Once the will of the universe finished announcing all the rules, the first battles of the top-thirty arena competition were about to begin.

The five matchups scheduled for the opening round were:

Soren versus Kelvin—an internal battle between two members of Evernight Palace.

Alvin versus Aldric—the Eternal Summit against the Skyvault Consortium.

Gurok versus Lashir—the Eternal Divine Palace against the Treasure-Rich Mountains.

Shirok versus Oscar—an internal battle between two members of Mount Crys.

Kaine versus Morris—the Skyvault Consortium against the Demon King Council.

[The matchups for the first round have been announced.]

Once the list was revealed, the top-thirty participants immediately began gathering information about their respective opponents.

Some of the matches involved factions that had never been on particularly friendly terms.

The relationship between the Skyvault Consortium and the Demon King Council was one example, while the conflict between the Skyvault Consortium and the Eternal Summit was another.

As one of the oldest supreme factions in existence, the Skyvault Consortium had recently shown signs of forming an alliance with the Treasure-Rich Mountains and Mount Crys.

They appeared to be preparing to jointly suppress the factions suspected of standing behind the Immeasurable Calamity.

Among those newly risen supreme factions were Evernight Palace, the mysterious Eternal Black Hand, the Summit of Eternal Night, and the Demon King Council.

As for the Eternal Divine Palace, it had long since lost all reason.

It was publicly known throughout the universe as a faction of mad dogs.

It feared no faction, provoked everyone it encountered, and was hated by nearly every major power.

However, the most awkward aspect of the first round was that several matches involved participants from the same faction.

Whenever such a situation occurred, one side would normally choose to surrender for the sake of preserving their faction’s strength.

The most obvious example was the battle between Shirok and Oscar.

Both of them belonged to Mount Crys, yet the two supreme prodigies had been matched against each other in the very first round.

The moment the powerhouses of Mount Crys saw the matchup, they erupted in anger.

"What is this supposed to mean?"

"I seriously suspect that the will of the universe has been deliberately targeting Mount Crys this entire time!"

Unlike the previous top-thirty qualification stage, the current competition was being broadcast throughout the entire universe.

Every living being and powerhouse could clearly observe the details of the matches.

Naturally, the members of Mount Crys immediately learned that their faction’s two greatest participants had been paired against each other.

They were the faction’s only two supreme prodigies in the top thirty.

Yet now they would have to determine a victor on the same arena.

No matter who won, the other would inevitably be eliminated.

Both Shirok and Oscar were supreme prodigies whom Mount Crys had spent an enormous amount of time and resources nurturing.

Losing either one of them would be an immense blow to the faction.

The powerhouses of Mount Crys immediately began discussing the situation in low voices.

"This is truly troublesome."

"We are guaranteed to lose one of our faction’s advancement positions, and the one eliminated will be a supreme-level prodigy."

"I think Oscar will probably withdraw voluntarily."

"If he is willing to consider the interests of the faction as a whole, he should surrender and leave the opportunity to advance to Shirok, who is stronger."

"That is nothing more than moral coercion!"

"They risked their lives and fought through round after round before finally reaching the top thirty."

"No one has the right to force either of them to surrender."

"The decision belongs to the participants themselves."

"That’s right. We cannot pressure them like that."

"I also hope the stronger Shirok will win. He seems more suited to direct combat and may be able to progress even further in this tournament."

"But that does not mean Oscar should be ordered to surrender."

"No matter what decision he makes, it is his own choice."

"We should simply remain spectators and allow them to decide their own futures."

"Damn it! This is still infuriating!"

"The Skyvault Consortium has so many participants in the top thirty. Why weren’t any of them matched against their own people?"

The members of Mount Crys stared at the participants within the tournament realm and continued complaining bitterly.

Evernight Palace was experiencing a similar situation.

Within a mysterious universe, countless members of Evernight Palace emerged from seclusion to watch the Myriad Worlds Tournament.

It was worth noting that more than ninety percent of Evernight Palace’s participants were players rather than native inhabitants of the universe.

At that moment, countless demigod- and High God-level players stared at the projection of the arena and began shouting indignantly.

"Soren and Kelvin are both players from Evernight Palace!"

"Yet they have been arranged to fight each other. This is clearly deliberate targeting!"

"John is so powerful, and Valhalla has several members in the top thirty, yet none of them were matched against one another!"

"That’s right!"

"Look at Mount Crys. Their overall strength is similar to ours, and their two supreme prodigies have also been forced into an internal battle."

"The rules of Evernight Palace are somewhat similar to those of the Eternal Divine Palace."

"All players possess an extremely high degree of freedom."

"Both Soren and Kelvin fought their way into the top thirty. Naturally, neither of them would be willing to surrender their chance of entering the top fifteen."

"Even so, we cannot force either one of them to admit defeat."

"We must respect their freedom to choose."

"They have already reached the top thirty. Of course they both want to advance into the top fifteen."

"No one would willingly give up at a moment like this."

"Whatever happens, we should respect their decision instead of pressuring them to surrender."

"Well said!"

"The rewards corresponding to each final ranking will certainly be vastly different."

"Even a difference of a single position may lead to completely different rewards."

"We cannot use the interests of the faction to morally coerce either of them."

Meanwhile, within the Skyvault Consortium’s stronghold in the Divine-Demon Universe, countless powerhouses watched the tournament with tense expressions.

Two members of the Skyvault Consortium would be fighting during the first round.

Aldric would battle Alvin, while Kaine would face Morris.

Both Aldric and Kaine were recognized as supreme prodigies of the Skyvault Consortium.

They possessed enormous Fame within the faction.

Although John and the members of Valhalla currently occupied higher positions on the ranking, their Fame within the Skyvault Consortium was still far below that of Aldric and Kaine.

After all, the two of them had been nurtured by the faction for countless years.

They had long since established their reputations among the countless branches and strongholds of the Skyvault Consortium.

John and his companions had only joined relatively recently.

Even though their performances were far more astonishing, they could not immediately replace the influence Aldric and Kaine had accumulated over the years.

The surrounding powerhouses began discussing the upcoming battles in hushed voices.

"Aldric’s chances of winning this battle are not particularly high."

"Alvin is by no means an easy opponent."

Sovereign Alsord spoke with a grave expression.

"John and his companions may currently occupy higher positions on the leaderboard, but in terms of reputation and influence within the Skyvault Consortium, they remain far inferior to Aldric and Kaine."

The other powerhouses nodded thoughtfully and continued discussing the two crucial matches.