Destroyer of Ice and Fire
Chapter 199: Waves of shadows
Four black curved blades fired from the shadows at Chris, from the front, from the back, from the left and from the right. At the same time, Sarina’s figure appeared without a sound not far behind Chris.
"What!"
What made almost every spectator in the stands exclaim in surprise was, Chris’ figure charged at the black curved blade coming in front of her, while she swung her left arm back as though she’d grown eyes on the back of her head. A pillar of fire soared from the ground, striking Sarina with total accuracy.
A "Bang!" exploded in the field.
Wrapped in bandages, Chris’ right hand smacked the black curved blade the moment it reached her chest, actually slapping this blade into splas.h.i.+ng diagonally past her on her left.
With her left arm lifted toward her back, it looked like this curved blade just happened to pa.s.s through the afterimage of her left arm.
This feeling of total control made many partic.i.p.ants in the tournament feel a little numb on the scalp.
"It’s not the real Sarina!"
But just then, everyone in the stands noticed that the "Sarina" Chris’ fire pillar had struck actually caught on fire like a piece of paper.
At the same time, many "Sarinas" stood up in the field, one by one, vague and hazy, each of them silent and wordless, their black hair floating in the breeze. It was impossible to tell which one was the real Sarina.
"Shadow Manipulation!"
Quite a few people shouted the name of Sarina’s skill.
The sea of shadow "Sarinas" all started charging madly at Chris.
And every time a "Sarina" started running, they hung their arms behind their backs like two blades, their postures looking very peculiar.
"What’s she doing?"
"Is Chris trying to deal with it that way? Is she completely unaware of this arcane skill?"
"With this Shadow Manipulation, Sarina is hiding in a secret place while manipulating these shadows with strings of darkness. Every shadow has some real fighting ability. Chris is actually trying to cope with it like that?"
The stands erupted in an uproar.
Because everyone saw that facing the "Sarinas" charging her way from every direction, Chris merely stopped in place, utterly calm and composed. The dazzling light of arcane particles gushed out of her hands at the same time, flas.h.i.+ng into bronze-colored halos and shaping into gloves the color of black steel.
"Judgment Gloves," an arcane skill that sounded very powerful, but was in fact a mere ordinary arcane skill in Holy Dawn Academy, very easy to learn.
It was impossible to compare the end result with weapons condensed from materialization skills. It merely offered somewhat better cus.h.i.+oning for the bones in her fists. It didn’t have any other special effect.
There were right now at least seven or eight "Sarinas" standing in the field. With this Shadow Manipulation, each "Sarina” had genuine killing ability even if they couldn’t invoke arcane skills. Not using any arcane skill might save arcane particles, but in the opinion of almost every spectator, how was it possible for one person to only use two fists to resist being encircled and ganged up by seven or eight persons?
"What!"
But what made everyone, including everyone in Silver Trout, exclaim in disbelief was, Chris merely used her fists and smashed away in the air all the "Sarinas" who reached her!
Chris’ figure was almost hidden by all the "Sarinas," but then the "Sarinas" started flying backward one by one. Chris dodged in a very small perimeter and continuously punched away, each punch certain to send one "Sarina" flying away in a different posture.
"How’s that even fighting moves and technique! It’s simply body instinct!"
"Just how many foundation exercises did Chris do? She’s simply trained her close-range fighting to the point it became raw instinct. Every move of hers is made with total efficiency!"
"If everyone fought without using arcane particles and without invoking arcane skills, purely in a physical fight, then she might smash away even several dozen people charging at her!"
Hearing these kinds of voices coming nonstop from the stands, Ayrin’s face couldn’t help but expose a little pride.
"Of course," he couldn’t help but mumble to himself. "You guys have no idea how hard and cruel her training is. She actually broke through Ferguillo’s Mind Reading with physical instinct. This kind of speed is nothing to her."
"Hm?"
Just then, the extremely calm and unfl.u.s.tered Chris suddenly sensed danger.
"Hoh!"
With a deep, explosive breath, she suddenly twisted around and sent both her fists punching ruthlessly behind her.
In that instant, Sarina’s real self suddenly appeared behind a fake shadow, holding black short blades in both her hands, slas.h.i.+ng at Chris without a sound.
"Bang!"
With an explosive sound, Chris’ fists landed right against the two black blades.
But the moment the two of them came into contact with each other, "Spinning Blades!" With a deep bellow, the black blades in Sarina’s hands started spinning at an astounding speed.
Chris felt her hands lighten. The gloves around her hands immediately crumbled.
"Shattering a.s.sault!"
However, without any trace of panic, Chris borrowed the momentum of her body and twisted around without the slightest pause. Her entire front shone with a yellow light.
