novelraw Chapter 81 : Chapter 81
Chapter 81 : Chapter 81
Chapter 81 : Surprise
"Ready?"
At Sal's question, Blanid nodded.
Sal's voice sounded slightly muffled due to the protective cloth covering his face.
He looked around and checked one by one if the team members had covered their ears and lower faces as instructed.
Everyone was perfectly prepared as he said, but only Blanid remained as is without the gear.
Considering Victoria's Influence Type ability, it was natural for Sal's team to make such preparations.
And Blanid was the secret weapon of this operation.
It was for a single reason: she was a girl.
Since Victoria didn't know how to control females yet, Sal planned to target that point directly.
Giving orders while covering his mouth was certainly cumbersome, but he was certain of victory.
As Sal sent a signal to Barry, Barry immediately started the counterattack.
Green runes floated on his arms and chest, and the illusion ability was activated.
Victoria lowered her body and attempted her Influence Type ability on his team, but there was no reaction.
When she looked back, her team members were screaming and floundering, trying to grab illusions in front of their eyes with wide eyes.
Inside the illusion hell Barry created, they were in a state where all their senses were deprived.
Thanks to that, Victoria could no longer control them.
Victoria, gritting her teeth and turning toward Sal, tried to shout something, but at that moment, a boot flying beside her face struck her squarely.
The distance closed in an instant, and Victoria didn't even have a moment to perceive Blanid's body flying in.
The impact itself wasn't that powerful, but for Victoria, who wasn't in a combat position, that one blow was enough.
She fell to the ground and hurriedly stood up, covering her face and stricken with fear.
Whether due to fear or desperation, Victoria poured her ability onto Blanid, and Blanid flinched for a moment.
Victoria opened her eyes wide with hope that she could control her, but Blanid's arm extended and firmly grabbed her wrist.
Sal laughed loudly watching that scene.
Blanid was trying to use the technique Divinity always used.
All team members showed the same reaction.
Everyone knew beforehand what would happen next and briefly felt pity for Victoria.
With a determined expression, Blanid pushed her shoulder under Victoria's armpit, pulled her arm roughly, and rotated her body.
Her technique, utilizing momentum as is, slammed Victoria onto the floor back first.
As all the air in her chest was expelled, she couldn't even breathe properly and writhed on the floor.
"Sorry."
Blanid sighed and aimed her Pulse Gauntlet at the panicked team members.
They were still trapped in Barry's illusion.
The impact of the Pulse Gauntlet fired right in front of their eyes was enough to knock them out.
After repeating that motion four times, Blanid finally walked toward Victoria, who was struggling to get up.
"Want to forfeit?"
Blanid asked as if giving a last chance, but Victoria gritted her teeth and tried to stand up.
Blanid sighed once more and raised her gauntlet.
"Fine, suit yourself."
With a powerful blow containing Essence, Victoria was slammed onto the floor again, and her eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness.
Blanid looked at the result she created for a moment, then shook her head.
Although her hands were trembling slightly, she turned toward her team and smiled brightly.
"15 consecutive wins! Now only four more games to go!"
At that moment, a tremendous shout burst out, and Blanid flinched in surprise and looked back at the spectator seats.
Everyone was giving a standing ovation.
She looked around at other Prisms to check what had happened, but all matches were still in progress.
The gazes of the spectator seats were all directed toward their team.
Blanid had an expression that she couldn't understand at all why people were so enthusiastic.
"Did you notice just now? The reaction was like that for every match."
Barry's voice came from behind her.
Blanid turned around in surprise.
"You smashed the rank 2 Controller by yourself. Probably because of that?"
Barry said that and turned his head toward Sal.
"Sal, what do you think?"
Sal didn't answer immediately and pointed to the Prism wall.
"We were all wearing masks. So they probably showed Victoria's skill to the audience."
Blanid was still flustered by the cheers of the audience but looked back at Sal with an expression of disbelief.
"But... isn't this level of reaction a bit excessive? Right?"
Sal raised his finger and pointed to the opposite side of the Prism.
"They showed your ability together too. Everyone saw the scene of a top-tier Controller being miserably smashed by a tailor."
Barry couldn't hold back his laughter and laughed even louder.
Blanid's face turned white in an instant, and Jack patted her back, but it didn't help at all.
Blanid walked with her mouth shut tight until leaving the Prism, and the team members were thoroughly amused by that appearance.
Sal wanted to check quickly how high her individual combat score came out.
He sincerely hoped her overall ranking would go up significantly thanks to this match.
Actually, they had accumulated enough victories that they could forfeit the remaining matches, but Sal wanted to reveal each team member's ability as much as possible.
If there was even a slight possibility to raise future rankings and change the future, he intended absolutely not to miss it.
***
Although the last energy drink was completely used up, Sal felt satisfied checking that everyone was calmly prepared as he looked around the team members.
Since Anthony had almost reached the limit of the sword, they decided that he wouldn't use the sword in this final match.
Instead, Sal came to use the sword himself.
Anthony hesitated slightly about using the gauntlet and shield, but reminding himself that this was the last match of the day, he soon made up his mind.
Their team had continued a winning streak without losing even once in 18 matches so far, and finally faced a truly strong opponent.
Team 17's captain and the opponent for this match, Jenny Stravos, was an ability user who caused explosions just by snapping her fingers.
