CHAPTER 164
CAPTAIN VS CAPTAIN (1)
In the first round’s only battle, Hans confronted Ricardo, achieving a dominating victory through an awe-inspiring demonstration of his skill, proving his blood’s might.
The second round featured four confrontations. Chris dominated Obi with sheer might, while Delimira effortlessly dispatched Mannard with a simple gesture. The Knight captain emerged victorious against the mage tower's representative, paving the way for his upcoming round three ready to face Delimira in the first match of the semi-finals.
First round:
Battle 1: Hans(CC) vs Ricardo (KA) —> Hans
Second round:
Battle 1: Chris (CC) vs Obi (MT) —> Chris
Battle 2: Delimira (CC) vs Mannard (KA) —> Delimira (CC)
Battle 3: Omar (MT) vs Guernier (KA) —> Guernier (KA)
Battle 4: Hans(CC) vs Arlin (MT) —> ???
Amidst the deafening cheers of the crowd, Hans saw his name highlighting, it was his turn, his battle in the second round. The winner of this battle was set on fighting Chris in the semi-finals.
Semi-finals:
Battle 1: Delimira (CC) vs Guernier (KA) —> ???
Battle 2: Chris (CC) vs Hans(CC)/Arlin (MT) —> ???
“See you in the next round Chris,” Hans said, jumping right into the arena, thinking, “I was waiting for this bastard to show up.” He thought staring at his opponent. The mastermind who forced him to surrender. “I wouldn’t have minded if he pulled this all of his own but damn these authorities and the sellouts. I’ll personally beat this bastard for what he did to me… no, to us.”
He kept thinking, raising his rage at a steady rate, but Arlin wasn’t some chump either. The Mage captain knew what he was going into, and had the confidence to triumph over Hans who dared provoke the Alliance head openly.
“You said something before,” Hans asked, looking past the examiner, his aimed at Arlin, “As long as we don’t break the rule, everything is permitted, right? Well, I hope you are ready to eat your words.”
“You must be itching t—”
“Examiner.” Hans shouted, sending a subtle mana shockwave, “You’ve done your job, fuck off.” The crowd cheered at the sudden declaration, they all had forgotten that this was a children's battle, powerful but still children. Hans’s gait, his rage and even his words contradicted his small appearance and the baby fat he carried. For the people he was their champion, squashing the authorities and the high nose Mage tower and Association as he saw fit. Everyone wanted to see an upset and Hans, no, Concordia was delivering it to them.
As he heard the hootings and loud cheers, the thought of reprimanding Hans for his unsuitable language ran out of Examiner’s mind, and he signalled the start of the battle.
Hans roared, aiming at everyone watching, “See clearly, what happens when I truly hate someone.”
“Big words for such a small man… you are not even a man. Does your thing down there even work?” Arlin taunted, summoning various magic circles in the air, adding, “Don’t lump me together with those whom you crushed so far. I’m Arlin, the high elf from the Reydi family. The genius of Clandor Mage tower, and you’ll bow before me once again.”
LaguunaShaft
“Boom!, Boom! Boom!” The deafening sound echoed, one after another as the countless magic circles started bombarding Hans. Several pillars of light were all aimed at his position like fishermen harpooning a whale. And being the light attribute, dodging them was near impossible for Hans as his speciality was not the speed. He was greeted by an unstoppable attack which he had no choice but to embrace with open arms.
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The dust of the trembling impact wasn’t even settled and people were talking, especially about the boy named Arlin being a royal. Since the only one who inherited the royal blood of the first queen of Clandor was able to have light mana in elves. “How dare you raise your head” Arlin shouted at the dust cloud, “I’m a royal, you fool. Do you think, you humans sharing the same elements makes us equal? We elves are born differently —”
“Yeah! fwoosh—” The dust cleared in an instant, revealing Hans unharmed, “I’m no human either.”
Arlin was shocked, his surprise contorting his face, his grand attack didn’t even dent Hans. “How?” He muttered, but Hans responded with a curt, “There is a saying in my family - There is nothing we can’t not do—”
LagunaShaft
The scene of bombardment repeated itself, this time several times stronger, Arlin had put his heart and soul into this one, yet the scene repeated itself.
