Elisa's Final Plan

The final event of the Temple Knight Selection Tournament—the team battle—had finally begun. Its competition was far fiercer than the previous two rounds, because contestants acting as commanders could not fight personally. They could only deploy and command the soldiers under their banners to form ranks and battle. With that, the gap in individual strength was effectively erased, and everyone returned to the same starting line.

The weapons used in battle were specially made. Once a vital point was struck, the participant would automatically be teleported out of the arena. Victory went to whichever side "eliminated" all of the opposing soldiers or forced the other side to surrender.

As the champion of the mounted combat event, Paul had skipped the first round and entered the twenty-four-man finals directly. In the round-robin matches, he remained undefeated and became one of the final four.

The semifinals were decided by drawing lots for elimination matches. Paul drew his old opponent Stanwell once again. He gave it everything he had, yet was ultimately defeated by the narrowest of margins. Stanwell and another contestant, Soflin, advanced to the final.

Though reaching the final four was already an outstanding achievement, and though he had fulfilled the expected goal of becoming a Temple Knight, Paul still felt deeply dejected. The Pope and the two Archbishops would both attend the final championship match, and Her Highness the Saintess had said that winning the championship might even attract the attention of that supreme angel, bringing unimaginable benefits... Yet now, all of that was gone.

Watching the sparse figures in the square, Paul let out a sigh. The championship final, watched by tens of thousands and attended by the Pope and Archbishops, was about to begin. He should have been on that stage, displaying his strength before everyone. Instead, like