"Never give up?"

Sophia repeated this, her tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxing as her gaze became increasingly determined.

That's right, if she persisted, there was still a glimmer of hope; but if she gave up, there would be no chance at all!

Thinking this, she unhesitatingly raised her head and called out loudly to Colton:

"We choose to continue the competition!"

Margaret crossed her arms and snorted disdainfully through her nose upon hearing this.

"Fine, since you insist on humiliating yourself, we'll defeat you fair and square this time, leaving you with nothing to say!"

She proudly raised her neck, believing victory was within her grasp.

Margaret had already poached nearly everyone she could. Counting the people left on Sophia's side, none of them were capable enough to take on multiple opponents.

Her side had twice the numbers—dealing with Sophia would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

Observing both sides' reactions, Colton made no comment.

"Since the competition continues, both sides should depart for the designated venue. The competition officially begins when 2 PM arrives."

The competition venue was set near a mountain several kilometers from the academy. Just walking there would take nearly an hour.

This mountain was neither too big nor too small. The terrain on the mountain was quite steep, with a lake at the summit from which water flowed down in streams. The closer to the mountain's base, the gentler the terrain became.

The combination of mountainous terrain, forest, and water sources offered much more strategic possibilities than an open plain where everything was visible at a glance.

A faint smile curved at the corners of Celitia's lips.

Affected by recent events, the blue team's overall morale was low, and Sophia was still troubled by it all.

Seeing Celitia's confident smile, Sophia's heart stirred, and she couldn't help asking:

"Lily, did you already anticipate the current situation?"

Sophia remembered that during pre-competition training, Celitia hadn't had her gather everyone.

Looking up now, most of those who remained were familiar faces she'd seen during training.

"More or less. I knew Margaret was pulling tricks."

Earlier, in front of Margaret, Celitia hadn't shown this, but now she smiled slightly.

"That she could persuade people to withdraw was somewhat surprising, but it also helped me out considerably."

"Is this the development you wanted to see?"

Sophia asked in surprise, "But won't our strength be significantly weaker than theirs this way?"

"Sophia, people matter for quality, not quantity. Having too many people with ulterior motives would only disrupt our arrangements and constantly hold us back."

Celitia lightly patted Sophia's shoulder.

"Moreover, this perfectly lulls the enemy into thinking they can defeat us easily. In warfare between two sides, psychological warfare comes first. The trap Margaret set can naturally be turned around and used by us, can't it?"

Sophia still felt some unease in her heart, but had to admit she was convinced by Celitia.

With these few words from Celitia, the low morale visibly lifted considerably, and the team members' eyes gained some sparkle.

"What should we do now?" someone asked.

Celitia didn't answer immediately, but instead asked Shanie: "It's been a while since 2 PM. Have Rebecca and Linda sent any messages?"

Rebecca and Linda were Shanie's friends.

Compared to Margaret, the two actually preferred to join Sophia's team.

But on the opening day, they'd had some minor conflicts with Celitia.

After learning that Celitia and Sophia had a close relationship, the two felt too embarrassed to choose the blue team and could only register for the red team.

Through considerable effort, Shanie had successfully turned the two, getting them to agree to infiltrate the red team and relay information.

"It should be soon. Rebecca promised me she'd send a carrier pigeon as soon as there was news."

Shanie answered while looking up at the sky, suddenly her eyes lit up as she excitedly waved at the sky.

"The carrier pigeon is here!"

Although Rebecca was a commoner, she was a bird trainer. Her family raised many carrier pigeons, and through this skill, she'd earned considerable money and was able to send her daughter to Samuel Academy.

Linda had a talent for reducing her presence, making her good at blending into crowds to gather information without being easily noticed.

If Shanie hadn't mentioned it, Celitia wouldn't have known such talents were hidden among the commoners.

Celitia actually held no grudge against the two, so she instructed Shanie to be sure to recruit them.

Shanie's palm flickered with light, and attracted by the gem's magic, the carrier pigeon landed on her hand.

Removing the message, Shanie carefully handed the paper slip to Celitia.

Celitia unfolded the paper and glanced at it, then casually stuffed it into her pocket.

"Consistent with my guess... then let's proceed with the previously drafted Plan A."

According to the competition rules, each side had a stronghold, and if they could capture the flag from the enemy's stronghold, it counted as victory.

If neither side successfully captured the flag, the results would be scored based on casualties.

Being hit in vital spots counted as death, requiring departure from the team.

At this moment, Margaret believed victory was within her grasp.

The blue team had her insider, and Margaret had long known the stronghold position Sophia had chosen.

Leaving ten people to guard the stronghold, Margaret waved boldly at everyone: "Follow me!"

Knowing the position, forty against twenty—wasn't this easily within reach?

The blue team's stronghold wasn't too far away. Margaret and her group quickened their pace, and after about half an hour, they could see that blue flag.

There were only about five blue team members guarding the stronghold, and seeing Margaret's group, they all showed panicked expressions.

They must think their side was hidden enough, so they'd set out to find her position, right?

Discovering that Sophia and the others weren't there, Margaret became even more certain.

"Hmph, you didn't expect I'd know your stronghold's location?"

Margaret was in high spirits, thinking this competition was too easy, and led her people charging toward the flag at the center of the stronghold.

The five blue team members left behind, facing a dark mass of people, were all scared out of their wits. They abandoned the flag and ran toward the back.

"Useless trash! Next time you see this young lady, remember to flee earlier!"

Margaret taunted them while reaching out with satisfaction to pull the blue flag from the ground and raise it high.

"See that? Victory belongs to us—huh?!"

In an instant, Margaret sensed something was wrong.

The flag in her hands was too light, completely inconsistent with her side's!

A faint purple light flashed, and the flag in Margaret's hands suddenly shrank, becoming a super miniature version just big enough for her palm.

"This is fake? Is it illusion magic??"

Margaret suddenly realized she'd been deceived.

More precisely, she'd fallen into a trap.

Sure enough, the ground lit up with a faint yellow glow, and everyone who had charged near the stronghold flag felt their bodies becoming sluggish.

Earth attribute gravity magic!

They'd stepped on a trap!!