As August arrived, the weather in Asterisk became noticeably hotter, even though it was an artificial city floating on a lake. Pedestrians on the streets shed their jackets and switched to short sleeves.
Upon closer inspection, almost every passerby looked like country bumpkins visiting the city for the first time—excitedly exploring their surroundings with maps in hand, snapping photos everywhere with their cameras. This phenomenon was especially prominent near the central district.
The Festa was about to begin. This was the time of year when Asterisk relaxed its entry policies to attract tourists from around the world. The people walking around, dressed distinctly differently from students, were all visitors who had come to watch the Festa.
In this world, the Festa's fame far surpassed that of the Olympics, which had long become a mere formality.
It was said that during the broadcast of the Festa, viewership reached hundreds of millions worldwide. Every year, the auction of broadcasting rights across various countries and online platforms alone brought the conglomerates immense profits, not to mention the additional spin-offs and commercial value it generated.
Winners of the Festa enjoyed popularity on par with global superstars. A single endorsement deal could ensure a lifetime of financial security.
On the Hexa Pantheon, a popularity-vote-driven website, Sylvia—one of the world's top divas—had lost to Orphelia Landlufen, the Ereshkigal, and was relegated to second place. The reason was simple: Orphelia, the second person in history to achieve back-to-back Gryps victories and potentially the first to secure an unprecedented three-peat, had global popularity that rivaled Sylvia's. Moreover, in the previous Gryps tournament, she had defeated Sylvia, who had been on an unstoppable winning streak until the finals. This outcome was inevitable.
"We're here. This is the venue for the Festa's opening ceremony—the Sirius Dome."
In the heart of the city, a black stretch limousine stopped in front of an overwhelmingly grand, colossal structure. From the open doors emerged a group of one young man and three young women.
All four wore Seidoukan Academy uniforms, with the Scarlet Lotus emblem pinned to their chests, making it immediately clear they were students of the academy. The group—handsome young men and beautiful young women—instantly drew the attention of many tourists, who turned their cameras toward them, the sound of shutters clicking incessantly.
Looking around, the area in front of the dome-shaped building was packed with an unprecedented number of visitors, far surpassing even the crowds at Sylvia's concerts.
"Feels like walking the red carpet as celebrities," remarked the white-haired, red-eyed boy among them.
"Pretty much," agreed the girl with pink hair, nodding in agreement.
"So many people…" murmured the silver-haired, youthful-looking girl with a voluptuous figure, nervously glancing around. The moment she met a camera lens, she flinched and quickly hid behind Roy, the tallest of the group, like a startled rabbit.
"Well, today is the opening day of the Phoenix Festa. A big crowd is to be expected. But don't worry—we have a dedicated competitor's passage," the golden-haired, curvaceous girl said with a gentle smile, effortlessly leading the three toward the competitors' entrance.
Compared to the crowded tourist passage, this place was much more refreshing. Only a few people passed by occasionally, and the cool breeze from the venue blew towards them. Away from the crowds, Toudou Kirin finally let out a sigh of relief.
Exiting the passage, an enormous coliseum came into view of the four. The ancient Roman-style spectator seats seemed countless at a glance, and the entire venue was unimaginably vast. Countless people had gathered inside, making the lively atmosphere no exaggeration.
"According to the data, this Sirius Dome, as the main stage for the Festa, can accommodate up to 100,000 spectators simultaneously. The champion teams favored by the Executive Committee usually compete here," Claudia explained with a smile, clearly familiar with everything as someone who had participated in the previous Festa.
"So, we're not the champion team favored by the committee?" Julis snorted lightly, her tone carrying a hint of displeasure.
Toudou Kirin chuckled beside her, not particularly bothered by the matter.
This year, Seidoukan Academy had over fifty participating teams, with ninety percent of their matches not taking place in the Sirius Dome. Julis and Toudou Kirin's matches would be held in the Procyon Dome instead.
Asterisk City had established numerous duel stages for students' convenience, with the largest being the Sirius Dome beneath their feet. Besides this, there were three other large stages and seven medium-sized ones, along with countless smaller stages.
However, only eleven large and medium-sized main stages, including the Sirius Dome, were utilized during the Festa. The Procyon Dome was one of the three large stages, indicating that while their team might not be as outstanding as the champion candidates, they were still favored by the committee.
Roy and Claudia's team would compete in the Sirius Dome.
This meant the Festa's Executive Committee highly regarded them, considering them potential champions.
The most exciting matches naturally took place in the Sirius Dome, which attracted the most spectators, while the better matches were assigned to the other three large stages.
Indeed, this arrangement was purely based on the committee's considerations for popularity.
"It's time to assemble," Claudia announced, and the three immediately straightened their expressions.
Under her lead, the four entered the massive stage, where over a hundred teams from the six academies had already gathered.
By exactly 8:00, all 256 teams had assembled on the stage.
Roy's gaze pierced through the crowd, locking onto a girl in a haori on the other side.
"What are you looking at?" A red-haired twin-tailed girl beside the haori-clad girl followed her gaze and met Roy's eyes.
"Nothing," Okita Souji replied, withdrawing her gaze and focusing straight ahead on the podium.
Stella gave her a puzzled look, feeling helpless. Over the past month, she had become quite familiar with Okita Souji, but she still couldn't understand her occasional odd behavior.
Meanwhile, Roy adjusted the earpiece in his ear.
As a magus, multitasking was second nature to him.
At the same time, the opening ceremony of this year's Phoenix Festa finally began.
The multi-tiered spectator stands were packed to the brim, with all one hundred thousand seats occupied. From their vantage point, the competing fighters below probably looked no larger than sesame seeds.
On the main platform, the chairman of the Asterisk Assembly took the stage first, delivering the same dull, sleep-inducing formalities that failed to spark any interest. Next came the address by the chairman of the Festa Operating Committee.
"—Good morning, everyone. It brings me great joy to witness your remarkable performances on this stage once again this year. I am Madiath Mesa, chairman of the Festa Operating Committee."
***
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