The fifteen students from SIGMA Academy stood in a semicircle around Leon Ermy, awaiting his decision. It had always been Leon who devised their strategies; no one saw a reason to change that now. Leon sighed in resignation, pacing back and forth, lost in thought.
"Alright..." After a long pause, Leon finally spoke. "To someone like Ray Scarlet, winning the first round of this match is extremely crucial, so it's highly expected that he will send their most promising ethereal warriors."
"Let's trade off our weakest members in the first round, so we don't have to worry about them dragging us down in the future."
"Unfortunately, the least effective ascended ethereal warrior on a real battleground is myself, so I will fight in the first round." His voice was slow and steady. "Considering they will have three ascended class ethereal warriors, the outcome of this battle is already decided—we will lose for sure."
Jaylen nodded thoughtfully. "What about the pawns? Which ones should we send?"
"I was about to get to that if you hadn't interrupted..." Leon continued, his tone unhurried. "Through my analysis, the weakest pawn is, no offense, Osward White."
After a moment of silence, Osward nodded slightly in agreement. He had the least effective ethereal arm of anyone present, a truth he had to accept. "That's true," he replied wryly.
The group looked at Osward with sympathetic eyes, except for one.
Of course, it was Rayden Asher, who smirked at his nemesis. "I'm glad you know."
Osward yawned, completely ignoring Rayden's comment.
"As a matter of fact, under my calculations and analysis, the person most compatible with Osward is Rayden Asher, who will be the second pawn for the first round."
Rayden stared at Leon, pointing to himself in disbelief and confusion. "Me?"
"Yes, you, Rayden," Leon replied, his irritation palpable.
The group stifled their laughter, eyes filled with mirth.
"But I'm the strongest among the pawns," Rayden protested, still pointing at himself.
Despite his annoying demeanor, everyone knew that Rayden, excluding the students from Celestial Summit, was indeed the strongest ethereal warrior within SIGMA Academy. His ethereal arm ability was simple yet powerful, but his true strength lay in his combat style, Rayden fights like a determined wolf hunting its prey.
Leon was also fully aware of this fact, but his decision came with clear reasoning.
"Whether you like it or not, every single pawn in our team is of blessed class. This means our chances of victory fully rely on the major pieces."
"You are the only one with zero supportive abilities among the pawns."
Rayden looked around, quickly realizing Leon was right.
"So, unfortunately, we have to gambit our strongest pawn to secure the chances for the major pieces. This is a difficult decision, but it's the best possible outcome in this situation."
Rayden sighed, lifting his hand in resignation. Then he smiled at Osward. "A pleasure to fight beside you, my friend."
Osward smiled back sarcastically. "Not a pleasure for me, but I'll take it."
After a few minutes, the contestants stepped onto the arena. This arena was larger and more luxurious than before, making them feel superior just by standing on it.
Looking across, there was a tall boy with long hair covering his left eye, a short boy with glasses, and another short boy who always seemed on the brink of mischief.
The tall boy nodded slightly at Leon, acknowledging him, but his revealed eye was cold and lifeless, sapping all positivity around him.
Ray Scarlet tightened his brows, and Shaden shook his head slightly. To secure victory in the first round, they had unleashed their third strongest ethereal warrior, which now seemed like a complete waste given the enemy's team composition.
"We should have known..." Ray tightened his fist.
The tall boy spoke, his voice eerie and dead. "Oliver Grave."
"Jason Mothwing," the one with glasses stated plainly.
"Andrew East," the evil-looking boy whispered, his voice quiet but solemn.
"Leon Ermy."
"Rayden Asher."
"Osward White."
"First round of the Interacademy Ethereal Combat Tournament Finals, commence!"
Jason raised his hand towards the sky, rings of brilliance enveloping his arm.
Prepared, the three SIGMA Academy students evaded the beam of energy descending from above. Before they could stabilize, Andrew lunged at Leon, an angelic blade in his grasp.
Tentacles of thorns trailed behind Andrew, wrapping around him before he could reach Leon. Rayden's slash ignited the thorns, the flames rushing towards him.
However, Andrew's sword shone radiantly, reducing the thorns to dust.
Through the flames, Rayden shifted his target to Jason, dashing towards him, his red hair burning with the flame on his sword. Dodging all beams of energy, Rayden's sword aimed for Jason's head.
With a confident smirk, the rings on Jason's arm disassembled into smaller fragments. Before Rayden could react, thousands of miniature light beams filled his vision, reflecting his horrified expression.
Fortunately, Osward's thorns pulled him back just in time before the beams bombarded him.
Throughout this, Oliver Grave stood silently, slight irritation evident on his face.
"What is this?" He murmured to himself. "Why did I get paired with these incompetent imbeciles..."
Oliver swiped his hair aside, revealing the previously hidden part of his face.
Where his left eye should have been, there was a swirling black hole, twisting his face into a deep abyss.
"You guys are the weakest ones yet." He calmly stated, his voice sending shivers down everyone's spines, including Ray and Shaden.
Even after months of training, Oliver's comrades still couldn't withstand the fear he imposed, let alone the SIGMA Academy students.
"Don't look at his face!" Leon shouted.
But, out of curiosity, Rayden glanced at Oliver.
With a scream, Rayden fell, trembling and shouting in fear.
Followed by an energy beam sent by Jason, Rayden flew off the arena with an explosion, Mia instantly rushed up and attempted to heal him.
The wound from Jason began to recover, but Rayden's horrified expression remained.
"Resign! Resign!" Leon shouted. He never expected victory from this battle; it would be pointless to cause more irreversible mental damage to his teammates.
"Oliver Grave, sheath your ethereal arm immediately," the host commanded.
Oliver shook his hair back to its original position, smirking in disdain.
"SIGMA Academy? Newly risen star? Monsters of the generation?"
"Hahahahaha, nothing but a circus of clowns." He rejoined his teammates, and the audience roared in excitement.
Ray Scarlet looked up at him, genuine concern in his eyes.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Ray uttered, his voice low and serious.