"Woah, this is so good!" Exclaimed Akila, as he bit into a dessert.

"Yeah, I've never had sweets this good before, these are delicious," Nodded Raven in agreement.

"Maybe ending up here wasn't so bad, after all," Mused Lexia, letting out a content sigh.

"Glad you guys have good taste, these are the best desserts from the era in my world that I grew up in, and having explored the multiverse, they may well be the best desserts in existence. Anyway, let's get to the matter at hand, shall we? The final contest will be a typical tournament, with sixteen participants total. Since your team is the only one that hasn't suffered any casualties, you'll have four participants as a bonus, while the other four teams will have three each."

"Since we've all participated now, any of us can take part in this final contest, right?" Responded Jules.

"Mhm, yeah, that's right. The winner of the tournament will earn their team fifty points."

"Huh? Fifty? Wait, doesn't that make the previous contests pointless?" Replied Raven in bemusement.

"Eh, it's fine, I make the rules, and I like to keep things interesting. Alright, you'll have an extra break before the next contest, so take your time enjoying the desserts and deciding on which of you will participate in the final contest. I'll explain the rules of the tournament in more detail after I get back," Remarked Kilzachs, before vanishing from sight.

"Alright, well, I guess we should go ahead and decide on which four of us should participate. I'd say Raven's a given, all things considered," Spoke up Aster, after a brief silence.

"Yeah, I'd say that applies to you too," Responded Tacitus dryly.

"Agreed. I shall participate as well, unless anyone has any objections," Volunteered Jules, looking around.

"Then, that just leaves one more spot to fill," Replied Celia thoughtfully.

"I suppose we may as well go with whoever wants to participate," Mused Wistari, before Nero raised his hand.

"Oh, you wish to participate?" Zesta asked him, before he nodded affirmatively.

"Huh, well, that was fast. Guess that settles which four of us will compete in this tournament. And once it's over, we can finally go home," Sighed Celia in response.

"Indeed, not much longer now, we just have one more hurdle to overcome," Replied Jules with a nod.

"I don't think it's been that bad, I've had a good time," Chimed in Colt with a grin.

"Yeah, of course you would," Sighed Lexia in exasperation.

"Come on, don't act like you didn't have fun torturing that other team with me in the maze."

"I-...that's beside the point," She huffed defensively.

"Based on what we've seen of the other teams, I'd say there are only two individuals among them that pose a genuine threat. That young man with the black blood, who we fought in the first contest, and the girl who won the previous contest," Surmised Rione thoughtfully.

"I can't believe she was able to withstand my Explosion Nova," Celia sighed wistfully.

"Let's just hope she isn't as powerful as the black blood guy...he had the advantage against Raven even at his full power, he's a serious threat," Frowned Aster warily.

"I wonder though, why did she eliminate her own teammate in the final round?" Recalled Raven curiously.

"Yeah, I've been confused by that too," Nodded Antel in agreement.

"We shouldn't disregard the other competitors either, we can't just write them off when we don't even fully know what they're capable of. In the maze, we only saw a handful of the participants in action, a lot of them got lost and never encountered any of the other teams," Pointed out Jules objectively.

"Yeah, that's true. And given the restrictive nature of the third contest, some of the participants from the other teams might have not been able to display their true power properly," Added Rione with a nod of agreement.

"This'll probably be the toughest contest to survive, too. There's no telling what kind of people we'll have to face, if it looks like any of us are about to get killed, we should surrender before it's too late," Remarked Raven with a grimace.

"Yes, we've made it this far without losing anyone, let's make sure that doesn't change," Nodded Jules, looking a bit tense.

"And we shouldn't hesitate to kill if necessary either. Say we're up against an opponent that refuses to give up even after being defeated, we can't afford to give them a chance to turn the tables," Reasoned Aster grimly.

"Right, like we concluded when we were first brought here, we have to prioritize our own survival above all else, at any cost," Responded Jules with a frown.

"Honestly, this would've been really cool if it wasn't for the life or death aspect of it all. Getting to face off against opponents from different worlds, that's not something we'll get to do everyday, after all, this could've been a lot of fun under different circumstances," Akila sighed wistfully, right as Kilzachs reappeared.

"Alright, not much longer before the next contest begins, seems you've already decided on which four of you will be participating, so...I'll go ahead and get to explaining the rules now."

"Go ahead," Responded Jules with a grimace.

"To start with, it's a typical knockout tournament format, lose once and you're out. As for the fights themselves, you're free to fight however you want, anything goes. You lose if you're knocked out or killed, or if you surrender. However, I will only accept a surrender if it's clear that you've already been defeated, so keep that in mind.

Huh...actually, I guess that about covers everything. Here's the list of participants and brackets, you can have a look at all the match-ups and see who you'll be fighting. Alright, I'm gonna go let the other teams know too, I'll be back when it's time to begin. Use what time that's left to prepare yourselves," He smiled, before vanishing from sight...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.