The clash of combat abilities never ceased. The flashes and shockwaves generated by the collision of crystal energy blades resembled fireworks during festivals, continuously bursting across the arena. New wounds were rapidly accumulating on both sides!
Whether it was the spectators in the training hall or the residents of the planet Fira watching the match on their screens, all were stunned into silence by this match that could only be described as “cruel.”
Inside the break room of the Almysthes Academy’s Psionic Arts Department, the atmosphere was equally silent. All the psionic instructors were listening intently to Mr. Bolt’s commentary. Their expressions were too complex to be described in words.
The only instructor from the Psionic Arts Department who was absent from the break room was Irina, who had been left alone in the main hall by Katerina. Irina was now sitting alone at the seat reserved for the supervising teacher in Almysthes Academy’s rest area.
The beautiful psionic arts female instructor had her head lowered, her fists clenched tightly, and her long legs tightly crossed. Beneath her tight combat suit, her shapely body trembled slightly. Anyone seeing Irina in this state would probably assume she was overwhelmed with excitement at the spectacular performance of Almysthes’ physical combat department.
However, if someone had approached close enough to see Irina’s hidden expression and heard her murmured words clearly, they would immediately realize that Irina was not excited at all. At this moment, she was nearly driven mad by jealousy and hatred toward Zhang Wen.
The brutal “exchange of injuries” on the battlefield lasted for about ten minutes before suddenly ending.
After together blocking Link’s strike aimed at Zack with Amyris, Cloud suddenly slipped and fell.
Thud! The sound of Cloud hitting the ground was dull, definitely not the sound of a normal fall.
Taking advantage of the gap created by Cloud’s fall, Link毫不犹豫地 leaped backward, slightly increasing the distance between himself and Zack and Amyris.
Translation:
Seizing the opportunity presented by the opening created when Cloud fell, Link immediately leapt backward, widening the distance between himself and both Zack and Amyris.
“Cloud?” Amyris quickly glanced at Cloud and immediately realized that he had closed his eyes and fainted.
“Quick, quick! That Almysthes student has fainted!” Several psionicists shouted in panic and rushed into the arena to carry Cloud to the rest area.
During the moment the psionicists carried Cloud away, Zack also approached Amyris and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
“Zack.” Amyris turned her head and immediately noticed that Zack’s face was pale, devoid of any color.
“Heh! Amyris…” The intense pain made Zack’s voice tremble, but he still gritted his teeth, gasping heavily while whispering, “Cloud has fainted, and I can’t hold on much longer either. Heh! I’ve lost too much blood. My legs are shaking just from standing! Heh! We don’t have the luxury of waiting anymore. We must finish this quickly. Fortunately, that guy was also heavily injured in the previous exchange. Even if it’s just the two of us, we still have a chance! When the match resumes, I’ll distract him and create an opportunity for you to attack. Then, it’s all up to you.”
“Okay…” Amyris clenched her teeth and nodded.
During those ten minutes of chaotic fighting, Amyris had also sustained many wounds. However, compared to Zack, her condition was significantly better. It was only natural for her to take on the responsibility of delivering the final blow.
As Zack and Amyris stood together secretly planning their final strike, Link, standing not far away, was thinking the same thing.
In fact, if Link had not wanted to fight Zack and Amyris head-on, with his ninth-stage speed, there was no way they could have forced him into a decisive battle within the massive arena.
However, Link didn’t know that Zack was already at his limit. What Link did know was that the numerous wounds on his body were increasingly making it difficult for him to move. Every time he made an offensive or defensive move, his actions were disrupted by intense pain. The continuous loss of blood also made Link feel weaker as time passed!
Link was definitely not the kind of person who would entrust the outcome of a battle to luck. Therefore, before he became too weak to control his own fate, Link was determined to decide the outcome of this match!
Thus, at the moment the psionicists carried Cloud off the battlefield, both groups who had resolved to make their final moves unleashed all their remaining strength in a head-on collision without any tricks!
“Aha! It seems both sides believe that waiting for time to pass will not benefit them. The winner of this battle will be decided in the next moment!” With twenty years of experience commentating on martial arts matches, Mr. Bolt immediately realized that this clash would be the final confrontation of the entire match!
