Before long, the Earth's Alpha Chosen reached the Arena's East entrance, whereas the Atlans, Lycanthropes and Rock Magmoids have been waiting for quite some time.
With just a minute left before Round-3 began, most of them were agitated, but they didn't show it on their faces when Jay and his team arrived.
Among them, the first one to approach Jay was none other than his hardcore follower, Akor.
Next to step forward were the strongest of the other two teams, Halbor and Rex. While the former respectfully bowed to Jay, the latter greeted him with an inviting gesture, "Liege, Please take the lead."
Hearing Rex use 'Liege' to call Jay, Akor's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Rex's actions were an indirect proclamation to vie for Akor's position as Jay's top follower.
Akor scoffed in his mind, 'Hmph! It seems like becoming an ORIGIN SIGIL holder made that Filthy Mutt overestimate himself. Want my position? In his dreams!!'
That didn't escape Jay, but he chose not to meddle in their rivalry as long as it didn't impact him. With a quick nod, he walked past them towards the East gate entrance.
Meanwhile, Earth's Alpha Chosen were surprised to see another Trial Zone Team join their ranks. When they recalled the time Jay wasn't in the Rest House, they connected the gaps and realised what Jay was busy dealing with.
The Rock Magmoids were a bit uncomfortable being allies with the Lycanthropes, who almost brought them to their knees.
But they didn't voice their opinion and quickly tagged behind Jay.
As soon as the Earth's Team entered with the other three teams, the commotion in the Colosseum Arena settled down as everyone's attention latched onto the latecomers.
Whether it be the audience or the participants on the Podium ground, there wasn't anyone who didn't know of the Earth Trial Zone team and their unparalleled performance in the first two Rounds.
Other than a few teams, the rest believed Earth Team's position as the 1st ranking team would remain unhindered. It was no different than a fact to them since there was an Omega Chosen among the Earth's Alpha Chosen.
Their only doubt was how high the Earth Team would score in Round-3.
The ones next to share the spectators' attention were not the Atlans or Rock Magmoids but the Lycanthropes.
Those who paid heed to the previous two Rounds would know Atlanis Team and Falud Team were associated with Earth Team.
Watching the Lycanthropes, who were known for their notoriety, obediently follow behind the Earth's Alpha Chosen brought a sense of irony to the spectators, even more so to the few teams that were forced into signing a slave contract.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Earth team and the three teams behind them had stepped onto the 300-meter long and 300-meter wide stage that was especially elevated at the centre of the podium ground for Round-3.
The presence of the Earth team made the other participating teams on the stage move aside, paving the way for them.
It wasn't just them, but the Tournament Manager, Felarial, waited for the Earth's Alpha Chosen to settle as he levitated five meters above the stage.
Only then did he begin the announcement, "Now that all participating teams arrived, let us start Round-3. As I previously hinted, this Round will be all about teams facing each other.
This Round comprises two Sections. Within the first one, the 25 teams will be randomly divided into five groups, where every team in each group will fight each other once.
The winning team in each match would receive 50% of their accumulated Evaluation Score as the reward. As for the losing team, there wasn't any penalty, but that was only valid for the first Section.
I will go into the details in the second Section once the first one finishes. Now, let us move on to allotting groups. This will be completely random, so don't come to me requesting a group change."
As soon as Felarial's words ended, a large white screen appeared with five rows in it. From top to bottom, they ranged from Group-A to Group-E.
One after another, each Trial Zone Team was allotted to one of the five groups. They were depicted on the screen according to their planet names and rankings in Round-2.
Group A: ~Vatruter (Rank-10), Falud (Rank-15), ~Zudars (Rank-17), ~Ilara (Rank-21), ~Auclite (Rank-24)
Group B: Silephe (Rank-3), ~Geigawa (Rank-11), ~Cremonope (Rank-18), ~Thyria (Rank-20), ~Relnara (Rank-23)
Group C: Earth (Rank-1), Owlite (Rank-6), ~Pizion (Rank-9), ~Nuenia (Rank-14), ~Zapwa (Rank-25)
Group D: Atlans (Rank-3), Ragath (Rank-7), ~Saphus (Rank-8), ~Cegriea (Rank-12), ~Muitis (Rank-22)
Group E: Tilephe (Rank-4), Polyphaga (Rank-5), ~Viogawa (Rank-13), ~Phudaclite (Rank-16), ~Bucille (Rank-19)
{Author Note 1: Here, '~' represents the teams which weren't introduced before. Giving them a casual glance is enough. There is no need to invest those names into your memory. I just gave them names because it would be a bit off to call them just by their ranks within Round-3.}
While a few teams cheered, a few lamented about being allotted to the same group as some top-ranking teams.
Shortly after, Felarial briefed the rules for the 1st Section.
Unlike what many expected, Round-3 wasn't precisely a 'Team vs Team' format; rather, it was going to be a '1 vs 1' format, where each team could select whom to send first from their side, and the first team to win against three opponent team members will win that match.
Another change was that Round-3 wouldn't be taking place in Reality Emulators but on the stage itself. To give enough room for Spirit Energy and Stamina Recovery, each group will take turns fighting on the stage, starting from Group-A.
With each match in their respective group taking place one after another, the last Round was destined to be a long one. After all, there were 12 hours left before the end of Day-10.
Soon after Felarial was done with his briefing, two teams appeared on the white screen.
[Group-A, 1st Match: ~Vatruter Team (Rank-12) vs Falud Team (Rank-15)]
{Author Note 2: In case any of you found the briefing on Round-3 to be complicated, don't worry; it will be made clear as the rules are put to practical use in the upcoming chapters.}