It was the eighteenth day after the Champion Mage Challenge began, and the final day of the Top Thirty-Two Tournament.
After today, there would be a one-day break before the Top Sixteen Tournament began.
In previous years, discussion of the Champion Mage Challenge would have been steadily mounting by this point, and tickets for the semifinals and final would have gone on sale.
This year, however, the increase in discussion was not particularly great. The reason, naturally, was a certain magic duelist who occupied almost every page-"Philly."
After today's Top Thirty-Two Tournament ended, the most discussed topics were not which match in this year's Champion Mage Challenge had been the most exciting, or which competitor had performed the best.
Everyone was talking about "Philly" instead, and whether this competitor could claim the championship in one go, then advance to the Third Order.
Those who had watched "Philly" compete, even those who watched through the Mana Telecommunications System, firmly believed she could. To them, her winning the championship was only a matter of time.
But there were always spectators who had not seen her matches: some had accidentally missed them because "Philly's" matches were so short, while others had been drawn in by the attention and had yet to actually watch their first match.
These spectators made up more than half the audience, and their presence brought considerable attention to this Champion Mage Challenge.
No other news could compete with reports about "Philly." The newspapers had no choice, either. Everyone was focused on "Philly" now. If they did not give her most of their prominent pages, their sales would visibly decline.
Among all these reports, the one attracting the most attention had been written by Delank, the Number Three Daily's star reporter.
"Elton makes a bold declaration: he will end Philly's