abcnovels
Chapter 154: The Final Participant is being Watched
Chapter 154: The Final Participant is being Watched
~DING~
[Classifier B has reached level 50!]
'SHIT…!'
It was all over now, and Stark even stopped everything he was doing, ending his assault on Soulayer as there was no point anymore.
[9/10 classifiers have reached the required level for the start of the 'Domination Trial']
Soulayer summoned back his sword in hand, then began to slowly walk toward Stark, he seemed extremely mad, and the bandages hit by the explosion were still burnt: it definitely looked like Soulayer was more fearful and uncertain than before though as he hesitated to approach Stark.
But Stark wasn't paying attention to him.
[But that wouldn't be fun to just teleport you, now, would it?]
It wasn't his crimson panels that were talking to him when it was related to the domination trial, but crimson/black panels that had deep eyes staring in the background beyond the text.
Was it the eyes of the entity that was responsible for those trials?
The creator of the [Domination] class?
In the end, it didn't matter much, as the finality of it all was that everyone but Stark had already reached level 50, the latter only being at level 39, a far cry from all the others.
[The person that hasn't reached the required level is going to receive a punishment!]
Stark lifted his gaze toward the panel, then raised his eyebrows, 'Punishment…?'
This was already bad to begin with, how could this even get worse?!
~DING~
And so… while Soulayer was still walking toward Stark…
[You will be teleported to the 'Domination Trial' after completing this battle]
'…!' Stark's eyes widened, this was incredible news for him.
But of course, life wouldn't be this easy.
[But in exchange, you will receive two punishments!]
[The first: all participants of the trial will be watching your fight from now on]
[Have fun!]
[The second punishment for being the last shall come once the trial start =)]
All 9 participants that were dispersed not only in Fellarburg, but throughout the entire world of Rheria, each in their respective rooms/baths/luxury suits, reading the panels as they appeared.
And then before them… appeared a screen that showed live footage of Stark against Soulayer.
"Oh~" some of them smiled as they increased the size of the screen to enjoy the view, interested in Stark's abilities.
"Hah! Let's hope that loser doesn't die before the trial starts," another sipped his wine before grinning.
"Useless… he is weak…" another one, confined in the darkness of his room, sighed, not interested one bit in the weakest person of them all.
After all, only the weakest would still be at level 39 after a while, wouldn't he be, or at least that's what each of them believed.
They MOCKED Stark as they stared at their screens, almost hoping that he survived this battle so that they could torture him even harder inside the trial.
Back to Stark, the implications of this punishment were clear: it wasn't humiliation to show to all the others around that he was the last.
No… the real goal of showing his fight against Soulayer was to…
Show his skills to them all.
Even during the first 'Domination Trial', information was key, and so hiding your skills was just as important as the fights themselves, after all… just one simple skill could be enough to turn the tides of a battle if they betrayed him (which they probably will).
-verified
[Do not, under any circumstances, use any of your strong skills.]
It was himself that summoned this panel, as if to let the thoughts sink onto his consciousness.
And so Stark needed to make a list of the only skills he couldn't use against the weakened boss to not reveal too much info.
'Double Assault, Heaven's Wrath, Clone Frenzy, Aura Smash and Dodge Control…' he thought to himself, these were the skills he would never reveal to them right now, although using them at this very moment would probably end the battle easily.
[Crimson Spears] could be revealed to them as he didn't use it much anyway, and [Invincible Dodge] was pretty much a passive, so they wouldn't understand how it worked anyway.
But that also left one thing he could use to win his battle: the potions, after all, they would just think that he bought them!
"I hope all of you losers are watching," he looked to his right, his determined expression right in front of the camera as he grinned, all 9 other participants looking at his semi-handsome face, "I'll teach you all what real strength is."
Beyond the screens, some were laughing, others intrigued, while the rest kept their neutral expressions.
All of them, for some reason, felt like this very moment would play a huge part in the trial later.
"CRIMSON SPEARS!" he summoned his three spears right behind him, then aimed them at Soulayer, who simply kept walking, his expression even more lifeless than before, one of his arms holding the jar with the green spheres, while the other had the greatsword equipped, its aura much more powerful than before.
But when he sent all three spears toward the monster…
"SWORD COUNTER!" with movement so fast it wasn't visible to the naked eye, it removed its arm from the jar and placed it on the handle of the sword, placing it sideways right below its eyes, which were still burning with crimson aura.
Soulayer waited for the perfect opportunity, and when the spears were right in front of him, he held the handle of his sword tighter and swung it thrice in a motion so smooth it always looked slow from afar.
Then…
~FWING, FWING, FWING~
As the skill said, Soulayer countered Stark's attack by sending it back to him.
'Shit…!'
~FWISH, FWISH~
He avoided the first two quite easily, but the third almost hit him, which forced him to…
'Invincible Dodge,' use his skill at the last second.
[Perfect Dodge!]
'Huh…?' the world around turned gray, and Stark was actually able to see it all go very slowly.
Didn't this mean that even if it was his own attacks, as long as it was the enemy itself that attempted to attack him, then [Perfect Dodge] would work…?
This could be useful later, so Stark made sure to remember that.
'Ok… no other option it seems,' he sighed, [Invincible Dodge]'s perfect dodge gave him around fifteen seconds of free time to think, and that was enough for Stark to reach his conclusion.
'Crimson Spears' wouldn't work, and he couldn't use any of his skills as to not reveal them except if it was really needed.
So now… all he could use were his fist and… potions!
'SPATIAL INVENTORY,' he put his arm inside of the inventory void, then pulled out five [Crystal Stun] potions, as well as one [Potion of Strength]and one [Potion of Speed].
He drank the two latter as to allow him to get a boost, then breathe in and out as he was about to put the plan he thought of since the beginning of the battle into action.
And worst: in front of 9 of the people he would be fighting with/against inside the second 'Domination Trial'.
Such a trivial thing didn't increase Stark's pressure or change his expression one bit though, after all… all that mattered was for him to win, the rest would be all up to him and the others.
And so, it wasn't only Stark that was getting ready, but also the boss…
"THE THREE ULTIMATE SOULS!" he activated his true ultimate skill.
[They are watching us, show them that they never stood a chance to begin with =)]