"Double KO?"
A sudden silence descended over the arena.
In the field, after being hit twice on the head and then hit by three formidable giant fireballs, Sarina appeared unconscious already.
Meanwhile, Chris’ figure had fallen inside a shadow dragon’s maws. She was now totally out of sight.
That shadow dragon’s head was still tossing about, seemingly chewing
"Can’t be, right? Directly chewed and eaten?"
In team Holy Dawn, Stingham suddenly shouted, his eyes wide, "Referees, why are you standing blankly there? Save her right now! Maybe I’ve been cursing all this time for Chris to lose, but I never cursed her to be directly killed and eaten!"
"What, who the hell is this Holy Dawn guy? He’s actually been cursing for his teammate to lose all this time?"
The spectators in the stands suddenly became speechless at Stingham.
"Clack…Clack…Clack…"
Just then, a series of sounds came from the shadow dragon’s mouth, like teeth chewing on stone.
A golden metallic glint shone from the shadow dragon’s mouth.
"Is that… Copper Ball?"
Many people in the stands were suddenly stunned.
A bright golden metallic ball appeared inside the shadow dragon’s maws. The shadow dragon’s strength had carved many deep scratches on the surface of this metallic ball, but it hadn’t broken it yet in this short time, and couldn’t swallow it in its stomach either.
"It’s actually Copper Ball, the most ordinary of defensive skills, the skill dubbed the most idiotic defensive skill!"
Everyone was dumbstruck, their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open in speechlessness.
Copper Ball was one of those most ordinary defense skills. The reason it was dubbed one of the most stupid defensive skills was that after using the skill, the caster would be entirely confined inside the copper ball. Before the arcane skill’s energy dissipated, the caster couldn’t come out of the ball and couldn’t move at all.
When using this defensive skill in a fight, you usually ended up as a ball being kicked around.
But now that Sarina was unconscious and couldn’t use any arcane skill, even the dumbest defensive skill actually allowed Chris to stay safe and sound under the shadow dragons’ attacks.
"You can win even like that?"
"The fight between the two of them is already the longest one out of all the fights between Holy Dawn Academy and Silver Trout Academy. Can Chris continue enduring Burden Overload even now?"
After wondering whether they ought to laugh or cry, more and more people started feeling an intense shock welling inside their chests.
"From start to finish, Chris used ordinary skills only. She probably hasn’t even consumed a third of her arcane particles so far."
"She has two-thirds of her arcane particles left, plus she can still endure Burden Overload. She also has one cast of Dark Destruction Dragon she can use. Don’t tell me, is she really going to finish Silver Trout Academy all by herself?"
Many people in the stands couldn’t help but think such a thought when they looked at team Silver Trout.
The two shadow dragons’ figures gradually dissipated after losing the support from arcane particles.
With a clang, the golden-hued copper ball fell and smashed a crater on the ground.
This copper ball finally vanished after a minute or so, exposing a Chris still standing on her guard.
"Victory!"
Seeing Chris’ figure emerge again in the open while Sarina was still unable to fight, Ayrin knew that this fight was already over, and Chris its winner. He erupted in a tremendous cheer: "Amazing Girl, you won!"
"Amazing Girl…"
"Amazing Girl!"
As though Ayrin’s cheer had ignited a bucket of gunpowder, the entire stands erupted in a tsunami of shouts and cheers.
"There’s only Nolan left now. Is this team from Holy Dawn Academy really going to make history? Are they really going to make it into the last eight in their first national appearance?"
"What on earth is Chris’ body made from? A long time has gone by already, how can she still continue to endure it!"
Many participants felt numb, as though as they’d been struck by lightning.
Silence reigned amidst team Silver Trout.
Nolan’s heart had fallen rock bottom the moment he saw the giant fireballs land on Sarina.
While the entire arena was erupting in shouts and cheers of "Amazing Girl," Nolan took a deep breath before heading into the field, and told all the teammates around him, "In the end, maybe I’ll be unable to take you guys any further… But no matter the result, I hope you guys won’t feel any despair, because we still have a lifetime of fighting in front of us. This is only the beginning."
"Chris wasn’t this strong back when she fought against Southern Monsoon Academy." In the stands, Ivan looked at Chris standing there in the field, still looking extremely calm and prudent despite the acclaims coming from the stands. He couldn’t help but shake his head. "Right now, it looks as though the accumulation of many years suddenly found a crack to break out from. So many years of extreme training are finally starting to erupt in the open."
"What’s Chris trying to do?"
Just then, the jubilant stands suddenly erupted again.