She didn’t pay any attention to the black blades at her back. Like a battle ax, her entire body hacked explosively forward.
During all this time, the blades in Sarina’s hands stayed only a few inches away from her back, but they never managed to touch her.
In the meantime, Chris directly broke through the formation; in the s.p.a.ce of a blink, she crashed through at least a dozen "Sarinas," ejecting them away in the air.
"Shadow Bullet Blades!"
Sarina’s eyes had also become utterly calm.
The moment Chris body forcibly opened a path, like a chariot cras.h.i.+ng through a market, the blades that couldn’t touch Chris left her hands and shot forward with a faint flick of her fingers.
At the same time, arcane particles once again flashed on her fingers, shaping into another two identical black blades, once again ejected from her hands.
"Swis.h.!.+"
The instant the two black blades tore through Chris’ clothes, gusts of wind suddenly blew below Chris’ feet, dragging her along. With a forceful turn, she actually reached Sarina’s side.
Sarina faintly narrowed her eyes, but her body didn’t exhibit any superfluous movement, as though she couldn’t react at all.
However, Chris felt a sense of danger again. She instantly fell back ten meters.
"Swis.h.!.+" "Swis.h.!.+" "Swis.h.!.+"
Several dozen rays of black light shot from the ground like strands of spider silk, piercing through the afterimage of her body.
"So powerful!"
"What an amazing reaction!"
The back and forth that happened as fast as sparks of lightning gave every spectator in the stands the feeling they couldn’t regain their breath.
But just then, Sarina’s figure vanished again, as though it merged with one of the fake shadows.
"Whoos.h.!.+"
Three black spinning vortexes of light appeared again on the ground not far behind Chris.
On her guard, Chris jumped several steps in succession. But she still didn’t launch any arcane skill.
The vortexes of light started disappearing, but ripples started spreading across the entire field. In a few dozen seconds, a black watery light started enveloping the entire field.
Rather than standing on firm ground, Chris seemed to be standing on black water.
Like swimming fishes, many Sarinas suddenly appeared under the surface of the black water, like swimming fishes.
Chris started running nonstop.
Ripples splashed outward under her feet, black blades continuously piercing out of the water.
"What arcane skill is this?"
In the stands, Wilde and the others became grave.
"If this goes on, she doesn’t even know where Sarina’s real self is, so she can only dodge and can’t retaliate at all. In that situation, anyone would become restless, no matter how cool-headed they are."
"Looking at Chris, restlessness is something that will never happen. The most important thing is, it’s impossible to stop Burden Overload once you invoke it. In other words, Chris has always been in an overloaded state so far, even if she’s been saving up arcane particles as much as possible." Ivan shook his head, saying, his tone solemn, "So the crucial thing is, if she can’t find a way to defeat Sarina soon, she won’t be able to keep enduring it."
"It’s totally an instinctive reaction coming from the body itself… This Chris from Holy Dawn Academy is actually so strong. Sarina’s arcane a.s.sa.s.sination skills can’t even leave the slightest mark on her."
Looking at the calm and steady Chris dodging in the field, Nolan felt more and more uneasy.
"Boom!"
Another huge fireball suddenly appeared again in Chris’ hand, firing at a spot not far on one side behind her.
The instant this huge fireball rumbled away, Sarina’s figure suddenly appeared in that spot. Enveloped by the residual glint of arcane particles, she dodged the fireball with a flash.
"The mere trace of an undulation in the primordial energy when I switch to another arcane skill made her sense my real position."
Sarina knew Chris’ counterattack would immediately begin now that she’d been forced in the open.
"Demonic Shura!"
True enough, Chris immediately spoke a swift incantation, a terrifying aura about to erupt from her.
"Demonic Shura, isn’t that another formidable taboo skill from Holy Dawn Academy? She learned that one as well?" This thought flashed in many spectators’ minds.
"Shadow Dragon—Rebirth!"
Sarina’s face suddenly became solemn.
Her hands quickly s.h.i.+fted through several motions. A mighty dragon aura burst forth along with countless black particles. With a terrifying dragon cry, the silhouette of a huge, winged shadow dragon more than ten meters high suddenly rose from the ground in front of her.
"What!"
But what made the spectators stare, what made her stare as well was, Chris hadn’t invoked any arcane skill whatsoever. The terrifying aura about her hadn’t erupted at all.
Chris was merely looking at her, full of vigilance, her feet constantly skipping the ground one after another while she quickly fell back.
"Was she only trying to corner me into using a lot of arcane particles? Doesn’t she care at all about the pa.s.sing time?"
This thought flashed through Sarina’s mind. But her state of mind wasn’t affected at all.
She stretched her hands in front of her. The huge shadow dragon rumbled forward, charging in Chris’ direction as though she were its dinner.