Fight! Only One Will Live (1)

"Stop!!" Biston remained unmoving, with his body standing still and straight, when suddenly a shout from above sounded. Kilah's body had abruptly halted as if she had gone from flying through the air right into space, and her speed had totally gone away for some reason, together with her Neutral Energy and other power sources. Her body was out of the painting, floating in midair with her face just 5 inches from Biston's bloody one, and her hands were clutching and thrusting forwards as if to destroy something, but her eyes were clearly shocked as even her trajectory changed at the last moment. She was just one moment away from killing him!

“!!” Kilah’s eyes, as beautiful as they were, showed the most detailed and intense hate, disdain, and disbelief as they darted between Biston’s face, which she could’ve mangled and turned into mushy paste, and the skies. Slowly, a figure from above descended while the other 3 hosts remained on their chairs. Kilah’s eyes increasingly reddened as if the veins within were about to pop off, looking at the person descending with a robe covering his chubby body.

“He has already given up. What are your intentions?” Diego asked, floating just 20 meters above their heads. Kilah’s face gradually regained reason, and she started relaxing her body, but even newborn chickens and dogs could see her emotions were just the same. Looking up, she faced her most respected superior before looking down and responding. “It wasn’t my intention, Heavenly Protector. I was just going too fast and couldn’t stop myself in time. I apologize.”

“Gaasp…” - “Murmur…” The crowd reacted. It was easy for that to be said in the case of any other cultivator. However, for an Interchanging Dust Dynasty Genius to say that, and with such blatant manipulation over the Consequential 3-Eye Supreme Art, having cultivated to such levels, it was a complete slap to anyone’s intelligence. Besides, even Lona could’ve stopped herself and changed directions at any time. She just wasn’t fast enough against Heian Ciemnosc.

“Fine. You will return to your spot. Now leave before I decide you should be disqualified,” Diego said, waving his arm as black smoke wrapped around her and teleported her away. The crowd couldn’t believe it! This representative had just let Kilah go with just saying she apologized?! However, Diego didn’t waste time and turned around. Indifferent looking at Biston, he pronounced, “Kilah’s victory.”

Without much emotion, the interchanging Dust Dynasty’s most capable and fearsome participant passed on to vie to become the top 16 in the tournament. On the other hand, Biston was slowly enveloped by black smoke, showing his visage in the arena some more before being transported outside and into the vip zones where the Academy’s higher-ups rapidly attended him.

“...” Heian Ciemnosc crossed his arms as he watched Biston’s arena. His thoughts were only his as he finally turned his head and watched Sahnyr’s slightly furrowed eyebrows. After watching Biston getting alright, her face relaxed, knowing his situation wasn’t in danger. Then, she looked at Heian Ciemnosc, noticing him staring, and lightly smiled. “Heian Ciemnosc, if… …no, never mind.”

Sahnyr seemed to want to say something but didn’t in the end. Looking upwards a little, she lowered her chin and spoke without trying to hide her words. “I’m gonna kill that bitch for daring to threaten my man. To injure him this much… how dare she!”

“M-huh, alright,” Heian Ciemnosc chuckled out an answer. Sahnyr didn’t know if it was to her words or her earlier words she didn’t finish. She looked at Heian Ciemnosc in thanks and pitifully for a few seconds before sitting cross-legged in her arena to recuperate for the following struggle. Meanwhile, the crowd, which was already majorly silent, quelled down and didn’t raise a dramatic outburst. Everything went smoothly as the stadium regained its peace. Even Kilah sat down without any killing intent surrounding her.

In the sky, the 3 hosts looked at Diego as he sat on his chair. Jolden spent a second giving it a thought before commenting. “Heavenly Protector Diego, she used the Consequential 3-Eye Supreme Art and could have stopped without any problem. Why did you not punish her? As the disciplinary supervisor for this event, you didn’t foll-”

“Aagh,” Diego exclaimed as if he had stepped on shit. His head turned to avoid looking at the hosts, not out of shame but simply because he did not want to explain himself. “I don’t need to. And anyway, there will be- uh… someone to deal with her to punish her. As someone from the Interchanging Dust Dynasty, her organization, and one of the hosts, it would be too much for me to punish her. And since no one else can decide on this matter, I went for this option. This way, I won’t have to do it myself.”

