“Alright, everything seems to be going smoothly. Well except for that parachute business but you all know what I meant.” Artian said while dusting his hands.

Rossa however made no response as she hung her shoulders down, she then placed a hand on her forehead making her disappointment very visible.

“I really should have objected more.” She said as she shook her head.

“I understand how you feel, I would have preferred to play as the Hero of the story but alas, you and I gave our word to a man who presented himself as a trickster.” Estelle said with a cheeky smile.

“Yeah I know but-” Rossa then paused, her eyebrows furrowed forming an angry scowl on her face.

“Ah forget it! Let’s just get this over with.” Rossa said in a loud voice, almost shouting.

“Eh, let’s just enjoy the ride! Let’s have some fun on the stage that was set for us, as Sylvester would probably say." Artian then laughed out loud, but his cheerful demeanor only ignited a flame of anger from everyone around them.

“What? That guy is laughing? At a time like this?!” Letisia screamed inside her head, struggling to control her emotions.

It was a sentiment many of the participants shared, they felt the frustration of being robbed at the last moment, making all their previous effort seem meaningless. They could not let these people simply just run in and take the prize away.

Now they openly talk and laugh without any regard for the situation, the experience was nothing short of infuriating.

“Oh look Artian, you made them mad. Goal achieved, I guess? Is that what you were supposed to do?” Estelle commented as she pointed towards the angry mob.

“Nice. Well not to brag or anything I do think I have a talent for pissing people off. There’s a reason I never get invited to extended family gatherings.” Artian shrugged as he continued to laugh while Rossa continued to sigh in disappointment.

“Are you sure that is something you should be proud of?” She said while inwardly lamenting her choice for companions, but before Artian could reply another volley of spells came flying their way.

This time Rossa did not bother trying to block the attacks but opted to simply dodge away using Brilliant wings while Artian and Estelle evaded the attacks through skillful back flips and jumps.

The three then huddled together in a much tighter formation with Artian in the front, as another wave of spells came flying in, Artian brought out his blade.

“My spirit is my sword!” He shouted as his blade was wrapped in a bright yellow aura. Artian then smiled confidently as he deflected all incoming spells without much effort.

Artian’s stunt then left everyone in silence from pure disbelief, especially the magic knights. But before they could prepare for another round of attacks, Artian raised his blade towards them prompting an abrupt pause.

He then smiled before opening his mouth.

“Alright, alright. We’re not gonna get anywhere with this song and dance so-.” He said while twirling his blade in the air, his body relaxed and composed.

“Tell you what, since we don’t have much time left I’ll tell you all exactly how it’s going to go down.” He then paused for a while and looked at the anxious crowd staring at him.

“Now listen to my words carefully. If you manage to survive this attack, feel free to follow us and try to take the box away.” Artian said as the crowd detected a large surge of mana.

“Now that I think about it, I really wanted to show off this new shit I learned. First time I will get to use it without worrying about collateral damage!” He said as he directed the flow of his mana into his sword.

William watched on, a feeling of fear started creeping into his heart.

“This.. Feeling. It’s familiar.” He said as he grabbed on to his chest.

Little did he know that this gut feeling would prove crucial in the next few seconds.

As instinct kicked he turned away and faced his teammates, but before they could react he suddenly shouted at them in distress.

“Quickly! Run you guys!” He screamed as the glow on Artian’s sword started intensifying, pulsing with energy.

Artian continued to smile before he opened his mouth to speak.

“At first I really thought elemental mixing was just a stupid and pointless gimmick, but the moment I got the hang of it, I soon realized that it was worth the shitstorm I went through to learn it as it greatly increased the strength of my somewhat basic elemental spells by a huge margin so long as I get everything juuust right.” He said as he placed his sword in front of him.

“So, how about a little demonstration?”

“Blessing of fire.” Artian said in an ominous voice as his sword was immediately set ablaze.

“Now, I wonder what would happen if I fanned the flames?” He said in a taunting manner as the once angry crowd started to flee.

“Blessing of the wind!” A layer of wind then formed around the flaming sword and only served to intensify the blaze.

“Behold, my new move!” He said as he raised his sword upward.

