"Go."
With a swift motion, Eon threw the scythe toward Ella, a deadly arc of motion cutting through the frozen air.
The audience gasped as they watched the scythe hurtling toward Ella. The Fire Golem, still frozen in place, was no help now. Ella didn't have time to react, and the scythe struck her squarely, its blade sinking into her abdomen with a sickening thud.
"Argh…"
Ella screamed as the time was unfrozen, the force of the blow sending her tumbling backward. The momentum from the impact caused her to crash to the ground.
The entire arena was silent for a moment, stunned by the sudden turn of events. As they weren't affected by the time freeze, they saw Eon and Ella charging at each other. Ella and her golem were frozen, and then Eon kicked her. Ella tried to counterattack. But, she and her golem were once again frozen. Eon somehow summoned a death scythe, which was supposed to be Rael's Arcana spirit. The death scythe stabbed Ella, and voila, she lost the match.
Yeah, it was quite difficult for them to process all of this. How could anyone fight this thing?
Being overpowered by the opponent is one thing but not being able to fight is quite messed up. The supporters of Raphael now couldn't help but worry about him. After all, so far, he only showcased his Arcana spirit's prowess. If Eon can freeze the time and kick him out, he could lose.
Regardless, Eon's fanbase suddenly surged with this battle.
The Proctor quickly recovered, his voice ringing through the Arena.
"Ella is out of bounds. Eon Garcia wins!" the Proctor announced as the crowd erupted into cheers.
As she looked across the platform with her fist raised to the audience, she caught a glimpse of Rael, who was watching from the sidelines. A small, satisfied smile tugged at her lips. "I did it, bro."
"Eon" "Eon" "Eon" "Eon"
The crowd continued to roar with excitement, chanting her name for a while until the next set of contestants were called by the Proctor.
"Arjuna of the Kuru Clan, Nigel of the Griffin House. Step onto the platform."
The third battle was contested by a prince from the Kuru Dynasty—a kingdom in the east-central region of the continent and a young noble of the Griffin House—a powerful noble family that governs the Duchy of Reverie.
Originally, Prince Arjuna wouldn't be eligible to participate in this tournament as his origins lie with another kingdom. However, due to the accidental killing of an innocent civilian, his father—Pandu, the former king of Kuru Dynasty, punished himself and his own family for a 14-year exile from the kingdom. They ended up living in Camelot as commoners, not intending to accept any favor from King Arthur.
Nigel Griffin and Prince Arjuna faced each other, summoning their respective Arcana spirits.
As the two contestants ascended the platform, the air in the arena seemed to shift. On one side stood Nigel Griffin, brandishing his halberd, an imposing weapon gleaming with runes of fire and lightning, crackling faintly with energy. Opposite him was Prince Arjuna, his robes simple but elegant, marked with faint golden embroidery. In his hand was the celestial bow Gandiva, its faint ethereal glow hinting at the divinity it contained.
The crowd buzzed with anticipation. The Kuru Clan prince, though technically a foreigner, had quickly earned a reputation for his composure and precision throughout the battles so far, while Nigel Griffin, a proud grandnephew of the Duke of Reverie, was a fan favorite because of his dual element manipulation. Arcana Masters possessing dual Arcana spirits were rare to find but possessing dual elements was even rarer.
Nigel raised his halberd, pointing it directly at Arjuna. His tone was mocking as he spoke, his voice amplified enough to reach the first few rows of the stands.
"Hey Brown-skinned foreigner, I heard you're the son of a disgraced king. You must be quite thick-skinned, showing up here like this. Some people even call you a prince in exile—what a joke!"
The crowd gasped at the blatant insult, a murmur rippling through the stands. But Arjuna remained calm. He smiled faintly, shaking his head.
"If you were older, I might be offended as you really meant what you say. But coming from an ignorant child who was trying to put up airs? It's just amusing," he said, his voice steady and confident. It was indeed a great quality for a ten-year-old.
Nigel's face twisted in anger, but before he could retort, the Proctor raised his hand.
"Contestants ready? Begin!"
The moment the Proctor's signal burst into the sky, Nigel charged forward, his halberd held low in a ready position. His movements were swift for his size, each step radiating power. Sparks flew from the arena floor as his armored boots struck the platform.
Arjuna, however, did not move. He remained still, drawing back the golden string of Gandiva. A faint hum filled the air as an arrow of pure soul energy materialized. The aura surrounding the arrow shimmered with a golden glow, a sign of its immense power.
Nigel noticed the bow's vibration and quickened his pace, closing the distance rapidly. With a roar, he swung the halberd in a wide arc, flames trailing behind the blade as he aimed for Arjuna's side.
The string was released from his grip.
A thunderous BOOM echoed as Arjuna released his shot. The arrow didn't just fly—it erupted forward, leaving a streak of golden light along its path. The energy released from the bowstring created a shockwave, rippling through the air with enough force to halt Nigel's advance mid-swing.
The arrow struck the halberd, shattering the flame enchantment and vibrating violently along its length. Nigel stumbled backward, his arms trembling from the force of the impact. Before he could recover, the shockwave reached him.
"Gah!" he cried out, clutching his head as the residual vibrations from Gandiva's release overwhelmed his senses. His ears began to bleed, and his balance faltered.
Arjuna, calm and deliberate, notched another arrow. This one was smaller, its glow subdued, but the precision of his aim left no doubt that it was more than enough to finish the fight.
Nigel, struggling to stay upright, looked up and saw the arrow pointed directly at his chest. His grip on the halberd faltered as the pain and pressure overwhelmed him.
Before Arjuna could release the second arrow, Nigel collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
The Proctor stepped forward immediately, raising his hand.
"Nigel Griffin is unable to continue. The winner is Arjuna!"
The crowd erupted into cheers and applause.
Arjuna lowered Gandiva, the glow of his bow fading as he took a deep breath. He stepped back as the healers rushed to the platform to attend to Nigel.
After calmly staring at his fallen opponent for a few seconds, Arjuna walked away and reached the edge of the battle platform. His gaze fell upon Rael, who was also staring back at him as they would likely battle in the semifinals as long as Rael won the next match.
However, the staring contest only lasted a moment as the Proctor called upon the next set of contestants as Nigel was taken away to the healing ward.
"The Final Battle of the Quarterfinals: Azrael of the Garcia House and Edmund of the Silverfrost House."
Rael and Edmund got onto the battle platform with a jump and stared at each other in silence. Neither did Edmund act full of himself, nor did he bring up his brother. However, his hatred couldn't be hidden.
As Edmund summoned his Arcana spirit, a three-eyed Brown Bear standing 20 feet tall, Rael crossed his arms to the chest and stood in the same spot without moving a bit. He didn't summon his Arcana spirit as usual.
As the battle started, Edmund shouted. "Orin, The Fire Beam."
The three-eyed Bear responded to its master's order, unleashing its fourth soul skill: the Fire Beam.
Its eyes are enveloped by glowing soul energy, followed by unleashing a beam of concentrated energy where flames are dancing all over it, as it cuts through the air and strikes Rael head-on.
Rael stood there in the spot, covered by the flames, for a moment before soul energy erupted from his body and pushed those flames away, revealing his unharmed body enveloped by a layer of soul energy.
"What!" Edmund's eyes widened in surprise. He took an involuntary step back, hurriedly taking out a soul energy recovery potion and gulping it in a hurry.
Rael didn't make any move as Edmund feared. He simply stood there and stared at him without showing any emotion. "I'm waiting for your next move."