In the real world.
Echo Spirit Lord still had not woken up.
A Virtual Screen appeared above the field. Beneath Serana's photo, Echo Spirit Lord's portrait turned from color to black and white. Then Serana's photo vanished, while Qiao Sang's and her beasts' photos enlarged at the center.
At the Commentary Booth, Nephthis took a deep breath and announced into the microphone:
"The result is in! Qiao Sang has won again with Nether Ring Monarch! She takes the second championship round-robin match with a perfect 6–0 record!"
The arena erupted. Cheers and screams rose into the sky.
"Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"
"Little Treasure! Little Treasure!"
"Holy crap, I understood the earlier rounds, but what happened in the last one? How did Nether Ring Monarch win? Just Hypnosis and Dream Eater? No way."
"There must've been something we couldn't see."
"I can't believe she shut out Serana... I'd never have imagined that before the match."
"Qiao Sang is way scarier than I thought..."
"She kept too much hidden. Almost every Emperor-level Pet Beast had a big move up its sleeve. Nether Ring Monarch must've had one too, or Echo Spirit Lord wouldn't have stayed asleep this long."
"Seriously. Every time I thought Serana was about to win, one of Qiao Sang's beasts pulled out some huge move and turned it around. I was stunned."
"Exactly! Especially those last two rounds. Thunderclap Beast even neutralized Nether Ring Monarch's Mutual Destruction Trait. I thought Echo Spirit Lord was guaranteed to win with sound-based skills, but Nether Ring Monarch still won."
"Qiao Sang's earlier opponents were too weak to force these moves out of her. If Serana had known about them, she might not have lost so badly."
"So what move was Nether Ring Monarch hiding?"
"No idea. We'll have to wait for Echo