Aside from those members who had good luck, the other winners were basically those skilled in combat.
For example, Miko Yotsuya's opponent had been Fumino Furuhashi. After a sloppy exchange of blows, it was Miko, with her stronger mental resilience, who ultimately claimed victory.
Just like that, day by day passed, and by the end of the sixth day, the third round—fourteen into seven—was completed.
The seven members who emerged victorious were Luo Cuilian, Jibril, Milim, Tatsumaki, Natsuki Minamiya, Kureha, and Erica.
As for Frieren, Ais, Lala, Kyoko, Rias, Kanae, and Elaina, they stopped at the third round and would each receive 3 million group points as their reward.
On the morning of the seventh day, everyone gathered at the arena once again. Today, the final top three would be decided.
Since there were seven participants left—an odd number—the original rules required a bye to be drawn, allowing one member to advance directly to the next round.
But just as Aoi Kujou was about to begin the selection, Eriri interrupted her.
"Aoi-nee, wait a moment."
Her voice carried across the arena, and immediately, all attention shifted to her. Not a single person ignored her words.
Aoi swallowed back what she was about to say, waiting quietly for Eriri's instructions.
"Luck is also a part of strength, sure. But since we're at the final stage, why not make things a little more exciting?"
Her suggestion immediately piqued everyone's interest, especially the seven members about to fight today.
"Let's decide the top three using an arena-defense system. I'll divide the arena into three separate platforms."
"Each platform will have a defender. The other four members can challenge them one by one. If the challenger wins, they become the new defender of that platform."
"But keep this in mind—if you lose, you cannot challenge the same person again."
"Once no one is able to continue challenging, the three members who successfully defend their platforms will be the final top three."
"Of course, since the rules have changed, there will also be extra rewards. Every time you successfully seize or defend a platform, you'll earn an extra 1 million points."
"Do any of you seven have objections?"
Eriri's gaze swept across Luo Cuilian, Natsuki Minamiya, and the others.
None of them objected to her sudden change of rules.
Though it was now an arena-defense format, at its core, it was still one-on-one battles. The only difference was that the number of matches—and therefore opportunities—was greater.
That was only beneficial to them.
Besides, among the seven, aside from Natsuki Minamiya and Kureha, the other five genuinely loved fighting—especially the previous top three: Luo Cuilian, Jibril, and Milim.
For them, having more chances to spar was far more appealing.
Seeing no opposition, Eriri snapped her fingers. The single massive arena immediately shifted, dividing into three enormous square platforms, each large enough to accommodate full battles.
"Alright, the matches begin now. Go and claim the platforms."
At her words, Luo Cuilian and the others wasted no time, flying straight toward the platforms. Natsuki Minamiya used her spatial ability to instantly appear on one.
After that, Milim and Tatsumaki each claimed one of the other platforms, becoming the first defenders.
Since each platform only allowed two combatants at a time, once Jibril, Erica, and Luo Cuilian joined the three platforms, only Kureha was left without a place.
Helpless, she returned to her seat, waiting for a battle to end before she could challenge.
On Platform One, Natsuki Minamiya and Erica had already clashed, dazzling skills and chains dancing wildly across the stage, creating a stunning visual spectacle.
Although Natsuki Minamiya's combat experience wasn't bad and her mastery of space was quite decent, if her opponent had been Erica from when she first joined the group, she might have stood a good chance.
But against the Erica of today, her skills were simply insufficient.
After a year of intense training, Erica's combat experience was leagues beyond what it had been the previous year. She wielded her authority with practiced precision, forcing Natsuki onto the defensive and leaving her struggling to cope.
After more than an hour of fighting, Natsuki could no longer hold on and was finally defeated.
"I lost."
Natsuki looked regretfully at Erica across from her.
"I really wanted to last at least one round and earn that extra million points. Looks like that's not happening after all."
Glancing at the other two platforms, where battles still raged, she quickly lost any thought of challenging again.
No matter who won on those stages, she knew she had no chance of beating them.
"It's fine. You can always try again in the next tournament," Erica said with a smile.
She didn't tell Natsuki to keep pushing herself, since she also knew that the opponents on the other two platforms weren't people to be trifled with. Even she didn't feel confident about defeating them.
Natsuki gave a bitter smile and shook her head. She had no confidence in ever defeating those monsters in the future.
"Forget it. I'll step down first. I hope you can hold your platform successfully."
"Thanks, I'll take your blessing," Erica replied.
After wishing Erica good luck, Natsuki returned to the stands.
Seeing Platform One empty, Kureha immediately flew over without hesitation.
But an hour later, she too followed in Natsuki's footsteps, losing to Erica.
By then, nearly three hours had passed since the start of the arena battles, yet Platforms Two and Three still had not produced a victor.
On Platform Two, Milim and Luo Cuilian clashed.
