novelraw Chapter 218: The Rules Of Engagement
Chapter 218: The Rules Of Engagement
[Southern Region.]
"....?!!!"
The nine sword empire students stood frozen, staring at the clearing before them... Moving their stunned and horrifying gaze all over the place. Their minds, conditioned by standard physics, simply couldn’t process the sight before them.
"Are we still in the Forest?" Zach asked in disbelief, his hands trembling in fear as his grip on his weapon loosened.
Just 50 meters from their current position onwards has all been reduced to a copy clearing, there wasn’t a single sign that a forest was here some seconds ago. The ancient, iron-barked trees, the dense underbrush, and the very topsoil had been completely atomized, leaving behind a perfectly flat, glass-like surface where the catastrophic sword energy had passed. It was as if the terrain engine had been forcefully reset.
Jessica hovered in the air as her white legendary class sword flew towards her, its radiant blade humming as it sheathed itself. The devastating drain on her energy pool barely registered on her calm expression.
"Am I still weak? I couldn’t clear the whole Forest, only 1,000 meters." She said with a sigh, her standard for destruction heavily skewed by her ongoing rivalry with a certain Dragon Academy prodigy.
The group behind her blinked in shock. Jessica clearly created a circular opened black field before them, entirely altering the map’s geography with a single skill, and she was still saying she is weak!
WHOOSH!!!
"Captain!! Watch out!!!"
The nine yelled in shock, as a dark figure, appeared behind Jessica, swinging its curve blades at her neck. It was the Head Cutters’ leader, surviving the blast through sheer, desperate agility and invulnerability frames.
BAM!!!
A force smashed into the Boss, sending it flying meters away, smashing into the ground with the sickening crunch of shattered bones.
".....?!!"
They all froze on track, none daring to raise their heads to the sky, feeling the oppressive pressure from whatever struck the attacker. The ambient energy suddenly felt like deep-sea pressure, crushing the breath from their lungs and turning the system interface a glaring, warning red.
Ethan swallowed, staring at the huge shadow on the ground. It was so huge, it covered more than the field, plunging the newly made clearing into an artificial eclipse.
GRAAAAAAAAA!!!!
The creature let out a piercing roar, sending physical waves of energy in all directions. The wave and dust caused the nine to close their eyes. The moment they reopened it, the sky was clear, the oppressive pressure vanished like it had never been there.
"....?!"
The nine landed on the ground, breathing heavily, some holding their chest, sweating heavily from the residual aura suppression.
’Such pressure, only a Lv500 creature can release such pressure... But.’ Andrew looked up at the clear sky, his instincts completely overwhelmed:
’What was that? I was so scared I couldn’t even raise my head.’
[Team gained 40,000 points.]
"....?!!"
Still shocked, and terrified, they all turned to the Boss who attacked Jessica. The Boss lay utterly decimated, its life force extinguished so thoroughly the system barely had time to register the kill.
’Such a powerful Boss was struck down without resisting? When did Captain have such a thing?’ Nirvana thought, her eyes widened, trying to calculate what sort of summoning artifact could house a Lv500 catastrophe.
"All of you, get up..." Jessica opened her palm, entirely unfazed by the localized apocalypse she had just summoned. As if answering her will, the flag fell from the sky, and landed on her palm.
[DING!!]
[Competition World Announcement: Sword Academy’s Team Captured Their flag.]
The Nine students’ eyes almost flew out of their sockets, staring at the flag in their Captain’s hand. How it got here was completely lost to them. Retrieving a flag usually required physically reaching the spawn point, not having an unseen leviathan fetch it from across the map.
’Mirabella, because of you I had to use it to get the flag... Anyway, I will wait for you in the tower... You won’t survive this competition.’ She thought, her competitive drive burning hotter than ever. She turned around to her still-shaking team:
"Let’s head to the tower." She said, her voice cutting through the remaining tension.
___
[Back At The Arena.]
SILENCE.....
The silence was even more deafening than the first. The whole Arena sat frozen on their seats, staring at the massive holographic screen in horror. Of course, the other students on the field couldn’t see what appeared in the sky, but every single one of the millions in the audience saw it very clearly. The broadcast had captured the terrifying creature.
"How can a student have such a thing?!" A man finally broke the silence, his voice ringing all over the arena, echoing the collective disbelief of the Galaxy Fall community. Creatures of that magnitude were end-game content, completely restricted from low-level players due to their low strength.
"Yes!! That’s Crazy!! That Thing is Lv500!!! How can she even subdue it!!" Another added, calculating the impossible taming requirements.
"This is cheating!! With her strength, she can’t control such a thing!! She is only a Lv250!" A woman from the eagle empire yelled, her face red with indignation. The level disparity alone should have caused a catastrophic feedback loop, killing the User.
"I second that!!" Another added.
"She must only use things that belong to her!! Someone must have given her that thing." The old man said, pointing out the core tenet of the tournament: individual strength and earned loot only.
"This is clearly in the rule, if they can’t find a way to explain this, the sword empire will instantly be disqualified." Regina said with crossed arms, her mind tearing through the competition rulebook. External assistance was a zero-tolerance offense.
"That is possible." A young man sitting beside her nodded his head, the tension in the stadium threatening to boil over into a diplomatic incident.
Davy was speechless, staring at the restless crowd. He exhaled, and turned his head to the sword empire royal’s VIP room suspended high above the stands.
’This is getting out of hand, we need answers.’ He thought. He channeled his energy, and opened his mouth, his voice reverberating all over the place:
"Calm down everyone! I am sure the sword empire’s Master teacher can explain this to us!!" He said, gesturing to the highly illuminated platform, attempting to maintain order.
Everyone’s head subconsciously moved towards the platform, demanding a justification for the anomaly.
__
In the opulent room, even Emperor Georgia and his children were staring at Nadia with a slight frown. The geopolitical stakes were too high for a disqualification.
Giving a student any gear or support that doesn’t belong to them is strictly against the rule; everything goes, but no external support is permitted. If the Master Teacher had secretly slipped her disciple a level 500 Creature, the Sword Empire’s reputation would be in ruins.
"Why is everyone so worked up?"
Nadia finally spoke, her voice casually bypassing the room’s soundproofing and resounding all over the arena, stunning everyone into absolute silence. Her tone was laced with an unbothered, supreme confidence.
’What sort of question was that?’ Davy thought with a slight frown, staring at the ground. The sheer audacity of her response suggested that what the audience perceived as an illegal exploit was, in fact, a terrifyingly legitimate mechanic hidden within Jessica’s class.