"To think they'd be this strong?"
In the special viewing room of Seidoukan Academy, Claudia frowned deeply as she watched the two imposing figures on stage through the window.
Although she had anticipated that Queenvail Girls' Academy's special admission duo would be astonishingly powerful, she never expected them to reach this level. The two students from Saint Galahadworth Academy only had time to exchange greetings before being instantly defeated without even a single proper clash.
Saint Galahadworth Academy was the only school in Asterisk City whose rankings held absolutely no discrepancies.
Among the six academies in Asterisk City, the ranking system operated on an exchange basis. For example, if an unranked student defeated a ranked one through counter tactics or specific strategies, the unranked would directly take the ranked position while the former ranked student wouldn't just move down—they'd drop entirely out of the rankings. Combined with restrictions on official ranking challenges that prevented quick recovery of proper standings, ranking omissions frequently occurred across academies.
But Saint Galahadworth was unique. Most of its students came from noble families, strictly adhering to chivalric codes under an extremely rigorous school culture that emphasized loyalty. Private duels were fundamentally prohibited—students could only improve rankings through official matches. Aside from special admissions, it was nearly impossible for unranked students to overthrow ranked ones here.
While ranked students from other academies were generally competent, their standings might contain discrepancies. But Saint Galahadworth's rankings matched actual strength with 99% accuracy—if students held the 30th and 41st positions, their abilities truly reflected those tiers.
The two girls who could effortlessly defeat such opponents would undoubtedly become formidable obstacles in their championship path. Even Claudia couldn't maintain her usual composure facing such rivals.
"No need to worry. Everything will become clear when the time comes."
Roy remained completely unflustered, his expression radiating calm confidence. His assurance slightly eased Claudia's tension.
If Roy said so, Claudia was willing to trust him.
Of course Roy was confident—it'd be stranger if he weren't.
While this Phoenix Festa did feature several strong teams, at their current displayed level, he was certain the championship already lay within his grasp.
"Julis and Kirin have cleared their preliminary match too."
Roy took out his phone, summoning several holographic screens. With eleven stadiums staggering match times for optimal viewer experience, Julis and Kirin's second-round match had concluded shortly after Stella and Souji's instant victory—though their opponents' caliber paled in comparison to Sirius Dome's.
"Just one match left today, right? Who's competing?"
As Roy browsed other dome feeds for noteworthy opponents, he asked Claudia. She expanded the tournament bracket, projecting the enlarged matchup before them.
"Over at Sirius Dome, it's the two proxy-participating automatons from Arlequint Academy, facing off against our Seidoukan Academy's ninth-ranked Lester MacPhail and his partner Randy Hook."
"Lester? That name sounds familiar..."
"That's the one who keeps pestering Julis."
"Ah, him. He's participating in this Festa too?"
"He does have some strength, especially noteworthy destructive power—among the top in all of Seidoukan. His partner Randy Hook has also made the rankings once before. If luck is on their side, these two might even make it to the main tournament... The real problem lies with those two automatons from Arlequint Academy."
Claudia frowned again.
As the student council president of Seidoukan Academy, she hoped their school could redeem themselves from last season's disgrace and have more teams advance to the main tournament.
But this time, the opponents were baffling. Automatons were already well-known to the public, and even the higher-end military models were too rigid against humans—ordinary Genestellars could handle them. Someone like Lester could smash one apart with a single axe swing.
Yet these automatons were brought out by Arlequint Academy. Countless cutting-edge meteor engineering technologies had originated from this academy throughout history. Whatever they unveiled this time was likely no ordinary product—her intuition told her not to underestimate them.
"Well, one championship is worth ten runner-ups anyway, so it's nothing to worry about."
"That's true."
Claudia's brow smoothed. The points from a championship far exceeded those from second place. Just one Festa championship would surely lift Seidoukan Academy from the lower ranks this season, at least into the mid-tier. There was no need to fret.
Before long, the clock struck four in the afternoon.
The third match at Sirius Dome began as Lester and his burly sidekick emerged from the east gate.
From the west gate, as expected, appeared two mechanical figures.
One resembled a military automaton but was twice the size of standard models, towering over two meters tall—even Raidah's imposing frame looked small in comparison. Clad head-to-toe in armor, it looked like a mechanical knight straight out of a mecha anime.
The other automaton was the complete opposite—almost indistinguishable from a human, flawlessly resembling a human woman with perfect features. Its slender frame was encased in metallic clothing-like armor, appearing for all intents and purposes like a human woman wearing powered armor.
Both automatons bore Arlequint Academy's owl emblem on their chests.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Arlequint's new automatons have finally been unveiled! This time, they're proxy entries for contestants Ernesta Kuhne and Camilla Pareto. While we'd love to introduce them, unfortunately no information has been released... Wait, what? Apologies—we've just received materials here at the commentary booth! Shocking! It's data about those two automatons, personally delivered by their developer, Ernesta Kuhne herself?!"
"Now that's what I call service."
"Without further ado, let me introduce to everyone—according to this document titled 'Initial Information Big Reveal!'—the large model is called the Autonomous Mobile Doll Prototype AR-D, commonly known as Alde; the female model is the Autonomous Mobile Doll Prototype RM-C, commonly known as Rimcy. There are quite a few intriguing points here..."
On the stage, Lester, who was facing off against the two mobile dolls, twitched his eye at the introduction playing in his ears, his heart burning with indignation at being underestimated.
"To think mere mobile dolls can participate in the Phoenix Festa! Arlequint is truly useless. Scrap metal like you won't even survive a single swing of my axe! I'll make sure you learn that lesson soon enough!"
***
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