The Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City’s imperial city region. According to the competition procedure that was previously discussed, the six thousand participating students of Olsylvia Academy, grouped by gender, each entered the large arena in the imperial city region for the semifinals.
Due to various accidents, only two thousand boys advanced this year, while nearly all the girls advanced at four thousand members. This led to the spectators watching the battle outside to all be men. Not a single girl was there, making the entire scene a little awkward.
The Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City’s imperial city region consisted not only of the imperial palace at the heart of it, but also a battle zone suitable for competitions. That place was usually used as royal hunting grounds, but when there was such a major tournament being held, that region was separated into different battle zones and changed into a variety of outdoor arenas. It could be seen that Empress Manya Felan had put a lot of effort into planning out the imperial city.
During the opening speech, the emperor of the Manasvir Empire still had yet to come, and Empress Manya Felan who was supposedly not feeling well was not present either. Instead, she was recuperating in the palace. That, of course, was a lie. The real Empress Manya Felan was now asleep atop the bed in Bella’s room. The one presiding over the opening of the ceremony was one of the high-ranking clerical officers of the Manasvir Empire. Since it wasn’t a girl, Bella simply ignored which official it was that came to preside over the opening.
Flying Demonic beings with magic recording artifacts would also be arranged for the semifinals in order to broadcast the whole event. As for the result bets, they were still going on. After the bankrupt underground casino went down last time, a new one took over as the banker for the wealthy gamblers.
Right now, the hot picks were generally the boys. Since the way most of the girls advanced felt a bit noobish, most of them were underrated. The semifinal’s venue was divided between the Lornosbill Ruins area for the girls and Waterford Lakeside area for the boys.
Bella felt that these two arrangements were the wrong way round. There was a beach and a super big lake at Waterford Shore, so the girls should go there instead. There was water there after all, so they might get some bikini fanservice. It’s simply a waste of a valuable resource if you left it to the boys.
The Lornosbill area was a formal arena, so it was unsuitable for fanservice. According to the original arrangements, this area really was for the boys, and the girls would go to Waterford Lakeside. This year, the rate of advancement was severely reserved in the ratio of girls to boys, and their playing fields were swapped as a result. In the end, Bella had to take responsibility for that.
The match began in the morning as promised, and the main focus of the broadcast was still on the boys’ side. Not much attention was on the girls. After all, the number of people betting on the girls’ side was pitifully low. Many of the people watching them were their boyfriends or brothers. Actually, Bella felt that the girls’ side of the competition was more exciting. An 8v8 super group battle with sixteen people facing head-on. This is even more enjoyable than some of the fighting games back on earth. Sure enough, it must be because this was a different world. What seemed exciting to Bella was found uninteresting by the people in this world instead.
Bella was currently grouped with Priest Isaman and both of them shared a warhorse. The groupings for the competition had already been tampered with. The groups with the highest threat to Bella were all arranged so that she would not meet them during the semifinals. They would only have the chance to meet when the finals arrive. Isaman changed into a snow-white priest outfit and she chose a more open, summer-design with a short skirt and short sleeves.
Since she wasn’t close enough with Bella for her to hug her from behind, President Isaman sat sideways on the warhorse, looking just like a little girl hitching a ride. Bella had changed into the standard Holy Knight get-up. She wore a set of silver-colored heavy armor and the warhorse she was riding was a cannon fodder warhorse she had bought for now.
Based on Bella’s current strength, she could knock down most of the human Holy Knights even without a warhorse. Unless it was a dragon, mounting a warhorse added no combat attributes whatsoever to Bella. The reason she was using a warhorse now was due to the needs of her profession, to prove that she was, at the very least, a knight.
Right now, Bella and Isaman were located somewhere in the dense forests of the Lornosbill battle zone. This terrain was, how to say, a little restricting for a knight. The large number of trees here and the law disallowing excessive venue destruction greatly restricted the mount of a knight in combat.
The 8v8 groups were split into red and black groups, with the knight Bella and the priest Isaman belonging to the red group. In the nearby battle zone in the plains were the mage Bella and the Swordsman Kriss, who belonged to the black group. If you added a trophy to this, this might just become a “Super Holy Grail War”.
Each competing student was wearing a special crystal ball near their chests signifying their HP. After receiving a life-threatening attack, the crystal ball would automatically shatter, and once it did, the student was declared defeated and withdrawn from the competition. Surrendering yourself was also fine. After all, it’s just a normal competition. It hadn’t gone to the point of a life and death battle yet.
It was forbidden to take the life of another in the qualifying competition. A person lost once they surrendered a battle or had their life crystal destroyed. The daggers wielded by assassins and similar professions were also restricted. They weren’t allowed to use the really sharp types, only unpolished blunt blades. Similarly, archers were also not allowed to use crossbows and other weapons with strong piercing power. In order to make things fair, the mage professions were also forbidden to use flying magic or overly powerful magic scrolls.
Though they were divided into red and black groups, you couldn’t trust the people around you even if you’re on the same side. Only your companions in the same team can really be trusted. Though they were separated into red and black groups, they were still enemies, with the only difference being the red or black armbands they wore.
There were many ways to win and advance, but the more traditional way was for the red and black groups to fight each other until they defeat the other group, then the survivors of the same side fight each other to decide the two who will advance. While they were separated into two groups, they would adhere to the principle of life and death. If one of the two were to be defeated, then the team is directly declared a failure.
Bella couldn’t be arsed to follow the traditional way. She chose the fighting style only the strong would use. She would just beat everyone down regardless of which camp they were in. Bella’s grouping with Priest Isaman was considered to have the highest battle strength in the red group of their zone. Bella came with three dragon mounts. The Crystal Dragon Princess Purple Crystal, Golden Dragon Princess Laceman, and Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman. And, with the fact that she could summon Sea Demonic Dragon Amy Beth and New Moon Demonic Dragon Dorothea long-range, she had become the real “Five Dragon Knight”.
On the other side, the black group’s strongest team was Blood Berserker Veronica and Curse Master Sally Roy. While Bella and the others were still advancing, two teams on the red side had already been disqualified. Bella didn’t even have to make a move and they had already dealt with two teams for her.
This place was a jungle, so Bella had no plans to summon a dragon mount for now. Also, it would be too obvious for her to summon a flying dragon mount right now. The semifinals prohibited mages’ use of flying spells, as well as the privilege for dragon knights to summon their flying dragon mounts during this phase.
Bella’s Crystal Dragon was not restricted by this rule. Since the Crystal Dragon didn’t have wings, it didn’t fall under this restriction of forbidden air magic. and, since she wasn’t completely of the dragon race, the competition code that restricted dragon knights was also useless against her. It’s just that with the uneven terrain and restrictions of destruction, it severely limited the combat effectiveness of a knight’s mount.
Bella was alert to the movements around her. If her target was done in by the other goons on the black group, then it would be a big disgrace.
In the time it took Bella to think, another two teams were wiped out in the red group by the red group, and now, it had turned from an 8v8 to a 4v8. Bella was currently hurrying towards the frontlines as quickly as possible. If the three remaining teams on the red group were wiped out as well, then Bella and Isaman’s team might have to face the black group head on.
In the mountainous battle zone not far away, Bella’s shadow double posing as a mage was in the middle of a battle with the red group alongside Kriss on the black group. Bella intended to end the battle as soon as possible so she could move over with temporal swap magic.
The biggest threat over there is one of Red group’s teams consisting of Necromancer Kleina and Shadow Warrior Inie, the two young mistresses. Even though Kriss alone could destroy the two of them, Bella couldn’t just be a leech the whole time as the team’s mage.
Bella and Isaman, who were strolling in the thicket, quickly encountered an attack by the black group, just as Bella had guessed. The black group used the unifying to defeat the red team tactic while the red teams were moving on their own. The three teams that were mysteriously sent off were likely done in by the black group’s teams hanging up on them.
Bella, who was mounted on the warhorse, was attacked by a combined rain of archers’ arrows and mages’ ice spikes. It was evident that the attack on them was a combined group of the black group’s teams.
Bella and Isaman jumped off the horse at the same time while the warhorse was left as cannon fodder to be killed instantly by the arrows and magic. As they landed on the ground and had yet to steady themselves, the second attack by the black group came. A lurking shadow emerged, aiming directly at the life crystal in front of Priest Isaman’s chest.
When it came to group battles, priests and such professions with recovery and buffing skills were also more likely to draw aggro. The black group’s girls who were attacking Bella were made up of at least three teams. There was an archer, an assassin, a mage, and a witch. They seemed to also have a healer with a priest or similar profession, while they only had one swordsman for close combat.
This combination was suitable for sneak attacks, but not for a head-on battle. Without a knight or warriors acting as meat shields, the remaining four were all long-range professions, with an assassin as the flank. Meeting someone as insanely “meaty” as Bella and a team that can hold on by force, if they didn’t deal with the “nanny” on the first sneak attack, they’d basically be pressed onto the ground and beaten to death.
While the black side’s beautiful assassin attacked Priest Isaman, a blonde beautiful swordsman attacked Bella. The razor-sharp sword was aimed straight at the life crystal in front of Bella’s chest.
Bella’s body erupted with a white energy barrier that forced the approaching blonde beauty of a swordsman to back off. The beautiful swordsman’s strike was unable to cut through Bella’s barrier.
“Junior Sister, your attack isn’t strong enough. Step aside, let me show you what a real attack is!”
“You…Hold on, I…”
The hand of the beautiful blonde swordsman that was about to withdraw was grabbed, and with little effort, Bella snatched the sword from her hand. After that, her other hand quietly pressed close to the beauty swordsman’s chest. The beautiful swordsman couldn’t even finish her words when a gigantic strength shattered the soft armor on her body.
Bella’s clothing explosion attack shattered the armor of the beautiful swordsman, leaving only the innermost red lace underwear inside to be revealed alongside her snowy skin. For a girl, having their clothes blasted off was equivalent to losing in battle. The beautiful swordsman surrendered helplessly. The life crystal in front of her breastplate was already shattered into dust. She had no other choice.
Fortunately, there weren’t any flying beasts following over for the broadcast. This was the reason why Bella dared to openly blast off the girl’s clothes. But it’s a bit of a shame that such an explosive scene couldn’t be broadcasted.
Almost at the same time, the assassin who was aiming for Priest Isaman was bounced away by President Isaman’s light field warding magic, “Barrier of Light” before her dagger could even reach the target. The beautiful assassin who failed the first blow planned to go back into a sneaking state and wait for an opportunity to escape or launch a second attack.
Unfortunately, not many people were able to run away from Demon King Bella after they were done showing off. Bella slammed a heavy hammer down onto the ground with her right hand, causing a huge shockwave that shattered the earth around the immediate area. The beautiful assassin didn’t have time to react before she was sent flying, and the skin-tight clothes of the assassin, which were already on the thinner side, instantly disintegrated from the impact.
Bella didn’t have the ability to see through an Assassin’s sneak, so she just used the most barbaric way to deal with things and went for an all-out attack. She ruined the beautiful assassin’s attempts to enter sneak again by force, and the assassin was now cutting an even sorrier figure than the beautiful swordsman. It was a full clothes explosion. At the very least, the swordsman had a set of red lace underwear to cover her up, but this one’s white underwear was blasted as well.
“How could you do this…You…Grand Duke Bellina! My clothes are expensive!”
“It’s fine, Junior Sister, I’ll compensate you for it. Just tell me where your buddies are, alright?”
Bella stretched out a hand and lifted up the beautiful assassin’s chin lightly. Their faces were so close that the other members on the black side didn’t know what to do for a moment for fear of accidental friendly fire.
Bella had been bullying pretty girls for a long time, and her imposing aura could easily crush some of the weaker young girls. This female assassin is one of those. She was in a trance, almost like she was possessed, and honestly told Bella the general location of her other four black group companions.
Priest Isaman who was standing behind Bella looked at her with caution. It’d only been a few days since they’ve last seen each other, and this bad girl had already learned eye hypnosis? If she has to face off with Bella in the future, she definitely has to make sure not to look into her eyes. Priest Isaman silently took note of this in her heart.
After getting the positions, Bella picked up the female assassin in a contemptible manner. With one of the black side’s members as a “meat shield” hostage, she rushed towards the location of the long-range attackers. The girls were soft-hearted after all, so for a moment, they had no idea what to do in the face of such a threat. Then, their clothes were exploded directly by the strange wind from her fist.
Bella was already being merciful. If she really went all out, then the fist wind alone could shatter the enemy’s body just like that. Right now, it was just shattering the clothes on their bodies, which was considered to be her holding back.
Bella managed to defeat three of the black group’s teams in her first battle, and now the 8v4 had turned into a 5v4. The black side’s advantage that they previously gained disappeared. Even though Isaman kind of despised Bella’s evil roguish tactics, she couldn’t say anything. They won, after all, and Bella didn’t really hurt the defeated girls. At most, she was just blasting their clothes out of her terrible quirks.
Behind a large tree at the edge of the woods, the six defeated pretty girls captured by Bella were lined up in a row with their clothes completely blasted into pieces. Besides the first female swordsman, who had been lucky enough to retain her red lace underwear, the rest of the girls had all their clothes blasted off for Bella’s repulsive pleasures. Don’t even mention their underwear, the “super dirty girl” Bella even blasted their socks off.
Those girls were currently staring at Bella with strange looks on their faces. Their hands and feet were tied behind their backs with red rope and they had red cloth balls in their mouths. Haven’t they already surrendered?! They’d never even heard of this capture section in the semifinals. This seemed to be a dead angle for the demonic beings who were patrolling the field for the broadcast. There were rumors of Grand Duke Bellina liking to maintain particularly warm and intimate relationships with pretty girls. Bella wasn’t planning to make a move on them here, was she?!
At that thought, the captured girls were all looking nervously at Bella. To tell the truth, if Bella really did “push” them down here in the wilderness, they couldn’t struggle anyway.
Bella didn’t say anything and just collected the black armbands that acted as their identity markers from the archer and the healer and took their weapons and equipment too. Then, she handed the healer’s equipment to the priest Isaman.
“Bella…You’re not thinking of…That’s too despicable! How could you impersonate the enemy to sneak up on them?!”
“Senior Sister Isaman, I didn’t break any rules! I checked the rules specifically before and it never said that changing your armband is a violation of the competition rules.”
“Moreover, the grouping of red vs black is just to make things more interesting in the competition. We’re not really doing a group battle. In the end, only one team is destined to make it anyway. In that case, who cares if you win in an open and honest way as long as you win?”
Isaman was speechless for a moment. She couldn’t find a flaw in Bella’s extreme heresy, and could only acquiesce.