“But, Heav-” Jolden slightly jumped from his seat, about to continue, when Bajo stood up, and Diego dismissively shook his head like a feisty aunty. Diego rapidly said with a face that signified he didn’t want to continue with this matter. “Aish! Sh, shh, shhh! The event is still going. Just observe.”

“...” Jolden looked at Diego for several seconds before returning his focus to the arenas and the stadium. The Godly beings were silent, intrigued, and entertained by the tournament and its sudden, unexpected turns. Bajo didn’t waste time, and since it was the last round and everyone by now knew the drill, he simply declared. “The last round of this segment will thus proceed as pre-arranged. I give its start… now!”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-...

“!!” Heian Ciemnosc watched as the last 8 people were being selected by the black smoke. The arenas didn’t move up until the 2 fighters were decided. Thus, Heian Ciemnosc watched one of the 2 last other Broken Crystallization realm cultivators remaining in the tournament beside him, Arla, and Elena, not being selected yet while the other and Arla were already in one arena. The other 7 arenas were quickly filled with its missing fighter when… suddenly… Heian Ciemnosc saw Elena taken by the black smoke. Yet, the remaining Broken Crystallization realm cultivator that could pose a threat to Elena… suddenly found himself going against a Neutrality realm cultivator.

And there were only 2 arenas remaining. One was another Neutrality realm cultivator, while the other was…

“GAAAASP!!!!” - “How could-... this be?!” - “No way, right? Just… no way!” - “I can’t believe it… this is happening right now… What the hell is going on?” - “Im… possible, but why?” - “The other Broken Crystallization realm also faces a similar problem…” - “It’s not the same! He’s up against a Neutrality realm cultivator in the early stages. Although the latter has no more opponents and can only lose in the following battles, Elena is against Gora! That’s different!” - “That’s far too unfair and… gosh… malicious!”

‘...’ Heian Ciemnosc’s mind raced as he witnessed Elena put up against Gora, who looked at her with a snarly grin. From chasing them before to suddenly finding her here, alone, in his hands, Gora couldn’t feel any more thankful! He first looked at Kilah and saw her barely open her eyes to narrow slits before scarcely nodding at him. Then, Gora looked up, foolishly smiling at their Heavenly Protector, who didn’t look back a second time before proceeding to ignore Gora.

“Heh, heh!” Proceeding to look at the free zone’s Interchanging Dust Dynasty’s vip zone, he looked at some ex-participants who grinned and cheered him from afar. He felt like the hero, about to have his dreams accomplished and with fate giving it to him in the most beautiful of ways. Finally, Gora looked at Elena, facing him with a stern, solemn, and dead serious expression, but wasn’t backing away. Her left shoulder fronted him as she didn’t seem to be in a fighting position, but Gora could effortlessly feel the rigorous Power Energy within her body already set to move and form protective barriers as soon as the referee announced the duel’s start.

“Haha, don’t worry. I can no longer rape you before him because I respect this event too much. But I can still find my way to separate your body in little chunks to bring you away, just like that pale idiot over there does to his ‘meal’s… hahaha.” Gora casually said at a regular pace, but the crowd frowned and silently scowled at his crude words… and personality. Even those who constantly looked up but didn’t dare keep their eyes there while chatting became silent upon seeing this develop, wondering how it would go.

“The… duel starts… now!” The other referees quickly announced the beginning of the matches. Everyone could clearly see those from the Wrath Nihility Academy show concern for Elena, with Arla keeping her eyes on her until her arena officially started the duel. In the vip zones, everyone was alerted, and the higher-ups were discussing while looking up into the air sometimes. And rapidly seeing these things, Kilah couldn’t help but grin before closing her eyes and entering meditation again.

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“Phoooh,” Elena let out a breath as the referee of her arena hesitated to start the duel, but he did so anyway in accordance with the 3rd phase’s tournament rules. Her rigorous Power Energy began being sent out, her brown eyes alarmingly locked to Gora’s body. Gora wore a long smile as he spoke while entering into a blurry painting himself. “Not leaving yet, huh? Why? Do you also believe you can expose something of mine so your boyfriend can ‘have a chance’ to win against me? Hahaha!! Dream on! I’ll let you expose my body then, hahaha!!”

