Chapter 35: Overwhelming Duels
Eyes couldn't turn away from this supposed duel? No...what was going on now was just pure suppression! And all of it stemmed from a fairy-like girl with a massive smile on her face.
Watching Luka pitifully squirm under her bloodline aura was almost too good of a sight for Aniela.
The way his expression still morphed into one of desperate fear and his legs yet to lose that wobbling brought about a sense of satisfaction in Aniela.
She can admit it; she no way near as vicious as she knows Darcel could get. But experiencing more and more full-fledged fights, she knew a hidden savage side in her was slowly awakening.
A savage, feral side to oneself can be immensely off-putting to others. Even with all these tremendous power humans can get, most don't want to lose their humanity and just become needlessly cruel.
Yet, Aniela and even Darcel saw no harm in enjoying ruthlessly stomping on their foes. It was just simply exciting for them to do. Especially when it's someone who continually disrespects them.
Before altogether ending things, Aniela still wanted to squeeze out a lost drop of fun from the struggling Luka. Slowly, Luka watched as Aniela raised her hand at him and mockingly beckon him over, saying,
"Well?! Let me see the power of your blood essence if you're going to make a big deal out of it!"
Fear and humiliation mixed with unending pain as Luka felt massive frustration swell up inside him. He knows she's stronger, he can sense she's stronger, but dammit, he can't accept getting looked down upon!
Breaking down his body further, Luka surprisingly stood against Aniela's tremendous aura pressure!
Forcefully, he raised his hammer to the skies, gathering massive waves of Nascent Qi for an all-out Martial Skill.
Luka truly was putting all his might into this attack. A valiant effort Aniela even had to claim. But a cruel haze entered her eyes as she pointed her rapier to Luka's hammer.
Faster than Luka and even most students in the stands could see, a whitish black flame blasted out with ferocious intensity from Aniela's rapier tip!
The whip tore through the air, sailing at high speed to a wide eye Luka.
He was utterly helpless against this kind of speed and could only watch in despair as Aniela's searing whip flew a bit above him.
'Bang!'
The bright, shining purple hammer shot out of Luka's hand as Aniela's whip effortlessly overpowered it. Luka's arms trembled non stop, feeling bones broke upon the violent impact.
Before he could even see where his hammer flew off too, Luka witnessed a second whitish black flaming whip blitz towards him. Against all the odds, Luka instinctively reacted and struck out with his heavily damaged right arm.
Full power Nascent Qi came spewing out of Luka's fist, soaring to meet the frenzied power of Aniela's Profound Qi flaming whip.
And before they clash, Luka already felt his Nascent Qi severely suppressed by Aniela's prowess.
"Bang!"
"GAHH!!"
Like a bullet, Luka shot backward while spurting out blood! That one whip utterly destroyed his right arm, setting his hand on fire and causing massive wracks of pain.
However, this nightmare power wasn't quite over yet. A sudden gust of wind caused even more fear in Luka. Popping out of thin air for him, Aniela's purple rapier came sailing towards his right shoulder.
At this point, Aniela simply could've let Luka ragdoll off stage. But she had to set an example on her fighting style for all students to see. Plus, she also wanted to try a small experiment.
'Chi!'
Fresh blood gushed into the wind as Aniela quickly pierced Luka's shoulder like it was made up of tofu. For a single second, Luka was utterly silent. And then...utter nightmarish pain!
"AHHHH!!!"
Luka's anguish shouts spewed out in the arena, being akin to the shrieks of a dying pig. Inside his body, raging fire rampaged there, sizzling his bones and organs.
Though, in her bloodline state, Aniela managed to control her fire to not kill the boy. However, after only a second, Luka promptly passed out as the pain was far too unbearable to stand.
Witnessing this, Aniela shrugged and pulled her rapier out of Luka.
Blood pooled down his body and Aniela's rapier, creating a quite graphic horrifying scene. Turning off her bloodline aura, Aniela went back to her usual lively self.
Her bloodied rapier flashed back insider her spatial ring like nothing even happened.
Luka's unconscious body crashed into the stone floor, forming a pool of blood under him. Simentasnouly, the whole arena was utterly silent.
Aniela kept her head held up high though she sensed something swiftly approaching.
Taking a few steps back and glancing down at Luka, like an actual ghost, a man in a professional doctor suit came and whisked Luka away. Seeing this for a second time, Aniela frankly wondered if all doctors specialized in speed.
Though Aniela was nonchalant about her victory, students and teachers alike had one big question on their minds. Just what the hell...what the hell did they witness?!
