Nine days into the tournament, Dale stood with his arms crossed, looking at his position on the leaderboard rankings when Orwen tapped him, gesturing behind.

Dale turned, chuckling as he saw Snow walking into the city square, which was scarcely populated with students.

The moment Snow entered, he became the center of attention, mostly because he was too handsome to be overlooked, even though most students were already used to seeing that face.

"Look who's ranked eighth. The first man to change the history of the Glimmer Wing Butterfly," Dale said. At least, even if he wasn't in the top ten, there were two sophomores there, and one of them was Snow.

Snow walked up to Dale and looked up at the leaderboard. Seeing his frown, Dale shook his head.

"You're looking for Godfrey, right?"

Snow turned to him.

"You'll find him at the bottom," Dale added.

Snow looked and saw Godfrey's name ranked at the very last place, with zero points!

'Did he face the seniors and have to be taken away from the tournament? Sounds like what Godfrey would do,' Snow thought.

"Only five days remain. I want to organize a team to strike one of the mini bosses. The target is Percival. Who would've thought he'd be so lucky to kill and maintain a mini boss zone for so long?"

Dale's statement made Snow's eyes flash. He recalled the giant water ball, over thirty-two meters high, with Jon's summon locked within, and a massive beast that grew from a hundred feet to five hundred, coiled around it.

Had Percival not been merciful, Jon and his summon would both have died. Despite Jon being on the winning side when the battle began, the stronger student became apparent in the end.

Percival's summon had such great control over the elements, and its size and hard scales countered Jon's summon perfectly. Snow had never seen Jon so helpless in his entire life, it felt just like when Mountain repelled his silver glimmer and blew a hole in his butterfly's chest.

Though Jon escaped when Percival released him, the few who watched that battle knew Manhattan's official king was beneath the Shadow Club's ace.

"Jon and Percival were in a fight. Jon lost," Snow said softly.

Dale's eyes widened. "W-What?!"

At that moment, a sudden chill enveloped them, and everyone else in the entire city. A few seconds later, snow began to fall from the dark skies.

Snow caught a snowflake, his eyes shaking. "Isolde's wyvern has evolved into a dragon. A powerful one, at that, to be able to cause such a phenomenon."

"Man! I now understand that I'm not in the same league with her, and all that beauty is for someone deserving. But that person can't be someone who couldn't even last to the end of the tournament. Godfrey must've been as stubborn as usual and paid dearly for it this time," Dale scowled.

***

'I paid dearly for it,' Godfrey said inwardly, his voice descending into a deep baritone as he stretched a core toward Tempest, who stood before his throne.

'I paid seven days of no sleep and consistent hunting to gather enough cores. Let's see where this one takes you.'

Tempest, already at tier 7.6, took the core, and the moment he was done absorbing it, his size, which had been stagnant, finally rose to 8.2 feet.

A metal formed a floating circle above his head like a halo. It was golden, with two high points at the front like a mountain split into two.

The image of the sun with short rays glowed between his two golden eyes. The other parts of his face were hidden in darkness, but Tempest was already looking like a celestial being, truly magnificent, as the creature he was fused within.

However, the greatest change was his greatsword. It had become a Double-Bladed Greatsword, ten feet in length! The blades were four feet each, and the hilt that connected both blades was two feet long.

This mighty weapon, which looked like it could weigh a ton, was twirled effortlessly by Tempest.

"I have regained my main weapons and abilities, Duke. Let me face Dracula once more," Tempest's voice rumbled as he rose to tier 7.9 – The pinnacle of the High Tier!

"Oh, we will," Godfrey said, walking up to the stone tablet whose inscribed words glowed and changed.

Summon: Chief Blade Knight of the Golden Order

Type: Hybrid

Tier: 7.9

Potential: 8.5

Description: [An eight-and-a-half-foot-tall anointed chief knight. Along with all his monstrous battle capabilities, he has the Golden Halo above his head, which can heal and rejuvenate all who have sworn the Golden Oath once expanded.]

Godfrey's eyes narrowed. He finally saw it, Tempest might not have troops under him, but he was the core of the army. His personal battle skills aside, this golden halo of his could keep the Golden Order Knights fighting endlessly.

As long as Tempest stood, an entire army would not fall! Well, the healing wasn't exactly perfect, healed wounds left scars, like the one on Godfrey's thigh and others on his body.

Apart from that, Tempest couldn't regenerate lost limbs or organs, but his healing could be applied to a great number, a feat most healers were incapable of.

Before his eyes, Tempest entered Black-Out State and rose to tier 8.9!

Godfrey opened his eyes to the outside world as Tempest, Mountain, and Ballista came out of their portals.

All four of them stared at the field of stakes. They could see new stakes, and on them were Golden Order Knights who had sacrificed themselves to ensure Godfrey's escape.

Godfrey clenched his teeth as his eyes hardened. On his own, his strength could rival that of an 8.3 summon. His advantage lay in great strength and control over lightning.

Werewolves burst out of the soil once more, and bats flew from the castle, they had all respawned, so he was facing Dracula's army in its peak state.

Mountain and Ballista summoned another three hundred knights, all standing in disciplined lines behind Godfrey.

Some Heavy Infantry Knights held spears bearing flags of the golden sun. Arrows tore through the air in great numbers.

It was time for a second round against Dracula.

...

A/N: I honestly don't see how a character image will justify what's in our hearts. It can never be the same.

I speak so righteously because I truly don't have anything in mind.

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