Novel Full Chapter 746: End of Phase One of the Tournament
Chapter 746: Chapter 746: End of Phase One of the Tournament
The evolved Prismarin (the Lustral Veil Hare) darted across the battlefield instantly, each step leaving behind frost trails that disrupted movement and slowed enemy perception.
It kicked off the side of a summoned bramble vine made of ice from the opposing ice plant, flipping in mid-air and launching a barrage of lances made of ice that were as fast as light. The lance of ice’s effects didn’t stop at physical damage. It was composed of compressed ice needles that splintered on impact and created temporary zones of cognitive disruption.
The Azure Glass Gull shrieked and tried to escape upward, only for Serena’s Elemental Guardian to shift into its wind form and create a low-pressure vacuum, pulling the Gull back down with a thud.
Dwayne wasn’t idle either.
The Tidebreaker Leviathan emerged, immediately flooding the far side of the battlefield in a shallow surge of freezing water. The Noxious Cloudling drifted ominously above it, expelling toxic mist that refused to dissipate—mostly because the water was laced with an alchemical reagent that enhanced the mist’s viscosity.
He’d clearly prepared thoroughly to make up for past transgressions.
The Shiverjaw Wyrm lunged at Dwayne’s Leviathan—only to be intercepted by a dazzling burst of lightning from above.
Soren’s Amethyst Dragon hovered high, shimmering with residual lightning between its teeth. The Wind Dragon followed with a strong gust of wind that made the Shiverjaw falter mid-charge.
Meanwhile, the ice plants released by the opposing girl, tried to burrow and then ambush Dark Moon’s side from the ground, but they failed to grab any targets. Serena’s Guardian looped around them, now in its earth form, sensing and then solidifying the ground wherever it sensed another plant was trying to launch an attack
And Prismarin?
The Hare blinked out of sight.
Then reappeared inside the Gull’s updraft using a new movement skill: “Veilstep.”
A flicker of colour.
A shimmer of frost.
The Gull squawked once as a snow-coated pulse of energy detonated in its face that had the added effect of it falling helplessly into an illusion. It went crashing down to the stage with no resistance.
“Azure Glass Gull eliminated!” the referee called.
First blood.
Within moments, Dwayne followed up by forcing the various opposing plant-type spiritual creatures into a corner, where the Noxious Cloudling covered them in a corrosive toxic mist while the Leviathan slammed its full weight down in a tsunami-body press.
Three more eliminated.
The few remaining holdouts were also quickly dispatched after suffering from a numerical disadvantage.
Against the contracts of Serena, Soren, and Dwayne which mostly were all ice-resistant—especially Serena’s newly evolved Hare, which countered their every move—they stood no chance. The final standing Shiverjaw Wyrm tried to tunnel into the frozen ground, but Soren’s Wind Dragon unleashed a concussive wave of air that blasted it free.
Serena’s Hare landed on its snout, and a ring of glacial light expanded outward…and the wyrm disappeared. Clearly, whatever that final move was, it had been strong enough for its beast-tamer to retract it back into his star space in fear.
“Final elimination!”
The crowd was in chaos.
“Dark Moon wins both matches against the dark horse Frozen Sun!” the announcer boomed. “No 5v5 necessary! What a performance!”
The camera zoomed in on the three victors walking off stage. Serena was calm, dusting some residual frost off of her uniform. Dwayne wore a cocky grin, while Soren gave a rare two-fingered salute to the crowd.
Elias, outside, was mobbed by people demanding payouts.
One royal guard smirked and held out his hand.
Elias paid.
Reluctantly.
But still a little smug. Because the odds for “Dark Moon winning in two matches rather than three” had been 2.3 to 1.
And he had placed a bet too.
Not to mention the income from various other bets that he didn’t have to pay out.
All in all, this had been a relatively rewarding betting period, even with most of his potential customers already being inside the arena.
After doing a little research, Elias began to write down the new betting odds for the next match—Starfire College against Lunaris Vale, while humming a little tune.
——————–
The Next Day– First Celestial Match
If the match against Frozen Sun had been a firestorm of tactics, the match against First Celestial was a drive-by. It was almost surprising that Frozen Sun has lost to them…but then again that match had gone on for over an hour, and perhaps some sequelae from that match lingered and affected their later performances against Dark Moon—luck in match order is also a kind of strength.
Kain didn’t even need to participate in the match against First Celestial.
Serena took the 1v1 against a flame-based beast tamer with a Lightfire Scorpion, Volcanic Drake, and what appeared to be a reanimated scarecrow lit on fire—likely a cursed construct based on Kairos’ intense interest in the opponent.
The match lasted around 5 minutes. And the ’long period’ was mostly due to Prismarin toying with the opponent to send them stumbling around the field in confusion, before a well-timed tail swipe from the Elemental Guardian in its water-attributed serpentine form finished them.
3v3?
Soren, Dwayne, Kairos.
No fancy formations or movements but they won nevertheless.
The 5v5 never happened.
First Celestial bowed out early.
By the end of the day, the final rankings of Phase One of the National Tournament were posted. The top 3 in each year group were:
First years: Frozen Sun, First Celestial, Supernova—with Dark Moon’s first year’s unfortunately just being edged to fourth place.
Second years: Dark Moon, First Celestial, Frozen Sun
Third years: Dark Moon, Frozen Sun, First Celestial
Fourth Years: First Celestial, Dark Moon, Supernova
A maximum of 100 points each for first place in each year is awarded—for a combined maximum of 400 points in Phase One. With second place receiving 90, third place 80, fourth place 70, fifth place 60, sixth place 50, seventh place 40, eight place 30, and those stopping before the top 8 receiving between 0 and 20 points each.
Therefore, Dark Moon finished with 360 points, as did First Celestial 360—tying them for first.
And Frozen Sun finished in third with 330 points—their best Phase One performance in years.
As usual, everything would come down to Phase Two. But Kain wasn’t nervous.
Serena stood behind Kain in the hallway as they reviewed the update on a screen.
“You’re smiling,” she said.
“I am,” Kain agreed.
The recovered Chewy on his shoulder burped out a puff of purple energy in approval. It seemed to sense its contractor’s growing anticipation. And it, too, was enthusiastic about all of the varieties of energy it would soon get to sample.