After arriving at the arena, they could see the half-bull, half-men group on the other side looking at them. However, Yasenia realized that there weren't five people, only four. 'Oh? One of them died?'
Cecile commented. 'It was probably on the fourth floor. It was quite a lethal one. There are many groups without five people who have qualified.'
Andrea asked. 'Why did they participate? Isn't it a big disadvantage?'
Yasenia pondered and answered. 'If the remaining people are strong enough, there is a chance to win. Look at them, they managed to pass a round even with one person down.'
The girls agreed.
"Hey."
Yasenia and the girls were about to leave when they heard a gruff voice calling them.
They turned around and looked at the tall bull-man with neutral expressions. Yasenia answered. "Yes?"
The bull-man scratched his horn and spoke. "We just didn't have a choice, the Silent Fang Sect-."
Yasenia interrupted. "You made your choice."
The bull-man paused, and Yasenia said indifferently. "Now, it is time to reap what you sow. However, I will at least tell you one thing: If you surrender, you might avoid heavy injuries."
Then, she turned around and left. Kali asked while looking back. "Isn't that too harsh?"
Yasenia snorted. "If they could, we would've been killed by them. Now that they've understood our strength, they are asking for mercy. The world is not that gentle, and neither am I. Regret is a bitter pill that's hard to swallow, but I won't be the one telling them not to do so."
Kali didn't say anything else. After all, what Yasenia said was the truth. If the bull-men found them weak, they would've most likely killed them to gain favor from the previous Nine Sect.
After that, they all went their way and put the names for the order of the fight.
Yasenia jumped down into the arena from their room, elegantly landing.
"10…"
"9…"
Yasenia stood on the other side with indifferent eyes, and then she released her auras.
A wind blast struck the arena one after another as Yasenia's presence grew exponentially. What felt first as a powerful aura was now a tyrannical hurricane.
Then, not taking a single moment of leisure, Yasenia summoned her sword and chanted. "[Day And Night Cycle]."
There was a second silence as energy swiftly rushed toward Yasenia before the World was ripped asunder by the explosive sound of her aura becoming crazily intense.
"2…"
"1…"
"Fight!"
Yasenia's mouth opened, and she ignored the bull-man who shot at her right as the battle started. Like the whisper from the sky, her voice spread around in a beautiful melody.
"The [Moonless Night],
The begging,
The [Starry sky]
The following
[Crescent Moon] birthed
By the time flowing."
Yasenia gently spun once, spreading her [Moonless Night] domain enhanced by Day and Night, and right after, she slashed at the charging minotaur several times in a second, sending a barrage of silver crescents.
Feeling the devastating power behind the silver crescents, the bull-man was forced to block them and stop approaching.
His mace slammed against the first, and to his absolute surprise, his hoofed foot couldn't help but drag on the hard ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Each time he used his mace, he took a step back, and his arms trembled at the heavy attack.
When he saw a chance, the bull-man stomped the ground and suddenly accelerated in a semi-circular motion, rushing at Yasenia.
The dragoness unhurriedly chanted again, her celestial voice echoing like the call of the stars: Mysterious, powerful, and beautiful.
"The [Crescent moon] grows,
Becoming [Full moon].
[Waning Moon] appears,
When I chant in tune."
Yasenia sent another barrage, but knowing that they probably would be unable to stop him, she spun the sword once and stabbed it downwards. Simultaneously, [Waning Moon] was deployed, enhancing her attacks with the Moon's silver frost.
The bull-man saw a silver sphere spreading from the place where Yasenia stood, but he didn't give it much thought and continued advancing. He quickly and agilely dodged a few of Yasenia's [Draconic Crescent Moon] attacks and blocked the rest, receiving a few of them with his body to reach Yasenia's side the quickest possible.
When he arrived and slammed his fist on the silver sphere, he thought that it would break and let him blast through. After all, he had used one of his strongest skills on it. Still, the sphere completely absorbed his attack, not showing a single scratch. 'What!?'
The punch he had delivered was enough to level an entire mountain, and yet, the sphere was intact. The reason for this was because of the extra effect [Full Moon] could deliver when used during the Full Moon or during [Day and Night]. Regardless of anything, it would block one attack that was weaker than one realm above Yasenia's strength.
The dragoness wouldn't let such a chance go, and she continued her song to the stars. Her tone changed from an alluring whisper to an enthralling chant.
"[Dawn] approaches
The Moon disappears
And with the Sun
The [Starfall] nears."
As her words foretold, Yasenia rushed forward and quickly reached his side, lifting her sword high and slashing it downward.
The bull-man was naturally not standing still and retaliated. "Fighting me head-on!? You are overestimating yourself!"
Yasenia's draconic eyes kept their indifference as her sword descended, unleashing [Draconic Dawn].
BOOOM!
Sword and mace collided in a tremendous explosion and pushed both sides, sliding 100 steps back. Yasenia then pointed to the sky, and the bull-man followed her finger.
Right after, his eyes widened as thousands of white stars floated in the middle of a phantom night sky. "W-When?"
However, there was no verbal answer. Only [Starfall] answered by forcing all the stars to rush at him like rain.
A cacophony of explosions swallowed his figure, making it appear as if Yasenia had won the battle. Even then, the dragoness didn't stop her chant. Her voice, firm, and resolute, echoed in the entire place.
"The [Sunrise] came
And lit up the sky.
Time will claim,
A sky full of white."
