Chapter 63 |
“Final battle of the first round! The two contenders—”
“On the left! Elder of the Blackrock Bearman Tribe from the Blackstone Wasteland, the Riftstone Watcher—Baruk·Blackrock!”
“On the right! Adventurer warrior from Dawn Bay, the Knight of Dawn—Casilo·Hall!”
Elder Kent’s voice echoed above the arena. On either side of the platform, two figures—one large, one small—slowly rose, their auras equally astonishing.
But it was obvious that the towering one immediately seized most of the audience’s attention.
This Bearman was simply too massive. Fully armed, Baruk stood close to five meters tall. His opponent was only a little over two meters. The difference was anything but small.
“Th-this Bearman is that big?”
“He really is. Much bigger than the Bearmen we usually see.”
“Is there even a need to fight? I feel like that human warrior might just get flattened…”
“Marco, your fellow clansman looks truly mighty and imposing!”
Sitting in a corner of the spectator stands, Mino was dressed like an obedient little bear, staring blankly, when Marco nudged him and spoke in a low voice.
“Y-yes…”
Mino nodded dumbly. It was also his first time seeing such a formidable member of his own race. In front of the other party, he felt like a cub that had not even been weaned…
Marco had deliberately brought Mino here.
When he saw on the promotional flyer that a Bearman was competing, he bought tickets without hesitation.
He hoped Mino could have more opportunities to interact—at least indirectly—with his own kind. Perhaps it would help his spirit and bloodline.
***
“Begin!”
With the referee’s command, Casilo·Hall did not rush toward Baruk.
Instead, he raised his shield in front of him. Golden light began to shine around his body—lightning… various enhancement auras layered one upon another, his aura climbing steadily.
The moment the golden light appeared, Baruk understood what his opponent intended.
The corner of his mouth curled up. His own blood and qi surged; the power of the earth, the power of the ancestors, the power of slaughter continuously gathered and rose.
The charging states of both sides frightened the mages responsible for the protective arrays into breaking out in cold sweat. They hurriedly reinforced the defense and activated the second layer of the protective formation.
What they feared most was exactly this kind of battle—no fighting at first, just charging. Once the charge was complete, the combat would be terrifying beyond measure!
A large number of lower-level spectators were pressed by the constantly rising auras of the two, gasping for breath. O’Brien placed his hand directly on Dean’s shoulder, using his own power to shield him from the overwhelming pressure.
After a moment, feeling that he had reached his peak combat strength, Casilo·Hall did not hesitate and launched the first attack.
With a flick of his longsword, a sharp wind blade tore through the air. He followed his blade and charged forward at high speed!
Boom!
Baruk, gripping his massive axe, neither dodged nor retreated. With a single downward cleave, the reinforced arena floor split open with a huge crack.
A shockwave several times larger than Casilo’s wind blade rolled back toward him.
Casilo had no choice but to sidestep and evade—there was no need to take that blow head-on.
But Baruk had no habit of waiting. The moment his axe completed the downward strike, he followed with a sweeping slash. The axe blade from that swing spanned a full fifty meters!
Faced with this attack, Casilo had no time to dodge and did not dare leap to avoid it. He could only raise his shield and take it head-on.
Concentrating his strength onto the shield’s surface, a thick energy barrier spread like water, absorbing and dispersing the axe’s force in all directions.
Boom! Boom!
The axe’s energy was split into two arcs, which continued onward without losing momentum and slammed into the protective formation, sending out large ripples.
Riding the inertia of his sweep, Baruk spun to build momentum, leapt, and brought the axe down in one fluid motion.
Casilo had just blocked the sweeping blade and now had to face the descending axe. He only managed to lift his shield above his head in time.
Baruk accurately judged his opponent’s reaction and aimed the downward strike at the weaker side of the shield’s surface.
Clang——!!!
Amid a deafening clash of metal, sparks flew everywhere. Casilo, shield and all, was blasted away.
He rolled and bounced several times across the arena floor before finally stabbing his longsword into the ground to steady himself.
‘No good. Fighting like this is too disadvantageous. His strength is at least double mine!’
Casilo decisively discarded his shield and longsword, unfastened the long whip hidden at his waist, and gripped it in his hand.
His action left everyone momentarily stunned.
Male warriors using whip-type weapons were indeed rare. Such weapons were more commonly wielded by female professionals.
‘Sigh, how am I this unlucky? To run into such a monstrous opponent right off the bat…’
Casilo had also been a participant in the previous tournament, earning a respectable nineteenth place.
After ten years of grueling training, he had believed he at least had a chance to compete for a top ten finish this time. Yet in his very first match, he encountered such a fierce newcomer!
The battle that followed shifted drastically in style.
Relying on nimble footwork, Casilo kept himself constantly more than a hundred meters away. His whip danced so tightly that no gaps could be found. Baruk was struck several times.
No one knew what material the whip was made of. It extended and retracted with remarkable flexibility, and its power was far from negligible.
Baruk desperately wanted to seize the irritating whip. Unfortunately, its speed surpassed his close-combat reaction time. He could only barely dodge and continuously force his opponent back with sweeping axe strikes.
The two fell into a tug-of-war. But in terms of consumption, Baruk was clearly at a slight disadvantage.
Facing this slippery opponent, Baruk decided to reveal a trump card. Those whip strikes were not merely physical damage—they left him feeling humiliated.
“From here on, I won’t hold back. If you don’t want to die, you’d better concede early!”
After cleaving out another axe strike, Baruk issued a warning. He was already burning with anger, his eyes turning blood-red.
Casilo’s instincts rang alarm bells, yet he suppressed his unease as best he could. Perhaps the other party was merely bluffing.
Baruk’s aura exploded upward. His blood and qi surged, red baleful energy spreading across the entire field. In the next instant, the entire Bearman began spinning rapidly.
A colossal tornado formed from axe blades—several times larger than Ia’s “Great Whirlwind”—took shape at a visible speed, covering half the arena!
Even the first layer of the protective formation twisted under the pull, flickering unstably.
Not only the dumbfounded Casilo—even the Masters in the audience unconsciously leaned backward. As for the others, they displayed all manner of unsightly reactions.
It felt as though someone was hacking wildly with an axe right in front of them—like their heads might be separated from their bodies at any moment!
With such momentum, even brushing against it would likely tear one to pieces!
“I concede! I concede! I surrender!”
Casilo’s remaining rationality made him forget even to formally declare defeat. He could only scream hoarsely.
“Knight of Dawn—Casilo·Hall concedes! Riftstone Watcher—Baruk·Blackrock wins!”
The referee hurriedly shouted, afraid that even a second’s delay would result in tragedy!
As the judgment was announced, the tornado gradually dissipated, revealing a somewhat fatigued Baruk.
He did not cheer. He simply looked up toward the VIP box in the stands where Mick was and gave a slight smile, raising a thumbs-up.
Relax. Leave it to me. No problem!