133 The End Of A Streak (1/2)
In the judge's area, a ”small” problem had developed as the judges were fiercely debating who should take first place. In the middle of the tense debate, one judge could be heard saying, ”Why must you insist on championing her? Her patient is one of the weakest practitioners among the hundred-strong lineup!”
”Who gives a fuck how strong her patient was?! Not only did that demon completely heal a near-crippled energy circulatory pathway to absolute perfection, but she also traced the source of the symptoms and caused a sickness to become of her patient's benefit! If that isn't the pinnacle of medical performance, tell me what is!”
”Hmph! The third stage measures how well a competitor treated their patient. They are judged based on the degree of health they grant their patients and the cultivation base of the patient. LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE. Sure, if you want to argue that her accomplishments are praiseworthy and inconceivable, I'll bow my head to that idea. But the rules are the rules and nothing can change the fact that all she did was heal a small child half a decade old! How silly would we all look if in the top twenty-five, all the competitors healed Warrior, King, and even Saint Stage practitioners, yet first place only healed a Soldier?!”
”Che! We look even more stupid if we revealed the level of prowess her healing accomplished, took into account her performance in the earlier Stages, and gave her anything aside from first place!”
Silencing all the voices in the room, a young woman who looked no older than twenty entered the room and said, ”Enough!” This woman was one of the five Grandmasters of Medicine within the entire Martial Society, moreover, she was ranked second among all Grandmasters. With the room's attention in her possession, the woman continued saying, ”Decide with a vote. Only, we'll be deciding whether she takes first or second place. Even if the lot of you disagree with her taking the Champion Title for Medicine, it's irrefutable that her performance at worst lowers her to second place...”
”You heard Grandmaster June! As head judge, I'll start by asking all those in favor of Elizabeth taking first place to raise their hands.” Raising his own hand as he spoke, the head judge counted seven total votes for Elizabeth. Sighing, even though he knew that his voice was of the minority opinion, the head judge asked for those wishing for her to take second place to raise their hands and eight additional votes decided the short electoral process.
…
With the quarrel in the judge's area over and done with, the announcer soon received word of the results. Thus, he began to announce the results for the final hundred competitors. With nothing but the occasional cheer coming from the announcement of a competitor's final ranking and the clapping of impressed spectators, marveling at the accomplishments these final hundred competitors achieved in the Final Stage, the announcer quickly made it to the highlight of the event; the top ten final rankings.
With each of the competitors in the final top ten getting greater and greater reactions from the crowd the higher along the rankings the announcer got, everything was subverted as Elizabeth was revealed to have lost her spot as number one! Just as shocked as the crowd, the announcer said, ”The runner up of the competition is actually Ms. Elizabeth Ultimatia! Eh? Looking at my notes, it says that she managed to completely cure what was thought of as an unassailable cold disease afflicting the young heiress of the Dewington Clan. Apparently, her score was heavily impacted by the fact that she only healed a Soldier Stage practitioner, yet the notes can't seem to stress how amazing of a miracle it must have been for Ms. Ultimatia to eliminate the cold disease.”
As the announcer let the crowd react to the sudden twist and fall of the previously unbeatable demon, Elizabeth herself barely bothered to change her expression. If only to slightly open her eyes in surprise, she honestly thought her score would plummet out of the top ten after deciding to heal a practitioner as weak as Amy. In any case, coming in first wouldn't matter as she already had two special Demon Titles and just the thought of being called a ”Medicinal Demon” led to her develop chills. Even, before she heard of the rewards she would receive for coming in second, she thought it to be more the probable that nothing they offered her would be of any use as she already confirmed that her knowledge when it came to healing, via Acupoint, surpassed even the higher-ups.
Continuing on with the reveal of the Champion of the Medicinal Event, the announcer said, ”As for the Champion… Last year's champion, Belle Delarue, wins by successfully mitigating the effects of an acupoint corroding illness afflicting a Mid Phase Saint Stage practitioner!”
It took the crowd a second, but after they fully digested what they heard, an uproar of applause and cheering every bit as impressive as the one Elizabeth had received for the past couple Events sounded off in the arena. Unlike Elizabeth, as an already well established and widely known medical practitioner, Belle had a near nonexistent crowd base that reproached her. She mostly received cheers and praise, yet among the dissenting voices, Elizabeth's seemed to be the only one that mattered, as the runner up contemptibly did her best to restrain her hysterical laughter.