Chapter 878: The Finals [Pt 1]
"You did well."
Rey smiled at Lucielle as she stepped off the stage and approached him. She was making a relieved expression, and he knew why.
'She narrowly escaped a gruesome fate at Adrien's hands... and still managed to get the support of everyone around her even when she gave up.' He nodded to himself. 'She already lasted much longer than Adonis and fared a lot better in terms of the actual fight.'
There was no doubt in his mind that Lucielle would be chosen as one of the White Dragon Lord's disciples. In fact, the mere fact that she had such a loud backing from the crowd already made her the most popular option.
'Well... for now.' He rose to his feet as Lucielle neared her seat beside him.
She raised her hand the same time he raised his, and as he stepped forward, their palms clapped together.
At that moment, Lucielle asked Rey a question he had been expecting.
"Who would win between the both of you?"
Rey had also asked himself this question numerous times. The truth of the matter was that there was currently no reason for him to go all-out at the moment. As long as he made it to the Finals, he would be chosen as the White Dragon Lord's disciple.
He had already shown that he was worthy enough of that reward.
As such, Rey's reason for fighting and his intent to emerge victorious was slightly different.
"If he goes all-out, it would give me a bit of a problem."
"Think you'll lose?" She asked with a big smirk, raising her eyebrows as she looked into his deep blue eyes.
For a moment, Rey said nothing.
He simply stood there... frozen... but stoic.
However, he soon resumed his walk, and a wide smile was plastered on his face.
"Nah... I'd win."
******************
After the Semi-Finals, there was a bit of a break in order to repair the damaged stage as well as to properly build up hype for the last match of the Tournament. However, it was also to ensure that Adrien Chase-the winner of the last match-had sufficient rest before his next one.
It wasn't like Adrien needed it, though.
Still, the procedure took place, and to while away time, Rey took a brief walk. He had been looking forward to the end of the tournament when he stood up and nearly walked up to the stage to challenge Adrien right away.
All the other fights hardly held significance for him-except maybe Adonis'—but this one was different.
He had personal reasons for wanting to defeat Adrien.
'I'm stronger than him at this point, but due to my student persona... I can't go all-out. He has the motive of getting first place, so I would like to see the lengths that he will go to in order to win.' Rey smiled to himself.
After the end of the break, it was finally time for the match to commence.
"The Final match is between... R'ai and Adrien Chase!"
Both of them climbed the stage the moment they heard their names, a smile on both of their faces. Their gazes were also fixed on each other, which meant they both had the same agenda when it came to the fight.
Once they were both on the platform, the referee floated away from it.
He must have understood that the stage-despite how large it was would become a chaotic battlefield once the match began.
After he took off, he finally declared in his booming voice:
"Let the Finals Begin!"
-B00000000000000000M!!! -
At that moment, both sides charged at each other, causing the portion of the stage that they stood on to shatter into little pieces.
The debris was still ascending high in mid-air as their respective blades clashed, sending a shockwave that caused the floating chunks of reinforced stone to fly away from the massive stage.
The debris hit the barrier that surrounded the stage, preventing it from flying off to the spectators. This was a precaution taken to ensure there was no damage to the audience of the tournament, and it worked perfectly.
Not only could nothing on the stage break out, but the barrier also prevented outside interference.
This prevented any form of cheating involving some external source.
The only exception to the barrier's obstructive ability was living things. Dragons and humans could go through the barrier, which allowed the referee and students to enter the stage and leave at their convenience.
The effects of their powers couldn't, though.
If they could... everyone watching became instantly aware of what that would spell for their safety.
"Hehe... looks like you won't be holding back this time, huh?" Adrien chuckled as he felt the weight of Rey's blade push him back.
"This is me holding back."
"Oh? Is it now...?"
"Do me a favor, Adrien..." Rey smiled as he watched his opponent remain calm despite the intensity of their clash.
"You mean other than going extremely easy on your friend over there?"
Rey made a quick glance at Lucielle and found his grin growing wider. He already knew that Adrien wasn't being wholly ruthless when it came to that fight.
'But even if he had been, Lucielle would be able to handle herself...' His thoughts flowed.
There was no need to tell him that, though.
Right now, there was only one thing on Rey's mind that he wanted to pass across to his
adversary.
"... Don't lose too quickly."
~CLANG!~
Rey reinforced his strike by twisting and dealing another blow-this time reinforced by his
sudden twirl.
The result?
~WHUUUUUSSHH!!~
Adrien was pushed back by the force, his feet sliding on the ground as he maintained perfect composure. Rey didn't let him stop before rushing forward to attack him.
However, at this point, Adrien was done warming up.
There was no way he would rely on mere physical attacks when it came to Rey and his
extremely high physical abilities.
"[Banishment]."
At that moment, Rey eliminated all inertia and canceled out the force behind his march. At the same moment, he darted far away from Adrien, whose skill became active the moment this
happened.
"Tch. Do you have precognition or something?" He clicked his tongue.
"I wonder..." He responded wittily.
"Don't worry." A glint flashed in Adrien's eyes as he stared hard at Rey.
They were now a distance away from each other, so he canceled out the effects of his
[Banishment] and instead replied menacingly.
"I'll make sure to find out."
~WHOOOSH!~
This time, it was Adrien's turn to dash forward, but Rey didn't focus on the Adrien speeding
directly at him. Instead, his senses noticed two others that were rushing at him from both
right and left flanks.
'Clones, huh? He cloaked them somehow too...'
Adrien's attempt at a diversion would have worked if Rey didn't have the appropriate vision
to deal with these sorts of things.
'My senses are perfect-particularly my sight.'
As long as he could see the invisible essences of Mana in the air, as well as their connections to everything—including seeing through objects and buildings-such a cloaking ability was
going to be useless against him.
'[Absolute Mass Stun]'
Raising his hand, Rey activated this skill, forcing all his incoming attacks to freeze in their
tracks for just a moment.
Then-
"[Black Void]"
*
*
[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
I apologize for being away for so long, everyone! I'm back now... hopefully.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.