Immediately after he said those words, Kyle and Freya stepped onto the stage while the man who made the opening speech calmly returned to his seat.
The atmosphere inside the hall changed almost instantly.
The suffocating pressure brought by Valentin's presence earlier slowly faded away, allowing many people to finally breathe properly again.
Several candidates quietly released breaths they didn't realize they had been holding.
Freya stepped forward gracefully while Kyle placed a small circular metallic box on the floor beside her.
Click.
He pressed the crystal button embedded at the center of the object.
A low humming sound echoed.
Then…
A holographic screen expanded into the air above them.
Blue light spread across the stage, causing many younger children to widen their eyes slightly despite already being used to Britannia's technology.
"Before we show the rankings of all the candidates,"
Freya began calmly while looking toward the now excited crowd,
