"What's this? What's this? Libation Fiesta has just encountered Bloody Rose?!" Shion stood up, announcing it with so much excitement.
"Uooh!" The audience cheered as though they were expecting something. The battle between the two groups would definitely spark a lot of excitement.
Mayor Revan turned pale when he saw their encounter. "No! Not good! If they fight…"
Mayor Revan might have some confidence in Clovis and the others, but he didn't believe that Clovis's group was able to fight against Bloody Rose.
He thought, with some luck, they would be able to get into the top eight, if not the top four, as long as they didn't encounter a team with a Tier 4 explorer in their team.
However, he never thought that they would encounter one so soon. "Run away! Don't fight with them. Focus on achieving a high rank first before doing the challenge!"
Mayor Revan panickedly waved his hand, hoping that Clovis would retreat.
But the battlefield was even more unpredictable.
"What? Bloody Rose is actually leaving?!" Shion shouted with a dumbfounded expression.
Some people were left disappointed, thinking that they had just missed an important match.
"Why are they leaving? Are they aware of Libation Fiesta's strength? Are they thinking that this battle is not worth the effort? However, they have crushed all the teams that challenged them. Is Bloody Rose so resourceful that they manage to actually find the Dark Horse of the competition?!" Shion kept asking a lot of questions, making the audience think instead of getting disappointed.
They couldn't deny the possibility. After witnessing their strength, they knew that Libation Fiesta definitely had the chance to rank very high in this competition.
Everyone was dying to get an answer.
However, Shion hurriedly directed their focus by saying, "It's unfortunate that we can't watch such a match. However, we're very sure that we'll see them a lot in the main tournament. There isn't a lot of time left. Who will actually get first place in the preliminary match?"
The participants continued moving according to their strategy. A lot of people had gone into hiding, playing it safely so as to avoid getting ambushed.
However, some desperate people also ran around like crazy, searching for other competitors.
After Clovis ran into one more desperate group, he decided to play it safe and stay hidden for the rest of the time. Still, the second desperate group was more manageable, considering Jay didn't underestimate his enemies and took some measures to get rid of their desperate attack.
When the time was up, there was a signal flare released into the sky.
Erwin looked up while smiling. "Let's see… How are our competitors doing?"
Rafael was sitting on a small boulder while placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands with a grim expression. He was on the edge because this was a matter of protecting the city's pride.
If people saw that the group that represented their city wasn't on top, they would lose trust.
The same applied to the third Tier 4, Martial Master Rika. She crossed her arms while leaning on a tree, waiting for the points to be calculated.
Meanwhile, Clovis was opening the screen of the competition, looking at the result that was announced by the organizer.
Shining Star Competition - Preliminary Match.
Eight Swords - 860 points.
Bloody Rose - 835 points.
Libation Fiesta - 811 points.
Imemine - 807 points.
Dragon Fist - 764 points.
The list continued up to sixteen groups, but the most important groups were these five.
Rafael pumped his fists with a grim expression, feeling a bit of relieved that he didn't disappoint. He managed to lead his group to take the first spot.
"Ohh! We're the first!"
While the others were celebrating, one of his teammates looked confused as he asked, "Rafael… Something is odd. Who is this Libation Fiesta?"
"Mhmmm?" Rafael furrowed his eyebrows and took another look at the ranking.
"We are second? Just a bit more to get the first place. Aaahhh!" One of them was frustrated.
"NO!" Another clutched his head while kneeling on the floor as if the world were ending.
Aileen was simply staring at the ranking with a serious expression.
"It seems that you weren't wrong, Aileen." Lana smirked, pointing at Libation Fiesta's name. "They are ranked third."
"That's right, Miss Aileen. You were correct! Although we didn't know how they managed to achieve such a high score, it was clear that we would suffer a lot of damage if we clashed with them earlier. Let alone second, we might not even get the top tree."
Aileen didn't reply to them as she glanced at Lana with a face devoid of emotion. "Lana."
"I know, I know! I'm going to compile all their battle records for you and investigate their background." Lana waved her head cheekily.
Aileen just closed her eyes as if she were satisfied with the answer.
"This… We are fourth? Who is this Libation Fiesta?" The people in this group were confused, believing that they would get at least the top three in the ranking after working so hard.
But what was even more shocking was that Erwin, the most conceited guy in the team, was actually smiling.
"You sounded like you were having fun." His friend rolled his eyes.
"Hahahaha! It's been a while since I've had a rival."
"I don't think he acknowledges you as his rival… just like Aileen."
"Hahahaha! This is just a preliminary match. We'll be taking them down in the main competition!"
"You are not even listening." His friend sighed, knowing Erwin's personality.
"I'm looking forward to our duel, Clovis." Erwin grinned.
"Fifth… Libation Fiesta." Rika of the Dragon Fist muttered before raising her head as though she had just acknowledged yet another competitor.
Unlike them, Clovis's team was in celebration.
"We are third!" Melody pumped her fist while cheering.
"This is unbelievable, especially with Clovis, Kanaria, and me holding back most of our power." Ragna gasped. Even though he had known this group for a month, it was still shocking to see the comparison with other groups.
Still, they were pretty lucky since they managed to encounter three groups and steal their points… even though the first one didn't have much because the competition had just started.
Kanaria smiled. "This should be enough to satisfy Mayor Revan. I'm going to negotiate more rewards from him."
Jay yawned as if he were not interested in the result.
Meanwhile, Clovis scratched the back of his head, thinking that he should aim a bit higher. "Well, whatever. The main competition is the place anyway."