Three… Two… One! Discarding all distractions, Zack calculated the distance between himself and Link in his mind. When the two were only a step apart, he and Link almost simultaneously swung their crystal energy swords at each other. Right behind Zack, Amyris also rushed forward to meet Link’s attack.
But at that moment, the crystal energy sword in Link’s hand suddenly traced a strange arc. Instead of directly clashing with Zack’s sword, he bypassed it and directly stabbed toward Amyris behind Zack! Without Cloud’s support, Zack alone simply couldn’t stop Link’s speed!
When Zack realized that he had failed to attract Link’s sword as expected, his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. The speed of a ninth-stage speed-type physical combatant had already been perfectly demonstrated by Xiao Xi. Without Zack’s obstruction, Amyris had no chance of landing a hit on Link before Link struck her. In other words, Amyris would have to endure Link’s full-force attack!
Amyris also saw the crystal energy sword, shimmering with blue electric sparks, rapidly thrusting toward her chest, but she was already too late to block the attack.
Failure? The thought briefly flashed through Amyris’s mind, but she immediately gritted her teeth. Amyris did not give up. Since Zack had failed to block Link’s sword, Amyris instead threw herself at Link with all her strength, embracing a spirit of mutual destruction.
Won! After his sword bypassed Zack’s futile defense, Link had already roared inwardly.
Link did not take the desperate final strike from Zack and Amyris lightly at all. Even though he was now exhausted, even though he could only exert two or three tenths of his peak combat ability, Link still had absolute confidence. His speed was sufficient to allow him to strike Amyris and then calmly dodge Zack’s attack afterward.
If everything proceeded according to normal expectations, Link’s victory was indeed already unshakable. However, accidents often happen unexpectedly.
Just as Link’s final sword strike was about to hit Amyris, a sudden, intense pain caused Link’s right arm to uncontrollably veer slightly to the left.
This slight deviation caused Link’s crystal energy sword to touch Amyris’s sword just before hitting her!
After undergoing Zhang Wen’s hellish training, the moment Amyris felt her crystal energy sword touch her opponent’s weapon, her wrist and body had already begun moving before her brain could even react.
Twisting her wrist to the left… using the hilt of her crystal energy sword to block the point slightly near the front of her opponent’s blade.
Zzzzz… Amid a piercing metallic screech, Amyris, with all her might, deflected Link’s crystal energy sword slightly.
Of course, the little effort Amyris made wasn’t enough for her to completely avoid Link’s attack. However, she effectively slowed down the speed of Link’s attack!
Originally, Link was confident that he could knock down Amyris and then dodge Zack’s attack. But now, he no longer had that certainty! If he was hit by Zack’s full-force strike, even if he defeated Amyris, Link couldn’t be sure he could defeat the seemingly unshakable Zack.
It must be acknowledged that Link’s combat talent was truly exceptional among physical combatants. Even when facing a sudden crisis, in the blink of an eye, Link still made the most favorable choice for himself.
He simply abandoned Amyris, who had already begun to parry, and顺势 (following the momentum) swung his crystal energy sword, which had already veered left, directly at Zack!
Since Amyris had shifted from attacking to defending, as long as this attack could force Zack to also switch from offense to defense, the worst-case scenario would merely revert to the state before the decisive battle. Link would still control the initiative in this fight.
However, what once again caught Link off guard was that he underestimated just how determined Amyris had been in this attack!
When Amyris saw that Link had abandoned the attack on her and instead swung his crystal energy sword toward Zack, only one thought remained in her mind!
Go for it!
Boom! Another explosion from the clash of combat energies erupted. The scattered stones from the previous fight were blown into the sky by the full-force strikes from both sides. The three people who collided head-on were all thrown backward!
“Ahh!” Nearly all the spectators shouted and stood up.
General William gripped the armrest of his chair tightly and took several heavy breaths. Among the spectators present, General William was probably one of the few who clearly saw what happened in that final moment.
When Link tried to deflect Amyris’s crystal energy sword to attack Zack, Amyris suddenly moved half a step sideways and blocked Link’s attack route with her body!
