Chapter 233 - Round Two (3)
It was a blink of an eye moment when Elliot got the hold of the flag and used the other boy's shoulder as a stepping stone. He flipped and landed back on Aquarius's light, steadily balancing himself.
"Oh, no," the boy whispered and dropped to the surface of the tube. He was instantly dragged by the current and made his teammates stumble with him.
Elliot ran to his friends and extended his hand for them to catch and hold the flag one by one.
When the last one of them to hold it, Minos's fingers touched the flag, it lit up a bright azure beacon that bursted into the skies.
"And we have the first team to finish Round Two!" Irv announced, his voice was filled with excitement.
Soon after, several more beacons followed. Kingsley's team was second, Jester's team was third, and Alice's guild mates were twenty-third.
"Let's get out of here," Aquarius said and slowly deactivated his magic. "Just jump through the tube and we're out."
"Okay," Ed was the one who got out first and leaped off. "F*ck! Aquarius we're a hundred feet off the ground!"
His teammates looked at each other with their jaws dropped on the floor. "Oh, no."
Midnight was the one who dove straight through the tube and summoned his wings. He was maneuvering through the tubes, avoiding them since his wings might get caught in the strong current.
For Ed, though, he was falling straight through. His body was falling down, passing through the tubes.
"Take my hand!" Midnight yelled and extended his arm for Ed to reach out. His body was now upside down to create more momentum, trying to keep up with Ed.
"How– can– I–" Ed's words were being cut off every time he passes through the tubes. Midnight grunted and morphed halfway, speeding through and catching Ed's whole body instead.
"My savior!" Ed cried. "I thought I was going to die."
"Shut up," Midnight rolled his eyes playfully. He slowly descended on the ground, the others following them right after as they passed through the maze of tubes.
"That was amazing!" Kingsley ran up to the Azure Scorch team and cheered. "You guys are so cool!"
"You being Galaxia's younger brother is something else, huh?" Midnight quirked his brow up.
"Yeah," Kingsley giggled. "Imagine, we're not related by blood but then I can't keep up with his powers, even when I'm not the adopted–"
His mouth was covered by Janine. She wrapped her whole arm around his face, making him unable to utter a single word.
"I'm sorry for this fool's inconvenience," Janine said. "He still can't get over that he's now Top 14 instead of Top 13. Alice's rank jump affected his mind."
"I have to argue with that," Susan frowned. "His mind's been affected ever since. And not the good effects too."
Kingsley removed Janine's arm around his face, "I love my team. They don't talk sh*t behind my back. They do it in front of me."
"He is similar to Galaxia in a lot of ways," was the words that entered the Azure Scorch team's mind.
"It seems like we have a small alliance here," Irv's voice suddenly rang throughout the arena. "And it's between the first and second team."
Zia floated on the opposite direction, pointing her scepter at Elliot, "Mr. Elliot, you are being called by everyone as an MVP for the first two rounds. What can you say about that?"
Elliot gasped and cupped his mouth with his hands. He didn't expect anyone to call him that and the other teams were actually eyeing on him, wary about his capabilities.
"To be honest…" Elliot trailed off and scratched the back of his head. "I didn't do anything special. My allies are great support. They provided me with the support I needed to do incredible things. So, it's our whole team that's MVP."
"Not according to the recordings, Mr. Elliot," Irv said and raised his free hand. "Play the tapes!"
In all the screens played Elliot's fight versus Elizabeth's spawn. It was displayed in different angles and was slowed down a bit so everyone could see his movements.
"Too fast?" Zia asked, quirking her lips up to form a smirk. "This is the slowed down version. Let us show you the original."
The video restarted and this time, the footage was much faster. The ordinary people watching outside, and even some Adventurers couldn't keep up with the fight. The vines were all over the place and they could only see Elliot's afterimages.
"He's so fast."
"Is he a Top Adventurer?"
"I haven't seen him before. He's not a Top Adventurer."
…
"And just tonight, we have this fight," Zia said and the screens played another footage.
This time, it was the one where Elliot and the boy raced for the flag.
"As you all know, the current in the tubes is strong," Irv said. "Very, very strong. Put a child in there and the current will rip them to pieces."
"Exaggerated, but you get the point," Zia rolled her eyes. "And this fight scene right here is one of my favorites. Let us watch the replay."
The fight was played and they gasped at Elliot's performance once more. How he moved along with Aquarius's light was spot on. They were in perfect sync.
His movements, how he stepped right on the light at the exact moment the it was below him was phenomenal.
"Look, this was all thanks to Aquarius," Elliot chuckled. "He could control his field of magic with incredible accuracy."
Irv and Zia looked at each other and shrugged. They had agreed to let the boy be and hovered above the arena.
"He's too humble. It's fake."
"They're overwhelming the kid. Now he's flattered."
"Watch his pride rise in a matter of days. You won't last long here, kid!"
…
The other Adventurers around them started talking against him. They were whispering but was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"It seems like Mr. MVP is in denial," Zia chuckled. "He's a newbie Adventurer, everyone. And he's not used to everything yet, so please let him be."
"Now, let us show you the qualifiers for Round Three!" Irv announced. "The list is not in any order yet, but these guilds are the ones who will compose the Top 75 guilds and will attend The Parade this year."
Elliot gasped after hearing the words. It felt like everything was in a flashback, how he first went on The Parade with his mother. And the succeeding years that he goes to watch The Parade, aspiring to become one of the guilds to be there.
Elliot found himself looking above him, the stars scattered all over the dark skies. He reached out his hand as he felt a tear fall from his eye.
"The mightiest."