Mira and the others walked off the stage to watch the next groups. She was rather satisfied with how her battle played out, but it seems there were quite a few people that were not. She noticed quite a few hateful glares from quite a few Sects, so many that she just shook her head and sighed.
Even though Mira knew why they were angry, she didn't do anything wrong. The rules stated that anything goes aside from killing, so if they want to be angry, be angry at the rules rather than her.
"We'll now move onto the next battle royale! Group 3, come up!"
Mira saw Alexa, Cleo, and Anya walking up to the stage now and got a bit interested. She wanted to see how the 2 strongest disciples fought.
Mira also noticed that the people coming up on the stage were all rather strong in terms of cultivation. She guessed that this battle royal will either be more intense than the others or just a stomp.
"Group 3 Battle Royale, Begin!"
The battles started immediately and instead of everyone fighting in groups and taking out other people efficiently, it was just a cluster fuck. It seems these idiots let their current strength get to their heads so they decided to work by themselves while leaving their teammates to fend for themselves.
Alexa and Cleo weren't much better, they both just went their own way and left the weakest member, Anya, to deal with others much stronger than her.
Mira was already disappointed seeing how nobody worked together during this battle, but she did notice that Alexa was able to take out most people in just a few moves. She wasn't only strong but had the experience to back up her strength. Mira could tell that the Sect put a lot of effort into training her and it was paying off, but there were still several things that Mira would've tried to improve.
The same goes for Cleo as well, but Mira actually felt like Cleo is more talented than Alexa when it comes to large-scale fights like this. Cleo was always keeping tabs on her surroundings and could also fight several enemies at the same time. Her movements were graceful and had a layer of finesse to them.
After watching the two of them for a little bit, she changed her attention to Anya and the only thought she could come up with is pity. Anya was just running around the battlefield, weaving in and out of enemies while being chased. But she did notice that Anya would at least attack unsuspecting people as she was escaping from her attackers. She figured that Anya knew her strengths and weaknesses quite well, so she decided that instead of taking these people head-on, she'd just try and last until the end. Mira nodded her head; at least she's self-aware.
The battles started to rage on for almost an hour and they were getting more intense as the number of people left reduced. This wasn't too surprising because the disciples up there right now were some of their strongest in their respective Sects.
Alexa, Cleo, and Anya were also working together now so they can end the battle royale quicker, but their synergy was awful. The timing of their attacks was off, they didn't seem to know what the other person did, and there was no clear leader. If they were going to perform so poorly it would've been better if they didn't even team-up.
"That's the end of Group 3's Battle Royale! The 16 of you go wait near your Sect and wait for the battle royales to finish! As for the losers, you are no longer able to participate in the duels."
The City Lord finally announced the end of this battle and the fighting stopped. The disciples that were currently on stage all glared at each other, their eyes seemingly saying that they would've been destroyed if they fought. Then they walked off the stage to watch the last battle royale.
"We'll now move onto the next battle royale! Group 4, come up!"
The last 4 from the Battle Maiden Sect made their way up to the stage. These 4 were rather ordinary, but they weren't weak. There was just nothing about these 4 that stood out, but Mira has been sparring with these 4 for almost 2 years now so she knew some things that other people didn't. Even though these 4 looked ordinary, they were actually very calculative. Watching these 4 fight is more enjoyable than watching some moron use brute force to beat people up.
"Group 4 Battle Royale, Begin!"
The group from the Battle Maiden Sect was the third group to move. They split up into 2 groups and used hit and run tactics, but they didn't knock out their opponents just immobilized them. After immobilizing quite a few people, the 4 of them grouped up again and started taking advantage of some of the weaker groups or sandwiching a group that was already in the middle of a fight.
Their attacks weren't anything special and they weren't particularly skilled, but their coordination was much better than the other groups. Sparring against Mira and each other over the last 2 years allowed them to understand their teammates' attacks which is why they were so coordinated. These 4 were using well-coordinated teamwork and strategy to take down tougher enemies.
Mira was enjoying their battle and was happy that at least some people in her Sect could use their brains.
After the 4 of them noticed that there were only a little over 20 people left on stage, they walked over to the people that they immobilized and started throwing them off the stage. The reason they immobilized them before instead of taking them out is they noticed that as the number of people reduced, the more intense the fights were. They weren't confident in being able to survive under the pressure of the last groups so they prepared a bit beforehand. After they threw out a handful of people, the City Lord called the end of the last battle royale.
"That's the end of the Battle Royales! We will be ending the fights for today, but we will resume the duels tomorrow! The disciples this year are incredibly fierce so look forward to the duels to come!" The City Lord announced and everyone groaned a little in dissatisfaction. They wanted to keep watching!
Everyone walked back to their respective Sects, some with smiles, some with frowns, and some with expressionless faces.
After making it back to Sect Master Jane, they noticed a big smile plastered on her face.
"You all did amazing! I can't believe that all of you made it past the battle royale and onto the duels! Usually, we lose at least a few people in the beginning, but this is such a blessing! We have a great chance at winning this thing!" Sect Master Jane exclaimed as she started patting their shoulders.
A lot of the disciples just looked away shyly, they didn't expect such praise from the Sect Master herself and started to get embarrassed.
"It was all thanks to the sparring sessions with Mira over the last 2 years. I had a better understanding of not only my capabilities but also my teammates'.Mira also had us fight her in groups as well so not only did we understand our capabilities but we knew how to properly use them. Those experiences allowed us to make it through the battles even if we were weaker than them." One of the girls from group 4 spoke up but the others also nodded their heads and agreed.
"I see. I'm glad that those sparring sessions paid off! I look forward to your results in the duels and the group battles. Thanks for your hard work over the last 2 years, Mira." The Sect Master praised, but Mira just slightly nodded. She had already been paid for the work so of course she was going to do it.
Alexa and Cleo looked at Mira curiously and didn't know what to think of her. The only thing they felt from her was a cold-blooded killer, but it seems she's greatly helped out the Sect and there are a ton of people who respect her as well. Their thoughts were conflicted when it came to Mira, but either way, their Sect was doing well because of them so they could only push these thoughts away.
The Sect Master finished talking to them and the disciples started to disperse. Mira walked away and picked up Dominique then walked back to their inn. Dominique couldn't stop talking about not only her fight but the other fights as well. She was glad that she finally got to see Mira in action and it wasn't just a stomp. It was full of crazy fights! Mira shared a few of her thoughts on the battles to give Dominique a better understanding of why certain people made specific choices or maybe what they could've done better. Dominique would just listen attentively and inscribe those words into her mind so she wouldn't forget them.
After making it back to her inn, Mira continued discussing things with Dominique and started cultivating when she finally went to sleep.
A few hours later the sky darkened and night fell. It was a rather peaceful night for such a chaotic day, but if one looked closely they'd see a few dark shadows traveling through the night. They were quickly making their way towards a certain inn and all of the shadows had a look of hatred in their eyes.