Chapter 243 Team Battles! Part-1.
??"And now! The time hase! The team matches between the supreme talents of all races will begin now!" (Commentator)
A gigantic hologram appeared in the middle of the stadium, and with the names of all teams disyed on it, the hologram hung in mid-air for all to see clearly.
"This leaderboard will show us which team has defeated how many opponents, the teams that defeat three teams before the time limit ends, will get to go to the next stage of the tournament!" (Commentator)
In the enthusiastic eyes of the audience, all of the candidates waved at the audience onest time before a massive teleportation circle appeared on the stadium ground.
The massive teleportation circle shined brightly and teleported all of the teams to a massive forest.
Massive hologram screens appeared all over the stadium to show the scenes from each angle.
"As defeating others might be easier for some stronger teams, our rule-makingmittee has decided to add a weakness for all teams!" (Commentator)
"Each team holds a banner made of ordinary materials and even the weakest awakeners can break that banner easily without applying too much force, each team has to protect their respective banners with utmost care!" (Commentator)
"If the banner gets broken then the whole team will be eliminated! This rule creates a bnce for weaker teams! And provides a worthwhile challenge for the stronger ones!" (Commentator)
The scene on the massive hologram screens changed and started to show the starting position of each team.
…
VVIP Area.
"You proposed to add such a rule, aren''t you worried that your team will get eliminated if their banner breaks down?" (Ryul)
Ashtel just shook his head at Ryul''s doubtful voice.
"If they can''t even protect a lifeless banner, then it means they arecking coordination in their team, if they can''t even do something that simple, I would rather just admit defeat and go home…" (Ashtel)
Ryul squinted his eyes at Ashtel''s words.
"You really are quite strict at even your own son… you purposely made those banners extra fragile, even a little carelessness and even a weaker team may seize the opportunity to break it with long-range attacks…" (Ryul)
Gradba also nodded his head at Ryul''s words.
"Indeed, if it''s about close-rangebat, team Astra is near invincible with Link, but long-range attacks are different, Team Astra obviously doesn''t have an archer..." (Gradba)
"Well, if I just let them run wild without any problems, wouldn''t this tournament lose its meaning then? It''s better for them to encounter difficult situations so that they can ovee them right now and be stronger…" (Ashtel)
Other SS-rankers also nodded their heads at Ashtel''s words, they knew that it was better to face problems in this tournament instead of facing them in actual battle.
…
East line forest.
Liam looked at the sky and said in a thoughtful tone:
"They cast a massive barrier, it''s covering a huge area it seems…. Perhaps to block interference from outside or limit the battlefield, but still the scale of the barrier is really massive…" (Liam)
Liam then nced at his wristwatch and sighed:
"We only have twelve hours toplete the mission, moreover we still have to protect the banner… it''s as if someone has deliberately made these rules to target our team…" (Liam)
Liam''s perception has always been sharp, he immediately sensed the hidden thoughts behind all of this.
At Liam''s words, Link handed over the banner to Lia and said:
"It doesn''t matter, with Rio''s reaction time, I don''t think any long-range attack willnd on the banner… we can give the banner to Lia and he won''t let her get hurt…" (Link)
Link gave a thumbs up to Rio while saying that right on his face.
Rio just rolled his eyes at Link''s words and shrugged his shoulder.
"You know, she can defend the banner even if I don''t do it…" (Rio)
[Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Protection of Adamantium!]
Lia immediately tried to create a protection barrier around the fragile banner, but before she could do it the blessing shattered on its own.
"No, it won''t work… The person who made this thing has added their ''Authority'' to it…" (Kai)
"You can''t cast a barrier on this banner unless you are an SS-ranker…" (Kai)
Hearing Kai''s words who appeared on Lia''s shoulder in his cat form, everyone understood that things were not as easy as they had expected.
"Someone really is targeting us… they even know that we might try to use Kai''s blessing to cast strong barriers…" (Liam)
Then everyone nced at Link.
"W-what? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" (Link)
"It was likely your father who did this amazing work I think…" (Liam)
"Ugh… he''s messing with us on purpose…" (Link)
"Hah! Who cares! I can beat all of the teams by myself! No one can even touch the banner!" (Fade)
Link really wanted to punch this guy''s annoying face, but he knew that they were live right now, and doing that would show that the coordination between their team was really bad.
"How about we give the banner to Riya, Lia and I will protect her with the banner, you guys can handle the frontline…" (Kira)
Although Liam didn''t want to acknowledge her help, right now they had to work as a team and thus he nodded his head.
Moreover, Riya is the only person whom the whole team can trust, even Fade dare noty his hands on the healer who saved his life back in the Maya dungeon.
"Hmm, but still, this ce is so vast, how do we find the other teams-" (Link)
*Cling!*
Rio''s sword hit an arrow which was about to hit Link directly in his left eye.
