Novel Full Chapter 753: The Nightmare of the Fourth-Years
Chapter 753: Chapter 753: The Nightmare of the Fourth-Years
“Match concluded!”
The referee’s voice echoed through the arena, barely catching up to the reality that had just played out in front of a stunned crowd.
Five fourth-years from Silver Peak Conservatory—once considered a mid-tier college with decent fundamentals from the Northern Province—now lay in various states of unconsciousness or surrender, scattered like fallen dominoes at the side of the stage while medical staff surrounded them and their contracts.
At the center of the now empty stage stood Kain Newman. One hand tucked casually into his jacket pocket. The other rested at his side.
Not a scratch on him.
On the screens above, the broadcast zoomed in on the final moments of the fight—Vauleth’s flames spiralling through the frost barriers of Silver Peak’s ice-aligned contracts, while Aegis tanked a barrage of desperate skills without budging an inch. Chewy, practically forgotten, let out a comically enthusiastic pop of expelled energy that threw back the last standing opponent like a sack of potatoes.
It wasn’t even close.
A couple miles away, in a small but increasingly crowded room stuffed with streaming equipment and several empty snack bags, a familiar voice crackled through a headset.
“Okay. Okay. So what I’m hearing is…” The streamer known as PrematureFinisher leaned toward the mic, barely holding in laughter. “Their entire fourth-year team got washed by a second-year… who didn’t even summon his strongest contract?”
The chat exploded.
HerdsOfMice:I almost feel bad for them.
CriesInTuition:That one guy screamed “I trained four years for this!” before fainting LMFAO
BoldOfThem: I can’t believe they trained four years just to be background characters.
Simp4Vauleth:CAN WE TALK ABOUT VAULETH’S WINGS THOUGH??? 🔥🔥🔥
OldManKicksTeens:I’d retire if a second-year cooked me that hard in front of cameras.
“Bro,” PrematureFinisher said, wheezing. “If I had lost that hard back in my tournament year, I wouldn’t have just changed schools. I’d change my name, my species, and maybe migrate to a new continent. The shame is too much.”
More messages flooded in.
HerdsOfMice: Didn’t you lose even more quickly in your tournament run though???
Bitter4thYear:Stop saying they’re fourth-years. You’re making the rest of us look bad
NotMyFinalForm:Dark Moon still hasn’t fielded the rest of their team… save the seniors, I guess.
SerenaStan911:WHERE’S SERENA?? WHERE’S MY ICE QUEEN??
As if summoned by sheer fanpower, the very first match the next day was Dark Moon’s and they began with the elegant silhouette of Serena Storm stepping onto the battlefield.
The audience quieted. Just a bit. Anticipation thick in the air.
Dark Moon’s opponent of the day—Westerly Cloud Institute—ranked 27th in last year’s tournament. Their top 5 lineup was made up completely of fourth-years, and the lineup looked reasonably put together, with almost all being strong green-grade contracts.
Didn’t matter.
Serena didn’t even need to summon her full team.
Starweaver handled the support types. Prismarin created illusions and ice elemental attacks with practiced grace. Her Elemental Guardian—now in its water-attribute form—flooded the arena in a coordinated barrage of skill sequences that had the opposing team reeling before they could form a basic defence formation.
Three colleges have now been beaten by Dark Moon. 15 beast tamers defeated in total.
Three exclusively fourth-year teams sent home early by a pair of second-years.
“I mean…” PrematureFinisher sipped noisily from his soda, watching the replay. “Is it just me or does Dark Moon not even need
their upper-year Top 5 anymore?”ReedWho:Literally no one knows what Reed looks like. Is he real?
WheresTheo:Bro Theo’s probably sunbathing right now while Kain and Serena do all the work.
StarweaverSweptMe:Serena just BREEZED through those kids I’m crying 😭
ChadMoonAcademy:Let’s be honest: it’s the Kain & Serena Show™️
It wasn’t until the match against Storm Star University—the final match before the Top 16 cutoff—that both Kain and Serena were seen in the same match.
Not because of being taken down by the opponent after going all out.
But because Serena, after soloing three of the opposing team’s members in a row, stepped back with a faint sigh and said, “I’m a bit tired. You take the rest.”
Kain had blinked. “You sure?”
She tossed him a lazy smile. “They’re yours.”
The last two members of Storm Star University had been staring in horror from the sidelines. Now they had to face him.
Bea, of course, made short work of the next opponent’s contracts. The other lasted slightly longer under her mental attacks before Vauleth dropped from the sky in a flash of crimson-gold light and pinned the opponents to the ground with nothing more than the wind pressure from his wings.
The buzzer rang. Another flawless victory.
Someone in the crowd tried to start a slow clap. It failed. Everyone was too stunned.
This time, the stadium crowd didn’t even know how to react.
Cheering? Applause? Pity?
CameraGuy420: EVEN THE REF LOOKS EMBARRASSED 💀
DidWeWatchAPractice: That felt like a training session for Kain. Not a real match.
UnsubbingFromMyTeam: Goodbye Storm Star. I am now a Dark Moon believer.
The camera panned briefly to the Dark Moon bench—perhaps to spare the Storm Star team from further embarrassment.
Jade was focused on drinking a rainbow drink with floating balls in it that was being sold by a vendor outside of the arena—the drink was quite popular among tournament goers.
Theo appeared to be napping.
Reed was… missing again. An obscured figure, just out of the camera lens’ view, threw up his hands in frustration as the camera skipped over where he was seated—right between Jade and Theo!
They must be doing this on purpose! Even with his gift, he couldn’t be that invisible, right?
And the second-years?
Were tearing through the National Tournament like it was a warm-up.
The Top 16 match the very next day wasn’t much different. Kain and Serena rotated to take down all five of the opponents.
In total, they had now defeated over 30 opponents without either one of them ever getting defeated—only coming down due to exhaustion in more recent matches.
That kind of dominance was rare this late into the tournament—especially by people that were on average 2 years younger than their opponents.
After defeating their latest opponent, the Top 8 had officially been decided.
And for the first time in Phase Two—
The real fights for Dark Moon were about to begin.