By Zephyria Asher gritted her teeth and immediately twisted her shoulder. At the same time as pushing the foothold with her heel, she bent her neck to the left. Her back and waist were arched backwards.
The approaching hand was reflected in her eyes.
Even as his body tilted, his gaze followed the gold to the very end. It was a will to never show an opening. As the lion’s grip pierced through his scattering white hair, the hair scorched by the high heat instantly turned ashen.
Asher narrowly avoided contact and threw himself off the cliff.
Severed strands of hair fell in clumps. Leonardo, who was about to grab the fluttering bandage, immediately looked down at the Floating Stone below.
“Shit―.”
However, before he could find the lost figure, he first encountered a Boulder soaring up to his chin.
Kwaaaang―!
The Floating Stone, colliding with the Boulder flying up from below, tilted upwards. The platform stood upright from the massive impact and then flipped over like an overturned ship.
The audience’s exclamations surged like waves. Hugo, who was watching along, clenched his fist tightly.
Ero, who was rowing on the Floating Stone, abruptly raised his head at the announcers’ voices.
Checking the numbers on the board, it was already 222, really not far off.
His brother wouldn’t lose, but he had stepped up to save him, and unnecessary attention had been focused on him. If this situation continued for long, there would definitely be a point where his stamina would be depleted and he would be at a disadvantage. He had to do something before that happened.
“Agh, why isn’t it going!”
Ero knelt on the floor, leaned his upper body forward, and vigorously waved his palms through the air. The gaps between the platforms were so wide that he had to move like this. The distance moved was insignificant, but as he gradually moved forward on the Ether, he eventually reached a section where the Floating Stones were clustered together.
Hurriedly crossing over to the New Continent, Ero happened to find Beatrice standing not far away. Next to her was Gillian, shading his eyes with his palm as he looked up at the arena. His face brightened with joy as he raised the hand holding the pistol high.
“Sister, Brother! Please help me!”
Even as Asher fell upside down, he sent flying everything that brushed past him. Occasionally, he hit his back hard against a Boulder, but he didn’t care. He threw and kicked away anything he could grab, checking the approach of any beasts that might appear.
The blood vessels bulging in her eyes made her look like she was burning with fighting spirit, but in reality, she was confused by the sensation she was experiencing for the first time.
‘What is it?’
Her eyes, which sensed the body temperature of living things, quickly scanned the arena’s sky. Fragments of Floating Stone, scattered by the chain collisions, were dispersed like the Milky Way. However, no matter where she looked in those gaps, the target was not visible.
She couldn’t believe it. That incredibly hot flame….
At that moment, she felt a presence along with the commentary that erupted in admiration.
Asher, startled as she spotted the shadow rushing towards her from above, stretched her arms out to the left and right. As she fell, her fingertips brushed the surface of the Floating Stone, and explosive smoke billowed up. Sparks like embers flew from the friction point, leaving long scratch marks.
Asher, pulling the grasped weapon with both hands, hid in the smoke and threw it towards the sun.
Leonardo, who deliberately ran with the natural light behind him, simply descended along the ray of light, not avoiding the attack coming towards him. Rather, he raised his right arm to the side of his ear and strongly swung a hook inward.
Tzeng―, with a sound, the shattered fragments violently fluttered along his protruding bangs.
Then, with his hands clasped together, he rotated his shoulder blades and raised them above his head. He bent his waist back greatly and used the momentum to smash down on the second Boulder that had flown to his face in one go.
Kwaaaang―!
The Boulder, melted and softened by the heat, crumpled like rebar and then burst apart in all directions as it couldn’t withstand the pressure. At the same time, a powerful gust of wind cleanly blew away the dust. The figure of the golden fire demon revealed in the gap was reflected in Asher’s contracted pupils.
“Beast Brother! Throw me!”
“Here I go!”
Gillian supported the soles of the two people’s feet one by one with both hands. Then, with a shout, he lifted them up with all his might. The two people, leaping on the Ether along with his strength, temporarily floated in the air. Beatrice’s voluminous black dress sparkled in the light and fluttered like a checker flag.
