novelraw Chapter 79 : Chapter 79
Chapter 79 : Chapter 79
Chapter 79 : Showtime
Alastair looked down at the schedule in front of him, checked his watch, and frowned.
"We dragged on too long in the Gold Cohort. I need to move on now."
He turned his body toward the Guild officials who were still talking with excited expressions.
It wasn't something incomprehensible.
Because he had also seen that scene clearly.
Neuro's daughter Erica, ranked 1st among all first-year Academy students, was lightly dismantling Gold Cohort teams one by one.
She was the best prospect whom no one could doubt.
It reached a point where Quest had to intervene personally to disperse the scouters to other stadiums.
And Alastair was one of those who felt regretful.
He wanted to see more of Erica's remaining matches.
"Is the Black Cohort next?"
Alastair frowned as he entered the stadium and looked around.
"It's Silver."
Anna Sakura, who was walking quietly beside them, answered.
Alastair was startled looking at her and almost flinched.
He hadn't even known she was there.
"What brings you here?"
He couldn't understand the fact that she, who had participated in a dungeon raid until last night, was watching the first-year tournament.
Anna Sakura sighed pointing to the Prism installed in the center of the stadium.
"There's a kid I was instructed to scout for the Assassination Module appearing here. It's Team 20, they say he has stealth abilities."
Alastair shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
"I thought you came to cheer for the Doom Society rookies."
At that moment, a change occurred for the first time on Anna Sakura's expressionless face.
As she looked at Alastair with bewildered eyes, he pointed to the schedule he was holding.
"Sal and Divinity are in the Silver Cohort. Did you say Team 20?"
Alastair grinned widely and pointed to the team arrangement once again.
"Wow, that's going to be tough. Sal faces them in the next match."
Alastair said laughing.
"Make sure to cheer for them. Okay?"
Anna Sakura lowered her head to check the team composition and raised one eyebrow.
The moment she saw the team formation, she instinctively sighed.
"A showdown between five Supporters and five Attackers...? To see their skills properly, I'll have to wait until Team 20 faces another Attacker or Defender class. This match won't even be much of a match."
There was firm certainty in those words.
Alastair smiled and arrived in front of the Prism.
Just as he was about to go to the seat right next to it, he noticed Anna Sakura freezing in surprise looking at one Prism.
The moment he moved his gaze following where she was looking.
Alastair's jaw dropped open.
1st: Salvatore Argento (#2) - 9 Wins 0 Losses - S / S / S / S / S
2nd: Lucia Hernandez (#4) - 8 Wins 1 Loss - O / S / S / S / S
3rd: Jenny Stravos (#17) - 7 Wins 2 Losses - C / O / D / D / S
4th: Gerard Kilsey (#20) - 7 Wins 2 Losses - O / O / O / O / O
5th: Divinity Khan (#1) - 7 Wins 2 Losses - C / S / S / S / D
6th: Whisper Ding (#12) - 6 Wins 3 Losses - C / D / O / S / S
7th: Crypto Daniels (#18) - 6 Wins 3 Losses - O / D / D / C / S
8th: Victoria Chase (#7) - 6 Wins 3 Losses - C / S / S / S / D
S: Supporter
C: Controller
D: Defender
O: Attacker
Alastair checked the result table again and muttered.
"What on earth happened?"
Just then, an answer came from behind.
"We think the same."
Jez laughed holding up an empty bottle from the spectator seats.
Anna Sakura was still looking at the result table.
"Does it make sense for a Supporter team to be running at the head of the group?"
She tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear and frowned towards Jez.
"Were the other teams all terrible perhaps?"
Instead of answering, Jez gestured to the empty seat in front.
"You'll know if you see for yourself. Alastair, you'd better keep an eye on that kid named Whisper. She's no ordinary kid!"
Anna Sakura sat down without any hesitation.
Her dark eyes were fixed on the Prism as if afraid of missing something if she looked away even for a moment.
Alastair sighed deeply and sat next to Jez.
Jez, the Administration instructor, offered the bottle, but Alastair, the Tactics instructor, waved his hand and refused.
"I think it's a bit early still."
Watching Sal's team entering the Prism, Jez laughed.
"But don't expect too much. They came this far because their teamwork is decent and their gear is good. If the opposing Attacker team gets their act together, the winning streak record will be broken too."
Jez muttered like that and leaned forward.
Then glancing at Anna Sakura sitting next to him, he grinned.
"Good work yesterday. You did very well!"
Anna Sakura slightly bowed her head without a word to show courtesy but didn't answer.
Alastair closely examined Sal's team inside the Prism and frowned.
"Did you perhaps see... anything unusual? Like illusions or something?"
He said keeping an eye on Barry.
Jez burst into laughter.
"No, just running around and the kid holding a sword knocks down the opponent. It was a very simple tactic."
When Alastair laughed, Jez was quite surprised.
