Chapter 734 - Chapters 678: Clash of Swords

"Are you okay?"

Not long after her fight, Rosea sluggishly woke up only to see Arthur looking right back at her. Her body, which was wrecked by Veia's attack, was almost healed to full thanks to her teacher's Life Energy. Some of the more serious internal injuries would need a day or two to heal due to the lingering Holy Magic inside, but it was of no consequence.

When the princess woke up from her brief 'nap,' she didn't ask any questions regarding her battle. She sat there, half-dazed and half-disappointed. She had great confidence in her unique ice ability, however, she wasn't able to properly gauge her opponent's strength, therefore getting knocked up very early on.

Nonetheless, neither Lucy nor Arthur were mad at her. The parasite helped her stand up while his wife patted her on the back and said a couple of comforting words, which she didn't seem to hear.

Losing was so humiliating, especially for a proud girl like Rosea, but losing so quickly and like that was even more of an embarrassment. Even as she was led to the VIP box and sat next to Cristina, the princess, who processed what had happened, could not accept it.

Reality had hit her hard and she felt like all her painstaking training over the last couple of weeks was for nothing. Even though losing doesn't mean she was disqualified, Arthur and Lucy took it upon themselves to get her out of the competition, for her own good, of course.

It was crystal clear that she wasn't in a position to fight again, no after such a devastating loss, and even she knew that which was why she did not protest.

So far, two participants were disqualified from the last trial. The first was Sandal, who, despite protesting, was pulled away by his guardian due to the grievous injuries he sustained against Bora. The young Genesis Imoogi was still in a condition to fight, however, he could not force his opinion on his worried guardian.

The second was Rosea, whose defeat mentally scarred her, thus rendering her unfit to continue. All in all, nine participants remainds; Leo and Veia from the Holy Dominion Team, Cosima and Marjory from the Demon Team, Ardor and Bora from the MoonStar Team, Holand from the Dark Blaze Team, Eirz and Luke from the Imoogi Team.

The next fight was between Eirz, the youngest Imoogi in his team, and Ardor, the sword-wielding youth from the MoonStar Team.

The two youngsters appeared on stage, both were sword-users, though their stance and aura were dramatically different.

Ardor was calm, his aura bringing serenity and clarity… in more than a way, it resembled Arthur's Ethereal State. On the other hand, Luke's aura, which was mainly emanating from his thin jet black sword, was more brutal and violent.

With Gutcha's signal, the two participants charged at each other, black and milky white sword essences sprung in the air and clashed against each other. Their swords didn't collide, they stopped inches away from each other, one enveloped in translucently white energy whereas the other was bursting with sharp needle-like black light.

They didn't taunt each other, they let their swords do the talking. The loud cheering sound from the crowd or the screeching sound of colliding sword essences wasn't heard by either of the two young men. They were so engrossed in their fight, dancing around and performing impressive yet no flashy sword skills.

Luke and Ardor were enjoying this, more than they should have, actually. They jumped around, unleashing one technique after the other, flew in the air and clashed against each other hundreds of times.

It may have been boring for those who did not understand what they were doing, but for fanatical sword-users, it was truly a spectacle to behold. Neither of them deigned to summon their gods spirits, they just relied on their skills and physical bodies… not even Nether Energy was wasted on blinding long-ranged spells.

Put simply, it was a twenty-minute long sword dance, in which both of them were injured multiple times but none dropped their swords or backed away.

Even up until the last second, Luke never used the unique abilities of his race, and Ardor refrained from summoning his Godspirit, which would have definitely put him at a great advantage.

In the end, Ardor won the fight, though it was a very close one. The two participants supported themselves with their swords and stared at each other, both happily and uncaring about the result of the battle. Win or lose, it did not matter to them for they had gained much by battling each other and learning subtle but useful things.

With the battle won, Ardor, just like Bora, gained 50 points, which put them at a big advantage compared to other teams. The only person who has yet to fight was Eirz from the Imoogi Team, but it was because the number of remaining participants was uneven to begin with. Nonetheless, the youth would be given a chance to battle one random person.

Since there was a slim chance he could be chosen to fight again, Gutcha allowed Ardor to rest and recuperate for a couple of minutes.

So far, the Holy Dominion Team and the Demon Team won one fight each. The MoonStar team won two fights, The Dark Blaze Team won one fight, and the Imoogi Team lost two fights.

However, there were more fights to come and being in the lead right now doesn't necessarily mean it's their win.

…

Fortunately, Ardor wasn't picked to fight Eirz, that job fell to Cosima, who was itching to prove herself after her unexpected loss against Holand.

Suffice to say, the young demon girl did indeed prove her real prowess by absolutely and one-sidedly defeating the youngest Eirz.

Eirz excelled at speedy attack, however, it didn't work against Cosima, who was equipped with an impressive physical and magical strength. Eventually, the fight, which lasted merely five minutes, ended with Cosima's victory, thus allowing her to increase her team's overall points by fifty.