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Now then, it’s finally time for the last event, Conquest. The rules for this game are simple. Either defeat all the enemies or steal the flag at the enemy base to win. All team members will participate in this event. How will the four members be spread out? Will the team focus on defense, offense, or flag capture? What direction the team takes becomes very important here.

So far, this would be my assessment of each team.

Team A has two ace-class sorcerers Tebby and Jassie, while the remaining two don’t have particularly bad grades, so it’s a pretty strong team. However, Tebby and Jassie have issues with cooperation, so that is grounds for concern. Their current score is 19 points.

Team B is a team being carried by Sola and Aura. While the former mage Liev and Kiara who’s hiding her strength are grounds for concern, in terms of teamwork, they win against team A. In terms of destructive capacity and magic firepower, Sola would not win against Tebby. But as Sola has comprehended her lightning attribute now, her versatility is top class. Their current score is 19 points.

Team C is a two-man team of Hermie and Mahara. Kerry and Joaquin are doing their best but because Kerry ends up mostly in a support role and Joaquin is a former mage still adapting, it’s likely difficult for them to survive one-on-one battles. Hermie and Mahara are perfectly in sync in terms of coordination, but perhaps how well the four of them will be able to coordinate might become the key to their victory? Their current score is 14 points, it’s going to be difficult ahead.

Team D Urania and Ethel’s team. Urania has mobility while Ethel and Kut have scored points with their good use of their rare attributes. From what I heard from Urania, their teamwork and team relations seem to be fine. Their current score is 18 points, following right behind the two leading.

And in this last event, the distribution of points is different. Up until now, the points gained for each event are 4 points for first place, 3 points for second place, 2 points for third place, and 1 point for fourth place and this in itself will not change in this event. For conquest, how long your team survives will be the basis of the team placement, so the one that survives until the end will have 4 points.

However, there’s a bonus point system added. If you defeat a member of another team, 1 point, and if you acquire the flag of the opposition, 2 points. The flag disappears when the last member of a team is defeated, so if you can acquire the flag after defeating three people that would be 5 points. And if you do this with all three teams, you can get at most 15 points.

Naturally, this isn’t going to be by any means easy, but it’s still a chance to get a lot of points. Because of that, a 5 point gap is possible to overturn, so team C still has the chance to win.

『Now then, it’s time for the final event. That will be the last of all the super detailed explanations!! With that said, first I’d like to ask for the usual stage preparations!』

With the rule confirmation finished, up next is stage setting. I heard about this from Sharl during lunch break but it appears that there’s been great interest regarding how I’m doing the stage setting in this Magic Mastery Festival. If the people are waiting in anticipation, then it’s my duty to answer these expectations.

This event is a capture the flag game. So first I produced 4 towers as the place to leave the flags in. On the highest area of each tower, the flag will be there and furthermore, that place will also be the team’s starting position.

Next will be the main stage. Surrounded by the four towers, a chalk-white castle was built. Imagine that castle where we took our entrance exams for enrollment. There’s a beautiful open courtyard and intricate maze-like winding passages. As expected, I can’t make a perfect recreation of the interior but do have a throne room prepared just in case.

Lastly, install a large rampart surrounding the whole building and this time’s stage setting is finished. From the audience, I can hear commotion and cheers of admiration, about half-half each. It seems like they enjoyed it pretty well this time.

『The last stage is going to be a battle at the royal castle! Up until now, the participants have shown us a great variety of magic. Tebby with his overwhelming firepower, Sola with her literally lightning-fast lightning, Hermie with her gigantic tornado, and Ethel with his beautiful but lethal poison flower. In the events prior to this, each participant has put in all of their power to win. And in this final event, those same powers are about to clash! With that, let the final event begin! Ready? Fight!』

In this last bout, I expected all of the participants to move instantly after Sharl gave her signal but everyone immediately looked up at the sky. Up in the air, there were letters written with flame.

『I’m waiting in the courtyard.』

It was a clear provocation from a sender that can easily be identified. He’s likely confident that he can beat his opponents no matter how many of them will come. In truth, the participant that launched this magic up is justified in having such excessive self-confidence.

Receiving this message, the other participants’ course of action can now be narrowed into two choices. First, to ride on this provocation and head to the courtyard. The merit is that you might have a chance to defeat the possibly most dangerous participant with the cooperation of the other teams. The demerit is that you are most definitely going to have to fight against this individual.¹

The other choice is to ignore the message and avoid the courtyard completely. You won’t have to fight against this participant, but there’s no assurance that this individual is going to stay in the courtyard forever. You’ll also throw away the chance of confirming his movements.

Both choices have merits and demerits but… well then, let’s see how this goes. Either way, the most intense battlefield has now been chosen to be the courtyard.

1. Lyly: Kek, Merit: You fight with a teeny tiny chance of defeating him.
   Demerit: The fact that you actually need to fight him