The Reincarnation Room
Escape

"That's …"

In the lounge, Cecily Wong and Zhao Hufeng once again stared at the hologram screen. There, they see two very special robots.

One of the robots, has an overall mechanical body. It's over two meters tall. There was a muscle-like bulge made of metal on his body. Like a knight general, he wore armor that made his existence feel extremely prominent.

While other robots, have the appearance of a slender-bodied human girl with a metal armor on her body. His face seemed to have no emotions, as if he did not care about anything.

A pair of these robots were similarly wearing the insignia of Arlequint Academy.

Seeing these two robots, one by one the audience on Sirius Dome began to discuss each other.

This made the Phoenix Festa commentator very enthusiastic.

"Guests, this time, a new type of doll from Arlequint Academy is coming as a replacement for our two contestants, Ernesta Kuhne and Camilla Pareto. This was the first time in history that the Festa committee allowed the puppets to compete alone!"

"The so-called puppet is a robot. Usually this kind of combat puppet required an operator to operate it. When the operator operates the puppet, there is a delay in giving the order. As a result, it was extremely difficult to use it in battle."

"However, based on the information we received, the puppet present this time was a new type of puppet from the development of the Arlequint Academy. They have self-awareness and do not require an operator. So, they can fight independently."

"Well, AI is not a strange thing now. There are many practical examples of its use around the world. So, the application of AI on dolls is only a matter of time."

"From the basic information that has been given, the doll whose entire body is mechanically shaped with the code AR-D, has the name Ardi. While the doll in the form of a woman who has the code RM-C, named Rimsy. They are the representatives of Ernesta Khne and Camilla Pareto!"

"In the meantime, their opponents were contestants from the Black Rewolf Institute. One of them was the 12th Page One Rewolf by Moritz Nessler. It looks like it'll be more interesting than we think."

Listening to the commentator's explanation, the mood of the spectators throughout the stadium began to ignite, and cheers were heard again.

However, the unexpected thing happened in the arena.

"Hey, two humans there, listen to me carefully!"

Ardi suddenly stepped forward and pointed towards the opponent arrogantly.

"Although victory is not a big deal, but the Master wants to prove our strength in this arena. Therefore, it is your duty to tell everyone how strong we are."

Although Ardi's voice sounds like a robot, but he can carry very strong human emotions from his intonation.

"We'll give you one minute. In this period of time, we will not launch any attacks, and you may attack us."

As soon as Ardi's words were heard, the audience immediately boomed.

Instead, the foreheads of the two participants from Rewolf released a vein tendril. Their expressions became very abnormal. Their faces seemed to say, 'We are underestimated!'     

Moreover, what belittled them was not humans, but puppets. So it's only natural that Moritz and his partner Gerd Schiele are angry.

However, the next situation left everyone at a loss for words.

Moritz, though only ranked 12th, was a Dante. He has the ability to manipulate the wind to wrap his hands together until they are cone-shaped like a drill, which is famous for being able to penetrate anything. This ability is called Borea Spira.

Using Borea Spira, Moritz attacked Ardi blindly.

However, facing such an attack, Ardi remained motionless. Ardi only used his defense system to repel Moritz's attack.

As a result, when the attack will hit Ardi's body, suddenly around Ardi's body will lie a wall of light formed by several hexagon-shaped crystals that will dispel the opponent.

The wind-like rotation of the drill hit the light wall violently, and produced a powerful spark. This situation was enough to tell the audience just how terrifying Moritz's attack was.

Without a pause, Moritz continued to hit Ardi's defense system with his Borea Spira.

Merely, all of Moritz's attacks could not penetrate the walls of Ardi's light at all.

In contrast to Ardi who was only still motionless, Rimsy chose to fly using a jetpack attached to the back of his body. While hovering in the air, he continued to shoot using his Lux-type pistol.

Of course, Rimsy's shot was not to attack, but to defend. Because, the opponent of Rimsy in this match is also a Lux pistol-type user.

In this situation, any Rimsy shot could accurately hit the opponent's Mana bullet. This is completely similar to Tohyama Kinji's Technique in Aria's world of The Scarlet Ammo, where Kinji can reflect bullets accurately. 