The frantically fluttering skirt spread out like a parachute, increasing the time in the air. Reaching out her hand through the gap, she shouted to Ero.
“Catch!”
Ero, flailing his arms and legs, managed to find the end of the lace glove and barely grabbed it. Beatrice, firmly gripping his forearm with both hands, twisted her waist and spun Ero halfway around. Showing off the skills she had displayed in the previous match when throwing the Mana Orb, she used the rotational force to throw Ero far away.
“Go―!”
Her confident command echoed and faded into the distance. Ero’s lip skin fluttered pathetically as he was thrown into the air again. Even so, he aimed the muzzle of the pistol at one point. It was Nefertiti’s Sand Island.
Twukwang―!
Leonardo pursued the Hundred Ghosts at full speed. His gleaming Gold Eyes drew a trajectory like an afterimage and fell vertically. Asher, placed at the end of that, could only watch the grip approaching again.
Because she had destroyed all the Floating Stones, there were no more platforms in the center of the arena that could be used as escape routes. Only fragments floating around like dust mercilessly scratched her skin, leaving wounds. However, she didn’t feel the pain. It was because the heat of the approaching sun felt like it was burning her skin.
In the instant that the distance narrowed to less than 1m, Leonardo reached out his hand towards the opponent’s neck. Asher, instinctively raising her guard, protected her vital point. The cold gazes of both sides crossed over her forearm, and at that moment, Leonardo’s eyes curved.
‘…?’
Asher’s eyebrows furrowed as she didn’t grasp his intention. Then, she belatedly realized that the wrist wrapped in the band was burning. Her ashen eyes quickly rolled towards it, but it was already too late.
Kwaaaang―!
At that moment, a vast explosion spread behind the two. A wave that could shake the arena swept through. The floating Floating Stones were entangled in the waves like buoys on the vast ocean and pushed out in all directions, and instead, a hazy sand dust covered the arena.
Following that, the whistle announcing the end of the match rang out sharply. The announcers, who had been following the two with their eyes, were startled and looked at the crystal board. After hesitating for a moment, they shouted powerfully.
“What, what suddenly happened?”
“Is Asher eliminated? What about Ryan?”
“They both fell at the end….”
“Did Ryan attack? Something exploded.”
“Not there, somewhere else. Where Nefertiti was.”
The people, who had been holding their breath at the sudden situation, murmured among themselves. The sudden explosion and dust that burst from one side of the arena obscured the view as it settled in the arena. Along with that, the figures of the two people falling in the middle of the ray of light were also not visible.
As they couldn’t immediately know the long-awaited result, complaints erupted from various places. Of course, it was an emotion stemming from anticipation and excitement.
However, the operations side also seemed to be judging the situation, and they were gathered in the control tower, busily discussing. In the meantime, the Gates at the top and bottom of the arena slowly opened and purified the air in the arena by discharging the dust to the outside.
Andreas, who had been so immersed that he seemed to be sucked into the scene, suddenly jumped up from his seat. He walked straight to the aisle in front of the seats, grabbed the railing, and even took an over-the-top action, roughly sweeping his hair back. He mouthed something while pointing at the center of the arena, and then turned to Hugo with a dumbfounded expression.
“Legion Commander, you knew about this, didn’t you?”
Loren, who was watching him, gestured with her chin with cold eyes as if telling him to come back and sit down. It seemed that he had finally noticed the terrifying existence that had been released from the middle of the Zodiac and confronted him. It would be even stranger if the guy who had even fought directly didn’t recognize it. It was late, way too late.
The operations team, having sorted out the situation, approached the commentary box and handed over a few sheets of paper. The announcers, sitting back at the desk, casually touched the Amplification Magic Circle.
The audience was noisy, and the uncertain voices of the announcers didn’t reach their ears. One of his colleagues was constantly complaining about how he could keep it a secret from him. However, Hugo was only stubbornly watching one point in the dust.