Chapter 297 – Opening Ceremony [4]
It was bone-chilling.
The impact between Atomic’s Ultimate Skill and Sky’s Finger of God birthed a light so hot, bright, and all-consuming it felt as though the sun itself were falling on them.
That light was followed by an explosion that spared nothing. It spread across the entire grassy field like a wave, burning the earth on all sides, turning it into molten lava crackling with golden lightning.
Yet it wasn’t even over.
Atomic’s Ultimate Skill had forced the particles in the atmosphere into violent collision, ionizing the air and detonating it into a wave of plasma.
The blast had already consumed much of the oxygen in the battlefield and hurled the remaining air outward, leaving the space suffocating, nearly breathless.
A chain of explosions followed.
And since it was a chain reaction building on the last, by the time the shockwaves and superheated air reached Sky’s teammates, the force had reached a level most of them had no hope of surviving, let alone stopping.
Theophane’s mesmerizing white eyes went wide as she felt the air thinning, her chest starting to ache, sweat trickling down a face already beginning to heat, as though her body were about to catch fire.
At that exact moment, Nafissatou stepped forward, positioning herself in front of her teammates.
Her face stayed hidden behind her white mask, making it hard to read her feelings, but it was clear enough she was gripped by fear.
’This Kingdom is full of monsters.’ Nafissatou thought, taking her stance, ’and I can’t use my Inherited Spells, since they’d recognize them. But it’s fine. I’m a Magician, I’m always prepared.’
The Magician took a deep breath, subtly activated her Magic Core, and drew on a Spell of her own creation.
It was new, still weak and unstable, but it should hold for a moment.
’Innovative Spell...’
The shockwaves and explosive force from Atomic’s Skill finally reached them.
’...Illusion of the Present.’
Instantly, her body and her teammates’ bodies wavered, then turned entirely illusory.
In that instant, none of them technically existed in the physical space of the grassy field. They might as well have been ghosts.
And Atomic’s attack, however dangerous and lethal, couldn’t touch ghosts.
The blast passed through them, leaving them unharmed.
Soon after, everything settled as both attacks dissipated.
Still in their illusory state, Nafissatou and the others surveyed the new state of the battlefield, hearts turning cold.
"...this strong?" Tiger whispered, fear evident, watching the scorched, blackened land.
The world felt eerily still, no wind stirring across it at all. The first-years struggled just to breathe.
On Atomic’s side, the second-year ranker lay sprawled across the ground, entirely naked, burned and scorched, save for a few fragments still shielding his modesty.
He cracked his eyes open, red and exhausted from the attack, coughing up mouthfuls of blood and shattered pieces of his own organs before staggering back to his feet, his insides screaming in protest.
’Vorn’s breath.’ Atomic cursed, finally managing to stand upright. Blood dripped steadily from his wounds onto the ground.
He lifted his head skyward and saw Sky still hovering weightlessly, staring down at him with visible surprise.
"One attack wasn’t enough, then." Sky said, his voice colder now, "Guess I should have used my Ultimate Skill instead of my Created Technique."
Those words made Atomic’s heart skip a beat, his eyes widening in shock.
He tried to avoid speaking, given how badly the air had thinned, but Sky’s words shook him too much to stay silent.
’That wasn’t an Ultimate Skill? Just a Created Technique?’
The concept of a Created Technique wasn’t new. He had a few himself. But none of his came close to matching his own Skill, let alone his Ultimate.
Yet this man, a first-year student with barely any experience, had gone toe-to-toe with his Ultimate...using a Created Technique.
Atomic felt a chill crawl up the back of his neck, cold sweat trickling down despite the searing heat.
"I’ll admit, you’re stronger than I expected. But let me actually use it now." Sky continued, smiling arrogantly, looking down at Atomic like a god watching a mortal struggle to breathe in his presence.
Golden lightning gathered once more in the sky, crackling, building steadily. The aura this time felt different — purer, stronger, more stable.
Atomic knew whatever came next would either kill him or wound him badly.
