Chapter 744: The Grand Championship
The third day of the grand tournament brought a slightly different energy to the Aether Swarm territory. The singles bracket had finally reached its ultimate stage. It was time for the semi finals and the grand championship of the Law Seed realm.
"The semi finals of the Law Seed realm will now commence." The announcer roared, his voice echoing perfectly across the clear sky. "Our first match will feature Princess Xera of the Hive Empire versus Commander Vael of the Aether Swarm."
The crowd erupted into a deafening roar of support for their hometown hero. Commander Vael stepped onto the platform covered in glowing blue spiritual talismans as before. Princess Xera walked out opposite him, her dark gold irises completely focused and her translucent wings completely still.
"Begin!" The announcer yelled.
The match was an instant breathtaking clash of two different mobility laws.
Aetheric Lightning Step.
Commander Vael became a literal bolt of blue lightning. His speed multiplied exponentially, allowing him to completely blur out of sight. He circled the arena and was laying down a massive perimeter of explosive paper talismans.
Princess Xera did not try to track him with her eyes. She engaged her own mastery over the void.
Void Step.
She folded the space around her body and bypassed the physical distance entirely. She appeared directly in the path of the blue lightning bolt. Her hands glowed with a black energy that consumed the ambient light.
Demonic Void Slasher.
She swung her arm in a sweeping motion, creating a highly compressed crescent blade of black void light. The slasher tore through the air and was aiming to cut Vael in half as he ran.
Vael possessed incredible reflexes though. He saw the space fold and instantly altered his trajectory, sliding underneath the black blade. The void slasher hit the edge of the arena and silently erased a chunk of the crystalline barrier.
Thousand Array Detonation.
Vael snapped his fingers. The hundreds of floating talismans he had strategically placed detonated simultaneously. Xera remained calm within the raging storm.
Needle Calamity.
Thousands of localized spatial tears formed in the sky around her. She thrust her hands outward and the spatial tears rained down and was devouring the hurricane of wind and lightning chunk by chunk.
Li Yu watched from the viewing box and was nodding slowly. He analyzed the difference in their styles. Vael possessed continuous speed while Xera possessed instantaneous spatial teleportation. Vael had to physically cross the distance while Xera simply arrived.
Vael realized his attacks were useless against the void tears. He needed to lock her down completely.
Azure Storm Cage.
Vael dashed around Xera and was creating a three-dimensional grid of concentrated lightning. The electrical bars formed a tight cage that trapped her in the center of the platform. The lightning crackled violently, searing the air and restricting any physical movement.
Xera raised her hands to fold space again.
But Vael was already moving. He knew spatial folding required focus.
Azure Gale Execution.
Vael channeled the storm energy into his thin rapiers and drove them forward. He bypassed the lightning cage and pierced Xera directly through her translucent wings. He discharged a wave of paralyzing lightning straight into her body.
Xera convulsed violently. Her control over the Void laws shattered instantly. The spatial folding collapsed and she fell heavily onto the floor and was paralyzed. She tried to channel her Qi but wasn’t able to. Unable to act anymore, she was defeated.
"Commander Vael is the victor!" The announcer roared over the insane cheering of the hometown crowd.
Emperor Xerxis crushed his chair into fine mist. His royal bloodline had failed him once again. He did not say a single word but his armored body trembled with rage. What was even more frustrating was that he had nowhere to vent it.
"The second semi final match will now begin." The announcer stated while trying to manage the overwhelming noise. "Lady Seraph of the Eclipse Court versus the Termite Champion of the Hollow Dominion."
The arena grew incredibly tense. Everyone had witnessed the sacrificial tactics of the termite fighters. They willingly traded their own lives for victory. No one wanted to fight such people.
Lady Seraph stepped forward, her dark wings burning with a localized toxic wind. The Termite Champion stood perfectly still, his blind pale face giving away absolutely no emotion.
"Begin." The announcer yelled.
The Termite Champion immediately charged forward. He wanted to engage in direct physical combat. He fully intended to let Seraph pierce his body or do whatever so he could trap her using his regeneration and deliver a point blank execution.
Lady Seraph was completely prepared for the suicidal strategy. She had watched the quarter finals and knew that touching the termite was a fatal mistake. She had to attack in ways that didn’t allow for such things. It was easier said than done though. In fights at the same level, if someone was suicidal, it was incredibly tough to defeat them without taking on massive damage yourself.
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Toxic Wind Maelstrom.
She unleashed her mutated domain. A massive tornado of thick green and black wind erupted from her body. The winds were composed of razor sharp toxic blades that actively rotted organic matter at a molecular level.
The Termite Champion ran directly into the maelstrom without worry.
Hollow Biomass Regeneration.
The termite calculated the damage and forced his pale flesh to rapidly regenerate as the toxic winds sliced into him. His body bubbled and twisted, actively fighting the molecular rot. He pushed through the horrific pain and blocked it out through the power of the hivemind.
He was slowly making his way toward Seraph, his arms outstretched ready to grab her.
Gale Moth Burst.
Seraph refused to let him get close. She compressed the toxic wind into a pair of massive wings behind her back and launched herself directly into the air. She flew high above the platform to avoid his physical reach.
The Termite Champion looked up, his blind face tracking her Qi signature. He gathered his Qi and was preparing to launch his ranged attack.
Pale Oblivion Pulse.
