"One… two… three! Ladies and gentlemen, the Cedar Sect is leading the score in THREE separate battlefields!"

The crowd descended into chaos. 

How was this possible!?

Everyone's faces were white with shock. Their mouths hung open as they tried to process what they had just heard. Quickly, they turned to the people sitting next to them and tried to find out what had happened. But no one had been paying attention to the Cedar Sect – they weren't the favourites in the match ups, at all!

"I don't understand what's going on at all. I saw Tetsuya's skill in controlling the bats with his illusion skill. The amount of kills he racked up was insane – there is no one who I can think of from the Cedar Sect with the skill to beat him!"

"w.a.n.g Hao could. He's in the 8th Rank!"

There were murmurs of agreement around the speaker.

"It would make sense if it was w.a.n.g Hao. Only someone with high skill and higher cultivation could possibly suppress Tetsuya. That guy's illusion skills are too tricky for anyone of the same rank."

Someone gasped, "…I just checked - w.a.n.g Hao isn't in that battlefield!"

What?!

The crowd buzzed. 

If w.a.n.g Hao wasn't in that battlefield, then who was? The Cedar Sect didn't have anyone else!

 "No f.u.c.king way! Cordelia AND Daphne are in that battlefield! Just how was the Cedar Sect able to surpa.s.s their score!?"

The Cedar Sect was suppressing the Zephyr Sect's deadliest combo?

Frenzied discussion heated up the coliseum.

"Together Cordelia and Daphne have enough firepower to defeat Yun Hai. It just HAS to be w.a.n.g Hao this time!"

The crowd busily scanned the battlefield. As they searched their faces grew paler and paler. None of the names in that battlefield were remotely familiar. It didn't make sense at all.

 "Wait a minute. If w.a.n.g Hao isn't responsible for suppressing Tetsuya or the Zephyr Twins… then where exactly is he!?"

The crowd searched the score boards and felt their world tilt on its axis.

They had found w.a.n.g Hao.

…

 "Either the Cedar Sect has teamwork or we have seriously underestimated them….even w.a.n.g Hao."

"This is just the first round, guys. w.a.n.g Hao and Yun Hai are both in the same rank, it makes sense that they would have a similar performance as this first round was a test of endurance. Once the waves become stronger, the truly skilled one will come up on top. I don't believe that Yun Hai will lose!"

The person who had spoken was clearly a staunch fan of the Star-Cutting Sword Sect and of Yun Hai in particularly. He spoke effectively and with conviction, bringing the crowd over to his perspective.

"That's right!"

"The first round is just a taste of the full strength of the mausoleum. I don't believe that a weakling like the Cedar Sect can suddenly beat the top two martial sects in Dragon City!"

Nevertheless, a burning curiosity filled the hearts of the audience. They wanted to know what was going on with the Cedar Sect. They would definitely be paying much more attention to the Cedar Sect in the second wave!

AH! Could the second wave just START already!?

We want to know what happens next!

______

Madam Sophia surged upwards and stared at the scoreboard above the second gate with a frozen smile on her elegant face.

She just couldn't believe it. Her nieces' performance was perfect, beyond exceptional. She had seen every movement with her own eyes and approved. When the scoreboards materialised, she had been fully confident that battlefield two was in the bag.

But reality had slapped her in the face.

Madam Sophia was burning with embarra.s.sment - she had already been upset that the twins had been placed in the same battlefield. After all, Cordelia and Daphne would have had a strong chance of bringing home two Last Standing Medallions if they had been put in separate battlefields. But it was what it was, so Madam Sophia had swallowed her grief and comforted herself with the fact that at least one Last Standing Medallion was pretty much a.s.sured with them together.

But now this! This was worse than she could have antic.i.p.ated.

Just how in the h.e.l.l had the crummy Cedar Sect beaten her girls' score?

The handle of the delicate tea cup in Madam Sophia's hand snapped.

If it was the Star-Cutting Sword Sect, she would have at least understood. But it was the Cedar Sect. Madam Sophia couldn't push down the anger in her heart.

She quickly threw the shards of the teacup into her dimensional ring as she starting searching for the Cedar Sect's battalions in battlefield two. 

When she finally found them, they were lurking near the edges of the large clearing created by the giant crystal. As they were located so far away from the Zephyr Sect, it was only expected that Madam Sophia had not paid them any attention during the first wave. The only time she had looked at the Cedar Sect was right in the beginning when they were teleported in - and then she was only interested in finding out if w.a.n.g Hao was in there with her girls. Since he was not, she had let down her guard.

Due to her high cultivation, when Madam Sophia extended her full concentration, she was able to take in the composition of the Cedar Sect's five battalions in an instant. No one at all stood out or caught her interest. Just as she was about to give up, her eyes landed on a certain young man.

Her eyes considered him carefully. And yet, she could still not see it. She simply refused to believe that the young man she had casually dismissed earlier could have any part in the Cedar Sect's score. 

[He doesn't have the capability.]

Madam Sophia's eyes narrowed.

[This is only the first wave. The Cedar Sect has managed to get lucky so far, but it won't last. I'll be watching as Cordelia and Daphne bring victory to the Zephyr Sect!]

______

Slightly further away but also in the area of the coliseum where only the distinguished guests could sit, two figures sat side by side on a bench. The first wore a large black hood, showing only the bottom half of his chin, which was clean and sharp. Next to him was the Star-Cutting Sword Sect's academic representative, Elder Malkovich. The elder had a refined look, embodied by the goatee he favoured. He shot a sideways look at the hooded figure next to him.

For a moment it looked like Elder Malkovich was going say something - but the moment pa.s.sed. He turned to the scoreboard with a cold smile on his face.

[Do you think this is enough, Cedar Sect? Your disciples' prides will only end up crushed beneath the feet of ours in the end!]

______

Of course, there was no way for the disciples inside the mausoleum to see the current scoreboards. They were dead silent in stark contrast to the furore outside.

At this point, most battalions had lost a member or two at this point. Those that had not conserved their energy well were now running on the last dregs of their spiritual power. If they did not get an opportunity to rest, they would be food for the monsters.

Van inspected his own battalion and then the other four from the battalion. No one from the Cedar Sect had been eliminated yet. Due to Van's warning earlier, they had conserved their energy and were in a lot better shape than the other compet.i.tors.

At that moment, the ghostly voice spoke once more:

"The second wave will begin in five seconds."

Van, who had been listening carefully for any clues that the voice might drop, was perturbed to hear it finish its sentence so casually. It seemed that there was no easy way out in this round!

The disciples from the other sects were panicking.

The second wave was starting so quickly!?

d.a.m.nit! There was no time to recover their spiritual energy!

The ground started to tremble. Loud scratching noises filled the air. Thousands of red eyes suddenly appeared in the murky black.

Giant rats suddenly leapt from the darkness.

"Here they come!" Van shouted. He nodded to the other four captains and they immediately organised the battalions so that Van's battalion formed the tip of an arrow. This was the formation that they had trialled to success in the first round.