Tempest of the Stellar War

The bigger one’s hopes, the more anxious one became, especially when it was not in one’s forte.

The second round would directly eliminate half of the participants, a staggering number. Besides those that had absolute confidence in their qualification, those hovering on the borderline became even more anxious.

The Solar System team was also checking answers. Lear stood at the fringe, uninterested in such things beneath him.

Zhang Shan and Lie Guang were going at it heatedly. On the whole, Lie Guang did not seem to have done badly, although the gap between him and Zhang Shan was clear.

“Out of a hundred, I’ve definitely got at least 90.”

Zhang Shan was brimming with confidence. He was just shy of calling himself the God of Examinations, and he vowed to bring his aura of awe from the last round to this.

After an hour, the Atlanteans also handed in their scripts, at the very last minute.

Everybody was now accounted for. The marking and totaling had already begun the moment the Aslanian people handed in their scripts.

As the examination ended, the results were announced readily, the marks being transmitted to the Skylinks in each candidate’s hand.

The Aslanian people all had smug smiles as they looked at the Skylink’s results. As expected, they had all scored well in those questions they knew well. Those they didn’t had yielded a few lucky guesses as well. Their average score hovered around 85, which was definitely the high score. Sword Saint and Sword Magician even had the same exact score – 90.

Sword Magician Oz was the picture of regret. “It can’t be, a draw? Aurora, you wouldn’t have done it on purpose, would you?”

Was it so difficult to determine who was better? Damn, they had even scored the same in the examination.

Sword Saint’s face was deadpan. “You explain to me how I did it on purpose, and I’ll admit defeat right here.”

The other Aslanian members choked back a laugh.

Lie Guang looked at the results. “Tch, 73? Examination God Maiden, how did you do?”

Zhang Shan was in a daze.

Lie Guang peeked. “86? Didn’t you say you were guaranteed 90 and above?”

Zhang Shan reddened. “Even gods slip up sometimes, let alone mortals. I shouldn’t have gotten these few questions wrong. I overlooked a few differentials in the essential conditions, which would lead to variations in the results. I chose based on experience, and fell into the trap.”

The fall after the pride.

Wang Zheng laughed as well. “Me too, too careless. I guess I was affected by the Aslanian team’s early submissions as well. 87.”

Lie Xin and the rest were all smiles, having scored 75 and above. Furthermore, Achilles had 83. Within the Solar System team, they already had three people in the 80s.

Lie Guang rubbed the back of his head. “It couldn’t be. I’m the worst scorer? Oh, right, there’s still Lear.”

At this moment, everybody turned to Lear, who was standing apart from them.

Besides them, the other teams’ results were not too ideal. Over snatches of conversation, they seemed to be in the range between 60 and 75. If Lear had 80 as well, then the Solar System would have four in the 80s, and they would have creamed this round easily.

Lear was emotionless, clearly having no intention of revealing his result.

Over at the Arbitans, under the gaze of Olivios, the other team members heaved a collective sigh of relief. Their results were not bad, with an average of 72.

Some teams were ecstatic, some gloomy.

The final elimination tally was released quickly as well.

Akerlof walked out, looking down upon the waiting masses below the stage. He began to read out the chosen teams’ names: Atlantis Alliance’s team, although their test average was not shockingly high, their outstanding earlier performance had secured them first place at present.

The Atlanteans did not cheer, receiving their first place calmly.

Arbiter Republic team…

Aslan Empire team…

Manalasuo Empire team… Gemini Union team… Silver Snake Coalition team…

When the later names were being read, they elicited loud cheers. Not everyone was as composed as the stronger nations like Atlantis. To be able to enter the top 64 was already an admirable feat.

Solar System Federation team…

As reasonably expected, the Solar System Federation team was also comfortably ahead. Zhang Shan had earned the Solar System too many points in the previous round.

The Solar System team was cheering as well. Hey! This result was definitely a milestone victory!

But Akerlof’s next words gave the Solar System’s cheers brief pause for a second: Additionally, the Solar System Federation team’s Lear had scored the highest in this test, with 97 points, and so the Solar System Federation team would earn an additional 10 points!

Zhang Shan, who had been celebrating with abandon, sobered up immediately. Damn, it couldn’t be, Lear? The top scorer? 97? And the highest scorer this time around? Invigilator, sir, you must have made a mistake, the name should be Zhang Shan, right???

Lear was heedless to the gazes he was receiving, causing the celebratory mood to wane. After all, Lear’s forte was in ruining the mood, that was for sure.

Akerlof continued to announce the 64 names.

The cheers were rising. Every team that had their name read was in a frenzy. Some were crying, a rare time for the men who did not cry easily. On the other hand, the teams which had not been called became even more nervous, muttering the count to themselves. 31, 32… This was the number of teams that had been called. As it increased, it meant that their chances were diminishing.

Akerlof read with an even pace, reading the team names without pause. Very quickly, only 10 names out of the 64 remained unread.

Some teams had started to despair, but looked hopefully towards Akerlof, with complex gazes, as though they bore the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Some team captains had already started to console their members. “Don’t mind it. We’ve done well enough. It’s not that we’re not capable, but rather that our time hasn’t come. We should be happy that we made it to the IG, and can bring back happy memories. Perhaps some amongst you can make a comeback next time. As for me, I can’t, so don’t hang your heads in despair. Raise them up. We’re all heroes for having made it this far.”

The team names left Akerlof’s mouth one after the other. At this time, those that were called were truly over the moon, as though they had been to hell and back. Their happiness was truly sweet.

The last team. Akerlof’s reading pace had slowed, and the atmosphere became incomparably thick. The qualified teams were still celebrating, while those that had not were at once despairing and hopeful, even praying.

“Caragal team. The previous mentioned 64 teams enter the main competition.”

Akerlof had finished reading.

The entire scene was polarized.

After panicking for so long, and even resigning themselves to returning disappointed, the Caragal team leaped up as one. They had the last chance – the last name to be read out. Max hugged his teammates tightly, howling…

They could count themselves the dark horse as well. Ever since Max had passed a B-rank mission, the Caragal team members were afire as well. They had exploded with a fearsome battle prowess. When their morale was high, they could definitely bring to bear their strongest power.

As for the teams that had not been called, they had sunk into darkness. Many had sunk to their knees unbearably. How could this be? How could this have happened? They had brought their best ability to bear, even surpassing themselves. Their battles were faultless. Everybody had been cheering for them to advance, advance, advance, and they had let everybody down…

Uncontrollable tears fell. They were not just weeping, but howling in anguish!

They had endured too much, prepared too much in coming here. They would rather have fallen or died in battle than to be eliminated in such a fashion, but there were no more chances.

To them, this iteration of IG ended here. Some might have another chance, while the door would close forever on others.

Only entering the main competition could rightly be counted as the official IG.

The Solar System team could feel the envious gazes. The countless Solar System teams in the past had been the same. In this moment, they had finally broken through to the main IG.

Meng Ao, who had just received the news, could not resist twirling his fist in triumph. This bunch of little brats were really too impressive. Although they had seen some rough patches, they had succeeded!

Entering the main competition had already exceeded their initial expectations, but after witnessing Wang Zheng’s performance, Meng Ao decided that simply aiming for the main competition was insufficient. The Solar System team definitely had a shot at moving a step further. As long as they utilized their battle strategy well, they could definitely have the potential to advance even further.

The qualified and eliminated members left as two separate droves, only, one was returning home, while the other would soon commence another round of fighting – the real battle was about to start.

Perhaps to some teams, being eliminated in this round was not necessarily a stroke of misfortune.