Arlin was a smart child, several years ahead of his peers in raw talent and mana, but he couldn’t understand what kind of roadblock this short guy was. He wasn’t the only one who was having trouble understanding how Hans was surviving the devastating spell. Chris sharing the same thought, awaiting his next match, asked Walter, “Professor, what’s happening there?”
But instead of Walter, Delimira responded, “It's very tricky to defeat Hans as a mage, The pure type attacks like light bombardment, which is said to be one of the most lethal attacks, is useless on him. Direct spells don’t work on him —”
“MAKE.HIM.MOVE.”
A man cried from the audience, surprising everyone, even Hans. All turned to this unknown voice only to find a middle-aged man, tousling his pointy moustache and when he found everyone looking at him, he chuckled, “Oh, did I say that out loud.”
“Dijkstra, I thought he was on my side.” Hans mumbled, “Grandpa was right, it's no use having a lunatic around.” Hans looked ahead, Arlin grasping the meaning of Dijkstra’s words.
“So that’s how it works. Before, my spell even had annihilated a class four beast—”
“That must’ve been a very dumb beast.” Hans taunted back, asking, “So, are you gonna contemplate over a madman’s words or will come at me? Your best doesn’t feel shit or anything. Is this your royal blood amount to?”
It was not just a question for Arlin, but Hans’s words dragged the Clandor royalty through this mud fight. If he failed to beat Hans here, he’d be the one shaming his family. And once again the man from the Audience rose, “I just can’t take this anymore. You don’t have manners boy, do you?” He scolded Hans, while the boy thought, “Since when the fuck he started caring for manners. And what's up with that geezer anyw—”
“IF HE MOVES, EVEN A LITTLE. HIS INVINCIBLE ARMOUR WILL BREAK. ” Dijkstra said, pointing at Arlin.
“Why don’t you put a banner out saying that bastard.” Hans almost shouted his inner feelings. The main weakness of his second form of VoidZone, the invincible armour was immobility. Since to have that armour around, he had to make mana motionless around him, which was also a daunting task. But even a little break in his stillness, let the mana particles free, breaking the armour like nothing.
“It looks like your own kind is betraying you,” Arlin pointed out, “Tsk. Tsk. Poor boy.”
“So why did you attack your own kind? Deli, she is a part elf too, right? You almost send her to whatever river you folks call.”
“Do humans not hurt other humans—”
“Exactly, there are assholes in every kind,” Hans remarked, trapping Arlin in his own words. However, Arlin didn’t possess the gift of the silver tongue as Hans. However, he did possess something else, an immense amount of mana. Since the start, he was firing his best spell, all because he knew Hans could create or summon that weird snake golem, he wasn’t a fool to test that dangerous mage with mediocre spells. He needed results and LagunaShaft was a treasure spell of Clondor Mage tower. Heaving a long breath he double-cast.
“I never saw this happening before, two spells at the same time.” Hans wondered, looking at the bright sky full of magic circles. “Hans my friend,” he said to himself gawking the illuminating skies, “You should've talked less.”
Meanwhile, others also shared his thoughts, and Walter was one of them. LagunaShaft was known for its precision which came from its high speed. Without proper equipment, it was a hard spell to tackle, and even harder to avoid. There was only one person he could think of who could avoid that fast of a spell and he was the one who gave Hans’s weakness away. “Hey, Miss Winters.” He asked Deli, “If Hans moved even a bit during that bombardment, will he get hurt—”
“Even a single movement will have him facing a spell that could annihilate him.” She said nonchalantly, some might misunderstood that she was hoping for that to happen, but looking at the agape faces of Walter and Chris, she added, “Like that’s gonna happen. He is Hans, his persistence could put cockroaches at shame.”
“Cockroach, aye.” Walter mumbled, “Well, he better be, 'cause I really need him to be one now.”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The pillars of light once again, fell on Hans. Some aimed at the ground beneath him, trying to shake him even a bit while others sought the moment when his body showed any sign of movement.
“Crap! He is trying to make me move.” Hans shouted, “Curse you, you lunatic Parvian.”
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