??*The final battle, the battle to decide the supreme talent, the battle to figure out the champion of this tournament, is about to start!*


    *3!... 2!...1!... Fight!*


    A smirk appeared on Rio''s face when he heard the word fight.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Earth Type: Shattered Valley!]


    Rio''s sword touched the ground and split the ground in two in a single attack. The earth valley instantly destroyed the whole stadium ground, and debris flew into the air like crazy.


    If it were someone else, Rio and Link would have used big moves as starting moves, but they both knew about each other, so they didn''t use any big moves from the get-go.


    Even if they use big attacks from the start, neither side will be affected much; instead, it will waste mana too much, thus creating a disadvantage for yourself.


    The ground below Link''s feet copsed, but he didn''t care about it at all.


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon Arts: Shockwave buster!]


    With the help of Dao Rhythm, Link didn''t fall down after the ground copsed; instead, he stood in the air and carried out his attack.


    His punch created massive air pressure and instantly swept away all of the debris that was flying in the air.


    With that shockwave, he forcefully cleared the dust in the air and returned visibility to normal.


    But Rio didn''t care a bit; he already expected that this simple attack wouldn''t do any damage to Link.


    ''Link certainly can use ''Dao Rhythm'' more efficiently now ifpared to the time when he first learned it during the dungeon of maya...''


    ''But he consumes more mana whenpared to me, as I have more mastery over my ''sword intent''... I just need to make him waste his mana.''


    Rio''s control and mastery over his sword intent is very precise and efficient. He''s been training his sword intent longer than Link has trained his dao rhythm.


    Rio can even use sword intent without even the need for a sword. (Like he does when he pranks Lia by making his hand cold...)


    But Link can''t do all of this yet; he hasn''t mastered the dao rhythm to that extent.


    So, if Rio can make Link use the dao rhythm again and again, he will eventually run out of mana.


    Moreover, drinking mana potions is against the rules of the tournament, so Link can''t replenish his mana once he''s out of mana.


    That''s when Rio will be able to do some decent damage.


    ''But still, this strategy has many loopholes... I would rather hope my other strategies work out...''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Ice Type: Absolute Freezing Point!]


    Rio held nothing back in this fight; usually he never uses elements other than fire, wind, and thunder, but today was different, and he didn''t hesitate to show that he can use other elements too.


    He himself doesn''t have aptitude for so many elements; it''s just that his sword art is of high rank and can help turn his mana into different types of elementals, that can be used to fight.


    Rio swung his sword in an upward motion, and the whole valley that he created was covered in thick ice in an instant.


    Moreover, the ice shards were pointed and sharp; if Link hadn''t covered himself with Dao Rhythm, he certainly would have gotten a few small cuts all over his body.


    *Crack!*


    Link shook his hand, and the ice on his hand cracked and broke apart in an instant.


    He''s considerably slower whenpared to Rio, so it''s difficult to properly dodge Rio''s attack.


    [Draconic Movement Art!]


    Link didn''t initially intend to learn this movement art, but Rio''s exceptional speedpelled him to devise countermeasures, necessitating the learning of this movement art in order to keep up with Rio''s pace.


    Even though he was barely able to keep up with Rio''s base speed, Link was already quite happy. (Rio isn''t using ''concentration'' and ''Darkwing movement arts'' yet, thus his base speed is slower...)


    Using the movement art, Link dodged those spear-like ice attacks and made his way towards Rio. But it''s obvious that Rio won''t let him get close so easily.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Overwhelming Tsunami!]


    Rio ced his sword around his waist and swung it in a horizontal manner.


    A massive amount of water elements condensed around his sword, and a tsunami was created out of thin air in an instant.


    Seeing that a tsunami hade his way, Link was totally unbothered; he had already covered himself with Dao Rhythm, and nothing could go past his defense at this point.


    [Dragon Arts: Ice dragon''s breath!]


    Obviously, Link''s dragon art is not inferior to Rio''s sword art.


    When he punched toward the massive tsunami, ice elements condensed around his punch and directly froze the watering his way.


    Moreover, the shockwave produced by his punch even shattered the frozen ice, clearing the view in front of him.


    The water that wasn''t frozen fell on him, but it did no harm as he was covered in Dao rhythm all over his body.


    "You will have to be more aggressive if you want tond a hit on me, Rio!"


    Link stomped the ground, and the whole stadium ground cracked in an instant; even the SS-rank barrier trembled for a millisecond from the might of that stomp.


    [Dragon Arts: Dragon''s Might!]


