The Pluton Pirates also needed to adjust the tournament format and draw up the match schedule.
To allow some margin for error, each contestant would still fight ten matches. Only those who won at least nine could advance.
And only 128 places were available in the next round.
That was roughly one in ten.
The tournament was finally starting to get exciting.
To Hades, though, this first round was still a qualifier.
It would weed out the weaker Swordsmen, leaving only the best among them and the Great Swordsmen.
The second round would switch to one-on-one matches. Winners advanced, losers were eliminated, and each match decided the outcome.
That would determine the final sixty-four, thirty-two, and sixteen.
The point of multiple matches was to allow a margin for error and select the true elite among the Swordsmen.
As far as Hades was concerned, only the battles from the final sixteen onward would be interesting enough to deserve his attention.
He usually stayed at Sky Arena to guard against accidents rather than following the tournament's progress closely.
Although fewer contestants remained, this round still lasted half a month.
They could afford only one loss in ten matches, and no Swordsman wanted to give up.
Especially not after overcoming so much to get here.
The intensity of the fighting surpassed all expectations.
The Kronos Kingdom's advanced medical system helped make it possible.
The medical pods could not be revealed, but powerful treatments combined with Nutrient Solution let contestants recover quickly from their injuries.
That kept severe injuries from forcing them out of the tournament.
During this time, many Swordsmen broke through their limits. With their resolve to give everything, the truly strong emerged.
In the end, 128 Swordsmen advanced.
Anyone who made it this far was either a Great Swordsman or a