"Hm?"
Ivan narrowed his eyes in spite of himself. The moment Nolan had taken his spot in the field, Chris had stretched out a right arm wrapped in bandages and pointed it at Nolan.
An invisible yet terrifying aura started radiating from her right arm.
"Is her body about to reach its limits because of Burden Overload? So she has no choice but to finish the fight as fast as she can, that’s why she’s going to use a destructive secret skill like Dark Destruction Dragon from the get-go?"
This kind of voices came kept descending from the stands.
Kleis and the assistant referees looked tense all of a sudden.
Dark Destruction Dragon was a taboo skill that became one of the ten most powerful skills on Doraster purely thanks to its raw power. Now that Chris was under the effects of Burden Overload, even they themselves might not be able to completely stop it.
"Is she going to bet everything on this skill? It looks like she’s already at her limits."
Nolan took a deep breath. He looked up at Chris without any fear, his head held high. The arcane particles inside him started surging as well.
"Do they all think I’m at my limits because of Burden Overload?"
There wasn’t any change whatsoever on Chris’ face. She still looked as prudent and collected as before. But her heart filled with a warmth and happiness she usually never felt.
"You’re entirely wrong, all of you."
She quietly told herself in her mind, "It’s because I don’t need to fight by myself anymore… It’s because I have faith my teammates will ensure victory, that’s why I can recklessly fight now, that’s why I can fight the way I choose to fight."
…
Everyone knew that Dark Destruction Dragon was one of the most destructive skills on Doraster. But apart from some spectators who came from St. Lauren, almost no one had seen this skill with their own eyes. They’d merely heard about it.
A strange feeling of excitement, nervousness, and expectation all combined into one suddenly filled the stands.
"Chris against Nolan! Begin!"
"Not moving yet?"
Almost every spectator instantly felt their heart in their throat when Kleis declared the start of the fight. But what was different from the previous fights was, Chris and Nolan both stood immobile where they were.
The terrifying aura still continued to surge from her right hand. Even her bandages sounded as though they were on the verge of splitting open.
At the same time, a terrifying aura also started fluctuating around Nolan. With himself as the center, transparent ripples started spreading all the way to the stands.
"A domain-type skill!"
"Nolan also mastered a domain-type skill! He wants to go head to head with Chris’ Dark Destruction Dragon thanks to this domain skill!"
"Such a powerful undulation of arcane energy, Nolan’s already opened his fourth arcane gate! The level of his arcane particles right now should be around the same level as Chris while she’s under the effects of Burden Overload. So Chris must make sure her strike lands. Otherwise, she’s going to lose for sure! No wonder neither of them is attacking recklessly!"
Time ticked by. Seconds turned into minutes.
Two terrifying auras clashed against each other in the field, to the point vortexes visible to the naked eye formed in the air.
In such a deadlock, everyone knew that Chris would be at a disadvantage the more they waited, but even so, Chris didn’t make any move to attack. In the stands, the spectators all felt they were about to choke.
"If you don’t move, I won’t move either!"
Nolan had total confidence in his invocation speed, so he’d already decided that he wouldn’t act before Chris did, no matter what happened.
Chris’ eyes flashed all of a sudden and locked onto his position.
With an explosive "Bang," all the bandages suddenly exploded on Chris’ right arm. The shattered pieces of bandage even made piercing sounds while they broke through the air.
"Here it comes!"
Every physical function in Nolan’s body operated at its maximum in this instant.
"Super Gravitational Pull!"
With a swift and silent chant, two light-yellow pillars covered in rune-like symbols suddenly appeared on both sides behind him.
There was an astonishing connection between these two pillars and himself. They allowed him to become so fast he reached the limits of the human eye, just like Rinloran when the latter launched a surprise attack at full speed.
"What!"
However, the Dark Destruction Dragon he’d been expecting didn’t come out yet in that precise instant.
There had been a clear change of rhythm in Chris’ skill invocation.
"Immortal Golden Strands!"
Exclamations rose from the stands, because countless golden lines had appeared on Chris’ right arm, like countless golden strands tightly bundling her arm inside.
"She relied on this secret skill so that her arm could bear the impact of the sudden change in rhythm when casting her skill!" Nolan understood in that instant why Chris’ arm hadn’t imploded after forcibly reining in the flow of arcane particles even amidst such a terrifying undulation of arcane energy.
"Holy Dragon’s Will—Siphon Barrier!" He realized at the same time it was already impossible to dodge Chris’ Dark Destruction Dragon. With a swift chant, arcane particles the color of yellow earth poured out of him.