The only way to win

"He needs more rest time. According to the committee's regulations, in complex situations, the rest time can be extended by ten minutes. We have five minutes left..."

Russell dismissed the staff member who came to urge him, then plopped down next to Ferdinand, not in a hurry, but slowly asked:

"What's wrong, Ferdinand? You've won two of the last three sets, and thanks to your skillful Mental Power control, you now have more Mental Power left than your opponent."

"If those betting platforms hadn't closed yet, your odds of losing would already be at least three times your stake."

Even the commentators on stage think you have a huge advantage right now.

"Everyone has such high hopes for you, how can you be so dejected!" Russell's voice rose. He was Ferdinand's assistant, responsible for handling everything Ferdinand had to do outside of Magic Duel.

But looking at Ferdinand's empty eyes, Russell felt he had to intervene.

"I've bought you some time now, hurry up, or you'll lose a small round without doing anything."

Ferdinand still made no move, and Russell grew impatient, letting out a helpless sigh.

"Alright, I know you're thinking, 'Even if I win this round, what good will it do? At least I'll be the runner-up...'"

It seemed to have struck a chord with Ferdinand, for he finally responded.

"So what if I'm second? I can only be second place."

Russell frowned. If Ferdinand really played with that kind of mentality, even with a huge advantage, they would probably still lose.

He sighed deeply and could only continue:

"Listen, Ferdinand, I originally planned to tell you this when you reached the final, but I have to tell you now."

Ferdinand turned his head with some curiosity and said nonchalantly:

"Can you let me defeat that ' Philly '?"

"Yes," Russell replied decisively.

Ferdinand was stunned. His lips moved, but he didn't say anything. In the end, he turned his head away.

"I don't believe there's any way to defeat ' Philly ' in Magic Duel."

Even though the person who said this was his assistant whom he had known for many years, and even though the person spoke with such certainty, Ferdinand still did not believe it.

His ability to reach the semi-finals was partly due to luck, but also to his mastery of various Magic Duel.

Before today's match against ' Philly ', Ferdinand had already devised a strategy to wear down ' Philly ' using a shield-based build in order to achieve victory.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Philly will have to deal with the same tactics used today in the finals.

After witnessing firsthand that even this tactic failed, Ferdinand was at his wit's end.

He recalled the words of a Magic Duel he had known for a long time before the Main Tournament began.

"If you still plan to participate in this year's Main Tournament, then I advise you to relax and not feel that this is a match you absolutely must win just because you were lucky enough to reach the semifinals or even the finals."

"This will render all your efforts after meeting her meaningless, like smoke in the wind."

Ferdinand initially thought his friend was exaggerating, but now he realizes Wyatt was absolutely right.

I heard that Wyatt had a match with ' Philly ' before deciding not to participate in this year's Main Tournament, and obviously, Wyatt lost badly.

No wonder he dared to give up this opportunity, and no wonder the information about ' Philly ' was so exaggerated when gathering intelligence Main Tournament.

"Okay, I know. I bet you're thinking right now that no mage can defeat ' Philly ' in Magic Duel."

"But what if I told you I could let you decide the winner through Magic Duel?"

Russell smiled, just as Ferdinand turned his gaze towards him.

Ferdinand was now genuinely tempted; he could tell that Russell seemed to have already devised a plan for him in the final match.

"I can't guarantee you'll win, but I can guarantee you'll have a fair chance to fight her..."

"Time is running out. If you drag this out any longer, you'll lose the next round. It's your turn to go on stage now."

"Let's talk about it after you win the game. If you don't win, there's no need for me to tell you."

"They told us not to mention this unless absolutely necessary, so I'll only give you this opportunity if you can win today's match."

Russell winked, signaling Ferdinand to go on the field first, and they could discuss the rest later.

Although this was just Russell making empty promises, Ferdinand was distracted by this and knew that his best course of action was to get on the field first.

As dusk fell, Ferdinand stood excitedly in front of the lounge door.

He has already won today's match and will face ' Philly ' the day after tomorrow afternoon.

"Russell, please don't say this just to encourage me."

Although Russell's words seemed natural at the time and did not appear to be a lie, Ferdinand could not help but have some doubts about Russell.

He didn't believe there was a theoretical way to defeat ' Philly,' which was why he hesitated.

But a sliver of hope lingered in his heart: what if Russell really did have a way to defeat ' Philly '?

It was only then that Ferdinand realized he had accepted the idea that he couldn't defeat ' Philly ' on his own as an unshakeable truth.

He swallowed hard, then pushed open the small door he usually opened. Russell was sitting diagonally at the table, holding a document in his hand, his face full of joy.

"Congratulations, Ferdinand, you've achieved a fantastic runner-up finish. This must be your best result ever!"