Among all confused and awe stares, Aniela walked with a chip in her step to Teacher Ren. Basking in the utter glory of shocking ignorant people certainly felt good!
"Excuse me, Teacher Ren, but I think I should be getting my sweet rewards from battle?" Aniela's voice still was bubbly, cheerful, and sweet to listen to. It had also broken everyone out of their awe stares.
"She-she...that's a genius…"
"There's no other acceptable term other than genius for her!"
"This is...my eyes….I still can't believe what happen…"
Chaotic murmurs of awe students ranged throughout the whole arena. Jumping up a whole realm to utterly crush that foe? The only way to describe this is a true genius!
Aniela, the supposed dirty cheater, is actually a hidden profound genius?! No matter how ridiculous it sounded, Aniela really did just beat a Nascent Core student with the sheer power of the Supreme Order level.
Furthermore, she also holds this odd majestic power that significantly boosts her prowess! Numi, Opin, Cusi couldn't move from their seats at all.
They couldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Qi Formation Sea geniuses compared to her!
All the while, Hao Cao kneen interest in Aniela had majorly increased. But her eyes had actually darted over to the lone Darcel. Fervent anticipation built up inside her, watching him now.
"Ah-ah! Right...you will be granted with thirty red crystals as per rules." Teacher Ren woke up from his stupor about Aniela. Suffice to say his world was rocked, similar to the others.
Not only that, this would be the first time in his history where's he granting red crystals to initiate level students.
Pushing this conflicting thought down, Teacher Ren fished out a dark blue sack from his spatial ring.
Handing it to Aniela, she dazzlingly smiled at Teacher Ren while putting the sack in her spatial ring. Swiftly, she turned around from him and got off stage to meet up with Darcel.
"So~? Did you enjoy my little show for you~?" Using a seductive teasing tone only granted for him, Aniela slithered up close to Darcel. She enjoyed acting coy a lot with Darcel, though he rarely gets riled up.
Forming a small smile at her, Darcel began patting her lushes soft hair, making Aniela cooed into his touch. Boldly he told her, "Not even a god could look away when you spew out your endless supply of energy. But now, you should prepare to watch my style of a show."
"Oh?! You're going to put on an even bigger act than me?!" Aniela was excited in seeing how Darcel will increase their prestige. She only hopes he doesn't go overboard and ends crippling that Giel kid.
"That's why I say prepare. It's a returning trick I already showed you before, just recently, in fact." Darcel simply said mysteriously. But not mysterious enough as he saw Aniela's eyes spark up in realization.
While Darcel and Aniela had their usual calm bantering talk, Giel was sweating hard. He wasn't foolish enough to believe Darcel wouldn't hold a similar power to Aniela.
They practically never separated since coming to this Academy! And going by the full aura he felt from Aniela, he could tell if he was fighting her, Aniela would probably crush him just like with Luka.
He was confident in his power but wasn't a huge blind fool. However, after coming this far into the duel, how could he simply just back down? He'll only lose face without even seeing Darcel fight!
"Giel...maybe...maybe he's isn't strong as her? There's just bound to be some differences between them...right?" Gorga attempted to offer some words of encouragement, yet he was also feeling utter despair about Aniela's prowess.
Giel didn't even register what his brother said.
Without another word, he jumped on the center stage, making all eyes come on to him. His eyes glared to where the duo stood, only to feel a slight loss seeing Darcel be so calm.
Darcel and Aniela glanced over to the stage, seeing Giel jump on it. Reluctantly Darcel stopped patting Aniela's head and flashed her a knowing smile.
She had the same smile too as eagerness swelled inside her chest.
Like unspoken communication, Darcel nodded at her and promptly jumped up on stage. Slowly and dauntingly, Darcel walked up to the center stage, pulling all eyes on him.
"So...that guy going to fight too, huh…" Numi muttered out a bit breathlessly, his mind still already spawning several ideas about Darcel.
"Just look at the way he walks...already he built up massive anticipation inside, well, all of us." Cusi also remarked, feeling the clear expectation cut through the air.
Similar to Giel, all other students heard Darcel and Aniela just always stick together no matter what. And if that's true...then he's probably bound to have an incredible talent!
Hao Cao showed a much more intense interest with Darcel compared to Aniela. She doesn't even know if his prowess could match hers, yet her eyes were glued to this duel.
Instructor Lei and Teacher Zala quickly focus on Darcel, putting down their shock about Aniela for later. Depending on how he does will dictate their futures about these kids.