Looking at him, Alastair slyly received the bottle.
"That means they haven't used their trump card yet. This is going to be interesting?"
Anna Sakura looked at Alastair for a moment but turned her gaze back to the Prism without saying anything.
A faint smile had risen on her lips.
***
Just before the match started, Sal turned around and looked at his team.
Everyone was steeling themselves with focused eyes.
They shouldn't just win simply.
They had to achieve an overwhelming victory.
And the entire team fully agreed with that plan.
Therefore, the strategy of saving stamina was excluded this time.
They intended to push with full power from the start.
Since only the top ten matches out of nineteen were reflected in the grade, if they produced a good result in this match, a record of 10 consecutive wins would be created.
Because it was that important of a match, Sal gave instructions to fight completely ignoring Essence consumption.
Jack and Blanid planned to fight as usual without big changes, but Anthony and Barry were variables with impact power to shake the battlefield.
Barry took a combat stance and sent a meaningful wink to Sal, and on the opposite side, Anthony was looking at the sword in his hand and exhaling slowly.
Seeing Anthony so filled with determination was unfamiliar but somehow reassuring.
Inside the opposite Prism, Gerard was loudly spewing provocations towards Sal.
His own team members looked at him disapprovingly, but Gerard didn't care at all.
To him, this match was a golden opportunity to pay back for the events of the first day of admission.
Volt, Rodrigo, and Archer looked quite exhausted due to continuous matches, but Gerard seemed to be still in decent condition.
As the countdown started, Barry activated his ability, and both his entire arms were covered with glowing green runes.
As Anthony poured Essence into his Supercharge ability, the sword emitted a brilliant light.
Sal also activated his ability and injected Essence into his gloves, causing black armor to wrap around his entire body.
When Sal turned his head to look at Anthony, the tentacles of the sword had wrapped around his entire upper body, completing a wriggling red armor.
The sword itself shimmered with a dark red light, and currents of black energy seemed to spark along that metal.
Because it was a completely different color from training, Sal wanted to appraise that equipment very much, but there was no time for that.
The match had already started.
"Overwhelm them!"
With Sal's shout, the team members moved in unison.
Jack and Blanid utilized the speed of their Jump Boots to rush forward with shields in front.
While charging, they had to maintain that defensive posture to block any sudden attacks that might come in.
In the opposing team, Volt and Archer were in ranged positions, and Rodrigo lacked mobility.
However, the target to be most cautious of was Rogue.
Because having stealth-type abilities, the possibility of him aiming for a surprise attack during battle was high.
So Sal wanted to deal with Rogue first if possible.
Meanwhile, Barry was continuing complex hand movements to tune his ability.
Traces of extreme concentration and effort were plainly visible on his face.
Gritting his teeth, he completely controlled the ability and exploded it towards the opposing team.
"Those guys will wet themselves. Wanna bet?"
Barry whispered and summoned all the illusions in his head into the Prism.
And shouted loudly like a play.
"Minions I have summoned! Go forth and trample the enemy!"
At that moment, Gerard and his team were speechless at the appearance of an armored angel that suddenly appeared.
Sal recognized that form at once.
It was a variant of Divinity, one of the illusions Barry had created the night before.
This time, instead of revealing a face, it was in the form of a battle angel completely armed with metal armor.
In its hand was held a sword of a similar form to the sword Anthony was holding.
But it didn't end there.
Sal inhaled at the silhouette of black armor that appeared next.
The Commander variant seen on screen was scary too, but as it appeared before his eyes like reality, that fear was much more intense.
Just like seen in the video, smoke was rising from the black armor, and the Commander took a threatening stance holding a sword and shield.
Barry raised the corners of his mouth even higher and stretched his hand forward to send the illusions flying.
Then the battlefield became a mess in an instant.
Inside it, attack patterns of explosions occurring with Jenny Stravos's finger snaps began to unfold here and there.
Gerard froze and couldn't move watching the stadium being dyed with chain explosions.
The flying angel rushed towards him, and the black armored Commander was rushing towards Volt.
The team members looked at Gerard for a moment waiting for instructions, but no order was given.
At the moment an explosion bursting in front of their eyes obscured the battlefield, a kick struck Rodrigo's head hard.
Blanid landed softly, then bounced up again aiming her knee squarely at Archer.
Archer barely twisted his body to dodge, but Blanid immediately turned her body back and placed her hand on Rodrigo's fallen body.
She activated the Pulse Gauntlet.
With an explosion, Rodrigo fainted, and Blanid safely disengaged using the shockwave.
Right at that spot, a streak of lightning grazed and passed by.
Gerard belatedly turned his body and shouted towards Volt.
"Focus fire on the black armor side! Quickly!"
While doing so, he kept looking around trying to give orders, but hesitated and failed every time.
He moved away from the team and pointed his finger at Barry standing in the rear.
"Rogue, deal with that guy!"
