Raayi walked back to her place after winning her battle and the bonus points for the team, taking her place.
Following a moment of silence, the next pair of teams were called forth, being the 7th and the 13th Ranking teams.
The Seventh Ranking Teams won the battle, but only two out of three. Unfortunately, that much wasn't enough to reserve a place for them in the top three. Even if they had won all three battles, it was impossible. The real battle was between the top four teams only.
Other teams only fought to improve their rankings
The third batch of battles ended, followed by the fourth.
Each of the battles was a learning experience for Lucifer, who could see how the heirs of the strongest families fought. Through them, he was able to take a guess about how strong their families could be.
Since the battles were between closer ranked teams, no team was able to dominate their opponents like Raayi had done. That was also why the battles stretched for much longer than the first pair of battles.
Three hours passed by the time it was the turn of the next battle. It was the turn of another Seed.
Ron's team was matched against the sixteenth-ranked team, which he found disappointing. In fact, he even asked the old man to change his pairing with either Lucifer's Team or Mander's team, giving them his opponents since he didn't want a weaker opponent.
Unfortunately, his request was rejected, leaving him no option.
Once again, it came as no surprise that Ron defeated his opponent effortlessly. Even his team members won their individual battles, bringing three victories to their team. Two of the three team slots were already final now.
Out of nine finalists, six passed through to the last stage. That left only the last spot of three team members, which was going to go to Lucifer or Mander. The Chances of Mander taking that slot seemed more likely at this point.
'',
Despite not having much significance on the final positions, the other battles continued.
It was the seventh team battle, and the next one was going to be the last.
In the back, Maya was still doing some calculations. Throughout the time, she hadn't stopped calculating for even a second, trying to find the best approach. She even rejected most of the places she came up with, finding flaws in them.
"Did you come up with something?" Malin asked Maya while the battles took place on the stage.
Maya shook her head. "There is no flawless plan which ensures our victory, but there is one which gives us the highest chance we are going to have."
"And how much chance is that?"
"Thirty percent chance of success, that's considering that Lucifer wins his battle."
"So there's a thirty percent chance that we can win one of our two battles? That's not as bad as I thought."
Maya nodded. "That's right. A small chance but a fighting chance. The next battle is ours, so we don't have time to come up with a better plan. That's why we need to go with the best option we have. Let me give you a brief."
Maya told them about her plan and the order of battles she had planned. She also told them about what flaws she was able to find in their opponents and how they could utilize that to create an upset.
"That's the plan for us. And now the plan for Lucifer." She placed her entire focus on Lucifer.
"I am sure Mander will place himself in the last battle. And that's the best for us. If he was first and you had won the battle against him, then it would've made his teammates more serious. We need to have them consider us weak."
" The first battle is our best chance to get that victory when they don't take us seriously. With Mander in the first battle, it would've been a wasted opportunity."
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"That's why, Lucifer, you need to make sure that he goes last. If possible, give him hints that you'll go last, so he doesn't do something unexpected like placing himself in first spot. And then, you need to win that battle!"
"I will go in the first battle, and hopefully, I'll win through the element of surprise. As for Malin, her chances are really low, so she might be able to win, but her chances of losing are higher since after losing the first battle, that team will take us more seriously, taking away the advantage from her."
"That's why, if I can win, the tie breaker will be on your shoulders, along with the responsibility to get us through, which won't be easy, even for you. Mander is known as the Flame Lord. His Flames might not be as strong as the Flames of his father, but they are still powerful enough to burn anything in their path. So no matter what, you need to avoid his flames."
"Don't let the flames touch you, and no matter what you do, don't get within his close range. He is more threatening in close range, so keep your distance from him."
"Out of all the seeds, Mander is the scariest fighter because his flames are very effective at long range, but at close range, they get even more effective. It's like this guy has no flaws, but still, it's better to keep distance than to get close to him."
"As for how to win the battle, I'll leave that to you since I don't have enough data about all your skills or what you've hidden from me. Just keep my warning in your mind."
Maya was right as well since Lucifer still hadn't shown his Decay yet, which he had gained even more control over now. There were even more abilities that he had kept hidden, not showing even the Star Alliance.
"The eighth pair, step forward." A call came from the old man. The Seventh Pair of battles were over as well, leaving only the last pair, which was also what everyone was more interested in as this was going to decide the last three participants that were going to reach the finals.
If Lucifer won, he was going to enter the top nine and continue in the race of the Captainship, but if Mander won, Lucifer was going to be out with his team. Everything was on line in this battle.
It was afternoon when Lucifer and Mander stepped forward with their teams.
"Tell the order you'll send your members in," the old man asked Mander.
"Mai will go first. Jaek will go second, and I'll go third," Mander answered.
"And from your side?" the old man asked Lucifer.
"From my side, Maya will go first, Malin second, and I'll go third."