Whoosh~~~! Pshift, pshift, pshift… Elena’s pitiful barriers were being set in front of her one by one, and even though the crowd had to admit that for a Broken Crystallization 2nd stage cultivator like her, her Spirit Sense was already at its maximum, 10 kilometers, and the rigorous Power Energy manipulation was top-notch, even better than peak cultivators in the same realm. However, before Gora’s Neutrality realm 5th stage, those barriers looked so thin and shaky.

Psh- PEEEEEEEEEEW~! “?!” But just then, as the crowd was tightening their hands into fists and about to jump from their seats with Jolden, Bajo, and Bai Yue’er above looking down with a frown, especially Jolden, who seemed more anxious. A dark shadow streaked past several arenas, exiting his own, and headed towards Elena!

The referees did nothing to stop whoever this was. They could see Heian Ciemnosc moving at an insane speed for his cultivation base towards Elena, not Gora, and could read his movements beforehand. They were at the Third Step, but even if they were just in the Dantreulity realm, they would also perfectly know all this. In the end, the crowd watched in excitement as they saw a damsel in distress with its hero bashing through rules and psychological barriers to invade her arena.

POM- futomp, whoosh- PSHIFT! Bang!

Heian Ciemnosc arrived more than 100 meters before Elena, still a few seconds away from being tackled by Gora’s blurry painting. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Elena as his dark tail showed again, enlightening everyone’s eyes. He once again used it to advance. Although he did not ‘activate’ it, he was still fast enough to arrive before Elena in under 4 seconds, while Gora was just 2 seconds away from catching up.

Elena had still said not a word of surrender and even less now that she saw Heian Ciemnosc arrive at her arena for her. Heian Ciemnosc’s dark shadow quickly reached Elena and grabbed her waist. He reappeared before her eyes again spun around, bringing Elena into another angle while his left arm was lifted. Heian Ciemnosc’s left palm faced Gora as dark Power Energy was unleashed, accumulated throughout all this time, and now fully released!

Gora had intended to keep going after Elena. As long as she spoke nothing about giving up the fight, he could still have a chance to kill her, and better yet, right before Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes! Gora intended to ignore Heian Ciemnosc’s futile attack and rush to explode Elena’s body, just like Kilah wanted a few minutes ago. However, when the dark Power Energy shot neared 1 km before him, he felt a kind of heat, yet ultimate coldness, that made him almost stop.

With a quick motion, Gora exploded with multiple Neutral Energy bouts to face off the dark Power Energy shot. They collided like guided missiles to detonate an enormous weapon, leaving the dark Power Energy enshrouded by smoke and distorted air from the impacts. However, at the last second and as Gora kept rushing forwards, a dark Power Energy wisp remained and shot towards the middle of his nose!

Futomp! Wheesh… … … whistle~...

Gora was forced to stop, but just as he did, the dark Power Energy wisp dissipated, bringing his face into a reddened hue as the world turned awfully silent. His eyes barely looked up, but he could already feel endless gazes on him and his stupid self from halting for seemingly no reason. Gora even felt the others didn’t see the dark Power Energy wisp. And before long, he thought the dark Power Energy wisp was only a mind trick that Gora inflicted upon himself by mistake.

“Goddammit!” Gora cursed, about to employ his blurry painting again and go after Elena with his feet and sides cold. However, just then, resting with Heian Ciemnosc’s right arm around her waist, Elena declared. “I surrender.”

Her voice was indifferent, and she sounded delicate. But anyone hearing it could sense the indifference and coldness behind her tone. In Heian Ciemnosc’s arms, she felt secure, no longer alarmed, and warm. Feeling his warmth still amazed her, even now. After declaring with her words, she looked up to see her handsome husband’s profile, wondering what he would feel after giving his spot for saving her…

“Gora’s victory!!” The referee announced, not bothering to move from his spot as he looked at Gora without emotion, but anyone aware of life could see the disapproval in the referee’s eyes. Just as the referee looked towards Heian Ciemnosc and was about to question him, another shout came from above, and everyone suddenly tensed, even momentarily unofficially halting the fights of other arenas.

“Heian Ciemnosc! What is the meaning of this?! You have intruded upon another’s arena, abandoning your own. And even though you weren’t fighting, you broke several rules in one go! Do you even have an excuse for this?!” Diego wobbled the chubbiness of his face as he raged on, still in a not-so-loud volume but striking at everyone’s ears.