Russell sincerely congratulated Ferdinand, but Ferdinand didn't seem to appreciate it, or rather, he didn't care about the runner-up position.

"Alright, we both know that the runner-up gets almost nothing, and I don't want to get second place... Do you have any methods?"

Ferdinand's impatience amused Russell, though he did know why Ferdinand was so anxious.

He blinked, then turned and handed the document directly to Ferdinand.

Ferdinand flipped through the documents at lightning speed, trying to open the latches on them, but in his haste, he failed several times.

Upon seeing this, Russell remarked:

"Ferdinand, you're a mage of the Law School, do you know who received this year's Amber Law Award?"

With Russell engaging in conversation, Ferdinand's attention was somewhat diverted, which ironically allowed him to unbutton the garment.

He flipped through the documents, placing them within easy reach, and slowly answered Russell:

"I'm not really concerned about that. If you ask me which achievements have won this award in previous years, you certainly won't get the answer from me."

"But if you ask me who won the Amber Law Award this year, I hardly need to think—it's the guy who wrote the Paper on Territory Mage."

The fact that the Territory Mage's Paper was enough to get the Law School to hold the award ceremony directly on Number Nine Floating City, and even then, most of the Law School's high-ranking members were still willing to attend.

This demonstrates the importance of the Territory Mage's Paper within the Law School, and the high-level officials' emphasis on it.

Ferdinand is also concerned about this, because the Territory Mage Profession might even be a path he wants to pursue for further development, since no one can say for sure that they will win the Champion Mage.

There's always a need to find a smoother path.

At that moment, Ferdinand looked at the title of the document.

"Some ideas and preliminary simplified applications of the Anti-Magic Edict."

"This is my friend's work; he originally intended to use it to win this year's Amber Law Award..."

"But as you know, he has no chance of winning the Amber Law Award this year, which is why he didn't submit the Paper..."

Upon hearing this, Ferdinand hesitated for a moment.

"This Paper is currently in the review process of the Law School. You don't need to worry about us stealing this monk's work. I'm just helping you get this Paper so that you and I can see it before it's published."

Hearing this, Ferdinand was relieved. At the same time, he knew that Russell wanted him to use the least likely to be countered and most likely to be effective tactic in the Magic Duel —using cutting-edge spells.

The spells of mages are constantly evolving and being optimized through cutting-edge Paper. Even these Magic Duel must read these Paper, which occasionally gives them an advantage over others.

However, there are always some Magic Duel who win matches without relying too much on luck, thanks to their advanced tactical concepts and cutting-edge spells.

However, this is the most difficult combat method because you cannot be sure that the cutting-edge spells you have mastered will be suitable for the current battle, nor can you guarantee that your opponent will not be prepared for them.

Everyone reads these cutting-edge Paper and extracts useful information from them.

Of course, if you can obtain this cutting-edge technology before the Paper is even published, then you'll be far ahead of other mages.

However, such a situation is rare and hard to come by. It is already difficult to produce a groundbreaking result, and it is extremely rare for the publication window of the Paper to be placed around the Champion Mage Challenge, giving people an opportunity to manipulate the situation.

This situation may never happen more than three times in the entire history of the Champion Mage Challenge.

Of course, the winner of the Amber Law Award was undisputed, and before the Amber Law Award was presented, a group of high-ranking Law School were tricked into fighting the Cult of the Sky Dragon, which caused considerable chaos in the internal management of the Sect.

This is why the Paper was not published too early, allowing Russell to seize the opportunity.

"The spells mentioned above are simply a simplified application of the Anti-Magic Edict."

It should be noted that the decree prohibiting all spells is an extremely advanced spell within the Law School, belonging to the Fourth Order, and normally cannot be used by Second Order Mage.

"He simplified the spell, retaining its effect of preventing second-tier and a few Third-Order Spell."

"Of course, this simplification hasn't been tested over a long period, and the method is somewhat crude; it may not be suitable for Second Order Mage in combat."

Although this spell sounds powerful, mages can study it to develop countermeasures and modify the structure of their spells to deal with it.

Many spells in history are like this: they can greatly counter other spells and are very effective, but they may not be able to withstand the research of other mages and eventually disappear into history.

There are even some parts in the spellcasting system specifically designed for this aspect, but the mages casting the spells are not very aware of them.

This Paper has not yet been published; at least before the finals, not many people will have the opportunity to read Paper.

"At that time, all you need to do is use the 'Silence' spell, and she will be caught completely off guard, because this method hasn't been researched or countered by mages beforehand."

Ferdinand's heart pounded; he knew what the consequences would be after casting this spell.

"Then all you need to do is put on your armor, wield your sword, and have a Knight's Duel with her. I think she's just a little girl, so winning should be easy for you, right?"