Am I the Villainess of this Story?

Chapter 35: The End of the Tournament

Although I was disappointed to have lost in the individual competition, I did not lose my focus and managed to do my best in the group competition. Right after Rei won his competition, the six of us practiced in order to fine-tune our performance. That's why, instead of watching the combat portion of the group tournament on the third day, we ensconced ourselves in the rooms allocated for the student representatives. We practiced all throughout the day and only managed to learn about the winners through second-hand information.

Apparently, the group duel was quite exciting. Henderson and Ricafort were grouped together with his knight-apprentice cousin. According to the rumors, the skills of the group trumped the other competitors, leading them to emerge as champions. From what I could gather, the elimination round of the tournament was set up as a free-for-all battle of sorts. Each group would choose their line-up, with each team sending one representative on the ring for six rounds. In each round, the team representatives will battle it out until only one of them remained inside the ring standing. The team of the winning representative will then receive a pass to the next round. The winning team would then be excused from the next free-for-all. This meant that only six teams would move on to the second round. So, out of twenty five teams, each with six members, nineteen of them were eliminated outright.

The next round of the group duel was simultaneous paired combat. The match up was as follows:

Team A Pair 1 vs Team D Pair 1; Team A Pair 2 vs Team E Pair 2; Team A Pair 3 vs Team F Pair 3

Team B Pair 1 vs Team E Pair 1; Team B Pair 2 vs Team F Pair 2; Team B Pair 3 vs Team D Pair 3

Team C Pair 1 vs Team F Pair 1; Team C Pair 2 vs Team D Pair 2; Team C Pair 3 vs Team E Pair 3

Of these match-ups, only the team with two wins will enter the final round, wherein the form of combat would be a battle royal. And, of all the teams who joined, Henderson's team managed to win the tournament in an overwhelming victory.

However, contrary to the outcome of the duel competition, the group marksmanship competition was a bit lackluster. The premise of the competition was quite simple. The first round was like a relay. Each team will decide their line-up. The first player will hit the required target in order to receive the clue in determining the next target. He would, then, communicate it to the next player, who would do the same. This would go on until the last player manages to hit the final target. The time limit was thirty minutes. Any team who fails to finish the challenge within the given time frame will be eliminated. 

The next round was done in pairs. Each team will separate into three pairs. Each pair will be placed in three different areas. One of the partners will then be given a sight-distorting artifact in order to handicap him while the other will have his hands bound in order to prevent him from casting spells or using ranged weapons. In short, in order to hit the target, the one with the clear vision is to direct the one with the free hands. Each team, in order to advance, must have two of their pairs earn the requisite points. 

The final round was field combat. The remaining teams will be assigned a specific color as well as weapon similar to a paintball gun. Each team will then be given five minutes to hide in the prepared area. In order to win, the members of the team must not be hit by the other teams. Once a team member was hit, that person will then be transported, via a teleportation array set up on the field, to the designated area of the team where the person who hit him belongs. For every person hit, the team who hits them will earn points. And, for every member of the team who has not been hit, the team would also earn points. The team with the most points would win.

Unsurprisingly, the team where Justine Skye belonged to managed to win. Thus, the third day ended much aplomb.

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