’And he’s only the third ranker of the first year? Vorn’s stinking toe, what bullshit!’ He cursed, then forced a crooked smile, staring down the ining attack, ’But I don’t need to beat you, my dear boy, Sky.’
At that moment, the shadow beneath him deepened in color, then expanded. A head emerged from it, ink-like water splattering outward, grinning wildly.
A woman, small green eyes, a breathing mask covering her face.
"Yo, Captain, still kinking around? Time to bail!"
Atomic grinned at her, swaying, then was yanked straight into the shadow, vanishing pletely.
Emrys froze at the sight, snapping his head around the ruined grassy field, searching for where the man had gone.
But then his eyes landed on his own teammates, and widened as he sensed a massive surge of essence gathering beneath them, their shadows deepening, spreading.
"They dar—!"
"Heya!"
Emrys’s words cut off as a blue bird flew straight at him. Atop it rode a young man with a wide grin. He too wore a breathing mask.
"Why the rush, little Sky! Play with your elder brother first, won’t you?" The man whistled, and dozens upon dozens of blue birds appeared across the sky, bodies wrapped in sharp wind, closing in on Sky from every direction.
"Move—!"
"No can do!"
Sky said nothing further. He unleashed his Second Skill, Heavenly Tribulation, sending down continuous bolts of lightning, cutting through them before they could even react.
At the same time, Nafissatou’s Spell reached its limit and deactivated, leaving her breathless and drained. bined with the near-total lack of air, she was choking badly, gasping uselessly for oxygen.
The rest fared no better.
That was when the shadow beneath them expanded again. They turned toward it, eyes wide.
Theophane instantly shouted for Tiger to protect the crystal.
Too slow.
Two black metallic spheres burst from the shadow, hurtling toward the crystal, a giggling female voice echoing from within the darkness:
"Boom, boom, boom, little fuckers!"
The first-years’ eyes widened as both spheres detonated, engulfing them in a cloud of burning fire.
But Tiger Woods had just enough time to shift into his beastly form, charging toward the crystal to shield it with his own body.
The beast absorbed the majority of the blast, but not all of it.
The crystal cracked, fissures spidering across its surface. Still, it held.
CRACKLE—!
Lightning struck beside the teammates, who managed to smother the fire with Nafissatou’s timely aid, as Emrys reappeared, face twisted with fury.
Lightning and wind churned violently around him.
The Chosen One glared down at the pool of shadow beneath him and growled,
"You think hiding in shadows will stop me?" He said, clenching his fist, a golden spear forming in his grip, its tip wreathed in condensed black wind, "No one—!"
"My dear boy, Sky!" Atomic shouted while cackling, erupting from the shadow, his fourth teammate emerging behind him. One who hadn’t acted until now.
A man with blue eyes streaked with tear tracks, also wearing a breathing mask. He looked at Sky’s teammates and, without hesitation, murmured:
"Second Skill: Wounds Unhealed."
The full weight of the Skill crashed down on their minds. Not a physical power, but one rooted entirely in the domain of the mind...of emotion.
And given the second-year’s Aspect fell under the emotion of Sadness...
Tiger, Jonathan, Nafissatou, Theophane, and certainly Sky felt their hearts waver, minds recoiling like frightened animals, weakness spreading through them instantly.
Each of them carried trauma deeper than most would ever guess, and in that moment, their emotions were forcibly manipulated, forced to relive those traumatic feelings at their most intense.
The second-year’s Aspect couldn’t sustain that effect on so many people for long. But the brief window was enough for Atomic.
His body screamed with pain, but he gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and grabbed Tiger by both shoulders.
Emrys roared and lunged to attack with his spear, tears welling in his eyes, but the grinning, green-eyed woman appeared and blocked the strike with a massive shield.
"No, no, no, fucker!" She cackled, though blood was dripping down at the corner of her mouth.
And Atomic seized the opening, headbutting Tiger, who was sniffling in sorrow, so hard both their foreheads split open.
The impact sent Tiger’s head rebounding into the crystal behind him — a crystal already fragile — and just like that...
CRACK—! SHATTER—!
...Team Sky’s crystal shattered.
DING! DING! DING!
—End of Chapter 297—
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