They were old rivals. Back in the first tournament, they had fought for over four hours for second place, with Milim narrowly emerging victorious.
But after a year of rigorous training in the Virtual Arena, Luo Cuilian was no longer the same as before.
Milim, on the other hand, had hardly spent any time training, preferring to play around all year. Her battle experience had barely changed at all.
As a result, the positions had reversed—now Luo Cuilian pressed Milim slightly.
The difference was tiny, though, and it was clear their fight would take a long time to resolve.
Meanwhile, Platform Three's match between Tatsumaki and Jibril was turning out strange.
As the champion of the first Martial Arts Tournament, Jibril's abilities were beyond doubt.
By all rights, with Tatsumaki's level of skill, she shouldn't have been able to last this long. Yet here they were, exchanging blows evenly, as though on equal footing.
But to those who understood Jibril, it wasn't hard to see that she wasn't using her full strength at all. She was just playing around.
Tatsumaki, already growing furious, had noticed this too.
"Hey! Jibril, are you looking down on me?!" Tatsumaki shouted angrily.
Her powerful psychic force crushed wildly toward Jibril.
But with just a light flick of her small wings, Jibril slipped free of the telekinetic field.
Then, swinging the massive black scythe in her hands, she launched a huge energy wave hurtling toward Tatsumaki.
"Oh my, what are you talking about? I don't understand~"
In her young girl form, Jibril hovered in midair, balancing the enormous scythe—two or three times her size—on her small shoulder.
She feigned innocence as she looked at Tatsumaki, who was also floating in the air, her body glowing with green psychic energy.
Hearing the soft, cute loli voice from Jibril's mouth only made Tatsumaki even angrier.
"You little…!"
Faced with Jibril acting this way, Tatsumaki had no means of dealing with her except to attack with all her strength, hoping to force out Jibril's true power.
Unfortunately, their gap in strength was too great. No matter how hard Tatsumaki tried, she couldn't change the situation.
Time slipped by, and before long, another three hours had passed. It was already past three in the afternoon.
Since the other two platforms still hadn't finished their battles, Erica returned to the stands, deciding to wait until one ended before taking the stage again. She didn't want to just stand idly on the platform by herself.
At that point, the fight on Platform Two finally came to an end.
After over six hours of fierce combat, Luo Cuilian seized an opening to break through Milim's defenses, securing her victory.
Meanwhile, even while toying with Tatsumaki, Jibril had been keeping an eye on the battle at Platform Two.
Once that match ended, she no longer bothered playing around with Tatsumaki.
She halted her attacks and smirked arrogantly.
"Tatsumaki, didn't you want me to fight seriously? Then I'll show you now."
Before Tatsumaki could react, Jibril shot high into the sky, gathering all her energy.
In an instant, the halo above her head expanded dozens of times over, transforming into a purple-black ring brimming with destructive aura.
Dozens of dark purple energy pillars pierced upward as the halo rotated slowly in the air above her.
A violent storm of energy swirled around her, lifting her hair upright in the gale.
The crowd stirred with excitement at the familiar sight. In the first Martial Arts Tournament, Jibril had used this very move to one-shot Milim and claim victory.
Those who hadn't witnessed the previous tournament stared in curiosity and anticipation, eager to see what would happen next.
Tatsumaki's face turned solemn. She knew this move well—she had seen it with her own eyes at the last tournament.
Not daring to be careless, she poured all her psychic power into forming the strongest defense possible around her body.
She knew that if she could endure this one strike, victory would be hers.
Jibril, floating in midair, saw through her intent but didn't care.
Not only had Tatsumaki's power been heavily drained after six hours of fighting, but Jibril also had absolute confidence in her ultimate move.
A victorious smile spread across her delicate face as she opened her mouth.
"Heavenly Smite!"
At her chant, a massive orb of purple energy condensed above the halo and shot downward toward Tatsumaki.
As Jibril expected, even though Tatsumaki had layered herself in powerful psychic defenses, under the cataclysmic force of Heavenly Smite, her barrier collapsed within seconds.
Her body was instantly vaporized by the blast.
At the same time, Jibril's own energy was completely drained, leaving her to fall slowly from the sky.
Thus ended the first battle of Platform Three.
As the match concluded, Tatsumaki's vaporized body reformed intact, while Jibril's energy reserves refilled to full.
"So, Tatsumaki, how did you like my Heavenly Smite?"
Jibril asked with a mischievous smile, floating in front of her.
Though Tatsumaki was petite, Jibril's young girl form was even smaller. It really looked like two little girls had been fighting.
"Hmph, it's nothing special. If my psychic power hadn't been drained so much earlier, you wouldn't have broken through my defense!"
Tatsumaki crossed her arms and snapped, then floated off toward the stands without another word.
By then, Platform One had been claimed by Milim after her earlier fight, while Platform Two had been seized by the fearless Kureha.
So Tatsumaki could only retreat to the stands for the time being.
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