(Sky-God Arena, Semi Final Match-1)
"[Gale Palm]—!"
Gu Lan yelled, thrusting his staff forward as a powerful burst of wind exploded outward.
*FWOOSH—!*
The force hit Su Yang square in the chest, pushing him back several meters across the sand as Gu Lan quickly ran backwards, trying to widen the distance between himself and Su Yang.
However, Su Yang only grinned as he stopped himself with a firm stomp, before raising his sword high into the air as he prepared for a retaliatory move.
"[Mountain Splitting Slash]--"
He yelled as he brought his blade down with terrifying force, and from the tip of his sword, a massive wave of compressed mana exploded forward, that looked like a tidal arc of destruction capable of tearing even a mountain in half.
*BOOOOOOM—!*
Gu Lan’s eyes flared as he activated [Rapid Movement], vanishing just before the sword slash collided with him.
Instead, the attack slammed into the arena wall behind, carving a deep gash into the reinforced alloy, as it rattled the surrounding stands.
*Crack—!*
*Tremor*
"Oooo—" the audience yelled, grabbing onto the edge of their seats, as the shaking only increased their excitement for the fight.
Dust and debris flew from the explosion, but Gu Lan had already reappeared to Su Yang’s left, panting, as he raised his staff once more to conjure a new attack.
"[Elemental Summon: Tri-Fury]--"
He said, as he summoned three orbs, one of fire, one of wind and one of lightning, before sending them towards Su Yang—first from above, then from the side and the last straight on.
However, despite the terrifying attack coming his way, Su Yang did not even so much as flinch, as he sidestepped the overhead strike.
Deflected the second.
And charged straight through the third.
*CRACKLE—!*
The lightning orb slammed into his blade, the metal surface getting momentarily charged as it emitted sparks, however, it did not slow Su Yang’s speed at all.
He burst forward again, faster now, footwork refined, aggression dialed up.
As Gu Lan panicked, feeling helpless as he saw one of his better attacks neutralized so easily by his opponent.
[Horizontal Dash]
At this point, Su Yang used Horizontal Dash to cover the distance between himself and Gu Lan in the blink of an eye, as Gu Lan was forced to respond with—
[Arcane Dome] as he created a net of safety around himself.
*BOOM—!*
Su Yang swung with all his momentum, as under his ridiculous power, the dome cracked slightly under the very first blow.
*BOOM—*
A second swing, as he widened that crack even more.
*SHATTER—!*
The dome exploded into shards of light on the third swing, as Gu Lan stumbled back, panic in his eyes as he tried to create space again, but Su Yang was already upon him.
"Try running now," Su Yang muttered, as he spun on his heels, putting all the force of his hips behind this slash, as he conjured the move [Spiral Fang].
*FWOOOSH—*
His blade surged with rotating energy as he cleaved horizontally with a spiraling strike that slammed into Gu Lan’s gut and sent him hurtling across the field like a ragdoll.
*CRASH—!*
Gu Lan hit the ground hard, skipping across the sand, as his staff went flying off his hand, before he rolled to a stop, groaning and bleeding with a gnarly wound to his midsection.
The crowd held their breath, wondering if Gu Lan could continue, however, as he struggled to get back up, the referee immediately stepped in.
"Winner—Su Yang of Rodova!"
The referee declared, signalling for the medics to rush in, as
*ROAAAAAAR—!*
The audience erupted in approval.
"Now that… was a dominant victory," Derek finally said, his voice low with awe.
"You thought Leo Skyshard was the only impressive underclassmen that Rodova had? Well think again—" Lee added, as Su Yang sheathed his sword and turned to the crowd, raising both arms as the chants began anew—
SU YANG!
SU YANG!
SU YANG!
The crowd roared, as he pumped his fists to hype them up once more, just like he did before the fight began.
"Keep the energy flowing guys, Rodova needs your support!" He said, clapping and hyping, as he waited to see which fighter from Clarence stepped up next, before tagging out.
To nobody’s surprise, the number two fighter to step up, was Clarence team captain and their most impressive fighter, Jessica Jones, the peerless spearmaster, as once her entry was confirmed, Su Yang signalled for the referee to tag him out.
"Change— Rodova!"
The referee announced as Su Yang began his walk back to the bench, at a leisurely pace.
At the same time, Leo stepped out onto the battlefield, his eyes locked on the arena ahead.
*CLAP*
Their hands met in a crisp high-five as they crossed paths—an unspoken exchange of respect between warriors.
"Give her hell," Su Yang muttered with a menacing grin, as Leo didn’t reply, but only grinned back slightly.
—-------
"It’s spearmaster Jessica who walks out for Clarence after their opening match defeat, however, surprisingly it’s Leo Skyshard who has been sent to face her by Captain Yu Shen…. And I’m not sure if it’s a sound strategic move? But what do you think Derek?" Lee said, as Derek let out a long sigh.
"Tough…. I don’t know what Yu Shen’s thinking here. Leo Skyshard fights with a dagger as his primary choice of weapon and although he’s fast, he’s at a massive range disadvantage against a fighter like Jessica.
I’m not sure what Yu Shen’s hoping for here…. Because tactically this looks like a blunder," Derek replied, as he did not seem convinced by Rodova’s choice to send Leo.
"Jessica is also their strongest fighter…. Underestimating her could prove costly for Rodova, as instead of sending their best fighters Yu Shen, they’ve sent an inexperienced underclassman to face her—"
"Could Yu Shen be scared of Jessica? Does he want Leo to weaken her before facing her himself?" Lee wondered, as the commentators were left scratching their heads on why exactly had Leo been sent for this fight.