"Boom!"
In the sky above the arena, the air fluttered like a rag.
A light-yellow egg-shaped curtain of light appeared out of nowhere. It fell down, covering the arena.
At the same time, a black-colored draconic aura leaped out of Chris’ arm and took the shape of a black dragon. Everyone in the stands could feel the oppressive pressure coming from it.
The black flame dragon released a fearsome draconic aura, instantly swallowing Chris’ tiny figure.
On the other side, Nolan’s figure was already covered in the earthen-yellow light of arcane particles. He looked like a patchy man of light.
Two genuine taboo auras, strong enough to annihilate small-scale cities or fortresses, clashed together inside a limited space. Many bolts of lightning appeared in the air, yet they didn’t zip and zap like lightning bolts either.
"Boom!"
The egg-shaped curtain of light released a strange domain power. The Dark Destruction Dragon had clearly locked onto Nolan’s position already, but, when it came within ten meters of Nolan, its attention was suddenly attracted by the curtain. Terrifying black waves instantly rose from the ground, battering the curtain’s ceiling.
"Ah!"
Under the fierce pain from an invisible shock blast, many people in the stands groaned in spite of themselves.
"What a frightening power. So this is Nolan’s strength."
His hand on his chest, Ayrin looked at the Dark Destruction Dragon and the egg-shaped curtain of light as both of them started to disintegrate in the sky. He shouted, "Teacher Carter, I remember both you and teacher Liszt saying that arcane particles can only pour out from specific energy channels. Your vital organs will suffer heavy damage if you squeeze the particles out from every part of the body instead. So how did Nolan instantly squeeze out so many arcane particles all at once from all over his body?"
"It’s because Nolan possesses a body befitting one from a yellow dragon bloodline. It’s about three times stronger than normal," Carter explained in quick words, his face solemn. "Only someone like him can endure this kind of output. But even so, it’s still fraught with extreme danger."
"They really clashed head to head with taboo-level skills… Who out of Chris or Nolan came out ahead?"
The flames and shock waves quickly scattered from the stands. Everyone strove to open their eyes wide, trying to see the situation in the field.
"What!"
"Even this kind of domain power can’t contend with Dark Destruction Dragon?! He was even heavily wounded on top of that?"
Gasps rose from the stands the instant everyone clearly saw the scene in the field.
Nolan was less than five meters away from Chris.
Six to seven wounds were visible on him, like slashes from sharp blades cutting deep to the bones, but scorched black instead. No blood oozed from them.
"Even if you used ‘Immortal Golden Strands’ to forcibly tighten your arm, it still suffered heavy damage!"
No outside sound filtered through Nolan’s ears at this instant. Only this single thought filled his mind.
"Bone-Crushing Dragon Hammer!"
With a stern chant, the light of arcane particles once again blossomed from him.
"Boom!"
A huge invisible hammer seemed to pound the space all around Chris.
"Crack…"
All the other parts of Chris body could endure this sort of pressure, except for her arm already dripping with blood and covered in countless tiny cracks. In the blink of an eye, the force broke all the bones in her arm!
"Nolan’s counterattack broke all the bones in her arm!"
"Oh my god!"
When almost everyone in the stands shivered at the spectacle, an almost frenzied light flashed through Chris’ eyes. Even her pupils enlarged ever so slightly.
"What?"
Nolan’s feet trampled fiercely on the ground while he accelerated, trampling it so hard countless web-shaped cracks appeared under his feet. Yet, he was suddenly filled with the sensation of imminent, lethal danger.
He suddenly saw that Chris’s entire face had turned a strange purple, while all the surrounding air gushed toward her mouth and her nose as though she was trying to suck in all the air in front of her.
In the stands, Ivan and Charlotte and the others were the first ones to realize what was going on. They shouted in unison, "Holy Body Ignition!"
"Burden Overload added to Holy Body Ignition!"
This thought flashed through the minds of a few people.
With an explosive boom, Chris erupted with frightening speed. She’d already entirely lost the use of her right arm, but there wasn’t any shred of pain to be seen on her face as she landed a ruthless punch on Nolan.
