Chapter 1179: Building momentum

The battle to the quarter-finals had reached its halfway mark. As anticipated, the Soulless battle team, Dynasty battle team, Child of the Light battle team, and Saruman Snake battle team had all advanced to the quarter-finals. The most exciting battle was, of course, between the Saruman Snake battle team and the Golden Wheel battle team. Before the match, the Golden Wheel battle team was placed with high hopes but had been defeated thoroughly. Wang Zheng was named the seed killer. From the start of the qualifying rounds, he had eliminated a number of strong teams continuously. He had lived up to the reputation of the greatest king of Elite Academy X. Judging from the performance so far, the Saruman Snake battle team had shown the most tremendous improvement, with Wang Zheng leading the pack. The talents who were already extremely talented had now developed to a stage where they could hold their own.

In the fifth match, the Sword Shield Rose battle team faced off the Radiance battle team of the Versailles Empire.

As the most popular host team at this SIG, Lin Feng led the Sword Shield Rose battle team in a triumphant, textbook victory to advance to the quarter-finals. There were obvious differences in strengths. They led a three-zero win, without having to go to the group battle. Lin Feng did not take part in the battle. Excluding Lin Feng, there were two Earth-rank warriors in the Sword Shield Rose battle team, and one was even Earth-rank level two. During the battle for the quarter-finals, the Sword Shield Rose battle team had shown some of their brilliance, enough to make their future opponents contemplate.

In the sixth match, the Hail Cloud Alliance's Zero Degrees battle team versus Big Bear Federation Fire Bear battle team. In theory, this should be an evenly matched battle.

However, the atmosphere was calm as both teams were old rivals.

Traditionally, the Hail Cloud Alliance and the Big Bear Federation had been allies. Under the current macro environment of the Milky Way Alliance, the relationships between the traditional allies strengthened continuously, and the training battles exchange between the top students were also very frequent. These two teams were therefore old friends who knew each other well.

Both teams were very closely matched. The three solo battles were very closely contested. Two to one, with the Hail Cloud Alliance's Zero Degrees battle team leading the slight advantage. But the Fire Bear battle team also had their chance to shine. Both teams were placid.

The Fire Bear battle team was already prepared for this result. They had placed their bet on the final team battle.

As the team battle began, the screen showed the match line-up of both teams.

Zero Degrees battle team vs Fire Bear battle team:

Grod (Reaper Mech) vs Kabila (Retribution Mech)

Karpal (Ice Gaze Fighter) vs Lu Yan (Light Source Mech)

Beverly (Dragon Series Mech) vs Hugh Matt (Bear Figure Mech)

Ai Zhengyang (Sunset Mech) vs Kyle (Sky Bear Mech)

Ai Wen (Ice Bird Ninth Generation) vs Bill Ross (Hawkeye Mech)

However, many of this year's SIG captains were the key objects of grooming, either by their countries or by their families. Unlike the ordinary warriors, they were destined to embark on the ruling class in the future. Ai Zhengyang was one of them. From the former "prodigy son" of the Aishi Financial Group, to the current object of grooming, Ai Zhengyang had also taken an outstanding route. Cold and handsome with chiseled features, he was ranked top three in the best-looking list at SIG. Of course, he had more supporters too. The ladies of Aslan placed very high standards on appearances. Based on reputation, the Hail Cloud Alliance was stronger than the Big Bear Federation as well.

The strengths of the five members of the Fire Bear battle team were the same as that of Ai Zhengyang's team. During the SIG stage, the victory of the team battle usually laid with the captain. If they did not have at least an Earth-rank level two, they were destined not to be able to advance very far.

It was not the first time that Ai Zhengyang and Kyle were matched against each other. Both teams had won before and had had intense battles too. Each position had evenly contested confrontations, but the victory went to Ai Zhengyang because he had better skills than Kyle. This therefore signaled the end of the battle. The Zero Degrees battle team advanced to the quarter-finals.

