The third duel was over. Casimir didn't choose to struggle until the end and instead escaped to conserve his strength. He would live to fight another day.

  Three duels resulted in three exciting battles and three different endings. This caused a growing sense of excitement among the audience, especially the marines and sailors. Everyone loved a good summoner duel. It was the national pastime. They were eager to see what the remaining duels had in store.

  The next match was Sergio versus Carlos. Sergio was the leader of the Daybreakers gang so he had some of the best summons including a mantis, a giant crab, and a brown bear covered in tree bark. He was also a Six Paths Adept Rank summoner.

  Carlos didn't have such privilege but he wasn't a pushover. Although he was one level lower at the Five Paths Adept Rank, his summons were also strong. He had a giant pill bug, a treant, a mutated crayfish, a leafy spider, and a muddy bullfrog which was his ace.

  In the end, the difference in soul cultivation was the critical factor. Unlike Zachary, Carlos couldn't come up with a way to overcome this gap. One of his summons always had to fight two against one, no matter how he shifted the matchups. His summons were strong but they were not special like Voodoo or Heather's golden butterfly. The duel devolved into a brawl and he lost on both quantity and quality.

  The fifth match pitted Thomas against Shuhua. As the leader of Riverside Village, he was a tough opponent like Sergio. He had a large number of adept rank Ensouled. He brought out a total of nine over the course of the duel, switching some out for others to adjust his strategy on the fly. In the beginning, he attacked with an array of long-range summons. Later, he switched to fast-paced battle while riding a gray wolf, similar to Heather.

  He also had a unique summon, a water spirit with a body made entirely of blue water. It was similar to Doro, a purely elemental existence with tremendous strength and potential. It was unfortunate that the dueling field did not have any bodies of water. Otherwise, it would have been unbeatable.

  However, the pivotal force in the match proved not to be the water spirit or Thomas’ large lineup of summons. Instead, it was Shuhua’s monkey which she had named Peony. Despite its name, it was strong as an ox. It was also fast and agile like a rabbit. Carrying a large mantis claw in each hand like a pair of swords, it was a killing machine that had no equal.

  Most importantly, the beast was incredibly smart. It knew how to fight and how to trick its opponents. Shuhua only needed to point it towards the next target and the monkey largely took care of the rest. While she hid behind a wall of plant type Ensouled, Peony rampaged across the battlefield, slaying one opponent after another until finally, Thomas was forced to forfeit.

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  This was another surprise win which garnered a lot of noise and applause from the crowd. Such a smart creature was worth a fortune. Everyone was excited to see even stronger Ensouled.

  The next duel soon followed, between Elkie and Nellie. It was an interesting matchup. Both of them summoned mossy diamondbacks for defense. These turtles had the same ability which created an additional protective layer on their shell, making it impenetrable to all kinds of attacks.

  Seeing this made Wander very happy. He wondered if they were friendly turtles. He also boasted that their shields weren’t as good as his.

  As for the duel, Elkie and Nellie chose the same strategy by chance. They both hunkered down behind their turtles and lobbed long-range abilities at each other. However, this was only a rouse so that they could send a sneak attack while the other was distracted.

  Nellie gave this task to her chameleon hunter. The color-changing lizard crawled across the field without being detected and leaped at Elkie's neck from behind. By some miracle, she sensed the incoming attack and sacrificed her arm to block it. Her right arm was severed but the chameleon hunter was killed before it could complete its mission.

  On the other side, Nellie wasn't so lucky. Her opponent's sneak attack came in the form of a ghostly spider. Its body was small and transparent, almost impossible to detect. It landed a deep bite on her leg before it was squashed to death.

  Both summoners suffered from each other’s sneak attacks but one contained poison and the other did not. The flesh around Nellie’s spider bite quickly turned red, then purple. Her leg went numb and she could feel her whole body turning cold with each labored breath. Helpless, she could only forfeit and go to Zachary to seek treatment. If she had hesitated for a few more moments, even Wander’s full-strength healing breath wouldn’t have saved her.

  The sixth duel finished and the seventh duel started. The old man named Theo faced off against Renata of the Daybreakers. Renata’s summons were nothing special. They included commonly found Ensouled like vine demons and treants. Theo, on the other hand, brought out an Ensouled nobody had ever seen before. It was a multi-colored peacock that spat flames from its beak. It was a fearsome creature that easily defeated several opponents with a few attacks. Seeing this, Renata lost the will to fight and tried to forfeit. However, she burned to death before she could reach the edge of the field.

  The final duel was between Jean-Pierre and Jan of the Dark Star Gang. It kicked off with Jan summoning five beasts in a row which was his limit. He had a strong lineup that included a shooting porcupine, a furry pig, a giant crab, a mushroom demon, and a large black raven which was his ace.

  However, none of that mattered because Jean-Pierre had summoned a forest elephant. It was huge, even bigger than a trolly car. Its signature ability flew out without mercy. Bright green blades of energy crisscrossed the field, decimating the opposing Ensouled. Even Jan wasn’t spared.

  The true ruler of this jungle finally appeared and its power was overwhelming.