst themselves.
Eventually, the match ended with the noble girl winning after using some auxiliary items but still sustaining severe injuries from the battle; however, she'll be healed quickly.
The next match sadly wasn't as intense as the first one as there was a big difference in contestant's cultivation base, and while the weaker noble tried to put up a fight, the difference in power was just too significant for them to be able to do anything, and they were quickly defeated. The third match consisted of Alf and another noble I don't know the name of, but since Alf was fighting, I already knew how the match was going to turn out, and instantly after the match started, Alf crushed her opponent into oblivion, before quickly flying off the arena.
I just shook my head at Alf's actions and continued to watch the next few matches play out until it was my match again; standing up and flying out of my booth, I gracefully landed on the arena while my opponent did so at the same exact time.
'Her strength is about the same as my previous opponent; however, I can tell she seems slightly nervous, probably because of how easily I defeated my last opponent. Or maybe it's because she's standing before the most adorable Elf in all of existence and doesn't know how to act?' Thought Elif as a narcissistic smirk appeared on his face.
Though because of my foolish thoughts, I didn't hear the announcer start the match and almost got hit by a sharp wave of Qi my opponent attacked me with.
'Woah, that was a close call, though I should probably pay attention to my match, even if my opponent isn't a threat.' Thought Elif floating in the air, as he could already imagine the beating he'll take when he spar's with Illumia again as punishment.
Dodging another wave of sharp Qi using my movement technique, I focused on my opponent and noticed she was holding a weird fan similar to that of the statute of Progenitor Lordess; however, I could also sense it radiated Qi differently from the one wielding it, signifying it was an artifact.
The power the artifact held increased the power of her attacks to the peak of the Half-step Divine realm, which is a jump of an entire major realm, something that can easily decide the outcome of a battle. However, that's only if her opponent isn't vastly stronger than her, like me.
'I think I'll end this fight early as she isn't showing me anything of interest.' Pondered Elif while casually counterattacking all of the attacks sent towards him.
Appearing behind the girl, I raise my hand into the air and slap her into the ground with a Royal Elf Palm; floating down to the arena, I see she created a mini crater when she collided with the arena floor; however, this time I didn't break any of her bones when I defeated her, so that's good.
Flying back to my private booth, I avoid eye contact with Illumia and sit down on my throne while acting as if everything is normal.
"You seemed to be in deep thought in the middle of the match, your highness." Said Illumia as she eyed Elif questioningly.
"Hmm, I don't know what you mean, Illumia." Said Elif nervously as he tried lying to Illumia, but he was never a good liar to begin with, and it wouldn't have mattered as it would be impossible for him to lie to Illumia successfully.
"It seems I didn't teach you hard enough during our sparring sessions; I'll make sure to increase the difficulty next time." Commented Illumia, while a slight smirk adorned her face when she saw Elifs defeated look.
"It was just a slight mistake, Illumia; you don't need to increase the difficulty of our spars!" Responded Elif as he tried to change Illumia's mind.
"Even one slight mistake is all it takes to decide the outcome of a battle; you know that, your highness." Replied Illumia seriously while looking at Elif.
"Haa, I know." Muttered Elif feeling annoyed.
Even though I was annoyed at myself for making a stupid mistake, I still curiously watched the next match as Idonea would be fighting. Her last match caused me to get even more interested in her, as even though it was short, the way she fought against her opponent looked as if she was seeing into the future almost. Still, I didn't believe she could actually see into the future, as something like that seemed to be too powerful to be real.
Seeing Idonea and her opponent land on stage, I first notice that her opponent is one of the few nobles with a cultivation base in the Half-step Divine realm, though he is just in the early Half-step Divine realm.
'Hopefully, her opponent is strong enough to give her a challenge, and if not, I'll have to observe her when we fight.' Thought Elif as he watched the match begin.
Her opponent didn't seem to want to prolong the battle as he attacked first, sending a sword slash coated in sword intent toward Idonea; however, she easily dodged it while also sending a sword slash back to the opponent. When it came to raw power, they were equal, but Idonea clearly had much more fighting experience, as you could see how calm she was during the battle, while her opponent looked slightly stressed.
They were constantly sending sword slashes back at each other while flying through the coliseum, and sometimes the remnants of their attacks would head toward the audience, but thanks to a formation, everything was blocked. As I was closely observing Idonea while she fought, I noticed something unique about her eyes which had no pupils, but that's not why they were unique; they were special since they contained an abnormal amount of vitality, and I'm sure I wasn't the only person who noticed it either.
Her opponent seemed to notice something was up with her eyes as he activated a talisman that emitted an intense light, blinding almost everyone watching the fight; thankfully, the glass protected me as I was not expecting that to happen.
Idonea didn't seem to expect that either, as she was also blinded; however, what surprised me was she was still capable of fighting perfectly fine as if she wasn't blind at all, and that amazed me because that talisman didn't just blind the eyes, it blinded divine sense as well. Still observing her, I noticed her eyes no longer contained a large amount of vitality as they had all been transferred to her ears.
As the battle raged on, her opponent, instead of using some pill, replaced his sword with another one, and when doing so, it vastly increased his sword slashes since they now all carried sword aura. Now that his power had surpassed Idonea, he went on the offensive, trying to force Idonea back, which he successfully did; but even with his attacks being far stronger than before, he couldn't finish off Idonea, who was barely dodging the sword slashes.
This stalemate continued for a bit, and it was only broken when her opponent ran out of Qi from constantly staying on the offensive and not properly managing his reserves. Idonea, who had been on the defensive this whole time, quickly took advantage of her opponent's mistake and slashed him from the shoulder to his waist, causing a long gash that blood rushed out of.
The boy was sent crashing into the ground while Idonea landed right next to him and aimed to slash right at his neck; however, before she could, a loud voice of anger was heard as an incredibly powerful attack was sent toward Idonea.
"How dare you try and kill my son, you devil!" Yelled the boy's father as he sent a palm attack toward Idonea, intending to kill her.