Starting with Armament and such in the first round of auditions seems like overkill; Rina doesn't think it's necessary.
—That's a nice way of putting it.
The main reason is that Rina's Armament is of the "Heart Essence Mantle" type. When unfolded, it does not bring a significant increase in speed and does not help much with "Crossing the Sea". Instead, it wastes Heart Essence.
However, even without going all out, Rina had already achieved her goal of keeping watch.
The power of Liuli's Mind Echo was greatly diminished after being intercepted by her.
When the lingering Echo struck Charles and the others, they only delayed their attack for a negligible moment, without affecting the overall situation.
Cries of panic, screams, curses...
The landing point was in complete chaos.
Qiji had anticipated this, so it was impossible for him to be completely unprepared.
He and Huomu, among others, could have arrived on the island much earlier, but they fell behind the other candidates, waiting for this very moment—
After the five members of Kalentia unleashed their first round of Echo, they began to rebuild the gaps between the next rounds of Echo!
Although the five members of the Charles did demonstrate the elite level of Kalentia in their mastery of Echo and their teamwork.
The five people constructed the circuits at extremely short intervals and consciously took turns releasing them to make up for their respective periods of inactivity.
However, the brief moment of delay that Liuli gained was enough!
In Setsuna, he leaped out of the sea with Qiji in his arms.
Qiji took out the [Thousand Faces] card and threw it at Yate, who was holding a giant sword and blocking their landing point.
The card shattered in mid-air, turning into hundreds and thousands of mirror fragments.
Then, in an instant, they coalesced into a long sword radiating light, which thrust straight toward Yate's face!
Yate scoffed, not taking the weak and feeble sword strike seriously.
He didn't think there would be any suspense about the outcome between the elites of Kalentia and the rabble of City of Kindling.
Yate didn't even bother to look at the sword pieced together from fragments; he simply parried, intending to swat it away like a fly.
His attention was focused more on Setsuna, wary of a possible surprise attack from the speed-type Echoer.
However, at the very moment the two swords clashed—
The sword shattered again!
Fragments exploded everywhere, each reflecting a blinding light that dazzled Yate's eyes, leaving them in a white blur.
"?!"
Yate instinctively narrowed his eyes, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.
But it was too late!
The countless fragments did not scatter, but instead passed over his sword and reformed!
The moment the sword reformed, it was already aimed directly at his throat!
This is the first True Name that Qiji [Thousand Faces] unlocked.
[The Sword of Mirrors]!
With the help of the card, he can even use it without unfolding his Armament!
Moreover, because the acquisition of this True Name occurred later than the Infinite Weakening of [Equivalent Wish], it was not affected by any "weakness".
It can still unleash 100% of its power!
At this sight, Yate's pupils constricted sharply!
The superiority and arrogance emanating from Kalentia made him lower his guard, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.
Yate had no choice but to retreat hastily, and in that single step, the landing point he was guarding was exposed!
Seeing this Dorian, who was in charge of blocking the approaching landing point, couldn't help but laugh:
"Yate, it's only been a few days, what happened to you? You can't even stop a patient in a wheelchair?"
Despite his sarcastic remarks, Dorian showed no sign of slackness in his actions.
He immediately activated the Echo to help Yate stop the Qiji group from landing on the island.
Thousands of petals transformed into sharp blades, attacking Setsuna and Qiji relentlessly.
Setsuna she held Qiji in her arms, they were in mid-air and unable to change direction for a moment. She was about to forcibly activate her Armament.
The next instant, a voice was heard rapidly approaching from afar:
"Brother Qiji, I'm here to help you!"
It turned out to be the squad leader Panyan, who had activated [Solid Rock Stance], standing in front of them like a city wall.
The giant, who was over two meters tall, had rock-like textures on his skin. The petal-shaped throwing knives struck him, making a crisp clanging sound, but they didn't even leave a white mark.
Panyan burst into loud laughter, his voice like muffled thunder. "Didn't you eat? I'm going to exert myself, put in more effort!"
Charles's gaze was drawn to the commotion, and he couldn't help but frown.
He didn't expect that their garbage cleanup plan would be leaky from the very beginning.
These small fry in the City of Kindling were not quite what he had imagined...
How dare you fight back?
They really don't know what's good for them!
Charles was displeased and was about to make a move.
However, Suyo, wearing a fox mask, stepped forward and blocked his way.
Suyo said nothing, only stared at him silently.