Nolan had been accelerating, but despite the seemingly unstoppable force of his advance, the blow stopped him dead in his tracks and forced him back a step.
The stuffy pain gave Nolan the urge to puke. His entire body trembled from the blow. All the power filling him seemed suddenly suppressed by this punch.
"Bang!"
Chris’ left fist had already found him again.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
…
Everyone saw the spectacle of a Chris landing relentless blows on Nolan, while Nolan constantly fell back, struggling to steady his posture out of ingrained reflex, but unable to come up with any sort of counterattack.
Every time Nolan tried to catch his breath and launch an arcane skill, Chris interrupted him with an explosive punch. He could faintly feel his front bones starting to crack under Chris’ heavy blows. However, there was an energy inside him, a vigor that made him stand upright and refuse to yield.
He refused to believe Chris could maintain her Burden Overload for long.
From the start of Chris’ fight against Sarina up until now, there had been fifteen minutes more or less already.
In Team Holy Dawn, Moss suddenly shouted just then, "Stingham, what are you doing?"
Previously looking as though he was praying, Stingham was now standing behind Carter and looking like he was about to do something shifty.
"I hate him!"
Stingham shouted when he heard Moss, "Just look at Nolan. Even if he can persevere and beat Chris, there’s no way I’d look like a savior even if I went on stage. Must be messing with me on purpose, am I right?!"
"Idiot!" Moss had the urge to choke Stingham just then.
"Stingham, the more people are injured in this match, the more important you will be for the next match," Carter told Stingham just then, his voice quiet. "No matter what team we face next time, I promise I’ll make you fight second. It’ll be for the best if you can dispose of all the opponents by then."
"Is that true?" Stingham looked at Carter, a little dubious.
"I swear in the name of Holy Dawn," Carter said.
"That’s more like it. I was going to kick you into the field just now," Stingham said, his sullenness instantly swept away.
"He was really up to no good." Stingham made Moss thoroughly speechless.
"Moss." Carter suddenly called his name just then.
"Teacher Carter?"
He turned to look at Carter. He saw Carter looking back at him, his face grave, his voice solemn when he told him, "Moss, I know your mother came to the tournament. I promise you, you’ll definitely make everyone sit up and take notice in the next match. You’re definitely going to make your mother proud."
"Teacher Carter…" Moss’ eyes became wet for some reason. A strange feeling rose in his chest.
"What Teacher Carter means is… We’ll definitely win and advance to the last eight?"
…
Anyone could see at this time that both Chris and Nolan were nearing their limits.
As long as Chris stopped her barrage of attacks, as long as Nolan could riposte, then Chris would probably lose.
But everyone saw the girl with only one good arm rain blows on Nolan like a volcanic eruption, looking as though she would never ever stop.
Everyone had thought that the longer the fight dragged on, the worse things would be for Chris. But now, as time went by second after second, minute after minute, the spectators in the stands were slowly coming to realize that time wasn’t a restriction for her. She looked as if she could continue her offensive as long as she needed to.
"She can actually endure for so long… How on earth is she doing that…"
Retreating to the edge of the field, Nolan could already feel himself at his limits.
He could taste blood on his tongue, feel the reek of blood in his throat. His mind was still sober, but his entire body was already losing strength. His legs were even starting to give way.
"Ah!"
He roared fiercely just then. He wanted to use the last of his strength for a final counter.
But Chris’ incomparably cool eyes shone bright in the same instant. Her left fist once again smashed his chest with astounding strength.
"Thump!"
The entire arena seemed to come to a still with this muffled sound.
The next instant, Nolan’s tall stature flew back in the air, then fell to the field.
"Huff…"
Chris stopped. She braced her left hand on her knee. Almost everyone could hear her heavy and exhausted panting.
Sweat oozed out of her skin, instantly soaking her clothes.
"Did we win?"
Even Ayrin was a little incredulous.
Team Silver Trout was such a powerful team… Did they really lose?
Did Chris directly defeat powerful foes like Sarina and Nolan all by herself?
"Boom!"
The next second, cheers and shouts flooded the whole arena.
"How can someone have this sort of endurance? She’s truly… an amazing girl."
Words like these reverberated nonstop in the minds of many many people.