The participants remained on the steps they were at. Tawaki Xi was at the highest spot. Kailen Darkhaven was beneath him. Julian Seir followed, and the rest of the participants followed.

So far, 15 participants remained. The remaining 15 had died due to clashes with other participants. It meant that each of them had managed to secure a spot into the national competition, according to the rules of the intercontinental competition.

Eventually, the final day arrived. The intercontinental competition came to an end.

The facilitator, the VP of the NGU, announced that the national competition would be happening the next day. As expected, according to the rules, the 15 participants were to report at a building in the NGU HQ tomorrow morning where they will be escorted to the competition grounds of the national competition.

Nothing about the national competition was stated. All that was mentioned was that it would be broadcasted to the whole empire. Also, the rules and details would be revealed tomorrow.

As people left the stadium, they had sighed. The intercontinental competitions had taken a turn they did not expect it to take. The Southern Continent participants several had looked down on as backwater participants, weaklings even, had revealed themselves to be a terrifying duo, especially Kailen Darkhaven.

Prior to the competition, he had an altercation with the lead representative of the 15th Continent, Ezerisia, in the Austere restaurant. At the time, several had deemed him overconfident, and as someone who overestimated his abilities. To many, his eventual and humiliating death in the intercontinental competitions at the death of Ezerisia—the one many deemed would win not just the intercontinental competition, but the national competition too, because of how monstrous she was—was set in stone.

However, what occurred during the intercontinental competitions was something they had never expected. Not only had Kailen Darkhaven demonstrated uncanny, unconventional, and powerful mastery of the principle of space, overpowered, slaughtered several opponents who stood in his way, and advanced the steps of the staircase, he actually managed to effortlessly slaughter Ezerisia with cold, casual precision, using the principle of space. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

During the execution, Ezerisia cried for her master’s help, but Austere made it clear that she had overestimated herself, and the price was her death. This was something many did not expect. To think all this time, her master’s influence she had relied on to throw her weight around would eventually fail her. Not even her master would bother seeking revenge for her.

After using the principle of space to turn Ezerisia into a mangled, twisted figure, Kailen Darkhaven didn’t kill her on the spot even after she begged him to do so. He actually went ahead to leave her alive in her state for several hours, then killed her eventually after she suffered the psychological, scornful, and humiliating gazes of the whole empire. Ezerisia had said she would kill him in the most humiliating way possible. However, Kailen Darkhaven had used the stage she set for him to exact the same kind of verdict she planned for him for her.

During the process, it was as if he was just doing something he did not even deem his attention. Many also noticed that Kailen Darkhaven didn’t seem to go all out. How powerful was he?

Everyone looked forward to his performance in the national competition the following day. Could it be that he was more powerful than Kawaki Xi from the 30th Continent, who was also the talk of several people across the empire at the moment? They would only find out the following day.

Several also looked forward to the performance of his acquaintance, Julian Seir. He was also someone who could not be underestimated. He was terrifying.

Of course, the other finalists were also being discussed fervently. All of them were geniuses who had made names for themselves, but Kawaki Xi, Julian Seir, and Kailen Darkhaven stood out the most.

At this point, news about the exploits of Kailen Darkhaven and Julian Seir during their time in the Southern Continent of the empire spread everywhere. Several realized that had they looked into these two before the intercontinental competitions, they would have never looked down on them.

Alongside some feats, there were a few that caused more uproar than others. For instance, during the intercity competition of the Southern Continent, Kailen Darkhaven had manipulated the other participants like chess pieces on a board. In the end, he even manipulated a wyvern to kill several who wanted him dead in one fell swoop without even lifting a finger. His methods were really terrifying. He managed to even secure the help of a powerful assassin syndicate in the Southern Continent to completely destroy another assassin syndicate that wanted him dead.

As for Julian Seir, he managed to also display terrifying assassination abilities in the intercity competitions of the Southern Continent. Many realized these two were not just monstrous combatants. Kailen Darkhaven especially was an extremely brilliant and unpredictable strategist who was too terrifying as an enemy. Julian was also a madman who thrived in chaos and commotion. These two were terrifying.

Kailen’s aliases as The Reaper and The Engineer had surfaced on social media forums across the empire. Julian was being referred to as the white-haired vampire. Those who had pushed these hypes were those from the Southern Continent. Thanks to them, the duo were the talk of everywhere.

As for the Dawnseer Guild they were both part of, the guild was currently famous overnight. The Lotus Assassin Syndicate had also become extremely famous because Kailen was a guest elder of their syndicate. It was not even the national competition yet and those connected to them were already enjoying because of their association to them.

For instance, even Richtchard City and the Southern Continent as a whole, which had been looked down on by the other continents for a long time because they had never produced finalists for the NGU competition, could not be looked down on anymore.

Many were looking forward to the performance of the representatives tomorrow. However, the three individuals that had caught the eye of everyone—Darkhaven, Seir, and Xi—would undoubtedly be among the top ten of the national competition. Apart from the first ranked, the top ten would be able to join the NGU as members and their guild heads would be given leadership roles in the NGU.

But one question was on everyone’s minds. Who would obtain first place and join the Venzula Empire Academy?

Only tomorrow would tell.