Her team consisted entirely of initially selected members, with as many as three Defenders and even one Supporter.
She had recorded 16 wins in 18 matches so far, running joint 2nd place with Nova.
Nova was indeed the one who dragged the team alone to the top of the leaderboard.
"How's your condition, Barry?"
Sal asked quietly so other team members wouldn't hear.
Barry closed his eyes and checked his Essence status.
After a while, he opened his eyes and smiled bitterly.
"I can't do anything flashy, but it's enough to last until the end. You?"
Sal didn't even need to check his Essence.
That part was completely fine.
"A bit stiff, but it's nothing compared to when sparring with Divinity."
Barry scoffed and looked around at other teams drooping in the spectator seats.
"Some of those kids sitting there should have done some training before the match. Half of them collapsed as soon as the match started."
Sal smiled and looked around.
Blanid was staring at the Prism with a determined expression, and Jack was tightening the buckle of his gauntlet next to her.
It was surprising that they could change like this in just a few matches.
The awkward tension of the morning had changed into unwavering confidence and resolution before they knew it.
Although he couldn't be certain, in terms of growth, both Blanid and Jack were far surpassing the speed of their classmates.
Participants like Dominic had already lost motivation in the early rounds and were just playing the matches formally as if they just wanted to end everything quickly.
Checking the scoreboard, Sal wasn't surprised at all to see Dominic firmly settled in the relegation zone.
Some of the teams that had been in the upper ranks were also there together, and Sal couldn't help but feel sympathy for them.
"But why aren't people leaving?"
Anthony asked looking around the spectator seats.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, the spectator seats were getting more and more filled.
This was something far beyond the scope of the originally foreseen future.
Sal could only guess the reason.
"Maybe... they just want to watch until the end? To see if we can get a perfect score?"
Barry scoffed once more and looked at Sal.
"What do you mean 'if we can get'? We're going to smash that team and roll on a pile of Q-Credits!"
Blanid and Jack turned around simultaneously and glared at Barry.
"Q-Credits are awarded to the best performing team! Didn't you hear when Professor Rust explained? Or were you scared of coming in last and thinking about something else so you didn't hear?"
Sal laughed quietly.
In this amazing situation right now, the relationship between team members had become much tighter as well.
The Q-Credit reward would be a really cool finish for them who had already received numerous rewards.
Of course, since Sal and Barry were promised separate rewards for their contribution to the dungeon operation, there wouldn't be a big difference, but for Blanid, Jack, and Anthony who hadn't earned a single Q-Credit yet, it was an opportunity that could change their lives.
"Guess it's our turn now!"
Barry smiled and stood up.
The night sky was strangely calm, and the intervals between matches were short, so there was no time to sit still and feel the cold.
Sal felt that the equipment was also playing a big role in protecting them from the outside.
He looked down at the sword in his hand and smiled.
A small octopus shape engraved on the upper part of the handle was standing facing the sky.
Since today was the last match, Sal wanted to try activating this sword just like when using the gloves.
He was also curious about what changes would occur with the combat suit he was wearing.
It might consume a lot of Essence, but since he had focused mostly on team command using almost no ability until now, he had leeway.
Clutching the sword firmly, Sal entered the Prism with his team members.
And he smiled listening to the cheering sounds coming from the spectator seats.
When he turned his head and looked at the spectator seats, a familiar figure came into view.
It was Anna Sakura.
She was looking at him with a bright smile.
Sal briefly thought she might have mistaken him for someone else.
Nevertheless, he smiled and waved his hand lightly to Sakura.
"Are you already turning your eyes to another woman besides Nova?"
Barry said slightly teasingly as he passed Sal.
"Why are you always attracted to dangerous women?"
Barry laughed and entered the Prism, and Sal also giggled and moved to his seat.
When all team members stood in their places, Barry raised one eyebrow toward Sal and said.
"Then perhaps... is the exploding girl your type too?"
As a few team members burst into laughter at those words, Sal turned serious immediately to calm the pre-fight atmosphere.
"First, shut up, Barry. Second, focus. This might be the last match, but it doesn't mean you can slack off because it's the last. Remember the formation and fight using your heads. By now, they must be as exhausted as we are, so it's going to be a messy close combat."
As Sal's tone changed, the team members also switched to a focused state immediately.
At that moment, the sight of Barry gritting his teeth and activating the runes on his arm entered Sal's eyes.
In this match, he hoped they could win the battle with just the sword without using Barry's ability if possible.
Before the countdown started, Sal gave a quiet warning for the last time.
He knew everyone was listening to him right now.
"This team is the only team that established measures against Victoria. Since there's a high possibility they analyzed us too, absolutely do not let your guard down."
The moment the buzzer rang, Sal activated his ability and flowed Essence into the sword and gauntlet simultaneously.
But simultaneously with that, an explosion occurred right in front of his face.
Sal was thrown to the floor as if bounced into the air, and blood flowed incessantly from his nose.
Smoke must have seeped into his nose, but because of the blood, he couldn't even feel that sensation properly.
The ringing in his ears didn't stop, and his eyes were struggling to focus.
Sal raised his sword to block the front and prepared for additional attacks.
He tried to gather Essence and concentrate again, but proper concentration was impossible amidst the pain and rough breathing.
Just then, another explosion occurred in front of his eyes.
Sal reflexively shrank his body and backed away.