"We don''t need to find them… they are already here…" (Rio)
[Elemental sword art: Stone Type: Barrier strikes!]
With his insane speed, Rio swung his sword a hundred times in the span of a single second and deflected all hundred arrows that came flying with concentrated fire mana attached to them.
Liam immediately brought out his wand and fired at a nearby tree.
"It''s a feint, they are trying to distract Rio with long-range attacks-" (Liam)
Before Liam couldplete his sentence a spear came flying and nearly hit his head if not for the fact that Liam side-
stepped on time.
Lia and Kira took a defensive stance and ced barriers around Riya to protect the banner.
Before Link could move, his danger sense tingled and he raised his hand to block.
[Dragon Arts: Unmoving Draconic form!]
A gigantic punch crashed heavily with Link''s right arm and the collision produced a massive shockwave.
"Yes! You really are just as strong as they said, Link Rex!"
An Orc with a height of nearly 4 meters appeared in front of Link.
His fist didnd on Link, but it couldn''t make Link move even a single inch even though the collision force caused the ground to crack.
Another Orc jumped out from behind the trees, the spear that nearly hit Liam earlier flew in the air and came back into the other Orc''s hand on its own.
Even Liam''s eyes widened in surprise at that sudden show of skill.
"Spear intent!?" (Liam)
The Orc holding the spear took his stance and said in a proud tone:
"I am Xagok, a warrior from the proud Orc Race…" (Xagok)
Xagok stated his name as took the stance and charged his spear with spear intent.
"Ho… spear intent you say? Then I will be your opponent…" (Rio)
[Sword Intent!]
Rio who had already dealt with all the iing arrows, signaled Liam with hand signs to step back and target the archer instead.
(Each awakener of the human empire is taught ''how to use hand signs tomunicate in battle'' during their academy years…)
Liam didn''t dy either and nodded his head.
He ced his wand on the ground and focused his perception on detection alone, to pinpoint the location of the opponent Archer.
Xagok who saw Rio pull out ''Sword Intent'' smiled happily.
"It''s rare to meet someone who can use sword intent, I look forward to what you can show me today… state your name, and let us fight to our heart''s content!" (Xagok)
Rio''s face remained expressionless as always, he raised his sword and ced it beside his waist.
Stretching out his right leg and after taking his stance, Rio replied to Xagok in his usual emotionless tone:
"Rio sh, a Swordsman… may the ''Flow'' enlighten us both..." (Rio)
"Indeed, May the ''flow'' enlighten us both..." (Xagok)
*Boom!*
After Rio and Xagokpleted their words, both of themunched at each other like a cannonball.
Rio''s sword intent shed with the spear intent and the collision of two ''legendary'' rank skills caused even the space to tremble.
A crazy smile appeared on Xagok''s face as he stared at Rio with great awe.
"Amazing! This precision! This force! You have achieved high precision over the ''flow'' haven''t you! Amazing!" (Xagok)
(For those who have forgotten what this ''flow'' they both are talking about is, go back to the group survival event and read it all over again... but in short, it refers to the flow of ''intent'' and ''mana'' used in skills like sword intent or spear intent...)
"You aren''t bad either…" (Rio)
[Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Rising spiral!]
Rio swung his sword in a down to upward motion and a massive thunder arcunched at Xagok at an insane speed.
[Spear Intent]
[Bear w style: Deflective push!]
Xagok''s spear carried out three consecutive strikes as if it was an attack from a bear''s w and he used that attack to deflect the trajectory of the thunder arc.
"Amazing, you deflected my attack… that''s quite a surprise…" (Rio)
Before Xagok could react, Rio had already appeared right beside him when he was distracted by deflecting the thunder arc.
[Elemental Sword Art: Moon type: Swift blow!]
Rio swung his sword in a circr arc and his sword which was enhanced with sword intent, easily caused lethal damage.
Xagok desperately tried to step back but due to Rio''s insane speed, he still got slightly scratched on the left side of his face.
Even that little scratch was enough though, it was a scratch caused by sword intent after all, the lingering energy of Rio''s sword intent directly destroyed Xagok''s left eye before he forcefully suppressed it with his mana.
Sword Intent and Spear intent, are lethal skills, even a little scratch from them is harmful if you don''t suppress the lingering energy around the wound on time with your mana.
The reason why Xagok was not able to react fast enough was because Rio is too fast.
…
…
Author''s Note.
Yo! It''s your beloved author here!
Rejoice! After so long you get to see Rio in battle, I rarely write battle scenes, so this is perhaps a breath of fresh air I guess…
Question of the day.
Would you like to experience what it feels like to be fighting Rio?
1. Yes (Please go to therapy…)
2. Nope (I would pass… don''t wanna get turned into ''finely sliced sd''…)
By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.