The result of Amyris doing this was that she, along with her sword, was blasted away by the immense combat energy carried by Link’s crystal energy sword! However, at the same time Link struck Amyris, Zack’s crystal energy sword also struck Link.
Link, who had already poured all his strength into the attack, was also powerless to block Zack’s offensive. Hit by Zack’s full-force strike, Link also spat out a spray of blood and was thrown backward.
If the battle ended here, there was no doubt that Almysthes Academy would win the final victory. However, the arrival of the goddess of misfortune was always so sudden. This time, it was Almysthes who was unfortunate.
When Amyris was hit by Link, her crystal energy sword flew from her hand due to the immense force of the combat energy explosion and happened to strike Zack’s chest, who was already covered in wounds. The residual combat energy on the crystal energy sword immediately erupted, and Zack was also blasted away.
The three fell back to the ground one after another.
Five minutes ago, the No.7 Training Hall of Temisth Academy was filled with loud noise and mockery toward Almysthes Academy’s physical combat department students, but now it was completely silent.
As Mr. Bolt had previously said, no one could imagine that a team that had always been considered weak and pitiful, which had suffered a humiliating 0-5 defeat against Temisth Academy’s reserve team last year, could fight against the powerful Temisth Academy with four against ten and win decisively! Three physical combatants of merely sixth-stage could fight against the genius Link to a draw…
“…We see that all three contestants from both sides have fallen! Will this match ultimately end in a draw? We see the referees and psionicists entering the arena… Oh! Almysthes Academy’s contestant Zack seems to still be conscious! He stubbornly stops the psionicists who try to take him for treatment… He is still trying hard!” Mr. Bolt shouted excitedly.
On the battlefield, Amyris had already been taken to the medical room by the psionicists. As Link was being carried to the rest area, he had two psionicists set him down, lying on the stretcher and staring at Zack, who was desperately trying to get up.
“Come on! Get up!” On the silent spectator stands, someone suddenly shouted in a hoarse voice.
“Get up!”
“Get up!”
“Get up!”
…
Ten people, a hundred people, a thousand people… everyone’s voices merged into a loud roar filled with encouragement and admiration, breaking out of the small training hall and piercing through the clouds.
Zack desperately knelt up, then gasped heavily, supporting his body with one hand, unsteadily lifting his leg to stand up. Each movement he made tugged at countless wounds on his body, causing blood to flow from the wounds.
“Stand up! Almysthes people! Damn it!” Beside Mr. Bolt, Sir Wilson suddenly grabbed the microphone and unexpectedly let out a roar that seemed to carry a hint of crying.
Although his standing posture wasn’t very stable, amidst the desperate cheers of everyone, Zack still managed to stand up. The two nearby psionicists quickly stepped forward to support him.
At this moment, Governor Karajan’s face was dark with anger. Beside him, Chief Instructor Gelt’s eyes seemed to be filled with fury. Most of the other Temisth physical combat instructors sitting in the stands were sitting in a daze, their spirits broken. The Temisth physical combat team members who had been kicked off the field by Xiao Xi stared at the blood-soaked Zack in the center of the arena with disbelief, their eyes carrying a hint of fear.
However, now no one was paying attention to Governor Karajan’s anger or the Temisth people’s disappointment.
Clap～!
At the very moment Zack stood up, the No. 7 Training Hall erupted into unprecedented, enthusiastic applause. Not only in the No. 7 Training Hall, but on the planet Fira, on the planet Kasares, in every corner of the Empire… almost everyone who witnessed this scene couldn’t help but join in with applause.
In the visiting team’s break room, the psionic teachers of Almysthes Academy put aside their prejudice against the physical combat department at this moment and loudly applauded for the victory of the physical combat department. And little angel Joliette was even more excited, tears streaming down her face as she clapped her hands red.
“Huh…” From the moment she returned to the break room and hadn’t taken her eyes off the broadcast screen, Katerina finally exhaled deeply. Then, she suddenly closed her eyes and turned her head toward another direction where no one could see.
“Tsk! Almysthes people…” Link, who had been carried to the rest area by the psionicists, shook his head unwillingly before closing his eyes and lying back on the stretcher peacefully.
