Chapter 229: Return

After having a sportsmanship handshake to all people there, Theo and the others were escorted back to Italy.

Only at this time, Theo had the time to look around, enjoying the views. He saw a metal base that looked like their Art Beats Castle, but when they flew above the base, he realized the base was more advanced in technology than their Art Beats Castle.

He could see there were some transportations from one place to another along with the entire stylish look. Italy must have poured so much money into this and believed their defense was enough to protect the base for at least a few hundred years.

In the end, they returned to the stadium.

Theo and the others came out of the plane before the one who held their flag earlier came to them with a smile on his face. On his hand was a letter addressed to them.

He politely handed the letter. "Congratulations. Because you have entered the main competition, you're invited to the cultural banquet that will be held in three days."

"Hmm?" Theo glanced at Alea since he wasn't supposed to be the one dealing with this.

At the same time, Hengki came to them and said, "You should accept it. It's a privilege for the winner. Before the main competition starts or after the elimination round ends, they usually hold a banquet for all eight teams, allowing them to know each other, making a connection and wishing them a fair battle."

"Ho?" Theo was amused by it and nodded, asking Alea to get the letter.

"I and my team will probably return to the stadium to watch the rest of the match since it's good to learn from others. My coach will be there too. What will you do?"

"We will return as well, our instructor is waiting for us after all." Theo nodded in agreement.

"Great. Want to come together?"

"Sure."

Since the two leaders had agreed, the two groups began to walk inside the stadium through the back door, heading toward their own coach.

After that, they went separate ways as their seats were far from them.

As soon as they regrouped with Radvils, the latter clapped his hands without an expression. "Congratulations. I'm sure you're going to be a superstar in our country since you've become the first team in our country that reaches this stage. However, this is just the beginning, you're only famous in your country tomorrow, but if you want to be famous in front of the world's eyes, then you need to work on your performance on the main stage.

"First of all, if you lose at the first battle, then everyone will think you were lucky to get that win from Indonesia and Australia Teams. I'm sure you don't like to be branded like this, right?" Radvils smiled.

All of their expressions turned serious. The answer was clear.

"Who's fighting next?" Theo grabbed a chair and stared at the screen that broadcasted the same things as the one in the big stadium.

They were inside a small room so as to not bother the audience too much and vice versa.

Radvils pointed his finger to the front. "You can see the participants there, but I believe there are three teams that will compete for the slot. Italy, Germany, and Singapore."

"Ho?" Theo nodded and looked at the screen that now showed the list of participants of each team.

"To be honest, Italy seems to have a big advantage. As a host, they surely won't like to lose their face. They even send the Pope's student who seems to have the blessing from Archangel Raphael, another person with a blessing from Mars, the God of War, and another one known for her beauty… She receives Aphrodite's blessing."

"Oh?! We should send Theo to fight the last one." Alea couldn't help but utter that remark. She still felt sour from Theo's previous action.

"Princess, I am a healthy boy, alright? Do you want me to show you? As long as I don't need to take responsibility, I can show it…" Theo rolled his eyes, telling her settling down was not good, but a one-night stand was fine.

Alea stuck her tongue out and looked away.

"That aside…" Theo asked, "So, what are you planning this time?"

"Just watch their performance first along with the other six blocks. I will give you the information, but I won't interfere with your decision no matter how silly it is. So, everything will depend on you," said Radvils to Theo. "Though, if you want to ask me some questions, I will answer them to the best of my ability."

"I understand." Theo nodded and looked at his teammates. "What are you guys doing? You don't want to sit down? It's going to take a bit longer."

"Also, your lunch." Radvils pointed at the bag on the corner of the room.

…

One and a half hours later, the teams had been sent to the facility.

This time, the challenge was like that of an escape room. They needed to solve the riddle one by one to open the next door without sacrificing anyone.

Theo could see that the competition was very fierce since there was yet a hurdle with physical abilities involved.

However, when they arrived at the second layer, three countries started to show their extraordinary prowess, leaving the others to the dust.

They were simply overwhelming. Yet, everything was useless in front of Italy. They had two God Rank Blessing and one Mythical Blessing as the main, but it turned out all their members received blessings. Although they were Hero Rank Blessings coming from the heroes of the past, it literally showed that Italy Team wouldn't like to lose their face as a home country.

However, the one that grabbed Theo's attention was the Pope's student. He realized that the woman wasn't blind or anything, but the latter still put on that blindfold. She might be forced to seal her "special" eyes or there was another practice that he was unaware of.

Still, even with her eyes covered, she was the one reacting to every movement, preventing any attack from connecting, and healing all injuries. In other words, as long as she was there, the two teams had practically no chance to win.

After half an hour, Italy finally defeated Germany and Singapore.

Theo's face was serious all the time as he realized he needed to do something if they wanted to win.