Chapter 1818: Angelina Valerius
The woman looked over the one hundred participants standing on the pillars. Her gaze was calm, and yet every participant felt as though they were being seen clearly.
Then she spoke.
Her voice was soft, elegant, and clear enough to spread across the entire arena without needing force.
"Welcome to the final round of the Cosmic Ascension Conference."
The arena became completely silent.
The woman continued, "My name is Angelina Valerius, and I will be the one conducting this final round."
For one brief moment, nothing happened.
Then, among the strongest geniuses with powerful backgrounds, expressions changed violently.
"Valerius?" Orion Starfall repeated under his breath, his eyes flashing with genuine shock.
Princess Rosaline’s pupils contracted. "The Valerius Clan..."
Damian Voss’s grip on his sword tightened slightly.
Kaiden’s silver-gray eyes grew colder and more focused.
Even a few other top geniuses who had remained quiet until now could no longer keep their expressions calm.
The surname alone was enough.
For the ordinary participants, the name Valerius meant nothing. At most, it sounded ancient and noble. But for those who came from forces with deep inheritance and ancient records, that name was a shock powerful enough to shake the heart.
Max noticed the reactions immediately.
He glanced toward Orion, Damian, Kaiden, and Rosaline, then back at Angelina. ’So they know who she is,’ he thought. ’Interesting.’
Around the arena, whispers began rising.
"Why are Damian Voss and the others reacting like that?"
"Do they know her?"
"That surname... is it important?"
Most participants were confused, but the few who understood stayed silent because the truth itself was too shocking to speak carelessly.
It was Rosaline who finally muttered in a low voice, "One of the four hidden clans..."
A nearby Lunarian genius heard her and went pale. "The hidden clans? I thought they had disappeared long ago."
Rosaline did not answer.
Millions of years had passed since the four hidden clans had chosen to withdraw from the Divine Realm’s visible stage. Over time, even many first-rate forces had begun to believe that those clans had either perished, completely isolated themselves, or faded into nothing but legends.
Only the oldest records and the deepest inheritances still mentioned them from time to time, and even then, they were spoken of in uncertain terms.
Yet now, a direct descendant of one of those hidden clans was standing before them.
And not only had she appeared, she had appeared as the conductor of the final round.
The implications of that alone were enough to make people’s hearts tremble.
Angelina Valerius seemed to notice the subtle changes in expression among the crowd, but she did not comment on them. Her face remained calm as she continued.
"You may now be wondering why I am here and why the final round is being conducted in this manner."
She turned slightly and gestured toward the massive central stage below.
"The answer is simple. The first round was meant to remove the weak, the careless, the unlucky, and those who were not prepared to stand on the true stage of the Cosmic Ascension Conference. What remains here are the final hundred. This means all of you are qualified to compete for the true rankings of this conference."
Her gaze swept across the pillars.
"But qualification is not enough."
The one hundred pillars gave off a low hum.
"The final round exists to determine strength, consistency, adaptability, endurance, and the ability to stand above one’s peers in direct confrontation. Because of that, the final round will be divided into three main rounds."
The entire arena became even more attentive.
Angelina raised one hand, and a vast screen of light appeared in the sky above the arena. It displayed the number 100 first, then slowly separated into stages.
"In the first main round," she said, "the one hundred participants will be paired through the randomizer. Each battle will be a one-on-one fight on the central stage. The winner will advance. The loser will be eliminated."
The glowing number in the sky shifted.
"After fifty battles, fifty participants will be eliminated, and fifty participants will remain."
A wave of pressure spread across the arena. The rules were simple, direct, and merciless.
Angelina continued, "In the second main round, the remaining fifty participants will once again be paired through the randomizer. The same format will continue. One battle. One winner. One loser."
The glowing number changed again from 50 to 25.
"After twenty-five battles, twenty-five participants will remain."
Many people’s expressions became heavier at those words.
The first two main rounds were straightforward elimination rounds. No matter how glorious or famous one might be, a single defeat would end everything. There would be no second life, no extra chance, and no excuse.
Then Angelina’s tone shifted slightly.
"The third main round will be different."
The screen of light changed once more, and this time twenty-five names were represented by twenty-five points of light connected to one another in a complete web.
"The remaining twenty-five participants will enter the final competitive stage. At that point, elimination through simple pairing will end. Instead, every remaining participant will fight all other remaining participants."
The arena stirred.
Max’s eyes sharpened.
Angelina said clearly, "Each of the twenty-five remaining participants will fight twenty-four battles."
Now the crowd truly reacted.
"Twenty-four battles each?"
"That means the final rankings will not be decided by one lucky pairing."
"That is brutal."
Angelina nodded faintly, as if she had expected that reaction.
"Yes. By that stage, random chance will no longer be allowed to decide too much. The strongest should prove it repeatedly. The most consistent should show it openly. And the champion should not be someone who won through a fortunate bracket."
Her voice remained calm, but each word carried great weight.
"At the end of those twenty-four battles, the participant with the highest number of wins will become the champion of this generation’s Cosmic Ascension Conference."
The entire arena became silent.
This structure was far harsher than many had expected.
The first two stages would mercilessly cut down the number of participants from one hundred to twenty-five. Then the final twenty-five would be forced into an exhausting, brutal sequence of twenty-four battles each, meaning that no one could become champion by relying on a single burst of strength alone. They would need endurance, adaptability, and a terrifyingly stable foundation.
Angelina looked at them calmly.
"In case of equal wins, additional tiebreaker battles will be conducted between the tied participants until the rankings are resolved."
That sentence made the rules even more absolute.
There would be no uncertain champion.
No unclear first place.
Everything would be decided on the stage.
Angelina then added, "You are allowed to surrender in a battle, but the moment surrender is accepted by the arena laws, the battle ends, and the result is final. Deliberately refusing to stop after the arena has judged a victor will be considered a violation of the conference rules."
She paused slightly.
"Furthermore, the arena barriers will ensure that your battles do not spread beyond the central stage. The one hundred pillars will remain your observation seats whenever you are not actively fighting. While standing on your pillar, you may recover, observe, and prepare for the battles to come."
Max looked around at the one hundred pillars again.
So these pillars were not only for appearance. They were the resting and observation positions of the participants throughout the final round.
Angelina’s eyes moved across the crowd one last time.
"Now, if there are no questions, the final round will begin shortly."
No one spoke.
Not because there were no questions, but because at that moment, most people were too focused on the reality of what lay ahead.
Damian Voss stood silently on his pillar, but his eyes carried a dangerous brightness. Orion Starfall’s smile had returned, but it was no longer casual. Rakan Thorne looked excited enough to fight immediately. Rosaline remained calm, though her expression had deepened. Kaiden stood as if nothing around him could disturb him, and Ervin’s gaze remained as unreadable as ever.
Max, meanwhile, looked at Angelina Valerius one more time.
He still did not know exactly what the Valerius name meant, but from the reactions of those around him, he could tell one thing clearly.
This woman’s appearance here was not ordinary.
And if even the conductor of the final round came from one of the four hidden clans, then the true depth of the Cosmic Ascension Conference was likely far greater than it had first seemed.
Then Angelina slowly raised her hand.
The giant randomizer above the arena began to spin.
And the true final round of the Cosmic Ascension Conference was about to begin.
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