“... Sir, I saw that this opponent was about to full-out attack a Broken Crystallization realm cultivator. Something like that wasn’t needed, and the latter would’ve just surrendered. But this Gora participant chose to directly rush towards the Broken Crystallization realm cultivator. I find that odd, and I just wanted to save her. But more importantly, she is my wife, and I will not sit idly to watch if something happens to her.”

“Gasp!” - “So she is his wife, huh? Amazing…” - “Yeah, how did she manage capturing him? I need some lessons…” - “She’s so lucky. Dang!” - “...” - “Woman.”

“...” Diego’s eyes narrowed as he looked down. The other 3 hosts slowly rose from their chairs but gave Diego face and waited to see how he handled whatever this was. Heian Ciemnosc silently moved his face from looking up to staring at Gora with his face up. Gora frowned and felt strange, not knowing why Heian Ciemnosc looked at him like this. But then, something clicked inside his mind, and his eyes widened.

Returning his eyes to Heian Ciemnosc, he saw his chin still up, but his eyes were conveying something. It was: ‘you better talk, or I may not coincidentally find you next round’. Gora’s mind was hit with the notion to not let Heian Ciemnosc get away with it, seeing it as a defiance and safe move from Heian Ciemnosc after realizing someone was pulling strings in the oldest ways in the books.

“Sir! This isn’t truly against the rules, nor the event!” Just as Gora hesitated, another voice chipped in from the free zone. Teno, accompanied by Yun Tang, walked towards the platform while looking up and with a polite tone. He continued, “Please, esteemed Heavenly Protector Diego. Heian Ciemnosc’s actions are noble. While Gora did not think clearly, Heian Ciemnosc helped him recognize his mistakes. He even stopped Gora without needing to employ an actual attack. His objective wasn’t participant Gora, but helping Elena.”

“Yeah, that’s true!” Yun Tang added, but Teno looked back at him with a glare and shut up immediately. At this moment, Diego was still listening when Tene, one of the entire Existence’s apple of the eye, joined. “Sir, Heavenly Protector Diego. I think I’m speaking for everyone here when I say it is a mistake to throw one of the Existence’s most amazingly talented younger generations into the trash because of this incident.”

“He can still fight and show his capabilities. He wouldn’t dare break the event’s rules unless it was absolutely necessary. And now, I implore you, for I would have done the same as him. Maybe we are too young to understand what a life partner means, but not everyone is like. Esteemed Heavenly Protector, would you give up on your partner if their lives were threatened? I, for sure, wouldn’t!”

“...” Diego’s previous rage seemed to falter as he looked at the youngsters, but before he could opine, Yun Nitu chipped in, barely conscious and with the most delicate of voices. “Heavenly… Protector Diego, I… know this isn’t being impartial, but Gora was first wrong. Now, he is no longer trying to make a move after Heian Ciemnosc cleared his mind. Please take notice. Heian Ciemnosc’s intervention was for both participants’ well-being. Nobody likes a bully. It is but taboo in our world. And Mother Nature will remind us that if we fail to remember.”

“Everyone here is doing their part, and we don’t want to impose on esteemed Heavenly Protector, but as cultivators from the same generation… we can’t see one of our best lose their chance to bask in the glory of being known. You wouldn’t deny this contending for Nature, would you?” Yun Nitu finished speaking and seemed about to faint but forced herself to be awake to hear Diego’s answer.

And now, the Interchanging Dust Dynasty’s Heavenly Protector Diego seemed to be in a predicament, having jumped to admonish Heian Ciemnosc too fast. Everyone else seemed to be on the right side of the story as they implored him with reasonable demands. Just then, a sigh sounded, and Kilah’s voice echoed towards them. “Sigh. It is true we have shown the worst of ourselves. I think Gora wasn’t thinking straight. He must’ve wanted to win against our sudden nemesis too soon and too much. I… am also vouching so that Heian Ciemnosc stays within the tournament. That is all.”

“Woooh…” The crowds’ eyes opened bigger. They felt like they were seeing a new side of the Interchanging Dust Dynasty, turning over a new leaf! For real now, Diego didn’t have a good choice but to listen to the majority. Yet, and finally, Gora’s voice sounded. “I apologize for what I did…”

…

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Let It Rain's note: Always wanted to make my own youtube apology.