He channeled his Qi into a single concentrated blast of destructive energy. He was aiming directly for Seraph's brain. But Seraph was faster.
Silent Rotting Prison.
Seraph swept her arms downward. The toxic winds surrounding the termite suddenly collapsed inward forming a completely airtight sphere of concentrated poison. The sphere trapped the Termite Champion.
The Pale Oblivion Pulse fired but it hit the dense wall of the toxic prison and simply dissipated into harmless energy.
Inside the sphere the rot was increasing quickly. The termite's regeneration wasn’t able to keep up. The scariest thing of all was that even though it couldn’t keep up the champion did not care at all. It ignored its own injuries completely and only focused on trying to kill her. The flesh melted away faster than regeneration could repair it. The Termite Champion collapsed, dissolving into a puddle of thick toxic sludge.
"Lady Seraph is the victor." The announcer declared.
The Moth Queen nodded slowly from her viewing box and was satisfied. Her fighter had countered the suicidal tactics.
"We have reached the absolute pinnacle of the grand tournament." The announcer shouted his voice echoing across the roaring winds. "The Grand Championship of the Law Seed realm. The host empire versus the reigning champions. Commander Vael against Lady Seraph."
The arena attendants quickly rushed the stage using massive water arrays to completely wash away the toxic sludge left behind by the termite. The millions of spectators were on their feet. The noise was deafening. This was exactly what they had come to see. A clash between the two greatest prodigies. They had to wait though. There was a 5 hour gap between the fight to allow the fighters to recover.
After the 5 hours were up, Commander Vael and Lady Seraph stepped onto the pristine platform.
Vael crackled with blue lightning, his compound eyes tracking every single subtle movement of his opponent. Seraph stood perfectly still, her dark wings burning with the highly lethal green and black toxic wind.
"Begin!" The announcer yelled.
Aetheric Lightning Step.
Vael vanished instantly. He did not bother laying down explosive talismans this time. He knew that Seraph's toxic winds would simply rot the paper before they could detonate. He went straight for the lethal execution.
He appeared directly behind Seraph, his thin rapiers glowing with raw storm energy.
Toxic Wind Maelstrom.
Seraph reacted with defensive instinct. The massive tornado of thick green and black wind erupted from her body and instantly covered the entire center of the platform.
Vael was caught inside the outer edge of the maelstrom. The toxic wind blades sliced into his sleek body and were eating away at his glowing spiritual talismans. He knew he could not survive a prolonged engagement inside the poisonous cloud. He had to end the fight.
Azure Gale Execution.
Vael pushed through the excruciating pain of the toxic rot. He channeled every single drop of his remaining storm energy into his rapiers and drove them directly into Seraph's back. The blades pierced her flesh and discharged a wave of paralyzing lightning straight into her body.
Seraph screamed her entire body convulsing violently. The Toxic Wind Maelstrom began to falter, the winds slowing down significantly. The hometown crowd roared in triumph and believed Vael had secured the victory.
But Lady Seraph smiled through the paralyzing pain. She had studied the Hollow Dominion's suicidal tactics and realized the immense value of trading physical damage for a guaranteed lethal strike.
She willingly allowed Vael to stab her while using Qi to protect herself. Seraph had seen Vael do that attack countless times now. She used her own body as a conduit.
Venomous Gale Detonation.
Seraph forced the highly concentrated toxic wind circulating through her meridians to flow backward traveling up the metal blades of Vael's rapiers and straight into his own body.
Vael's compound eyes in horror as the green and black toxic wind invaded his body. The molecular rot hit him from the inside out and completely bypassed his external talismans and his natural defenses.
His speed faltered instantly. The paralyzing lightning flowing from his rapiers sputtered and died as his internal Qi pathways completely melted away.
Vael collapsed onto his knees while coughing up thick black blood. He dropped his rapiers entirely, unable to maintain his grip.
Seraph turned around as she pulled her bleeding body away from the blades. She raised her hand collecting the remaining toxic wind into a single sharp blade. She swung her arm down to cleanly decapitate the paralyzed fly commander.
"Lady Seraph is the victor…" The announcer stammered, clearly shocked by the brutal sudden reversal. "The Eclipse Court retains the singles championship."
The arena went silent for a fraction of a second before the Moth Empire supporters erupted into deafening cheers. They had secured victory. It was clear that Lady Seraph was critically injuried as well. She would need some time before she would be fully healed but she had won.
The Moth Queen stood up in her viewing box, her regal bearing completely dominant. She looked across the stadium directly at Emperor Xerxis and offered another slow melodic and mocking laugh.
Xerxis did not react this time. He simply turned his back and walked out of the viewing box. He was entirely done with the tournament and the absolute humiliation it had brought his empire. Li Yu remained seated for a moment longer and watched the arena attendants retrieve Vael's body.
The people here were extremely ruthless. He saw another style of fighting here that was all or nothing. He would have to be cautious of such things in the future. He also made sure to note that he should turn someone’s body into mist with every defeat, just in case they had other tricks.
He had gathered a massive amount of incredibly valuable intelligence over the last few days. The empire tournament was over but for Li Yu the real work in the insect realm was just beginning. Li Yu wondered if they would be staying to watch the last tournament. With Xerxis’s mood it was unlikely unless he said something but Li Yu also didn’t want to push Xerxis too much either. Afterall, he was only being treated this way due to a misunderstanding.