By the time the process of powering up had ended, Veia's cultivation already reached the middle-stages of the Overgod Realm, but she had yet to complete her Overgod Body. Nonetheless, she had a monstrous quantity of Nether Energy, so much that a constant golden aura was revolving around her body. Quite the opposite of his pupil, Cardinal Patrick looked extremely tired and barely able to lift a finger.

He sat there, breathing heavily and trembling every now and then, his long robe and its cloak did a good job at hiding his pale face but could not mask his turbulent energy and unstable cultivation.

Excluding the fight Veia participated in later on, which ended with her opponent's immediate surrender, the remaining fights were exciting and did not betray the crowd's expectation.

Of course, the Holy Dominion Team took first place even though Leo one only one fight and lost four. The second place was actually a tie between the Demon Team and The Moonstar team. To decide who gets to keep the second place, the two teams, after consulting the host of course, agreed on a two versus two fight.

Thus did Ardor and Bora battle against Marjory and her junior Cosima. By far, it was the most entertaining fight as the four participants went all in and actually managed to shatter the supposedly unbreakable arena.

The cheering of the crowd reached its climax when the canopy was filled with blinding white and dark red lights violently clashing against each other. It was a sublime sight for anyone and everyone, and when it ultimately ended, Marjory was the only one on her feet.

When Gutcha appeared and declared the winner, the girl could not hold it any longer and immediately fell unconscious. However, despite losing against the demon girls, Ardor and Bora were in a very good mood, laughing like maniacs as they were being treated by Arthur.

The two of them managed to achieve a breakthrough amidst the fight and, by then, they did not care much about the result of the fight or their team's position in the competition.

Winning or getting first place had been their number one goal, but after personally experiencing what it was like to increase the potency of their techniques and fight different kinds of opponents, they yearned more to get stronger than to win the competition.

"You did well… third place isn't bad."

Arthur smiled at the two youngsters and swiftly treated their wounds. On the other hand, Lucy, who was also smiling, gave the two of them the chills. Her smile was vastly different from her husband's, it was as if she would beat them up in any given second.

"I agree with Arthur but… you will need more training. There were things I taught you that you did not heed of."

A bone-chilling aura spread from her hand and invaded their body and wrapped around their hearts, making them profusely sweat and not dare to laugh any more.

"There will be another long session of training after the competition. Why don't you prepare for that?"

Ardor and Bora did not even reply, frantically nodding their heads and sped off to the distance, ready to inform Cristina and co of their up-coming hell training.

"You did not need to scare them off like that."

Upon hearing the parasite, Lucy let out a soft chuckle and stared back at him, looking particularly pleased with herself.

"Since you've decided to be the sweet teacher, I have to take the role of the strict one. Plus, being scary suits me."

"Oh, really?"

He stretched his hands and jokingly pulled her cheeks while adding

"You don't look scary, though."

"Iz becwz yu puvvi-"

She couldn't say any coherent words so she tried shaking her head to make him stop but that only made her cheeks get pulled with more strength.

Eventually, Arthur let go and laughed at her sulky expression, which was comically cute.

…

"Arthur is talking to the guardians and preparing for the last two trials. Are you all alright?"

Excluding Ho Qing, who was still holed up in his room, Lucy grouped the remaining five and made them sit in front of her. Bora and Ardor seemed to be in a good mood, Cristina looked much better than before, Shu Ru was absent-minded, whereas Rosea still had her head lowered and hands tightly clenched.

"Third place is an amazing achievement considering you've trained for only a week. I'm really proud of you all."

"Thank you, teacher!"

They all replied in unison, though it was clear that some voices were louder and more cheerful than others.

"Now that the compliments are over, let me make a couple of things clear."

Lucy's tone drastically changed, so much that even Rosea had to lift her head and pay attention.

"I will start with Rosea. I'm sure that they spoke to you and tried to lift your spirits, but, as I yet see, it did not work. If one defeat was all that took to crush your determination that your place is not here. Either you stop sulking and start training or you will have to leave, there are no two ways about it. Arthur is too kind to directly tell you this but I will tolerate weak-minded pupils."

The girl opened her mouth, tried to say something, but, in the end, only a long silence left her lips. Lucy wasn't waiting for a response, instead, she shifted her gaze to Bora and Cristina.

"The matter with the Dark Blaze Sect will be solved shortly. You two will stop worrying about them and focus on training… that is not a request but an order. As for Ardor and Cristina, I personally have nothing to say, at least concerning your overall performance, but Arthur did say he wanted to have a private talk with you."

***

"To be honest, I expected more of you to participate… oh well, whatever."

Arthur swept his eyes across the eight Guardians who agreed to join the last two trials. Considering how many teams actually joined the competition, the number of guardians willing to participate was relatively low, but it's not like Arthur cared. The last two trials were a bonus, an entertainment for the guardians, who had been spectating so far, and the crowd, which wanted to see real experts fight.

"Please make your acquaintance, sir Arthur."

A green-haired elven beauty took a step closer to Arthur and elegantly bowed, a gentle smile plastered on her snow-white face. The parasite reciprocated with a wry smile and tried to stealthily distance himself from her. For their first meeting, she was acting a bit too friendly, whether it was her expression, her subtle movement, or her sweet and overly-amicable tone.

Unlike her, however, the rest of the guardians were either neutrally silent or giving him a hostile glare, especially the Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect.