Chapter 233 Arena (Part II)
Just as Howard was about to proceed with his fourth slash, the tip of Rota’s spear, which had been stationary for very long, finally thrust out, and the Void Penetrative Divine Spear was activated. This spear attack shot out from the ground and pierced through Howard’s foot.
With a stifled grunt, Howard retreated a few steps backward with blood spurting out from his foot.
“How did you do that?” He stared at Rota as he asked. “The Void Penetrative Divine Spear should be unable to strike out from your blind spots.”
Although the Void Penetrative Divine Spear was very strong, it did not provide additional attributes and had a weakness in which it could not attack from a spot the user could not see. This meant it could not pierce out from one’s body, clothes, guards, or under their opponent’s feet.
However, Rota had just done this seemingly impossible thing.
Hearing Howard’s question, Rota shook her head and said, “Although you look like you would go all out even when you’re fighting against a seemingly weak opponent, you’re in fact still looking down on me. Otherwise, you would not have thought of performing the forty-nine slashes from your Tempest Quick Blade right from the start.
“For you to have used the Tempest Quick Blade’s consecutive attacks right from the start, means that you never thought I would be able to break through your attacks.”
“It’s because you’ve taken me lightly that you were unable to notice something you should have.”
After Rota said this, she thrusted out her spear again. This time around, Howard went on full defence, but his machete flicked up slightly, as though it had hit against a formless longspear, creating a loud bang.
He responded immediately, “Your speartip is invisible? You had actually activated the Void Penetrative Divine Spear right from the start, revealing less than an inch of the speartip on the surface. However, you kept it hidden, and thus I did not notice it. You were just waiting for me to step on it myself? And then right before I stepped on it, you activated the Void Penetrative Divine Spear at full powers…?
“That’s right, although the Void Penetrative Divine Spear cannot be activated in the user’s blind spot, an activated Void Penetrative Divine Spear can still continue to be activated even if it is in the user’s blind spot.”
Recognizing this point, Howard felt great regret. If he had truly viewed Rota as an opponent of the same level and had been on defence right from the start, he might have been able to notice this trick of hers when he saw her taking three steps back.
However, it was now all too late. His foot had been pierced through, and it was hard for him to move. As a result, his chances of winning had plunged.
Furthermore, Rota had comprehended, from the Pantheon Monument, the ability to twist light rays and alter the light rays from astral radiations.
Rota’s longspear trembled, and her small silver spear was akin to a raging dragon. Bringing up powerful and explosive gales, her spear thrust out and lashed Howard from over ten meters away.
However, after blocking a few of Rota’s attacks, Howard activated his Reduced Force Field at full force, pus.h.i.+ng back the longspear temporarily while he jumped out of the arena, saying, “I admit my defeat in this round.”
Seeing how Rota was looking at him in astonishment, Howard said, “You were right. I took you too lightly. Therefore, I’ll not make this mistake again. I’m now treating you as an enemy of the same level, and thus, I will not hope of being lucky enough to still be able to defeat you after my foot has suffered a heavy injury.”
Just like the that, the first battle ended at the speed of lightning. Howard’s emotional play, Rota’s ingenious trap, and Howard’s decisiveness… All of these demonstrated a battle of wits and courage between Knights.
On the stands, Adri nodded. “This Howard is decisive and knows when to cut losses. He has some guts. That young lady is crafty but is interesting as well. However, she can only be considered lucky to have come across an opponent she could win against.”
Seeing Howard step down, Rota let out a huge sigh of relief and thought to herself, “I’ve finally succeeded.”
After this victory, Rota entered the top eight. Now, regardless of whether she were to win or lose, she would still pa.s.s the Regional Selection.
A few more rounds of the compet.i.tion followed, with both Anderson and Wei Leng winning their matches with great ease. It was finally Manny’s turn. His opponent was the Astral Ancestor’s grand disciple, Hoult, who was cheered on by the crowd to clinch the position of first place.
In the whole battle coliseum, everyone were looking at Manny as though they were looking at an unlucky fellow. The truth was in fact like that. Who would be more unlucky than Manny, who had picked Hoult as his first opponent? It could only be the person who had Fang Xingjian as his opponent.
Rota frowned and looked to Manny as she said, “You should just give up directly and conserve your energy to vie for the ninth or tenth position.”
Fang Xingjian did not comment.
Manny smiled as well. As though he could feel all the gazes of pity and ridicule, he said, “It’s fine. Xingjian, I’ll go up first and test out his skills for you before I fight for ninth place.”
Hoult was already on the arena. When he saw Manny walking over, Hoult smiled gracefully and said, “You’re very courageous. You can be considered to be a true Knight.”
Manny smiled and shook his head. “In my last Regional Selection, I was defeated by a great genius like you and ended up missing the chance to go for the second transition. I even ended up being dispirited for many years. In this battle, no matter if I win or lose, if I were to cower back again, I can probably forget about going through the second transition for my whole life.”
“So, that’s how it is,” Hoult said. “Although I admire your courage, I never give in to others in the arena.”
“I can’t ask for anything better.” Manny let out a breath and said, “Draw your sword.”
Hoult shook his head and tossed his level 29 Superior Divine Weapon, Crimson Fire, to the side. That crimson red longsword immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Hoult said, “If I were to use the Crimson Fire to deal with you, I would be too much of a bully. In today’s arena battle, I’ll only use the Crimson Fire when I’m up against Fang Xingjian.”
Manny smiled. Although his eyes were smiling, they held a majestic fury.
“It’s always like this… I really don’t understand geniuses like you… Why do you always look down on others?”
After saying this, there was a sudden loud slap across s.p.a.ce, and the area within a hundred meter radius seemed to become two times heavier. The ground cracked, and the air turned heavy. It was as though they were now in the deep seas.
Such a strong pressure was enough to make ordinary Knights drop to their knees.
However, Hoult smiled as though he had not felt anything and said, “The gravity seems to have become stronger? But the difference is so small that I can’t really feel anything.”
Manny’s brows furrowed. To think that his opponent did not even flinch under the pressure of him doubling gravity…
“That’s right, have you seen the milky way before?”
The next moment, countless flas.h.i.+ng spots of light spurt out from Hoult’s palms, circulating around him like the nebula and the milky way in the universe. They spread out endlessly, causing the whole place to appear very magnificent and luxurious. It was said to be the most beautiful attack performed since the start of the arena battle, giving rise to cries of amazement from countless young aristocrat ladies.