733 Finances
The combatants and the Sage entered the arena.
A couple of seconds later, the Sage teleported out, which meant the battle had started.
As time passed, Kyle became a bit nervous.
'We should win, right?' he thought.
Logic said that they should win, but when something important was on the line, it was still difficult to stay calm.
Around three seconds after the start of the battle, the first person appeared beside the Sage.
Everyone looked over to see who it was.
Beside the Sage, inside the Formation Array, was Fierce Breaker.
A huge gash was on the left side of his chest, which meant that he had probably been eliminated by the Disciplinary Elder.
When the members of Broken Spark saw that Fierce Breaker was the first one to be ejected, they grew excited.
With Fierce Breaker gone, the fight inside would be a 3v2!
They would win!
Kyle didn't immediately contact Fierce Breaker with a voice transmission since he wanted to let him recover first. Additionally, it wouldn't really fit his disguise.
BANG!
A second person appeared beside Fierce Breaker.
Sadly, it was a bit difficult to discern who it was since the majority of their body was blown apart, including their face.
'Yeah, that's Star Genesis' doing,' Kyle thought.
The person looked like they had been hit by a meteorite.
Kyle still remembered fighting Star Genesis.
If he had been hit by one of her attacks, he would have looked just like that, or worse.
The dense mass Star Genesis created with her spots had a similar power to Kyle's hammer strike without using the Law of Hammer.
It was just a huge mass moving towards someone at brutal speeds.
The body of the person recovered relatively quickly, and when everyone saw their identity, the mood changed.
It was the Head Elder of Broken Spark.
BANG! BANG!
Then, two people appeared at almost the same time.
One of them was Manny, and he had a burned hole inside of his chest, exposing his Center.
Luckily, the Life Shield had protected him.
The other person looked just like the Head Elder had looked after she came back.
It was quite easy to tell who it was since the body was really big.
It was the Disciplinary Elder of Broken Spark.
'Isn't that fitting?' Kyle thought. 'The two Heads are having a duel inside.'
'This fight seems to be closer than expected.'
For three seconds, no one left the arena.
Obviously, the battle was desperate.
Yet, Kyle noticed something as he looked at the fighters who had been ejected.
The two members from Broken Spark seemed hopeless.
It was like they had already accepted their loss.
"Hey, how's it going inside?" Kyle transmitted to Manny.
"Their Sect Master is pretty strong, but Star Genesis set up like four Formation Arrays," Manny transmitted back with a laugh. "There is no way she is going to lose."
Since voice transmissions directly transmitted concepts, the entire conversation happened in less than half a second.
Yet, another three seconds passed without anyone getting ejected.
Kyle became nervous again.
This was an extremely long fight.
Fierce Breaker was quite nervous, while Manny seemed very calm.
And then, finally, the last person was ejected.
It was an unrecognizable body.
'Yep, seems like Star Genesis won,' Kyle thought as he saw the body.
When the others saw the body of their Sect Master, they looked horrified.
They had lost two out of three battles!
That meant that they had to pay tribute to Explosive Karma!
Even worse, the kind of tribute won via these kinds of battles was considerably higher than the usual ones.
This would put a significant strain on their finances for the next century!
Moments later, Star Genesis came out of the arena.
She was calm and uninjured.
"That took a long time," Kyle transmitted to her.
"I took this opportunity to deal with some future problems," she answered. "I could see that he was unconvinced by his loss due to all of the Formation Arrays I built. Since Broken Spark is going to join us and since he is the Sect Master, I took my time and convinced him of his loss."
"I dispelled my Formation Arrays, let him fight, rebuilt them, and won. I wanted to show him that he can't win against me."
Kyle did his best not to snort in laughter.
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," he transmitted.
Star Genesis showed a small smile for just an instant before she became serious again.
"Explosive Karma wins," the Sage announced.
Broken Spark just looked forward in acceptance.
They lost.
The next century was going to suck.
"We will now proceed with the Team Duel," the Sage said. "Broken Spark, your members are Crackling Knuckles, Holy Smite, Static Bookkeeper, Meteor Impact, and Wall Titan. Step forward."
The five members that the Sage had called sighed before becoming serious again.
Then, the five of them stepped forward while looking at Kyle with serious expressions. Due to Manny's report, Kyle knew all of these people.
Crackling Knuckles was a small man with pink hair who wore gauntlets. He was one of the few Seekers who actually used fist weapons. Apparently, he had an Infused Complex Law involving lightning and fire. He used lightning for speed and fire for offense. He was a Core Elder.
Holy Smite was a tall man with blonde hair who wore yellow armor. He had an Element-Fusion Complex Law involving Light and Darkness. One of his one-handed swords was shining brightly, while the other seemed to consume all light. He was the Diplomacy Elder.
Static Bookkeeper had light-grey hair and carried a staff. He was Broken Spark's Formation Elder, and he had an Element-Fusion Complex Law involving light and lightning.
Meteor Impact was a young and small woman with brown hair, carrying a bow. Her Center was infused with the Essences of Fire and Wind, and she was another Core Elder.
The last person, Wall Titan, was a huge man, just as big as the Disciplinary Elder. He had light-brown hair and carried one gigantic shield. He had an Infused Complex Law involving the Laws of Metal and Earth.
They really did have everything covered.
Wall Titan would protect the backline. Meteor Impact would keep shooting from a distance with rapid attacks, while Static Bookkeeper would conjure devastating attacks. Crackling Knuckles and Holy Smite would chase after Kyle.
"Explosive Karma," the Sage said, looking at Explosive Karma. "You have only submitted a single name. Is that correct?"
Star Genesis took a step forward and nodded. "That's correct, sir. We do not require more to win."
Broken Spark felt like they had misheard.
They didn't need more?
Wait, they actually intended to win?!
As the fighters looked at Kyle, they became doubtful.
Sure, the Ancestor was strong, but he was just an Advanced Crusher.
An Advanced Crusher couldn't fight that many Major Crushers.
"Fine," the Sage said. "Explosive Karma, you have chosen Descending Mountain as your fighter. Step forward."
Kyle slowly moved forward with a friendly smile.