Returned without ceremony to the waiting room, Sofia got Bookie to resummon Pestle.

The fairy skeleton looked a bit grumpy.

“Hmmmmrg… Pesle am kill… Very shame…”

Bookie gently patted the top of Pestle’s skull. “Pestle helped Sofia and brother Pareth win so there’s no shame to have!”

“Bookie’s right,” Sofia confirmed, “You did great. The way Ezerid ambushed you was just too hard to do anything about in that environment, he got me in the same way after. But our coordinated assaults worked perfectly and with you destroying the shield’s stakes, we managed to weaken it enough to force the fishman out with an explosion. I don’t think you could have done any better, so cheer up, we need you for the last fight!”

“Need Pesle?!”

Sofia rose an eyebrow, “Why are you acting shocked, you’re a permanent part of the team now, we always need Pesle, so get ready to fight again!”

“Ready Kill!” Pestle sprang up, showing her claws.

“That’s the spirit!”

“Sofia! How is your heart? Did it awaken?!”

Sofia shook her head, “Sadly, no, but it made some decent progress, a whole fifteen percent,” she announced.

She was elated that her mana heart showed meaningful progress, up from 51 to 66% awakening, but as she got into a post-battle recap with her skeletons, she realized the wait for the thirteenth round was going to be agonizing. To make things worse, the list of defeated participants was no longer available, so it was impossible to know who Sofia would face next between Sen and Mornn. Left with no choice, she spent the entire time discussing strategy for both with her skeletons.

When the door finally opened, she felt ready.

The white void seemed brighter than before.

Sen. The future Seraph smiled at Sofia from the other end of the noisy arena.

On both sides, row and rows of seated people were watching and talking between them. Just a glance at the people present was enough to make Sofia’s head spin. Kleptras? Tens of them. Human-morphed Dragons? Tens of them. Fairies? Also tens of them. And that was just the beginning. Gods, Recessed, it seemed they were almost all there, the powerful ones, at least. Amongst the other varied groups, one could find a large contingent of Apostles, the largest of them a half-giant armor without a head. Near them, one could observe a good chunk of the Avians still populating the planet, and to their left, a full cohort of skeletons and undead, Richard seating among them.

Saints and Oracles, all the Seraphs Sofia knew, Sen himself, and even Angels were spread around among the seats. Even Love was seated next to a particularly frightening downsized Kleptra, and beyond the rows of spectators, a total of six Archangels were overseeing the event.

Suppressing a bout of nervous laughter, a worrying thought came to Sofia’s mind.

Man, if the Phageid attack now the planet is fucked.

Surprisingly enough, Sofia found that there were still quite a number of people in the public whose race she had never heard of, and also quite a few humans.

Why is there a che- OH… Is this person a fucking Mimic?!

It waved to me… I’m gonna have nightmares…

Bookie also noticed that Love was in the public. “Is there no presenter now?” he asked Sofia.

“I’m guessing it’s going to be someone else?” Sofia answered, as she finally started walking forward toward Sen.

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“I am glad you made it here too,” Sen called out.

“Feeling shared. Were you the one who defeated Tartaros?” Sofia asked right away.

“Indeed. A hard-fought battle, but my victory nonetheless. I couldn’t stand the idea of losing before duelling you proper. I dislike braggarts, but I always thought myself one of the most gifted humans of my time. Seeing your appear out of nowhere like this with that crown… I could not help but get a bit… Excited.”

“I awakened your competitive spirit, huh? Good. I still have 34% of the awakening progress left to complete. Let’s see if you’re not all talk, shall we?”

“It would be my honor to help you grow, but I do intend on winning.”

“So do we,” Sofia confidently answered, the two maintaining eye contact with thin smiles.

A new figure appeared in between the two where Love would usually stand, a tall ‘man’ in a black suit, two short white horns piercing through his wavy brown hair. His appearance created quite a commotion, and with a simple swipe of his finger in the air, the volume of the public’s voices was divided by ten.

“Cake thief!” Pestle freaked out, Sofia stopping her from attempting murder by keeping her in place with her aura.

Nex cleared his throat and started talking, “Hello everyone! Long time no see! I am sure most of you here have already caught wind of my return, but for the hermits and younger generations amongst the public, let me introduce myself. I am Nex, sole remaining Administrator of the System. Having only recently returned to Veliadren, I have much to do, but for old times sake, today, I will once more be hosting the final rounds of the Tournament Ark!”

He paused, giving the public some time to react, though they could barely be heard from the arena.

“I know nobody here paid to hear me chit-chat, so let’s get right into it! Today, we witness an unprecedented battle!” he turned to look at Sofia, “With this thirteenth round come most of this event’s points. Winning here is the final barrier between regular high performers and those who will leave the tournament with a master item! But more importantly, winning your thirteenth round will give you the honor and opportunity to duel against the tournament master himself for a chance at a special reward and the final gold pin!”

A trio of star pin appeared in his hands, “Let’s go a bit differently for this final round. Both sides will pick a pin, and I will randomly select one. If your pin is chosen, you select the arena, if it’s neither, I will. Sir Pareth, your pick?” Nex asked, presenting him with three star pins, a copper, silver and golden one.

Pareth did not hesitate to pick the golden one. Sen picked next, and grabbed the copper. Nex kept the silver pin in hand, and a new set of three appeared in front of him. Their top’s tips stuck together forming some kind of star triangle, and they started spinning in the air until they went so fast it looked like space was starting to warp around them. With a flick of a finger, Nex shattered one of the spinning pins. Golden shards flew everywhere.

That was our pin… Did we lose or did we win?

Nex flexed his finger for another flick.

We lost… Please don’t let Sen win… Please… My luck can’t be this bad!

Another pin was shattered. Copper!

The last pin stopped spinning. “It looks like I win,” Nex said with a smirk.

Was that really random? Sofia couldn’t help but wonder, but she decided against asking.

“What will it be, then?” Sen asked.

“Ahah. I did not think I would win. I have not decided yet. Let us see… With so many eyes on us… How about I show you my birthplace? That does sound like an idea, a perfect place for a fight. Let’s go, to ‘The top of the world!’”

The white void instantly turned black, bright stars dotting the space beyond the rows of spectators. It looked like night despite the sun shining high above, air and mana were extremely thin, and it was easy to understand why. They were now on a humongous flat plateau at the very top of a truly gargantuan mountain so tall that the clouds down below seemed to be at its base. There was almost nothing on this flat rocky expanse aside from a few protruding rocks: two stone pillars marking the start of a flight of stairs going down the side of the mountain, a large white marble altar on a slightly elevated platform on the opposite side, and near it, the broken remnants of a mansion-sized scaly white egg.

I was going to ask for the Red Desert, but this isn’t half-bad, about nine square kilometers of fighting space, and nothing to block sunlight!

“Hmm… Let’s do some cleaning,” Nex said as he looked around. The egg shell and the altar disappeared, leaving the rocky plateau an almost perfectly flat surface, and the rows of spectators slowly turned translucent before completely disappearing from view. “Perfect! Are both sides ready?”

“Ready,” Sofia confirmed with a nod.

“Absolutely,” Sen also confirmed.

“Very well! For this last round of the tournament, I present: to my right, Sofia Aphenoreth the first Saintomancer and Pareth the Hero, demigod of Knowledge! And to my left: Sen the Spiritforger! A duel of the ultimate overachievers of humanity! This promises to be a grand spectacle! Now concurrents get ready! On my signal… BEGIN!”

Nex disappeared from the arena as the central barrier lit up with a giant three.