The Death knight pierced the floor below him and unleashed his soul skill on the enemies. Black-colored spikes emerged from below the opponents. The attacks were so precise that only five spikes appeared in everyone's sight and every one of them pierced an opponent.
Following the attack, the spikes released the death energy into the bodies of the targets and corrupted the soul energy of four of them. Only the healer was able to resist the energy and recovered himself because of his extremely powerful light attribute.
But, what can one guy do? Unless he is in the same league as Velez or Azzy, he was helpless. So, as soon as he got free, the healer named Joel threw smoke bombs, releasing an insane amount of smoke and covering all of his teammates. With his infrared glasses, he spotted his teammates and proceeded to use his soul skill to help everyone recover from their state by expelling the corruptive energy that invaded their bodies.
However, unfortunately for him, the Death Knight can even see in the darkness, much less smoke.
Upon receiving the order, he charged forward in the cloud of smoke. The spectators couldn't see what happened inside but as they saw the Death Knight exiting the cloud of smoke and returning to his owner only after ten seconds, they realized that the match is already over.
Neal, on the other hand, was waiting for the smoke to dissipate. Velez then turned his head and spoke loudly, "the match is already over, Proctor. You can make the announcement without wasting the time."
Velez's impolite tone made Neal frown at first, but as he cannot take it personally, he flew into the barrier to check the situation.
Soon, he flew out of the smoke and announced the win.
Central Academy's representative instructor stepped in and forcefully dispelled the corruptive energy from the bodies of the students. After that, he carried them away on a flying card while hanging his head down in shame.
After the smoke was completely dissipated, the battle platform was repaired and Neal proceeded to announce the next battle, "Now, it's time for the first semi-finals of the duo category. Team ACT versus Team Drake."
Unlike the earlier one-sided battle, this one was quite intense and tight, and went on for at least 20 minutes before Team Drake of the Dragon Academy had moved onto the finals.
The next battle was between Team Miare and the tournament favorite Team Ash.
While Claire was a lot calmer, Mia appeared to be slightly tensed. Upon spotting it, Azzy thought of easing her up with some cheering but Louis beat him to it. He even went the extra mile to grab Mia's shoulders and said, "Win or lose, doesn't matter. You just have to do your best out there and also make sure to not risk your life. To me, your life is much more precious than some medal."
Just like Estella, Louis kinda looks different from an average human. If the moon clan's heiress looks like a doll, Louis' face is similar to that of an anime character. So, when people like those does something out of their usual character, it appears seriously weird to the spectators. Azzy and others also thought that it appeared too unnatural. Only Claire managed to read between the lines.
She also knew her best friend. Mia usually acts cold all the time. She warms up to her friends but she never blushes or gets embarrassed. In a way, she's similar to Azzy. Seeing that Mia turned shy for a moment, Claire locked her arms with Mia's and let out a mischievous smile, "Ho, I didn't know that our Mia's life is that precious to you."
Louis suddenly backed away and cleared his throat, "I don't mean that way."
As Mia blushed, even more, Claire further teased her, "Okay, let's not waste time any longer with these speeches. If your heartbeat becomes unstable, it will be bad for us."
"What are you talking about?" commented Mia as she puffed her cheeks as she was being dragged out of the room.
Soon, both of them entered the field where the twins are waiting for them.
The timer reached zero and the battle started. Claire and Mia went with their full strength right from the start. However, it just wasn't enough to face Irene Ash and Albin Ash.
After defeating Mia, both of them kept on pushing Claire out of the barrier. After several tries, Irene Ash finally managed to hold down Claire with her sand for more than five seconds outside the barrier and won the match.
Mia was dispirited for not being able to support Claire and apologized to her but the latter only praised her that she was strong or else, they wouldn't reach the semifinals.
Upon returning to the waiting room, both of them only received applause from their teammates. Mia let out a sigh as she sat down, "Well, there are still a couple of years left until I get disqualified from participating in the junior world league. I guess I have a lot of time to improve."
Meanwhile, the semifinals of the solo category started.
The first battle wasn't a surprise to no one. Prince is a sealing master and the host of a platinum-grade Cyclops. The most popular and probably overused soul skill of Prince is the Berserk mode. Upon unleashing the soul skill, the Cyclops would receive an enormous boost to its strength that lasts atleast 15 minutes.
As the one with high-rank-6 soul power, the Cyclops strength would reach high-rank-7 and it would be tough for any opponent in a junior league to face it. It was the same for Luciana Hearth. She was defeated and exited the field in disappointment.
Claire wanted to go and console her, but Azzy stopped her by stating that it would be the same as rubbing salt on someone's wound if an acquaintance like her would go and try to cheer up. As a result, Claire stayed behind and thought of meeting her once Luciana recovers from disappointment.
Meanwhile, Velez and Leah entered the field.
As the 100-second timer started, both of them summoned their Arcana. If the last match is the first time Velez summoned his Death knight, this is the first time he summoned it during the preparation time. He was also serious, shedding off his usual careless attitude.
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