This scene, however, was a damn overlap with that scene in my memory, in the Sea of Consciousness!
Unpleasant memories flooded back, and Charles immediately became irritable.
In a flash, a decision was made.
Once the landing point has been breached, it won't be so easy to block it again.
Instead of continuing to entangle with these ants who are destined to be crushed by him in the next round, it's better to prioritize securing a top-five ranking!
It's important to know that the top five players who advance from each island will receive [Trial Items] that can be used in the next stage upon completion.
This is a real advantage, and we cannot let it slip away!
With this in mind, Charles waved to the group from Kalentia, signaling them to give up on further entanglement with the rabble, and leaped into the teleportation array first.
Only by entering the teleportation array can one truly advance, and only then will the score for the first stage be finalized!
"Liuli!" Qiji called out to remind her.
Before she could finish speaking, Liuli had already flapped her wings and soared away.
At the same time, Suyo also dashed towards the teleportation array.
She didn't seize the opportunity to take first place when Kalentia intercepted Qiji and the others because she wanted to stay on the island and cover her classmates' landing.
The next stage is the team competition. If she is the only one who passes, it will be meaningless even if she wins first place in the preliminary round.
Now that Panyan and the others have successfully landed on the island, she has no more worries.
The advantage of being in the top five becomes especially important at this moment!
The next moment, five figures leaped into the teleportation array one after another.
The final results for East Island's customs clearance have been released.
First place: Charles.
Second place, Suyo.
Third place: Liuli.
Fourth place: Dorothy.
Fifth place: Dorian.
Of the top five, Kalentia occupies three spots.
This also means that they will start the next team competition with an overwhelming advantage!
On the East Island, the fighting ceased.
Qiji thanked Panyan, and then, together with Class 1, stepped into the teleportation array.
There are no rewards after fifth place, so there's no point in worrying about the ranking anymore.
The moment the spirit stepped into the teleportation array, it was lifted up by a gentle force.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a completely different world.
What comes into view is a ruined city, with dilapidated high-rise buildings standing under a gray sky.
The group was in a city square.
People passing through customs on the East Island occupied a corner of the square.
"Qiji- kun!" Liuli had been teleported over first, finally relaxed her tense shoulders when she saw Qiji appear.
She flew to Qiji's side immediately and removed her Armament.
In the first stage, Liuli kept her Armament the entire time. Although she didn't experience any intense battles, she still constantly expended her Heart Essence to maintain her strength.
Now, it will take some time to recover.
"This is the prize I received for coming in third place."
Liuli handed a card to Qiji.
Qiji took it and glanced at it.
The card is named [Battle Support].
Outside the arena, the audience in City of Kindling who witnessed this scene raised many questions.
With the strength she demonstrated in the first level, coupled with her impeccable character model, Liuli quickly gained a large following.
It was one thing for Liuli to drag along a burden in the first level, but why did she immediately hand over the advantage she had earned through her own strength in the second level?
Immediately, everyone felt sorry for Liuli.
"Seriously? This is clearly a top-five reward from Liuli, how can this guy have the nerve to accept it?"
"After all, he was once the 'number one genius,' although now... but people always like to dwell on the past."
The Thousand Faces Family's brainwashing was indeed successful; many people now believe their claims.
Even when Qiji first arrived on the island, he clearly showed off his skills, but the Thousand Faces Family's propaganda machine twisted it into a sword thrown out in Setsuna...
The craziest thing is that a lot of people actually believed it.
Of course, this is also because Qiji's current appearance—sitting in a wheelchair and coughing up blood from time to time—has inadvertently lowered everyone's impression of him.
Although some people in the crowd recognized Qiji and spoke up for him, their voices were too weak in the face of the majority who followed the crowd, and were quickly drowned out by the louder noise.
Thanks to the Thousand Faces Family's relentless smear campaign, Qiji's image has become—
A fake genius, a ruthless liar.
This is the power of public opinion.
With Kalentia once again gaining a decisive advantage, the spectators desperately needed an outlet to vent their emotions.
Unfortunately, due to the influence of the Thousand Faces Family, Qiji became that channel.
The live stream briefly switched to the audience's reactions in the show, and the screen immediately filled with a dense barrage of comments:
"It's starting again! After bullying Huomu, now they're attacking my Prisoner Ji!"
"The will of dominance has been unleashed!"
"666, is this the true value of the people of the City of Kindling? It was a Prisoner Ji time saving them in White Harbor..."