Golden fire surrounded her figure and coiled around her giant sword like fire snakes. Then, she placed the sword pointing backward and shot forward while using [Pegasus Gallop].
Her body blurred as she rushed forward to what it seemed, hitting the man who was already down. But, to the spectator's surprise, the bull-man appeared with a maddened face and bloodshot eyes from the place where all of Yasenia's star fell.
His body was covered in injuries, with some patches of skin peeled off and showing the red muscles underneath.
Unlike his body, his aura was terrifyingly high. Yasenia quickly judged that he had used some kind of berserk skill. However, following her plan, she used [Draconic Sunrise] and began unleashing a firestorm of golden flames at him, further damaging him.
However, Yasenia's eyes widened slightly as the bull-man ignored everything and arrived by her side, slamming his mace down at her. The pressure that the mace strike carried made even Yasenia feel a sudden chill, forcing her to make a last-moment adjustment.
Instead of delivering her strike with all her strength as she initially planned, she tilted her sword just right so that the mace would be redirected by it.
CLANG!
BOOM!
Both weapons were repelled and struck the ground with giant explosions. In the middle of it, a pair of bloodshot eyes met with Yasenia's shining golden eyes for a brief moment.
Right after, both sides started exchanging attacks at ridiculous speeds.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
While their exchange continued, Yasenia's eyes analyzed his movements and uncontrolled attacks. Her sword smashed against the mace one time after another, creating chipping marks all over it.
The dragoness could continue like this, but the inner heat accumulated by each [Draconic Sunrise] released this way made her insides swell in Sun Energy.
After a while, the dragoness chanted and created a chance for herself. First, she released a powerful [Cosmic Sun Nova], the attack she learned from the Body Cultivation technique. This attack created a massive Sun Energy explosion and forced the injured bull-man away.
Then, as imposing as the midday Sun, her voice echoed together with a dragon roar.
"[Sunrise] passes
It is now [Noon] time!
My light purifies
All those who begrime!"
Crazed by his berserker skills, the bull-man ignored the blinding golden light and rushed forward like a mad bull.
Yasenia took a step forward, and as if moving the enormous sword pointing to the sky was a tremendously arduous task, she lowered while her throat vibrated with a dragon roar. "ROAR!"
WHOOOM!
The world got drowned in white light as [Draconic Noon] swallowed half of the arena in a terrifyingly hot atmosphere.
The dragoness's face didn't change as she continued her chant in a dignified tone.
"Time passes
The [Sun set]s
Becoming ashes
is its success."
Her energy spiked, ready to rush forward, but the judge appeared before her. "You won. Stop."
Yasenia quickly stopped her charge and looked between the judge and the bull-man. "While I can't see him, I can feel that he is still standing."
The judge shook his head and waved his hand to dispel the smoke, revealing an utterly charred bull-man.
While he was standing in a defensive position, his skin had turned black in many places, and even his weapon had shown damage in various places.
Yasenia hummed and nodded. "I see. Good call, Mister Judge. I might've accidentally killed him."
The judge nodded and went to help move the bull away while Yasenia turned around and left.
Once she returned, she released a breath and nodded to herself. 'Good fight. He was strong, but thanks to Day and Night's combination, I could overpower him. Moreover, I avoided using Celestial Energy, just in case. While his berserk was strong enough to tank [Starfall] with his bare body while receiving minor injuries, it was not enough to take [Draconic Noon] at full power head-on. He would've probably done better without activating that.'
"Yasenia?"
The dragoness blinked and reacted to Andrea's voice, looking over. "Yes, Darling?"
Andrea smiled as she looked at Yasenia up and down. "Did you get hurt, love?"
Yasenia chuckled. "Nothing wrong. I have a few fractures in the bones because of the collisions, but they are almost healed. Honey, it is your turn next, right?"
Kali smiled and nodded. "It is."
Yasenia walked over, giving her a tight, encouraging hug. "Good luck, my love."
Kali burst into laughter. "What good luck? Didn't you tell me to use Valeria this time around?"
Yasenia chuckled. "Well, a small cheer won't hurt anybody, right, Sweetheart?"
Cecile, at the side, nodded. "Good luck."
Kali laughed and jumped into the arena. She looked at the other person and said aloud. "Surrender. The skill I will use has a chance of instantly killing you. If you don't, I've said my piece, and the judge can be witness."
The bull-man on the other side frowned. "No need to act like that. Just do your worst. Our trained bodies are not so weak that they would fall in just one hit from a junior."
Kali looked at him and sighed. 'Sadly for you, what I'm about to hit you with is not a "junior." Quite the opposite, actually.'
The countdown started, and Kali didn't even bother using any other skill besides reinforcement skills. Finally, at the end of the timer, Kali chanted. "Come Forth, [Innate Skill: Nature Dragon Spirit Queen]. Show my enemies what despair truly means."
Valeria appeared silently with closed eyes amidst a beautiful whirlpool of flowers. When the timer hit zero, she slowly opened them and acquiesced. "Yes, My Master."
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Author Note: Hello, dear~. I have a P****** page! P******.com/mortrexo. I'm uploading the art of the novel, which has 45+ completed images, 110+ sketches, and 15+ chapters compared to the daily. Moreover, it is for both [Heaven, Earth, Me] and [Ascension of the Sylvan cosmos]! Also, there is ZERO AI art. All the art I've uploaded has been hand-drawn.
Much love and hugs,
Mortrexo.