Along with smoke, Rogue appeared from behind Barry.
He tried to finish it in a single blow delivering a powerful strike towards Barry's neck.
But before his fingertips could touch, a blue shield was generated completely nullifying the attack.
Barry raised the corners of his mouth and flicked his right hand, and simultaneously, explosive light flashed.
Rogue backed away startled by the blindingly bright light.
And when his vision returned, Barry had disappeared and was gone.
Standing in that spot was a knight in red armor.
The sword the knight was holding was aiming at Rogue's forehead.
And Anthony's voice was heard from inside the helmet.
"Your opponent is me."
At the unexpected situation, Rogue laughed and activated his ability.
Hiding his body in smoke again, he moved behind the red armor and poured continuous attacks aiming for gaps.
However, the red sword flashed and deflected his hand.
Rogue reflexively pulled out twin daggers from his boots and entrusted his body to the rhythm.
Storm-like continuous attacks spread out, but all were immediately deflected.
Far from being discouraged, Rogue burst into laughter.
Using his Shadow Step ability, he circled around the red knight with faster movements, but whatever method he used, his attacks were continuously neutralized.
Rogue slid backward and spat on the ground.
"Your strength must have limits too! I will find it!"
And he charged again at a speed that would put Divinity to shame.
However, Anthony's red sword received all of Rogue's attacks easily.
Even when Rogue approached too close, it released an energy wave.
Anthony seemed to have entered an auto-pilot mode where the sword did everything for him.
He was struggling not to be swayed by the sword's desire for slaughter.
Because of that, he was suppressing some brutal attacks the blade attempted on his own.
Sal scanned the battlefield and was pleased to see Blanid knocking down Rodrigo with an aerial spinning kick.
She wasn't being pushed back even in a one-on-one battle with Archer.
Jack was struggling to hit Volt, but Volt was completely immersed in the black armored Commander illusion, not even noticing the fact that it wasn't real.
Rogue was engaging in a frantic one-on-one close combat with Anthony.
Now there was only one person left, Gerard standing with his back to the Prism wall.
He had a shocked face as if he couldn't accept the situation at all.
Sal poured more Essence into his gear, looked at Gerard, and smiled.
"Finish it!"
As Sal's shout rang through the stadium, at that moment, Volt, Rogue, and Archer turned their heads with bewildered faces to check their team members' situations.
Not missing that gap, Blanid activated her Jump Boots.
She somersaulted backward in an arch shape and struck precisely under Archer's chin with her right foot.
Archer immediately fainted and collapsed.
As if he had foreseen that situation, Volt threw his body to protect Archer.
However, at that moment, Barry suddenly appeared and was aiming the Pulse Gauntlet precisely at his face.
"Checkmate."
Barry laughed and simultaneously fired a powerful pulse attack from the front.
Volt was hit with the speed he was rushing to attack, so the impact worked even greater.
Eventually, he collapsed onto the floor spectacularly.
Barry didn't even look at the fallen him and threw the Pulse Gauntlet in his hand towards Jack.
Jack caught it perfectly.
Blanid quickly ran towards where Anthony and Rogue were fighting.
As Jack circled to the opposite side of those two and took position, the two simultaneously used Pulse Gauntlets to pour attacks on Rogue from all directions.
Rogue couldn't block all attacks flying from all directions.
Eventually, the moment he showed a gap, the red sword struck squarely on the ribs under his right arm.
The smile disappeared from Rogue's face, and he collapsed on the floor gasping for breath.
The moment he raised his body as if trying to stand up and fight again, Anthony swung the sword towards the ground.
Simultaneously, rocks and dust soared as if exploding, and a huge crater was created on the ground.
Rogue looked at that crater out of it, and eventually lay on his back on the floor.
He put down his daggers and raised his hands.
It was surrender.
And glancing back at Gerard who had fallen into a panic state, he smiled bitterly.
"That guy, he was hiding his strength until now!"
Sal walked slowly towards Gerard.
Behind him, the red knight, black Commander, and armored angel were following side by side.
Barry, Blanid, and Jack were watching that scene quietly from both sides with their arms crossed.
Gerard, filled with rage, swung his glowing fist and sent a shockwave at Sal.
But Sal didn't dodge and deflected it as is with his armor.
His gear was on a completely different level.
Sal wanted to show that difference clearly to Gerard.
Gerard continued to pour attacks, but all skills were neutralized by the armor.
Every time Sal approached one step, Gerard's movements shook more and more, and eventually, the attacks couldn't even hit.
Finally, when Sal stood in front of Gerard, he cast a cynical gaze at Gerard.
"You lost to me, you jerk."
Gerard looked up at Sal with eyes full of rage.
The moment he tried to attempt a counterattack, Sal threw his right fist just like that.
That single blow carrying the power of Epic gear was powerful, and Gerard rolled his eyes back and fell to the floor with a heavy thud.