Within minutes, the names entered the top ten students, but this time, the entire top ten was displayed all at once, as there was no suspense left to build. Everyone already knew who occupied those rankings since they had remained practically unchanged throughout the last several hours.

---

Qualifiers Round Top Ten

1/ Asher Wargrave / 2,230,360 Points / Zarethorne

2/ Arianna Haellight / 701,890 Points / Velkarin

3/ Acker Holloway / 670,900 Points / Vandross

4/ Isaac Wrath Chillstorm / 332,350 Points / Thalvorn

5/ Teo Swig / 328,990 Points / Zarethorne

6/ Zis Zaitsu / 301,220 Points / Velkarin

7/ Theodore Elox / 280,310 Points / Vandross

8/ Catherine Shatterdust / 277,000 Points / Thalvorn

9/ Hilton Zarik / 265,380 Points / Thalvorn

10/ Amara Charlton / 252,150 Points / Thalvorn

---

Just by merely looking at the list, people could immediately tell that the people of the Thalvorn Empire possessed immense talent. After all, out of the top ten students, they occupied four positions by themselves. It was no wonder they had managed to win the previous Inter-Empire Competition.

The Zarethorne Empire held two spots, the Velkarin Empire also held two spots, while the Vandross Empire occupied the remaining two.

Looking at the rankings, people’s hearts couldn’t help but tighten as they remembered that Thalric was gone.

Even Asher couldn’t help but sigh as he gazed at the rankings. There was no denying that, had fate taken a different turn, Thalric would undoubtedly have remained among the very best.

"And now, shall we begin with the top three, the honourable mentions of this Qualifier Round? The three who have given us the greatest action sequences throughout these unforgettable four days!" Thomasinho declared.

"At third place, we have the Buddhist, Acker Holloway, the commoner genius of the Vandross Empire!" AlyxAtlas immediately followed up.

Seeing the spotlight descend upon his bald head, Acker simply clasped his hands together before calmly speaking.

"Amitabha."

The next moment, chants erupted in overwhelming waves... but they were very different chants.

"BOOO!!!"

"WE DON’T WANT YOU AS THIRD PLACE!!!" one of the women shouted at the top of her voice.

"REAL MEN DON’T USE WHITE FLAGS!!!" a man roared.

"FUCK YOUR BUDDHA!!!" a child cursed at Acker.

"YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A BALD FRAUD!!!"

"WE DON’T ACCEPT YOUR PUSSY WHITE FLAG ASS!!!"

"GIVE US BACK THALRIC WARGRAVE!!!"

The hatred was truly immense as countless voices boomed through the air. How could they not hate Acker? They hated him to their very fucking core. Without the slightest hesitation, people pulled out eggs, stones, tomatoes, water bottles, discarded food, and whatever trash they could find before hurling everything toward him. The deafening chorus of boos drenched the air, enough to shatter the resolve of most ordinary people.

Seeing the overwhelming hatred directed toward him, Acker simply erected an Astra Energy Barrier around himself, effortlessly stopping everything that was thrown at him. Eggs burst harmlessly against the barrier, stones bounced away, while plates, bottles, and all kinds of rubbish clattered uselessly to the ground.

The hatred didn’t make Acker flinch. If anything, it seemed to solidify his faith in Buddha even further as he quietly spoke.

"Not all heroes of the world are loved..." His tone remained low, his voice filled with unwavering determination. "Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made," he paused as tears slowly streamed down his face. "And the hardest choices require the strongest wills. If hating me is what it takes to purify the world, and if carrying the burden on everyone’s shoulders is the price I must pay, then I shall accept that burden until the very end of my mission."

His voice remained calm throughout, bearing not even the slightest trace of hatred toward the spectators despite the hostility they directed at him.

"THIS GUY DEFINITELY HAS A FEW SCREWS LOOSE!!!"

"ARE WE ALLOWING MAD AND DELUSIONAL PEOPLE INTO THE COMPETITION NOW?!"

Voices continued to rise from the live spectators as they listened to Acker Holloway’s speech.

But of course, Acker Holloway also had his own supporters. The people of the Vandross Empire immediately came to his defence. While Acker undoubtedly had a few screws loose, he was their few screw loose genius. As for Thalric Wargrave? Who the fuck was that to them? Why should they support someone from another Empire over one of their own?

The students ranked below the top seventy couldn’t fully understand what was happening, but those who had managed to survive within the upper ranks all understood exactly why the spectators despised Acker so much. They knew Acker Holloway had used the White Flag on the former third-ranked contestant.

After all, Acker Holloway’s points were more than double those of the fourth-place contestant, and that was only possible because they were the combined total of both his own points and Thalric’s, allowing him to create such a massive gap.

"And now... the second place," Thomasinho began once more. "The one known as the Child of the Star. The one referred to as the Hope of the World. The one rumoured to have been born with her Astra Veins already activated!" Thomasinho shouted into his microphone as though he were introducing his own daughter to the entire world. "The only child of the Black Disaster, the favourite to win this competition... Arianna Haellight!"

The moment the introduction ended, the spectators erupted into complete madness. They had all compared her to Asher because the two of them currently possessed the largest fan clubs in the entire competition. It was truly quite the sight, men and women in their twenties, thirties, forties, and even older had formed dedicated fan clubs centred around students.

Who didn’t know Arianna Haellight?

If there was one thing that made the spectators admire her so much, it was the fact that ever since unlocking her Astra Energy and Ability, she had never once drawn her blade again. She erased everything before her with nothing more than a single glance... one calm stare, and everything standing before her simply ceased to exist.

And it wasn’t only that.

Just a few hours earlier, she had temporarily lost her second-place ranking after Acker Holloway overtook her through the points he acquired from Thalric. Yet despite that, she had reclaimed her position once again, widening the gap by another thirty thousand (30,000) points through nothing but her own efforts.

Everyone knew that if Acker Holloway hadn’t acquired Thalric’s points, then the difference between Arianna and third place would have been well over double the total points possessed by the third-ranked contestant.

Arianna stood calmly. Unlike many before her, she didn’t wave enthusiastically toward the crowd. She merely raised her head toward the spectators and gave a simple nod of acknowledgement. Yet with nothing more than that single graceful gesture, the entire stadium descended into absolute frenzy.

"OHH MY STARS, SHE FUCKING LOOKED AT ME!!!" a woman screamed at the top of her lungs.

"HOW COULD THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ON THE PLANET LOOK AT YOUR UGLY FACE?! SHE WAS LOOKING AT ME INSTEAD!!!" a man shouted as the two of them immediately began arguing over who Arianna had actually looked at. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

If Arianna possessed a system with a Charm Stat, then that number was either permanently set to MAX or simply replaced with the symbol for infinity itself. No matter where she stood or what she did, people naturally found themselves drawn toward her, unable to look away, as though she herself had become the centre of an entire world’s attention.