The faces of those from the Burchard Family weren't pretty. Looking at the options they had left, they felt a tinge of sadness. Of only four people left, two were in the Ninth stage, one was in the Eighth stage, and the last person was Grey, the young man who was in the Fifth stage of the Sage Plane. Although he managed to qualify for this, his opponent was merely in the Seventh stage of the Sage Plane. In a battle of high ranks, they had little to no faith in him. On the side of the Nether Faction, they still had the same number of people left, and three of them were in the Eighth stage of the Sage Plane, while the last one was in the Seventh stage. As things stand, they felt there was a chance that Grey might win his battle since he had defeated someone in the Seventh stage once, but that wouldn't be relevant once he advances to the next round. From that round onwards, there would only be people in the Eighth stage and above. The Ninth stage Sage Plane Elementalist from the Burchard Family stepped out and challenged someone in the Eighth stage. He won easily. The next person won easily as well. With both Ninth stage fighters from the Burchard Family winning their battles, it was time for those in the Eighth stage, and just like before, the Nether Faction was the first to challenge. They had one person left in the Eighth stage of the Sage Plane, and one in the Seventh stage. Both parties had the same number of fighters, one in the Eighth stage each, while the others were in the Seventh and Fifth stages respectively. "How confident are you in fighting against someone in the Ninth stage?" Bill walked up to the young lady in the Eighth stage and asked. This was the last person in the Eighth stage for them. She was quite powerful, and if he had a choice, he would prefer she didn't take the risk of fighting the person in the Eighth stage from the Burchard Family. "About eighty percent. I can't fight against someone on his level though." She pointed at the young man who attacked Grey the last time. "That's enough. Challenge the guy in the Fifth stage." Bill said before walking away. It would be right for her to challenge the other person in the Eighth stage since she was more powerful, but Bill didn't want any complications and felt this was the best choice. Although doing this will mean an Eighth stage Elementalist from the Burchard Family would advance easily, he wasn't bothered about him. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 The young lady nodded and walked to the platform. Stepping on the platform, she pointed at Grey. "You, come out." Grey was a little taken aback, and the faces of the old men from the Burchard Family changed once again before most of them sighed in defeat. The only chance of Grey advancing had been cut off. Actually, they didn't have too much hope for him, what they wanted was for the young lady to challenge their Eighth stage Sage Plane Elementalist and if she was defeated, and Grey manages to defeat the other, it would make things easier for them. Grey didn't say anything, taking a small glance at the young lady, he walked to the platform nonchalantly. His expression, the same as usual, blank. Standing before the young lady, he didn't show a shred of emotion, simply waiting for the battle to start. When the old man saw that they were ready, he announced the start of the battle. The young lady moved immediately, she was a Lightning Elementalist, like most from the Nether Faction. Grey was already prepared for her attacks. Just as she was about to get close to him, he vanished. The young lady only paused for a quarter of a second before charging in another direction. Boom! She attacked, and Grey's figure was sent sliding back. Although he managed to block, he was pushed to the edge of the platform. His hands felt numb from blocking the attack, and small cuts could be seen on them. He moved his hands as if to get the blood flowing on them once again before taking a glance at his opponent. The young lady looked at Grey with a little smile before attacking once again. Grey didn't waste any time and used the Fusion State without hesitation. It was acceptable to use this technique as long as it was not help from any outside individual. Boosting his stage to the Seventh stage of the Sage Plane, he took the young lady's attack head-on. Boom! An explosion louder than the first one rang out, and they were actually tied. Those from the Burchard Family were stunned, while the eyes of the young lady showed doubt. Although this wasn't her full strength, even a regular Seventh stage Elementalist would not be able to block it. 'He's not simple.' Her heart skipped a beat. For some reason, she started to have a bad feeling. If she were told she would ever have such a feeling from challenging someone at a lower stage, she would never believe it. Bill's expression changed slightly, but it soon went back to the same. 'It's just petty tricks. He won't be able to keep it up for long.' He was not the only one with this thought in his head. Most of the Elders from the Nether Faction felt the same. As long as the young lady manages to hold him off, then she would win. For some reason, they all suddenly accepted the fact that Grey had the advantage. What was worse was that none of them felt that it was odd that they felt that way. One has to know that this was more like their first exchange, and Grey was still a stage lower. Yet, they had all placed him higher than his opponent. Amongst those from the Nether Faction, only one person felt that things might not actually go the way they think it would. It was none other than the young man who attacked him. He had attacked Grey with almost a complete Plane difference, and Grey survived. Someone like that would definitely have his ways of dealing with an opponent just a stage above him.