novelraw Chapter 985: The Duel Begins
Chapter 985: The Duel Begins
22:30
The minute hand on the grandfather clock in the corner pointed straight down.
The Secret Cult Duel that had captured the attention of the Academy of Giant Trees—Kiruet versus Kingard, the Holy Light Squad versus the Viper Squad, the Church of the Son of God versus the Church of the Spider God—had officially begun.
Kingard abruptly unleashed his power. A thick voodoo mist condensed into a black python, which erupted from the sleeve of his black cloak and lunged toward Kiruet.
The rose thorns on her diamond-shaped buckler dug into her clenched fingers. A crimson tint spread across the shield's edge as it met the sudden attack.
A clash of black and red flared across the arena. Kiruet's chestnut hair whipped back, revealing her pale forehead, as the sundered black python dissolved, spattering against the edge of the crimson glow.
“Is defending all you can do?”
Kingard's soft laugh echoed in the pause. He stopped unleashing the black python, and the wooden staff in his left hand tapped gently on the ground.
Rustle—
A faint rustle whispered across the arena. The hem of Kingard's black cloak suddenly billowed, and countless slender snakes of voodoo mist slithered out. They swarmed forward in a writhing, twisted mass, spreading out to attack Kiruet.“Ugh... The bloodline power of the Mars family is as repulsive as ever,” Fudot muttered from the edge of the arena, shivering as she watched the churning, twisted mass of black snakes.
Kiruet calmly faced the oncoming tide of black snakes. She plunged a hand into her stomach, pulled out a potion, bit off the stopper, and hurled it to the ground at her feet.
Smash—
The glass shattered. As the potion met the air, it erupted into a dark yellow mist that seemed almost solid as it enveloped Kiruet, blanketing her body.
The black snakes hissed and dissolved upon contact with the mist, but they continued to surge forward, their sheer numbers eroding its power.
The dark yellow mist shrank visibly, slowly revealing Kiruet at its center.
She downed a defensive potion and, before the mist vanished completely, burst out of its protective radius—
Lacking offensive options, Kiruet chose to close the distance.
But Kingard wasn't about to let her succeed so easily.
As Kiruet charged forward like a valkyrie, her crimson Shield of Protection held before her, Kingard calmly raised his staff and pointed.
“I grant you ensnaring dreams—”
An unseen force enveloped the charging Kiruet. As if her soul had been torn from her body, her momentum carried her forward a few more steps before she collapsed onto the rough ground.
The remaining black snakes swarmed her, coiling around her prone form, but the power of the defensive potion kept them from piercing her skin.
A stir went through the stands.
Was it over?
Some of the teams remarked with admiration that Kingard's use of anomalous powers was nearly on par with that of the upperclassmen.
The mass of black snakes coiled around Kiruet, completely obscuring her from view.
Kingard made no further moves, calmly waiting for Kiruet to be declared defeated.
But just then, the clear, ringing sound of a small bell echoed from within the snake-shrouded figure.
Kiruet rose from the writhing pile of black snakes. Shrugging off those that clung to her, she continued her clumsy charge toward Kingard.
“A Bell of Awakening? It seems you've studied my combat style,” Kingard commented, his tone indifferent.
“Then... what about a power beyond that?”
“Quivering shadows of spiders, resentful eclipse, emerge from the rift!”
Kingard's muttered prayer spread. Some piece of knowledge was twisted by the Distorted Figure, and two dark, spider-like shades, each a couple of feet tall, materialized beside him.
“Divine guardians, deal with my enemy.”
At his reverent whisper, the two spider shades moved to block Kiruet's advance.
Kiruet hurled offensive Sequence Potions at them, but the concoctions had no effect. It took the power of a cult to counter the power of a cult.
Unfortunately, as a believer whose faith was not profound, Kiruet lacked such corresponding power.
“If you don't use that number 19 potion, you have no chance,” Kingard's voice rang out across the arena.
“Or, you could use the power of that church you're so keen to avoid... assuming you even have it.”
Shadow Potion, Sequence 19. It allowed the user to become spectral, briefly able to move through the intermediary layer of the In-Between.
Black snakes swarmed around her, spider shades blocked her path, and Kiruet was still ten meters from Kingard.
He would make those ten meters an impassable chasm for Kiruet.
Kiruet made her decision. She produced a vial of fluorescent potion and drank it down. An instant later, her form vanished into thin air.
As if he had been waiting for this very moment, Kingard opened a pouch and released two ghosts, each wearing an alchemical collar.
“Stop her.”
Kingard—and by extension, his family and their cult—was thoroughly prepared.
The ghosts slipped into the void. In the intermediary layer of the In-Between, an invisible battle commenced.
But the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The In-Between was the ghosts' native realm, a place where Kiruet could wield no power—
An unseen force rippled through the air, and Kiruet stumbled back into view from the intermediary layer of the In-Between.
She had covered less than two meters.
The spider shades that had been lying in wait instantly pounced on Kiruet, their shadowy claws piercing her body like a soap bubble—only for her to vanish on the spot once more.
Kingard froze for a second, then his eyes shot to Lu Li at the edge of the arena. He whispered in disbelief.
“Sequence 9... the Substitution Potion.”
The spectators were stunned. Kingard tore his eyes away from Lu Li, his expression calm as he scanned the arena.
If Kiruet had taken the Sequence Potion while in the In-Between, where was she now—
Kingard spun around just as Kiruet materialized behind him. His hand, cold and damp as a snake, shot out and coiled around her neck.
“You've lost,” Kingard hissed, his fingers tightening like a viper's jaws around her throat.
“You're the one who's lost...”
Kiruet's cheeks flushed as she gritted her teeth. At the same time, Kingard felt a sharp prick against his chest.
A dagger was pressed against Kingard's chest. Had she pushed it in, Kingard, for all his power, was still mortal. He would have been gravely wounded, if not killed.
“I refuse to accept this!”
Kingard's aura grew darker, colder. Venomous patterns began to creep across his reddening face.
Just then, the Gatekeeper Elder appeared silently between them. His hand, wrinkled as tree bark, came to rest on Kingard's wrist.
The venomous patterns slowly receded, flowing back into Kingard's palm. Reluctantly, he was forced to release his grip.
In the silent arena, the Gatekeeper Elder declared the winner of the Secret Cult Duel: Kiruet.
A sparse applause slowly spread as Yeger and Nasi rushed onto the arena floor.
“Are you okay?!”
They checked Kiruet for injuries, glaring angrily at Kingard, who returned their look with pure hatred.
Kingard couldn't accept this outcome. He hadn't even unleashed his full power. He still had artifacts bestowed by his family, powers granted by his church—
A lion toying with the prey beneath its paw, only to be gored by its victim's horns.
“Arrogance allowed the anomalies to seize the world of men. That same arrogance from the anomalies gave humanity a reprieve. And because of arrogance, you lost to Kiruet, whose power is far less than your own.”
“Weakness is not the original sin; arrogance is.”
Professor Grey stepped onto the arena floor, his eyes on the resentful Kingard. Then, placing a hand over his heart, he nodded to Lu Li.
“Thank you for this lesson.”
The focus of the moment shifted from Kiruet and Kingard to Lu Li.
Or perhaps, Lu Li had been at the center of the whirlpool all along.