“Blessing overflow: INFERNAL CYCLONE!” Artian declared in a loud and thundering voice as he swung his sword downwards.

A large and violent vortex of flame manifested from Artian’s blade, laying waste to those who were unfortunate enough to be caught in its path as it easily crashed through what meager defense those who had no choice but to stand their ground have put up.

The area was then transformed into an almost hellish landscape as flame and destruction was seen all over. Those who were swept by the blazing winds ended up unconscious on the ground, their bodies wrapped in ethereal chains.

Those who survived could only look on in shock, as they saw their numbers decimated by one single move.

For most of these young mages this isn’t the first time they have seen such destruction and power firsthand, but experiencing the full brunt of such an attack while being on the receiving end is different from seeing it as a demonstration.

They realized that there was an almost unbridgeable gap in front of them, and that realization alone was enough to freeze them in place.

This feeling was then followed by fear, this is a situation they are going to have to face in the not so distant future. Even if the festival was nothing more than a fun little game with a prize at the end, it also gave them a glimpse of what a mission on the field would look like.

Grueling and messy fights, and the chance of everything going wrong at the end. They finally saw a small glimpse of their future.

One day, each and everyone of them will be risking their lives and sometimes that risk simply will be too much.

But fortunately, there were those who remained undaunted by this reality.

Holding firm onto her resolve and pride, Letisia stood up to face Artian and his group, something that her own group followed.

“You think this is enough to deter me?” She shouted at the top of her lungs. “I will take that box from you no matter what! You hear me? I will defeat all of you!!”

Her clear declaration of war that was filled with determination seemed to have stirred something within William’s heart.

He couldn't help but feel admiration for Letisia who is standing strong despite the overwhelming odds while he was now lying down on his stomach almost frozen in fear.

“Why am I just taking this lying down? I have power now and yet why do I still feel so powerless?” He thought to himself, screaming inwardly and chastising his weakness.

“I can’t, I can’t let it happen again! I am no longer the scared child that I was!” And with those thoughts he found the strength to stand back up and face the overwhelming opponents.

“I hate to admit it, but that woman Letisia is correct. I need to keep fighting! I want to win!”

Upon seeing his figure standing proud, his teammates all followed his example and got up on their feet. Slowly but surely, other participants who were at the brink of giving up decided to give it one more shot. A brilliant display of defiance against such overwhelming force.

Artian smiled at the sight of people slowly rising to their feet eager to meet his challenge.

“What do you know, it’s all going according to plan. That guy sure is something.” He thought to himself as he smiled a wicked smile.

“Well that’s a welcome sight, looks like this will be fun for a little while longer. Sadly I’m afraid that it’s time for the three of us to make our exit.” Artian declared as he sheathed his blade.

Rossa stood silenty with a complicated expression present on her face, something Estelle noticed when she and Artian approached. It seemed she knew what was on Rossa's mind.

“Sylvester is pretty scary isn’t he?” Estelle said as she smiled at Rossa.

As the three prepared to leave by gathering mana to use their own flight spells, Letisia called out to their retreating figures, momentarily stopping the trio on their tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going? Come back here!” She yelled out as she stumbled trying to follow them.

“We’re giving you a chance to prepare duh.” Estelle replied.

“What?”

“Look, I don’t mean to be rude but I don’t think you guys are in the best shape right now.” Artian began explaining.

“If it were up to me, or rather, literally anyone else really, I’d take this chance and defeat you all, but that would be boring now wouldn’t it?”

“What? Why?” William was the one who responded this time, obviously confused as to why they were enacting another cliche development.

“Well I’ll just explain in Sylvester’s own words then. This whole festival is just one big game, one big show and all of us are the characters playing a role. So wouldn’t it be great for the audience if they could witness a grand finale?” Artian declared.

“T-that’s absurd! Preposterous even!” Letisia immediately reacted in anger.

"Are they not taking this festival seriously? They're trying to create their own organization right? Then why?" Letisia thought to herself, trying to the find logic and reason behind this frivolous act.

“Don’t get mad at me, his words not mine. If you have a problem try bringing it up with him later.” Artian said as the three of them gathered mana.

“But don’t take too long, remember, time is running out.” He then smiled as the trio took to the skies.