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In the executive booth of the Royal Army, Imman had burst out in laughter the moment Rivka knelt on the floor and asked to be spared. "That is one of your talents? I almost couldn\'t tell he is one of your men!" Imman commented as he turned to look at Mannick.

Mannick did not respond. Instead, he leaned back on his chair and rested his head before closing his eyes.

Imman sneered, "Quite the opposite in character to his superior."

"I don\'t think his action is that simple," Ingrid interjected, her eyes staring fixedly at the arena.

Imman looked at her with a slight frown, "And what makes you say that?"

Ingrid glanced at him, then at Mannick, before turning her attention back at the arena. Seemingly thinking of something, she replied, "Just my intuition."

Imman looked unconvinced by her answer. Honestly, he had his thoughts about Rivka\'s action.

Initially, he was in charge of the Beast Hunt and Solo Competition against the Conclave. The Alchemy and Array Creation were under Ingrid, while the Team Competition and Smithing were under Mannick. However, the day before they were required to submit the final list of names, the Crown Princess decided to have at least one officer from another deputy participate in their assigned competitions.

Mannick provided one officer each in Solo Competition and Array Creation. Ingrid had her two trusted talents participate in Team Competition and Beast Hunt; for Imman, it was Alchemy and Smithing.

Rivka was under Mannick. That\'s why Imman warned Kairo to keep an eye on him. In the end, Kairo did not find anything suspicious about Rivka. The latter was a little eccentric, but apart from that, he was very docile.

Imman wondered if Mannick ordered Rivka to forfeit his match against Tyr. If that were the case, for what reason would he do that? Then again, there was the Crown Princess, who had been biased toward Tyr right from the start. Could she have ordered this arrangement because understanding the extent of Tyr\'s Array knowledge was far more critical to their plans than confirming his combat abilities?

Since the Crown Princess did not react to Rivka\'s action— evident by how the Royal Family had not called for the announcer\'s attention— Imman felt his latter thought might be true.

Back in the competition, the male announcer looked at Rivka skeptically. The male announcer felt a little indignant if the Royal Army premeditated the latter\'s action under the Crown Princess\'s command.

"Because Major General Rivka had forfeited, the first match goes to Tyr of the Conclave."

None of the audience reacted to this. They were now in the Quarterfinals of the Solo Competition. They all anticipated a good match between the Conclave and the Royal Army. Pretty much how the matches in the preliminary round had been. Alas, the first match actually left them feeling disillusioned.

Rivka stood up after hearing the announcer\'s declaration. He looked at Kyran, who was looking at him indifferently yet cautiously. With a slight smile, he said, "Master has a message for you, Disciple Tyr."

Kyran\'s pupils contracted for a second upon hearing him. Nevertheless, none was able to see any change in his expression. Rivka\'s words surprised him. However, what surprised him the most was his lips did not move when he spoke.

Rivka actually spoke in his head.

"Tonight, he will wait for you in that place."

Kyran wordlessly closed his eyes before turning to leave. Rivka also returned to the Royal Army\'s corner.

Kairo looked at Rivka as he approached. Wearing a stern expression, he asked, "Who told you to forfeit your match?"

Rivka tilted his head to one side and looked at Kairo blankly.

"Who told me?" He repeated.

Kairo sneered, "Why else would you do that if someone did not order you to?"

Rivka scratched his head before saying, "Because Tyr is scary? I don\'t want to end up like Ganza and Osman. I actually like to keep my face intact."

Kairo frowned at his answer. Was this guy playing dumb?

Before Kairo could ask Rivka further questions and unravel his real intentions, the latter had already taken a seat. In a second, he was once more staring blankly ahead.

Kairo could not help but look at him with a similarly blank expression. He really could not understand this guy. Deputy Marshal Imman warned him to keep an eye on this guy because he was Deputy Marshal Mannick\'s people.

The rumor that these two Deputy Marshals were at odds with each other was true. As a matter of fact, it was rumored that their competition started even before they became the army\'s Deputy Marshals. Some even said that it happened even before they entered the army.

Mannick and Imman were known as top mages from the empire\'s famous magic schools: Azure Magic School and the Imperial Magic School. During their time, they competed in almost all their schools\' joint activities.

As to why they were keen on proving they were better than the other, no one really knew.

Honestly, there were times Kairo believed only Deputy Marshal Imman thought Deputy Marshal Mannick was competing against him. In this Joint Military Exercise where the two were almost together, Kairo witnessed the former taunting the latter but ended up getting ignored.

"The next match will begin in thirty seconds."

The male announcer\'s voice shook Kairo out of his reverie.

Pushing all unnecessary thoughts to the back of his mind, Kairo returned his focus to the competition.

With only four participants in the quarterfinals, the participants in the next match were already obvious.

Kairo smiled wryly. He did not expect to have another match against Styx so soon. If their plan had succeeded, Styx and Kyran would not have been in the quarterfinals. It should have been him, Ganza, Osman, and Rivka.

"Participants Styx and Major General Kairo, please come to the arena," the male announcer said while looking at the two.

Styx stood up from his seat. The smile on his face was enough to scare the living lights out of most brave adults. He was actually feeling a little peeved for not being called to fight in the first match. But now, he realized how fortunate he had been. At least now, he could fight that bastard Kairo again. This fact alone was enough to make him happy.

Kyran paused and looked back at Styx. Initially, he thought of stopping and giving him some advice on how to deal with Kairo. But after seeing the excited look on his face, Kyran decided against it. Styx\'s strong personality really amused him. At the same time, it gave him a headache, mainly when the latter directed his attention to challenge him to a fight.

The atmosphere in the gallery changed slightly after the next match was announced.

The match between Kairo and Styx left a good impression on them. Although their match ended up in a draw, none of them were disappointed. As a matter of fact, it actually added to their anticipation of witnessing a rematch between the two.

It was good that each match would now last for 25 minutes. The match between Kairo and Styx would definitely have an actual conclusion this time.

"Second match of the Solo Competition Quarterfinals, start!"

The male announcer\'s voice reverberated in the hall.

This time, the audience erupted in cheers.

Meanwhile, Kyran already arrived at where Six was explaining the formulas to Owen and Hamish.

The two listened attentively to Six\'s every word that they did not notice Kyran\'s return.

"... thus, this formula has the same effect as the Absolute Barrier. However, please take note that although this formula has the same effect, it cannot be used as a basis to derive the correct formula of the Absolute Barrier," Six was saying as he drew a series of rune formulas on the ground.

Kyran checked the formulas on the ground and found there were actually three different formulas that had the same effect as the Absolute Barrier. The two formulas had the same handwriting, and Kyran guessed it was written by Hamish, while the other formula was written by Six.

"Then, if we try to remove this variable and instead change it to this one," Hamish said and changed a rune on the second formula he had written.

The rune he replaced it with was a rune that represented the variable that the barrier would render useless.

Six nodded his head and said, "Yes. That variable is actually a key part of the right formula for Absolute Barrier. Please remember that this Array is supposed to render all attacks meaningless, the meaning of all attacks does not cover magic attacks alone but also physical, and even mental attacks."

Hamish\'s eyes widened in realization, "I see! That\'s why I could not understand the first part of the formula!"

Owen also nodded his head. Six\'s explanation was actually straightforward and easy to understand. Even someone like him who did not excel in defense-type arrays could follow.