Immediately, Thaddeus’ arm, blaring with arcs of black lightning, smashed straight into Joki’s face before the young man was able to react to the blitzing speed.
However, at the last second, a barrier of golden light appeared directly in front of Joki’s face, blocking Thaddeus’ attack.
The explosion of energy was enough to send both opponents flying back.
But in the next instant, Joki actually sprang forth with horrific speed, as a golden blade suddenly appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
’Here is my chance!’ he roared in his head, as the golden light burst out of the blade, destructive golden light energy cracking the air apart.
Joki took one last step forward, the entire ground seeming to get pushed down by the weight of power, and his arms bulged to twice their size.
"Aurora Sword Slash!"
"DIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!"
A beastly roar surged out of his clenched teeth as the golden sword flashed out with horrifying speed towards Thaddeus, who could barely even react.
The attack was just too sudden and had taken him by complete surprise.
In the next instant, all Thaddeus could see was a searing beam of golden energy flashing forth toward him with deadly intent.
The air in the path of the sword beam was instantly cleaved apart as if it were nothing but paper.
The beam seemed to appear instantly before Thaddeus, whose face revealed shock.
But then, a sickening smile appeared on Thaddeus’ face, and his lips moved.
Joki’s relaxed heart instantly tensed up.
"Aegis of Storm!" Thaddeus said at the last second.
A dark vortex of black lightning, more of a swirling storm, opened up before Thaddeus and the sword cleave disappeared into it.
The vortex of dark lightning suddenly began rotating with speed, and in the next instant—
"Aegis Bolt Judgment!"
Those words were the last thing Joki heard as a pillar of close to one meter in pure diameter suddenly burst out of the vortex before Thaddeus.
If one noticed, the pillar of dark lightning occasionally flashed with remnants of golden energy and intensity.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The attack slammed into Joki, completely covering up his image as a powerful wave of destruction rippled into the air.
The barriers surrounding the arena flared with light to block the residual shockwaves.
The explosion died down a few seconds later, and the scene sent gasps from the spectators.
Lying flat on the ground with dark steam emanating from him and absolutely charred like a piece of wood was none other than Joki, who remained motionless on the ground.
Still standing was none other than Thaddeus, who slowly lowered his hands. His calm gaze looked at the motionless Joki.
If one could see closely, they would notice a bit of sweat pouring down Thaddeus himself, but it didn’t prevent the smile on his face.
"You managed to take me by surprise, Joki. That’s a good one!"
"Winner: Thaddeus Thunderclap!!!"
The announcement rang throughout the area as bursts of clapping erupted, coming from none other than the geniuses and a little from the elders’ booth.
Thaddeus calmly bowed toward the elders’ booth, then gracefully stepped down from the battle stage.
He walked toward his seat as the clapping subsided and the unconscious body of Joki was taken away by an instructor for care.
---
In the Elders’ Booth of the Colosseum…
"Hahahaha. Genius!"
"I have to say, that really took me by surprise."
"Normally, a cultivator at the Plane of Ascension will only have two abilities—one awakened at the Plane of Origin and another awakened at the entrance to the Plane of Ascension.
"I had thought with Thaddeus having cultivated his abilities of Thunderclap Surge and Cold Flash, he had nothing left to defeat the sudden burst of power from his opponent.
"But who would have guessed he would have practiced the Ancient Technique of Thunderclap Requiem? Genius!"
A chubby elder called out with loud laughter as Elder Hori, the elder representing the Thunderclap Requiem family, held a proud smile on his face.
"The Aegis of Storm and Aegis Bolt Judgment are two of the most powerful abilities of the Thunderclap secret techniques."
"In this situation, Thaddeus was able to use them absolutely well."
"With the Aegis of Storm, he absorbed his opponent’s peak attack, and with Aegis Bolt Judgment, borrowed the energy of the attack to further augment the resulting lightning bolt."
"A smooth absorption of power and immediate discharge of it at the most heated point of battle."
"Once more, the Thunderclap family’s secret technique’s ability to change a battle situation in a blink is well shown."
"A fine genius, I would say," the Half-Fallen One complimented as Elder Hori’s eyes flashed in shock from the compliment before he bowed his head.
"You flatter us too much, Half-One. What is our ability compared to the Dominare Power."
"Besides, if not for him being lucky enough to be born into a powerful family, and learning a secret family art, he would most likely have lost to the fine young genius’ finishing attack." he said with a shy laugh, as the Half-One gave a smile before replying.
"Family and its arts are still part of a person’s power."
"To be born Into to a powerful family is strength in and of itself. It can’t be looked down upon, and Luck itself is a power of its own." The Half-Fallen responded before suddenly saying,
"And speaking of Dominare..."
---
"Congratulations, Thaddeus. You have guaranteed yourself a spot."
"And without further ado, let’s move on to the next contestants…
"Calidor Wail of the Lost Family of Wailing Banshee, also the second-ranked most powerful genius ever recorded since the beginning of the Fallen-Arisen Training, and her opponent, Morgaine Dominare, the third-ranked most powerful genius since the beginning of the Fallen Arisen Hall training and also from the Lost Family of Dominare!"
The announcer called out, and every genius unknowingly heaved, even the elders’ booth quieting down.
Immediately, pillars of light emanated forth, shining on two females who slowly rose to their feet.
One of the females was someone Ryuk already knew and had communicated with a couple of times.
It was none other than Morgaine herself, her expression absolutely indifferent.
She didn’t give any bow to the elders’ area and didn’t even look there, immediately stepping forth toward the battle stage.
The other genius was a meek-looking young girl with very long silvery hair and a small smile. She bowed coquettishly to the elders’ booth before also making her way to the arena.
’The second-ranked most powerful genius, Calidor Wail, vs. the third-ranked most powerful genius. Now this will be interesting...’
The thought was the same thing echoing through the minds of everyone present in the hall.