    Link''s aura condensed and covered the whole area in his draconic might, making the mana sluggish in the area.


    Although this will obviously affect him too, the biggest advantage of this will be that Rio''s long-range elemental attacks won''t be as effective as before.


    When pressured by a dragon''s might, even mana feels sluggish; that''s why Link used this.


    His own mana will not be sluggish because he has used this technique, but Rio will definitely be affected by it.


    His base speed will drastically slow down, and Link will be able to see his attacking.


    This is the solution that Link came up with. (Yeah, this technique wasn''t originally a part of this ''dragon art''; Link personally created this technique to deal with Rio specifically…)


    ''And this isn''t all!''


    [Dragon Arts: Dragon''s Domain!]


    Using Link as a center, a massive field unfolded and covered the entire stadium; if not for the SS-rank barrier, it could have spread even further. (It''s simr to Ellie''s shadow field or Arner''s static field…)


    Not only did that field give Link a higher sensitivity to Rio''s attack, but it also helped him improve his attack damage in that small range.


    Although this would not have worked on Rio if the battlefield was bigger, right now they are confined inside an SS-rank barrier, so Link can easily force Rio to stay in his field.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wood Type: Wooden Spikes!]


    Rio ced the tip of his sword on the ground, and a massive wooden spike burst out from the ground andunched at Link at an immense speed.


    But due to the effects of the dragon field, Link was able to keep up with Rio''s attack speed; he dodged those wooden spikes and punched quite a few of them head-on.


    He suffered no damage due to Dao Rhythm.


    Although Link seemed to have gained an advantage, he wasn''t pleased at all.


    He had already expended a significant amount of mana by continuously using Dao Rhythm, and his efficiency was low, resulting in significant mana waste.


    The longer this fight drags on, the more things will get difficult for him.


    On the other hand, Rio hasn''t even used his sword intent yet.


    ''He''s dragging the fight on purpose…''


    Link also figured out Rio''s n in that moment, but there was no other way.


    He can''t stop his Dragon Field or Dao rhythm now; otherwise, he won''t be able to keep up with Rio''s speed.


    ''Tch, I must settle this battle quickly; the more it drags, the more I will get at a disadvantage!''


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Shockwave!]


    ''I have only recently created it, so I don''t have many techniques in it, but this one should work!''


    Rio''s insane and vast amount of abilities forced Link to create his own technique. He had to create this technique, especially to counter Rio''s insane speed.


    A spatial shockwave travels through the spacetime fabric itself; thus, its speed has no limits at all.


    It''s basically a copy of Ashtel''s world authority. Link was able to create a technique out of an SS-ranker''s world authority… That''s absolutely insane!


    Only someone as insane as Link could attempt to copy a world authority and turn it into a technique of his own.


    (Ashtel was right; Link will surpass him eventually… This guy is insane!!)


    That shockwave attack had a speed that even Rio couldn''t defend against, as it was traveling right through the space-


    time fabric with no restrictions on it.


    That attack forced Rio to bring out his trump cards; the ordinary-looking ring on his finger shone, and the shadow robe instantly covered his whole body.


    That shock wave passed right through Rio and didn''t harm him at all.


    Link''s normal punches are already extremely strong, and right now this attack not only had an insane speed, it was enhanced by ''Dao Rhythm''.


    If Rio had confronted this attack directly, he probably would have fractured all the bones in his arms and upper torso, leaving him with no alternative but to utilize that shadow robe.


    And Link was waiting for this exact moment.


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Rush!]


    ''Dao Rhythm'', ''Draconic movement art'', ''Dragon Field'' and this spatial rush technique, Link used all of them at the same time to give himself a push.


    At this moment, his speed became equal to Rio''s.


    ''I have seen that robe many times; you think I don''t have any countermeasures for it by now?"


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Bypass!]


    Link''s punch bypassed Rio''s shadow robe as he manipted the space-time fabric itself, and for the first time, Linknded a direct hit on Rio with such massive force.


    *Boom!*


    Rio flew away like a cannon ball from the impact of that punch, hitting the SS-rank barrier in an instant.


    That single attack shattered his internal organs and cracked his ribs, causing him to vomit a mouthful of blood.


    Rio wasn''t using his ''DarkWing Movement Art'' at that moment, so he was taken aback by the sudden increase in Link''s speed, and that single millisecond of carelessness cost him a lot.


    …


    …


    Author Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Link really is a menace, bro; he literally created a new martial art technique out of nowhere, just so he can deal with Rio. That''s insane, bruh. Extremely insane!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Rio will be able to keep up with Link until he runs out of mana?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    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.