In this way, the results of course need not be said anymore. One minute later, Ardi and Rimsy won a landslide victory.

Ryan also fell silent while narrowing his eyes slightly.

A little while later, Cecily Wong started opening her mouth first. “Adik Seperguruan, could this be our biggest obstacle to winning the Festa?”

Hearing this, Ryan smiled lightly and replied, “This time, our opponent is indeed very heavy. But they are not obstacles to us. As long as we are serious when we meet them in the arena, we can definitely defeat him.”

~***~

Imperceptibly, seven days had passed in the blink of an eye. 

Just today, Ryan and Cecily Wong went through the third round of qualifying. 

If Ryan and Cecily Wong manage to win today's game, then they will qualify for the last 32.

Now, Ryan and Cecily Wong have stood on top of the arena.

It didn't take long, the mechanical sound of the school badge rang.

"The game begins."

As soon as the voice rang out, Cecily Wong instantly took out a few talismans and threw them over. Immediately, a rain of lightning fell on both of their opponents until they were charred and unconscious. And all this happened not for a minute.

"Game over. The winner, Ryan Herlambang x Cecily Wong."

After the mechanical sound was heard, the voices of the spectators exploded into a very lively one. Even the two commentators were happy with the outcome of this match.

"In today's third round of preliminaries, Cecily Wong single-handedly defeated both of his opponents. And as usual, Ryan just stood still behind Cecily Wong. This makes the real power of Ryan still a mystery!”

"As a Jie Long alumnus, I am proud of the passing of these two outstanding contestants. Really kite referred to as student Banyuu Tenra.”

“After this fight, Ryan and Cecily Wong have officially entered the last 32. In the next game, can Cecily Wong keep up the performance all this time? And can we see Ryan's true power?”

"We'll see later.”

Along with the applause of the audience, Ryan and Cecily Wong left the arena and immediately went to the participant-only Lounge.

“Finally, this boring preliminary round is over.” Cecily Wong said enthusiastically. “The next chapter is the round of 32. I hope our next opponent is not boring.”

"Personally, I want to be able to stand still as usual. But it seems like it's really impossible." Ryan laughed, shaking his head.

Ryan then opened the hologram screen and saw some information. "In addition to us, the rest of the third preliminary round matches have also ended, many strong teams have made it into the last 32."

"really?" Cecily immediately asked, "Which team is it?"

"As we thought before, all the teams we have to be aware of have qualified for the next round. Like the Ayato x Saya team, Julis x Kirin, and also Ardi x Rimsy, they all qualified."

"I really want to fight with them, especially Gluhen Rose." Cecily grinned and said to Ryan, "What about you? Do you have someone you want to fight? ”

"Of course." Ryan suddenly smiled. "If possible, I want to fight Ayato."

Ayato is the original main character of this world, and also the winner of the Phoenix Festa in the original story. So it was only natural that Ryan wanted to try to fight with him.

After conversing for a moment with Cecily Wong, the two of them left decided to immediately return to Jie Long. Of course before returning home, Ryan and Cecily Wong had to face the reporters who had been waiting for them.

~***~

Upon arrival at Jie Long, Ryan and Cecily Wong parted ways.

Just as Ryan wanted to get inside his room, suddenly the space around him distorted creating wormhole-like twists.

Ryan also fell into the distortion hole until finally he was in the audience room.

This situation, made Ryan a little helpless. "Teacher, if Master wants to see me, at least call me normally."

Hearing this, Fan Xinglou who sat on the throne laughed. "Sorry, sorry, this Old Lady is a little impatient to ask you about Amagiri Ayato."

"Amagiri Ayato?" Ryan blinked his eyes and asked, "Could it be, Master is interested in him?"

"Yes, that's right." Fan Xinglou smiled happily. "That boy was very interesting, like hiding something. This old lady was very curious about what she was hiding."

Just as Ryan was about to say something, Fan Xinglou suddenly narrowed her eyes.

"It seems like something unexpected has come to visit."

Simultaneously with this Fan Xinglou remark, the atmosphere around him suddenly changed.