Nana was confused. “Strange?”

“He has a bloody scent on him. It’s very faint, but I can still smell it. It’s not demonic beast blood either, but human. I am not sure who or when, but he has killed people before. When you look at his pale skinny appearance along with his shifty eyes, he is screaming I am a bad guy.” Yuki replied in a joking manner. 

Nana pursed her lips and squeezed her playful fox. But she took Yuki’s words to heart as well. “I will be careful.”

The line quickly shrank once more, and it was now Ai’s turn. She walked up and placed her flags down. “200 flags.” The elder who was in charge of counting the flags nodded his head in approval. 

Ai was now in the top ten. Sitting at ninth place. Maiko was barely hanging on to tenth place at this time.

Ami went up next. “207 flags, not bad.”  Ami felt slightly bad since Maiko was now out of the top ten, but either way, she and Ai would also be kicked out soon. Since there were two people who had more flags than the current top ten together.

“Fatty, you can go next.” Yuki motioned for Fatty to go. They were not really standing in an orderly fashion, so it did not matter who went next.

Fatty bushed as he walked up on to stage. He took a red flag from his pocket and placed it on the table. The elder in charge looked at him with a strange expression. “Is this it?”

“That is it! I was chased for days on end!” he did not mention he had been extorted out of his other flags by two demonesses who kept reminding him of who had helped him escape from danger. By the time they were done, he was only able to keep a single flag for himself. Of course, this was not Yuki and Nana, but Ai and Ami. This was why they had so many flags, to begin with.

“Pfft….” Someone could not hold back. Everyone turned to look at the sect master, who was looking up at the sky with a big grin on his face. He had seen what had happened. So he couldn’t help but find it quite amusing.

Elder Nishikawa only stood there and smiled. She had to admit her disciples made some interesting friends. But she was happy they were making friends with humans even after all they had been through.

Fatty was quite embarrassed. He glared at Ai and Ami, who turned away and looked up at the sky while whistling. Fatty snorted and walked down off the stage. He was not really mad, but he still disliked being last. He decided he would take his frustration out on those people who chased him.

Fatty walked over to see Ai and Ami trying to hold in their laughter. “Just laugh it up! This fat man doesn’t care!”

“Haha!” Yuki couldn’t hold back anymore. Fatty could only snort and find placed his head on Maiko’s shoulder, who rolled her eyes at him. But she still reached up and patted his back.

Nana and Yuki both walked up on stage. When they did, the elder in charge of counting the flags was very confused. “Ummm… why are there two of you?”

“Yuki and I are one,” Nana replied with a serious expression. 

“Little one, that is not how it works…..” The elder was about to scold the two when the sect master cut in.

“Just count them together. And split it between the two.” The sect master did not see any reason not to count them together. They were most likely going to end up first and second in the tournament anyway.

“Alright, hand them over.” The elder sighed. He did not think the two would have too many. But little did he know…..

Yuki reached out her hands and then began shaking her sleeves. However, this was just for show. She did not want anyone to know she was taking them out of her space. In no time at all, a large pile of flags appeared on the ground in front of her that went up to her knees. The flags were only about the size of her palm, so this pile washed at least a thousand or so flags.

Out in the group of disciples, Rin and Takeichi both clicked their tongues. They had not gone up yet since they were waiting for their juniors to go first, but they did not expect Yuki to have so many flags. “Senior Brother, I think we need to rethink our strategy.”

“I was thinking the same. For Junior Sister Yuki to have so many flags means they had knocked out a good number of disciples.” Takeichi sighed. He wondered if he was going to be able to beat either of them. “Also, I think Junior Sister Yuki has become stronger than before.”

“Don’t say it!” Rin crouched down and covered her ears. She did not want to know if her junior sisters were stronger than her now! She would feel too inferior! 

“2346 flags. If we divide it in half, that will be 1163 flags each. You are both tied for first.” What else could the elder say? The two girls had the same number of flags. 

“Wait, you forgot one….” Nana pulled another out of Yuki’s pocket. “This means Yuki is first, and I am second.” 

Yuki turned and looked at her doting lover and shook her head. They could have just shared first. She wanted to say something, but she did not want to make a scene. She knew Nana was doing this for her. 

“Alright then, Yuki is first with 1164 flags, and Nana is second with 1163 flags.” The elder sighed. He waved them off stage and looked around. “There are two people who have not come up yet.”

“That will be me!” Rin stood up and raised her hand. She then walked up to the stage. She looked at Yuki and Nana and smiled as she whispered: “You two won this round!”

“Hehe.” Yuki grinned. She did not realize how competitive her senior sister was.

In the end, Rin placed third with 805 flags, and Takeichi placed fourth with 800 flags. This brought the placement portion of the tournament to a close. The sect master smiled as he stood up in front of everyone. “Alright, since we now have our list of the top one hundred, the brackets for tomorrow’s battles will be set. For now, you can go back and rest. I am sure many of you are tired. All who are in the top one hundred are to report here tomorrow morning at first light. You will be taken to the battle stages, where the main tournament will take place. Do not be late, or you will automatically forfeit and be required to clean the beast pens for five years with no resources!”

In other words, they had to fight even if they did not want to.