The remainder of the battle royale could only be described as a one-sided beat up.
The moment Victoria used her aquafire, her combat abilities instantly shot up to the peak of the iron rank and was nearing bronze.
Not only would her attacks inflict damage seen by both fire and water, but the effects were further magnified as the two elements seemed to complement each other greatly. Furthermore, it seemed to have a special characteristic as each time it came in contact with other attacks, it would eat them away like termites and destroy the attack before it could reach Victoria.
*BANG*
The last contestant was sent flying while coughing up blood and Victoria stood in the middle of either unconscious or incapacitated opponents.
For a long time, the crowd was silent. So silent that one could hear a pin drop. Everyone was shocked to their core and no matter how hard they searched their memories, they couldn't find anything even remotely similar to what Victoria just displayed.
The person in question deactivated her magic and she was suddenly overcome by a sense of weakness.
'Ugh, even though it's strong, it's also much higher than what my body can take. Other than that the energy consumption is stupid high.' Victoria immediately sensed her body's condition. Indeed, while her aquafire is strong, her body is not yet at the level of her magic, so using it will take a toll on her.
When Victoria deactivated her magic, the commentator somewhat regained his senses and said.
"T- The winner is Victoria Kingston." In truth, the battle royale ended a while ago as it was supposed to be the last remaining 16 contestants. But due to the shock everyone received, it only ended when Victoria beat everyone up. Apart from that, the commentator was meant to say 'the battle royale has ended and the contestants moving on to the round of 16 are...' But one again, due to the shock he received, he accidentally said that Victoria won.
Upon hearing the announcement, someone started to clap. And as if by agreement, the rest of the audience started to clap as well and soon the sound of clapping was heard throughout the arena.
Unlike the previous loud cheering, the clapping seemed to just be filled with respect and admiration. A child, someone who a large majority of the audience could double and even triple in age had done something that no one in the history of humankind since the catastrophe had done. She had fused two different magical elements together to create something that brought unbelievable results. She created a new magic.
In the VIP booth, all the powerhouses looked at Sarah and with a gaze that seemed to say 'Was this what you meant by she was holding back?'
Victoria's parents themselves were still in shock. When did she do this? However, the shocked soon turned to pride. Lloyd had a huge smile plastered on his face while Sarah was smirking slightly.
However, there was one person who was actually a unhappy about what was happening. This person was Gideon.
'Crap, now that she's revealed this then the protection around her will skyrocket.' Gideon thought while frowning as she deeply thought about how he could bring Victoria away without getting jumped by a gold rank or stronger mage.
&You don't need to worry, just get close enough to her and I'll handle the rest.& The world's consciousness suddenly sounded in his mind which stunned him briefly before he nodded and vanished.
At the same time, everyone in the VIP booth exited and slowly began to approach the arena while clapping as well. Saying they were impressed was an understatement.
"I don't think that there's any need for us to continue this tournament." Sarah said and everyone subconsciously nodded. If Victoria was capable of soloing the whole competition, then what was the point of continuing.
y daughter is a Kingston and is always numerous steps ahead of her peers, whether is magic or her studies. And she has just proved this point again by accomplishing something that has never been done before." Lloyd said with a gratified expression as he walked down with Sarah by his side.
"So I'm proud to say that-" Lloyd couldn't finish
his sentence before out oof nowhere, Sarah swiped her hand a thin black beam flew towards an area a few meters away from Victoria.
*ZING*
A thin line stretched across the entire arena and only stopped before the audience on that side. It happened so fast that most were unable to react.
"Show yourself." Sarah said in an icier tone than usual causing everyone to look towards the area near Victoria, Victoria included.
Slowly, a figure in a dark green hoodie with a face mask appeared right next to the thin line wearing a face mask. It was Gideon.
He gazed straight into his mother's eyes without any signs of backing off. Though he was still scared as hell by the previous attack.
'If I hadn't moved at that point in time, I would've been cut in two.' Indeed, as Gideon was getting closer to Victoria, his senses suddenly screamed danger while the system alerted him that a being way above his level was near. So he was barely able to dodge.
"Who are you?" Sarah's aura suddenly surged and bore down on Gideon like a mountain and instantly, he fell on one knee and blood leaked out of his nose, eyes and ears. He couldn't even unleash any of his skills to protect himself.
But despite this, he looked up with effort causing his state to worsen.
"Heh." A faint blue dome that looked very fragile surrounded him and Victoria who had moved to his side the moment this started, and the oppressing aura crushing him disappeared.
"What the?" Sarah said in shock, for some reason, when the barrier appeared, she instinctively knew that she wouldn't be able break through it even with her strongest attacks.
'Thanks.' Gideon said.
&Not a problem.&
Gideon then stood up with some effort and looked towards his parents who has yet to recognize him. His eyes were filled with hate, but more than that they were filled with pain.
Without and suspense, Gideon removed his mask which showed his gritted teeth.
"Recognize me now." His voice was filled with anger and while Sarah and Lloyd gasped.
"H- Gideon!?!." They both said I'm unison.
"Hmph, I'm surprised that you remember me." Gideon said disdainfully as he looked at his parents who were shocked.
"But the train crash. The reports said that everyone was dead!" Lloyd shouted in disbelief.
"Wait, s- silver rank?!?" They suddenly realized. How come the boy with trash talent was at this silver rank already.
"IS THAT SERIOUSLY WHAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT!?!" Gideon shouted enraged.
"No how did you survive, no where were you this whole time?! The first thing you're curious about after meeting you son who was Miss for YEARS is how he got stronger." At this point, his breaths were ragged while the crowd was confused. How come the Kingston's son who was presumed dead had suddenly returned.
"Tch, it doesn't matter. Release Victoria." Sarah said completely uncaring about this revelation.
Upon hearing this, Gideon's body began to tremble while he gripped his knuckle so tightly that his nails dug into his palms drawing blood.
"-uck you" He mumbled something.
"What?" Sarah was starting to get annoyed.
"FUCK YOU!" Gideon roared like an enraged animal.
"Are you even fucking human?" Everyone was surprised by the outburst.
"For years, I trained, I shed my blood, sweat and tears trying to improve just so that I could please you, gain your recognition. At some point I thought I was was the problem, that maybe if I had higher talent then none of this would have ever happened." Gideon was finally releasing his heartfelt emotions after so long.
"Training my body until muscles tore. Meditating for hours on end without sleep till I almost lost mind. As my parents you should have seen the effort I was putting in to try and gain your recognition, to make you say 'I'm proud of you.' Yet you only called me a disappointment. It was then that I had begun to see, see that I wasn't to problem. IT WAS YOU FUCKERS!" Gideon screamed.
"You think you have children so that they can become powerful, you think you have children just so that people will envy at their talent? NO, you have them so that you can raise them into good and upright citizens of society. Yet you threw that all away just because of status." Gideon was crying.
"And stupidly enough, even Victoria, someone who I can argue is the most talented person on the planet only had it slightly better. No matter how hard she tries, you always give her the impression that it's not good enough. EVEN THOUGH SHE'S DOING WHAT YOU WOULD'VE NEVER ACHIEVED IN YOU WORTHLESS LIVES. I spent years in the wilderness surviving against monsters that could destroy cities, I survived being poisoned, stabbed, slashed, mind controlled.I survived all of it. But I'm sure you don't even care, because I'm not 'talented enough'." He said the last words mockingly.
"But I guess it's not your fault, maybe it's you own parents that gave you this mentality. But I might be wrong." He said with a sad smile and all of a sudden, a soft blue light erupted below their feet and pierced into the sky and their bodies began to fade away. And when they finally did, three words sounded once again.
"We hate you."