On the enormous circular spectator stand, one quarter of the seating was sharply separated from the rest.
Three quarters held spectators from all over the world who had been transferred from the Quidditch stadium.
The remaining quarter was occupied entirely by Church believers dressed in White Vestments, along with several thousand black-cloaked members of the Double Serpent Society's Death Squad.
The Double Serpent Society's leaders, headed by Edward, had also appeared among the believers.
And this time, it was not just the five legendary elders from before. Two more had come!
The two additional legendary elders were incredibly old, their backs hunched and their faces covered in countless wrinkles and densely clustered, horrifying patches of dead skin.
They looked as though they had just crawled out of their graves.
Though these two old men were in their twilight years, their auras were as vast and unfathomable as an abyss.
Edward and the others clustered around the two elders with the utmost respect.
These two had belonged to the previous generation's council of elders. Active two or three hundred years ago, they were the true masterminds behind the push for the International Statute of Secrecy.
They were genuine relics of the past who had survived to the present day. Even Soya and the others probably did not know their exact ages.
Today's arena matches would determine who held sway in the new century, as well as the Double Serpent Society's future, so even these two ancient relics had been forced to emerge from seclusion to oversee matters!
One was named Il.
The other was named Bessa.
Elder Il slowly swept his clouded eyes over the hundreds of thousands of people present.
He raised the jointed bone scepter he used as a walking stick and pointed toward a corner of the stands.