Chapter 269 - The Second Battle
It was noon and the people had come up the stairs to the floating island above the city. The coliseum will soon be filled with people, and one by one they are coming in. The second round is about to start and everyone is excited on what's about to happen.
"I hope we get action today too."
"Yesterday's round was so cool as hell. My heart wouldn't stop beating loudly."
"Another battle royale please, please."
…
"Come one, come all," Irv announced excitedly. "We will start once our guest judge gets here."
On the tall balcony right on the front of the entrance where the judges sat, another seat was unoccupied. The crowd once again was filled with whispers, guessing who could the fourth judge be.
The teams has settled on their chairs and the audience had all seated on the bleachers. Elizabeth appeared from behind the Holy Crow and sat on the chair beside him.
"And our guest judge has arrived!" Zia announced. "Elizabeth von Schwartz, the current Top 1 Adventurer in all of Avancia. She will promoted to Guardianship once she finishes her 7-year duty as a Top 1 Adventurer."
"I thought she wasn't able to get promoted because of mental health reasons?" Elliot whispered to Aquarius.
The blue-haired man sighed and deadpanned, "You know what happened to the Aurora Knights is a secret right? You think they can just explain why she needed to have a small mental health break before she can become a Guardian?"
This made Elliot form an O with his mouth and nod in understanding. He returned his attention to the two hosts who were having their own little talk while the preparations for the next battleground is starting.
"How are you, Elizabeth?" the Holy Crow asked with his calm and slow voice.
The girl bowed and smiled, "I am doing much, much better, Mr. Crow."
"It was a shame that you couldn't come to the East. The Jadelands is such a beautiful kingdom," the Raven Justice spoke this time.
"It is a shame, but I believe it is for the best of the kingdom if I would not participate in the kingdom's diplomatic relations," Elizabeth said. "I do not have the capabilities to do my duties well as an Adventurer, I could never imagine how I would do in front of other kingdom's representatives."
"You would do quite alright," the king smirked. "You are my niece, after all."
"I am flattered, your highness, but I do not deserve your praise," Elizabeth smiled at him, ending the conversation.
The guards and mages had finished their preparations and the open field was now prepared. The ground was morphed into having an elastic texture and different colored glowing balls were hovering above the field. Everyone was trying to analyze what the next round would be.
"And now for the Champions," Zia raised her hand and a screen opened up behind her.
[ Battle of the Champions
- Round Two -
Rosario Dinggie
Edward Peeke
Bart Bennesh
Ali Minhas
Danish Storming
Alexei Burkheed
… ]
"Your Terran last name is Peeke?" Connor gasped. "How come we only know Ed all this time?"
"No one asked," Ed shrugged and walked down the stairs. He stepped to the side of the battlefield where they made a small railing that enclosed the rubberized earth.
"Now for the rules," Irv said. "You shall use your magic to shoot the balls thats above you while balancing your feet on the rubberized ground. But do take note, everyone in here has the capabilities to shoot long ranged attacks, no one is allowed to get near the balls. And we have to warn you, it is very rubbery. You will bounce and lose your balance."
"You can sabotage your opponent, but the three prime rules we mentioned yesterday will still be implemented," Zia added. "Breaking the rules shall leave your guild into disqualification. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" the participants chorused.
They were checked by the guards before they entered the railing. Ed was having a hard time balancing himself inside the field. Every step he takes, his foot felt like it would bounce back. He was still adjusting to the new ground.
"It feels like I'm walking on water," Ed whispered to himself, remembering the second elimination round. When Aquarius gave them the surface tension spell, they could still feel like they were standing on the water, it was just that they weren't sinking.
"Is everyone ready?" Irv asked with a smirk. He raised his hand and counted, "You have an hour. The Battle of the Champions, second round will begin in…"
"Three…"
"Two…"
"One!"
"Start!"
The balls suddenly lit up with two dots and a line underneath, making a smiley face. They moved on random directions while maintaining their flight above the participants.
"They move?" one of the Champions gasped. She raised her staff and pointed at one of the balls. Her attack reached a ball but it slammed itself on her attack, making her fireball shoot her attack to the crowd instead. "Oh, no!"
The fireball was approaching the audience at an alarming speed. The people where the fireball was about to hit could only cover themselves with their hands, but the attack didn't hit. There was a forcefield that was put up by the mages.
"To maintain maximum security for the audience, we made sure to do precautionary measures," Zia smirked. "Please continue."
Ed brandished his sword and raised it, "Eternal Chaos Slash!"
He slashed his sword and shoot out his dark purple crescent-shaped attack. His slash wasn't able to hit any balls, as well as the other attacks coming from the other Champions.
"These balls move too fast," Ed grunted. He wanted to leap and fight the balls close range, but he wasn't able to do so. He was also having trouble concentrating his attack with the ground being rubbery and bouncy.
Ed released pressure from the Eternal Chaos Curse to use as power. He was now using it as battery since it could feel his MP when he releases pressure from it. He could have almost unlimited amount of magic using this method but he would risk losing his arm.
The curse would still take a toll on him whenever he releases it. The maximum refills he could do with his MP is four times per day. Ed was still training his body so he could raise that up.
Ed slashed his sword one more time but forgot that he was on rubber ground and took a step back. His slash swerved on the air, making him curse. It flew and hit one of the balls, making it burst into an explosion of its color.
"And we have our first hit!" Zia announced. "I hope everyone else will follow. We are at half an hour and it has still been one ball that's been eliminated."
Ed looked at his boots. He tilted his head as he watched it. Once again, he slashed his sword and this time, he intentionally slid on the rubberized earth. The ground would lead his foot to change his angle, making him hit one of the target balls.
Holding his sword, Ed sighed and was about to do it one more time. He was thinking that the ground was making him hit the target right. If he tries to attack them directly, their attacks would either get ignored or get bounced away.
He did the exact same thing, intentionally slipping on the ground while he was on the middle of attacking.
"And we have only three hits so far!"