Liveliness apart, but this battle had been the weakest in terms of the level of ferociousness. The Zero Degrees battle team had yet to tip their hands. If the two teams had fought a tacit battle, there was no evidence of that at all.

Kyle was calm after the match. They had had many matches with the Hail Cloud Alliance and knew each other inside out. They had given their best. The Zero Degrees battle team were indeed slightly stronger than them.

Somewhat of a surprise was the critiques that the match officials gave after the match. The SIG represented the fighting spirit of warriors. Even if they knew each other inside out, they could not just give up. If they gave up because of the differences in strength, it would be an insult to the pride of the warriors.

This critique was rather hypocritical. Lya Sphinx's representative also shared her thoughts. Criticizing that SIG could not always remain the same. Although Qiqin Nacchai had died unexpectedly during the qualifiers, he had done his best and defended the pride of the warriors, and did not bring shame to the uniform. Yet SIG changed the rules as a result of this and turned a battle of metal and blood into a show. How was this SIG? Might as well turn this into an entertainment show.

The match officials were actually quick to start a self-assessment. Since this was the first time such a large-scale SIG had been organized, they were rather inexperienced. Just because a death had occurred, they could not ignore the essence of a soldier. If they were also afraid, then who else would dare to step on the battlefield?

As a result, the match officials would decide on a new format for the competition after the quarter-finals. At the same time, they hoped that the last two matches would be fought with their own style. Regardless of their strengths, as a warrior, they needed to have the will to fight. Not putting out the best efforts and muddling on in the competition should not happen. The SIG was not a show stage.

The Zero Degrees battle team appeared to have been caught in the crossfire. Moreover, the representative of the Hail Cloud Alliance did not put up any defenses. Obviously, they had some ulterior motives. The Hail Cloud Alliance had never been very radical anyway. In addition, the officials had quickly turned their attention to the system and made self-assessments. Hence, the Hail Cloud Alliance had no intentions of creating other problems.

In fact, regardless of whether the officials made any changes or not, it would not affect match seven. This was because the next match would see the Sea Queen battle team of Atlantis up against the Iron and Steel battle team of Arbiter.

This would undoubtedly be a fierce battle.

The Atlanteans were actually a little depressed. The runic technology had already been mastered by the humans. Wang Zheng would always be the first association of the Phantom King rather than the Atlanteans.

Of course, the Atlanteans were still stronger overall. The Iron and Steel battle team of Arbiter was strong too. They were equally matched.

This was the last day of the qualifying matches for a spot in the quarter-finals. Since the start of the SIG, many unforeseen events had taken place. But the competitiveness had also been increasing. The conflicts and political issues outside the battlegrounds had not affected both teams. Both the Atlanteans and the Arbiter were the strongest in these situations.

For Ergas, this was a battle of no return, a battle he had bet his life on. The bitter defeat of the Asura battle team had dealt a heavy blow to the Iron and Steel College. The reputation of the Iron and Steel College in Arbiter fell to its lowest freezing point in the nearly twenty years. On the other hand, the fortune of their adversary, the Warrior Soul College, had turned for the better for the first time in many years.

The Warrior Soul battle team had advanced to the quarter-finals. Ergas had to lead his team to the quarter-finals; otherwise, the situation would be even worse. Unfortunately for them, their opponent was the Sea Queen battle team.

In Ergas' view, the three major teams - Saruman Snake, Sword Shield Rose, and Sea Queen - so long as it was not these three teams, he was ninety percent confident in crushing them. However, these three teams were the most difficult to deal with.

Compared to the intense anticipation of the Iron and Steel battle team, the Atlanteans seemed especially composed. In fact, anyone who had had any contact with the Atlanteans would know that they rarely felt excited. Of course, this did not mean that they were not determined. They were merely very good at managing their emotions; the internal changes were not reflected externally.

Of course, Sea Queen had to win this battle too. Dina Atlas was leading the team personally. This was a rare sight for a royalty to intervene.

Besides, the runic mecha no longer had the assumed advantage. What could they do?