Ascension: Strongest Fateless Mage

"Sigh, I want to tell someone important about this, but all the people that I know are not in the city," Zevien said as he sighed and slumped on the bed.

"But why worry anymore? We have prevented them, so the city is safe. Anyway, I gotta go back to my fairy realm now, so take this ring and good luck for tomorrow's round 2," Tarto said as he threw the storage ring to Zevien and disappeared.

"Wait, no! Take this ring with you. I'll just take the crystal in my ring and give it to Touma-sir when he returns," Zevien said as he took out the container and put it in his storage ring.

"Fine," Tarto understood as he appeared again and took the ring before disappearing.

If Zevien wore the ring and someone from the same group as those three people recognized it, he would be in trouble. After all, that crystal was obviously very important, and the people behind them will be trying to find it now that their three members have been caught.

After Tarto left, Zevien turned off the lights and fell asleep. He had spent too much energy today, so he had to take good rest for tomorrow's round 2.

…

"The storage ring is missing. After searching for hours, I found the place, but someone seemed to have dug it out," Black Hawk spoke with a grave expression.

The Supreme Leader frowned after hearing that and replied, "suspects?"

"No idea exactly, but it could only be one person, the manager. Only he has access to all areas of his resort. Didn't we have a GPS tracker in the container?"

"That was removed with the last lock because a GPS can be detected via electric signals. Even though we have invented that crystal, we can't let anyone trace it back to us in case someone gets their hands on it, so we have removed all traces from it. Giyus removed the last one yesterday night right before the code black occurred," the Supreme Leader frowned and shook his head, "talk about bad luck."

"Bad luck?"

"Yes. Giyus timed it correctly as he removed the lock after they failed their poison attempt on Alucard. But he didn't expect to get caught so abruptly. Zelin was observing Alucard the whole time with his awakening magic spell, but Alucard didn't let him suspect anything, so Alucard also must have known that someone was observing him."

"T-this…who is this Alucard?" Black Hawk was startled, "from the report, he is just a peak 5th class magician. How can he have such abilities?"

"No idea, but this individual is suspicious. This vampire identity is obviously fake, but he still can't fool the magic guild's magic power measuring device, so his real identity must not be stronger than this fake one. I have already put him on our X-rated individual list since a 5th-class magician this capable is rare."

"I see. So, why did the Giyus team try to kill this Alucard?" Black Hawk was confused, "if they didn't pull this stunt, we wouldn't have lost the X-Door Crystal."

"Greed. They wanted the magic crystals in Alucard's possession. Anyway, you have completed your job, so return."

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Black Hawk nodded before he took out his glasses and turned them into powder, destroyed.

…

Zevien woke up, took a shower, brushed his teeth, and ate breakfast before leaving the resort in his vampire get-up.

"Good luck, Mr. Alucard," the reception lady smiled.

"Thanks," Zevien waved his hand and left the resort before flying up and moving towards the stadium. The stadium was almost full.

It was almost 8 in the morning, so most participants had already arrived.

When it was precisely 8 AM, Melissa arrived with a charming smile. "I hope you had a peaceful night because today will be very exciting!"

*WOAAAH!*

The stadium erupted with cheers for a few seconds before dying down eventually.

"The 2nd round is going to be the last! Yes, we will finish this contest in this round due to some change of plans," Melissa said before clapping once.

*Shuaa!*

Five magic circles appeared as they conjured five ring-shaped platforms in the stadium. However, their sizes were different, and they were positioned as floors.

The 1st-floor platform had a diameter of 150 meters.

The 2nd-floor platform was five meters above the 1st floor and had a diameter of 100 meters.

The 3rd-floor platform was also five meters above the 2nd-floor platform and had a diameter of 60 meters.

The 4th-floor platform had a diameter of 40 meters, while the 5th and last floor ring was just a 20 meters diameter.

The audience cheered loudly as they saw this new type of platform.

Melissa smiled and clapped her hands one more time as several people entered the stadium with badges on their plates. "Please put the badge on your chest. This badge is slightly different than yesterday's one. With this badge, once your barrier breaks, you are eliminated. But a new golden barrier will appear that will protect you from other's attacks.

Naturally, you also can't release your spells out of that barrier. So, obediently jump off the platform once you are eliminated!" Melissa sharply said as her lips curled into a devilish smile.

Everyone attached the new badges to their chests. After seeing that, Melissa nodded with a smile. "This time, you can eliminate others with two methods; one is barrier-break, and the second is boundary-break. You all know about the barrier-break, so I will move to boundary-break, which is pretty simple."

Melissa stood on the topmost platform before she continued, "the boundary-break means if you throw someone out of the platform, they will be eliminated. Even if you can fly, you can't leave the boundary of the platforms."

"Oh...this is interesting," Zevien grinned as he liked this type of round. His confidence increased since he was confident in his martial arts skills and agility.

"Now, I will explain this round. First, everyone will start on the 1st platform, the biggest one, and fight each other until ten people are eliminated! After ten people are eliminated, everyone will move to the next platform, where everyone will clash once again until ten more people are eliminated and move to the next platform.

"This will go on until the last platform where I am standing! The last ten people will fight each other until five people are left, and these five will be the winners! They will get the medallion of admission for Skyward Academy!"

*Buzz!!*

The audience excitedly cheered as they felt that this chaotic round would be entertaining to watch!

Suddenly, someone from the audience spoke loudly using a spell that suppressed all other voices. "Will the final five people fight against each other?! I say they should fight and decide the ranks from 1st to 5th in the order they are eliminated!"

*YEAHHH!!*

Everyone in the audience agreed loudly!

"Alright! For the sake of betting in the last round, we will do that!" Melissa agreed with a chuckle and clapped once.

Five screens appeared in the sky, on top of her, and displayed the odds of all participants!

Zevien looked at the screen and raised his eyebrows, 'there are two people above me despite my performance yesterday? Interesting..."

1. Rukin- 1:1

2. Kuja- 1:1.03

3. Alucard- 1:1.05

...

"Know that the betting odds will change after participants climb a platform! Now, without further ado, let's start the 2nd round! All participants, please stand on the 1st platform!"