“He stood up! Zack from Almysthes Academy’s physical combat department! With his own willpower, he truly accomplished this incredible feat! Almysthes Academy has won! They defeated Temisth Academy! What an unforgettable match!” From the moment Zack stood up, Mr. Bolt couldn’t stop shouting excitedly, his words becoming incoherent with emotion.
“Woohoo!” On the streets of Kasares City, countless people joyfully hugged each other and jumped around, shouting loudly.
“Waaah!” At Almysthes Academy, Instructor Xin and Fox were also excitedly hugging each other and crying.
“Good job, good job.” Governor Temiso enthusiastically pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, murmuring excitedly and unbuttoning the last three buttons of his collar.
“I think, I probably won’t forget this match for the rest of my life! It not only witnessed the rebirth of Almysthes Academy’s physical combat department but also showed us the strength and effort of three young people. Let’s repeat their names once again: Zack, Cloud, and Amyris—you did great! May good luck always be with you!” Even the famous Almysthes Academy critic, Sir Wilson, sincerely offered his blessings.
However, Mr. Bolt’s subsequent question made Sir Wilson extremely embarrassed and flushed with shame. Because Mr. Bolt asked when Sir Wilson planned to fulfill his promise of running naked around Babylon City for a week…
The exhibition match between Almysthes Academy and Temisth Academy ended in such an exciting atmosphere. Governor Karajan left Temisth Academy with a cold face the moment the match ended, and Chief Instructor Gelt, filled with anger, followed him.
With Governor Karajan’s departure, the spectators in the No.7 Training Hall gradually dispersed. General William and Lady Melissa also left the training hall shortly before most of the spectators had exited.
“Melissa, you seem quite dissatisfied with today’s match. Isn’t this a very exciting match?” Walking along the sky avenue of Temisth Academy, General William still showed great interest in discussing the previous match.
“Hmph! General William, you’re certainly happy.” Melissa gave General William an annoyed look.
“Oh! Right! I almost forgot, Lady Melissa is the Alliance’s special envoy. Among the seriously injured Almysthes students, there’s even Prince Cloud, the third son of the Alliance’s Regent.” General William smiled and quickly understood why Lady Melissa was unhappy.
“Sigh! You know that already!” Melissa sighed heavily, “Anyway, General William, I’ll take my leave first. Prince Cloud is seriously injured, and I must go to visit him.” Saying that, Melissa gave General William a helpless smile and casually hailed a passing psychokinetic flying car, getting on it.
※※※
“Waaah…” Although it had been a long time since the match between Almysthes Academy and Temisth Academy ended, the middle-aged martial arts enthusiast driver in the taxi carrying Zhang Wen was still wiping his tears and pounding the “frequency-hopping” player.
“These kids… actually won.” Zhang Wen also raised his head, unable to believe the details of the fight between Zack and Link just now. Finally, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but shake his head with a bitter smile, lightly clapping his hands for his students.
“Waaah… Sir, we’ve arrived at your destination.” A little later, the tearful driver finally pulled the car to a stop with a choked voice.
At the roadside where the psychokinetic flying car stopped was the hotel where the Xie Luo group was staying. Zhang Wen got off and handed the teary-eyed driver a 100 Imperial Mark bill.
“Ah!” Standing outside the hotel, Zhang Wen stretched luxuriously, his gaze casually glancing in a certain direction behind him.
From the moment Zhang Wen boarded the psychokinetic flying car at Temisth Academy, he had always felt someone following him from behind. Although the follower had changed vehicles three or four times to follow him, he still couldn’t escape Zhang Wen’s notice.
“Heh! If the kids have done so well, how can we adults lose to them?” Zhang Wen’s lips slightly curled up. He softly muttered to himself, pushed open the door, and walked into the hotel.
As he entered the hotel lobby, Zhang Wen immediately felt something unusual. According to the plan, today was the day he had agreed with Xie Luo and others to challenge the Kemmel Arena. Naturally, Xie Luo and the other fighters should have arrived at the lobby early to wait for Zhang Wen to come from Temisth Academy to meet them.
However, as Zhang Wen scanned the lobby, he couldn’t see a single Kasares fighter.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage