"In short, the ninth round could actually be considered as three rounds in one," said Clive, immediately confusing a great portion of the crowd with his words.

    Taking note of their confusion, the young man hastily continued his explanation. "Of course, the reason why I say this is because there''s a good possibility for anyone among these 12 to go through three fights in a row just to become part of the top 9."

    Seeing that a few people are still confused as to what he meant by that, Clive decided to go a bit further into detail than he initially planned to, breaking down the three fights that made up the ninth round.

    "The first part involves the usual fights we''ve seen thus far. Through there, a temporary top 6 will be created."

    "Then, the 6 that lost during the first part will move onto the second part, fighting against each other to make up the last three spots of the top 9."

    "Of course, that''s only temporary like the first top 6. Only in the third part would that ranking be finalized."

    "In the third part, even those that lost during the first and second part are able to fight against the temporary top 9, with each person having at most 3 chances to fight anyone in their ranking."

    "Then again, if someone''s satisfied with their current ranking, they could also choose to opt out of the third part, allowing them to be safe from being demoted."

    "However, that only applies to those at the 4th ranking and below."

    "Now, any other questions?" As these words left Clive''s mouth, the young man expected that some among the 12 behind him would have something that they wanted to be clarified.

    Though, contrary to his expectations, the 12 merely remained silent even after he was done with his explanation, prompting the young man to think that they all had no problems understanding the rules making up the ninth round.

    Feeling a bit of relief at their reactions, Clive''s voice eventually began to boom throughout the coliseum once more, signaling the official start of the ninth round.

    "Before we begin the first part of the ninth round, I would like all 12 participants to come here and choose a number," said the young man after that as he brought a box with a cut-out hole on the top.

    "The number on the paper you grab dictates who you''ll be fighting, as well as when you''ll be fighting." Saying these words, Clive gave the 12 a solemn expression.

    "Also, please look away from the box while you''re grabbing a number."

    However, just as he was about to prepare his attack, the assassin quickly closed the gap between them before slashing down with both scimitars.

    Crack!

    Seeing as the barrier immediately crumbled upon his opponent''s attack, the young man''s complexion slightly paled as he changed his plan on the fly.

    Swoosh!

    Using the barrier he cast as diversion, Valyr went ahead and distanced himself from the assassin even further, even going so far as to cast multiple mana shields along the way to hinder his opponent from getting too close to him.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Sadly, with the strength the assassin wielded, neither the barrier nor the shields proved effective in stopping the man''s advance.

    With that, the gap between the two was closed once more, with Valyr frantically coming up with a way to even the playing field.

    At the same time, he briefly thought back to his earlier assessment of his opponent. ''Is this really a peak Rank 3 assassin?''

    ''From what he''s shown so far, he''s definitely mid-Rank 4! Possibly even peak Rank 4!''

    ''How would I even close that big of a gap in stats?'' asked the young man to himself as the thought came to mind, using his movement skill to give him extra time to think for the meantime.

    Yet, even with his agility already above what an average Rank 3 class holder could achieve, the assassin still closed the gap between with ease. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

    And with him having caught up to the young man for the third time in a row, it was there that the assassin finally decided to take the initiative.

    Bang!

    And give Valyr his first taste of defeat in the tournament.