Pillar of Yita

As for their match against Silver Weslan, and the Rose Cross Army against Shadow Throne, these two matches seemed to have predictable outcomes in the eyes of the outsiders.

The team from Shadow Throne was the one they encountered in the preliminaries, back then, both teams advanced, and later Shadow Throne eliminated a team from the Scepter Coast area to reach the quarter-finals. However, most predicted they’d stop there because the level of the Rose Cross Army was evident for all to see.

And as for their match, it was even more predictable. Silver Weslan’s ability to cultivate craftsmen was among the top ten guilds, not to mention the heritage of being the former number-one guild. Facing Ragnarok that consistently ranked at the bottom, what luck could the latter have?

So, Fang Hong was suspiciously looking at Sophie, who was smiling, but couldn’t see any hint of the ’unfortunate luck’ she mentioned. The eyes of this Silver Weslan princess were undoubtedly filled with delight, like someone who had won the lottery.

”Do you really think so?” He asked, ”But why can’t I see it at all?”

”Of course,” Sophie patted her beautiful face and said insincerely, ”We’re friends, after all. Seeing either side eliminated doesn’t make me happy.”

Fang Hong was speechless: ”Then can you stop laughing first?”

The princess couldn’t stop laughing, and with a twinkle in her eye, she said, ”Ade.”

Fang Hong quickly looked at her warily.

He was still unsure, but when this princess showed such a look, surely she wasn’t up to any good.

Sophie then smiled and said, ”Don’t be so tense; is that your teammate behind you? Why don’t you introduce them, tell us their characteristics and areas of expertise, so that we can mutually understand each other better.”

Fang Hong thought ’No way I believe you, why don’t you start first?’

His face darkened, and he replied in a muffled voice, ”They’re very average, no special traits.”

Sophie laughed until she bent over; she knew Fang Hong wouldn’t tell the truth. Just then, staff came over, instructing both sides to prepare for the stage. She winked at Fang Hong to signal ’see you on the field,’ then left with the Silver Weslan folks.

Not far away, in the crowd, Tang Xin was watching the two chatting happily, frowning deeply—she asked sourly, ”Who’s that woman again?”

”That’s Miss Sophie.”

Hilveld smiled as she glanced at her.

Meanwhile, Tianlan fearing chaos, turned his eyes and quickly said, ”I heard she’s the princess of Weslan, a great beauty. She’s really kind to Brother Ade, sometimes even better than Sister Hilveld, oh—”

Before he finished speaking, his forehead was gently flicked by the noble lady.

Tang Xin clenched her fists with a grinding sound, thinking this philandering guy has women one after another outside, she gritted her teeth, her cold gaze darted through Fang Hong’s back. Ai Xiaoxiao, nearby, shivered seeing her expression: ”Tangtang, your look is so scary—”

Tang Xin recalled her status, helplessly asking Hilveld: ”Hilveld... Miss, can’t you control him?”

Hilveld heard this and chuckled, replying gently, ”Ade and Miss Sophie are just friends.”

”I’d be crazy to believe that.” Tang Xin answered irritably.

While Fang Hong didn’t feel like he’d gotten into big trouble, he accidentally sneezed and took the form from Cui Yu’s hand. The banning results were out; Silver Weslan’s side banned Magic Guided Conductors and chose Walker II Constructs with Power Plugins.

On their side, they banned Fairy Masters and chose Resonance Crystals with Magic Potion Studies’ Total Dissolution Elixir.

Fang Hong looked at the form, pondered for a moment, and raised his head to the other side of the field.

Over there, Sophie was cheering up her teammates - the competitors from Silver Weslan were generally younger, the youngest only thirteen, and the oldest was still younger than her by a year. Though she wasn’t an Alchemist herself, among these younger fellows, she acted like a senior.

Especially as the renowned princess of Silver Weslan, she was somewhat a legendary character. Sophie glanced at the form handed over by Fang Hong’s side, couldn’t help but smile slightly, and tapped the form telling the short-browed girl beside her:

”Shuishui, the combat artisan’s flexible construct is a strength of yours; take on the Walker II model.”

The little girl nodded confidently, ”Got it, Sister Sophie.”

With mischievous light in her eyes, Sophie addressed everyone: ”...That guy is the stable high scorer from Ragnarok, who excels especially at combat artisan’s flexible constructs, this round is surely him against you. Our consistent high scorer on this side has been Xiaoyao, Shuishui is weaker in other areas, but when it comes to flexible constructs, it’s different...”

She turned back and arranged methodically, ”This round Shuishui, do your best, surprise them with a high score. We’ll use a strategy of lower horses against upper horses; they won’t consider their highest scorer in this aspect, so we should suppress them in other categories.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

She paused, then said, ”Be mindful of the Magic Potion Studies part, it’s an offbeat aspect within Alchemy, the opponent actively seeks combat, surely holding a trump card. However, our overall strength surpasses theirs, should not be much of a problem.”

The girl named Shuishui couldn’t resist asking curiously, ”Wow, Sister Sophie, aren’t you on good terms with him, isn’t this a bit too ruthless?”