Teacher Ren was silent, watching Darcel and Giel stand ten feet apart from each other. One was at the Supreme Order level of the Qi Formation sea realm, and the other was a fourth level Nascent Core talent.
Before Aniela's fight, he and everyone else would share a hearty laugh at this standoff.
But now?
No one had that much thought in doubting Darcel since the impossible was already broken once today.
Crossing eyes with each other, Darcel could see the massive nervousness in Giel's eyes. Giel saw this as a fight for his life and reputation while Darcel just wanted to let loose for a bit.
"Begin!"
Teacher Ren called out once again to signify the start of the battle. And this time, tremendous waves of power gushed out of the youths already!
"Whir!!"
Black fire crazily spewed out in the arena as Darcel gained his black flaming aura and brought his purple rapier. And trying to match his aura was the vague blue aura of a new power Darcel didn't sense before but quickly identified it.
Giel used the power of Sword Qi!
It was sharp, refined, and incredibly potent to others, and Giel also held a straight silver sword. Fourth-level Nascent Core aura desperately tried to match Darcel's Supreme Order aura's incomparably deep power.
Giel was gritting his teeth a bit while the stadium was stun, but their suspicious was also just confirmed! Just slightly more did Darcel manage to outmatch Giel's aura!
Clearly, the students could sense Darcel's aura more than Giel. Exactly like Aniela, he already showed himself to be a threatening opponent.
However, Darcel wasn't going to be just like Aniela. And it was time to unveil his little trick.
Much faster than Giel trying to maximize his sword aura, Darcel gathered a massive amount of Profound Qi into his rapier. Instantly the power he was swirling caused Giel's and everyone else faces to drop.
Giel was just finishing unleashing his full aura prowess when a tremendous suffocation power wrapped up his entire body. It severely suppressing every inch of his being.
All of it was just far too fast for him to even comprehend! As in the very next second, Darcel's voice boomed out in the arena.
"Fiery Slice!"
Hearing the name called pushed people into further awe since Darcel was perfectly using a Martial Skill!
'Chi!'
In utter shock, Giel watched as an enormous line of black flames came blitzing towards him. The power behind this attack nearly locked up his joints in pure suppression.
But Giel wasn't content going down like this.
"GEH!! SWORD FORMATION!!"
Roaring in fierce indignation, Giel hastily swirled his Nascent Qi into his sword. His attempt at a Martial defensive skill came in the form of a translucent blue barrier Nascent Sword Qi.
His silver sword glowed the same bright blue as Giel raised it to meet Darcel's attack head-on.
'BOOOM!!'
The tremendous explosion of Profound Qi shattering Nascent Qi blasted everyone's eardrums. Black fire crazily rampaged on the stage as Giel shot backward like a cannonball.
"GE-AH!!"
Forcefully, Giel grounded his body, rolling on stage as pain wracked his body, and nearly all feeling in his arm was gone! He coughed up blots of blood in a kneeling position and tore his eyes to his sword arm.
Terror entered his eyes once he noticed the mangled state of his arm. His uniform sleeve was ruined, exposing his bare bloody arm. Gorey red flesh sizzled off his arm as the black fire raged about there.
Giel froze in a cold sweat for a second. He was sure, just now, his aura was only slightly weaker than Darcel. But why...why did this attack overpowered him so much!
Nearly over half of his Nascent Qi was depleted, just barely defending that attack, leaving him only a small portion. Blood still trailed down from his mouth, and his chest violently heaved.
Giel wasn't in the right state of mind to understand it, but others certainly did. Darcel's level of power showed off with a Martial Skill only means he achieved Perfection Mastery over it!
When one perfected any kind of Martial Skill, the power they could exude would be significantly multiplied in a single attack. And Darcel achieved this result in two days!
Moreover, what people didn't know was his skill as well was amplified by his more profound understanding of the Element of Fire.
Giel was in complete pain, despair, and unwilling shock. But like rapid-fire, an aura...an overwhelming aura caused him and everyone to fall into an enchanted daze.
This power...it couldn't be! But they couldn't deny it, Darcel was unleashing a newfound prowess similar to the white glow of Aniela's!
Hastily Giel's head jerked up towards Darcel, who was slowly gaining a mystifying black glow.
Darcel cracked open a cold condescending smile at Giel as he slowly unleashed his bloodline. Mockingly he taunted to Giel saying,
"Didn't I tell you before to come with your best method to expose a cheater like me?"