The battle between the heiress of the Ash Clan and the elder of the violet pavilion is unlike anything spectators have imagined it to happen.
Irene is someone who was considered a child of heaven. With a platinum grade like ash which she inherited from her mother, her potential is something everyone had expectations on.
On the other hand, Evelyn is considered barely a genius as it took her more than two centuries to even break through the seven-star realm. She has a gold-grade Arcana.
Even if she was at the peak stage of the 7-star realm compared to Irene's intermediate stage of the same realm, the majority of upper echelons of the sect thought that Irene has a solid chance to win.
But, the result was nothing more than a one-sided battle. From the start, there was never a moment Irene managed to get an upper hand. Evelyn skillfully showed everyone that talent and potential are not a match for experience and hard work.
The battle also lasted barely four minutes.
As the healers carried Irene, Evelyn and her steel kangaroo went into waiting mode.
For the next ten minutes, no one came forward to challenge her.
Eventually, she returned to VIP Box and sat behind her favorite nephew. As Azzy and Izora were unresponsive and kept their eyes on the field, she leaned to the edge of the seat and stretched her arm forward to pinch Azzy's cheek, "Brat… no comments about this sis' performance?"
Izora responded to her words by casually slapping below her wrist (a gesture to tell Evelyn to take back her arm), "What is there to see, Eve? That woman is too dependent on her Arcana. No wonder she lost."
As Evelyn freed Azzy's cheek while commenting that it's not her fault if others are afraid to challenge her, Azzy spoke as he turned around, "After the first couple of minutes, you changed your fighting style. I didn't recognize it. What is it? Some of the moves looked quite lethal…"
Evelyn let out a big smile as she heard that. She replied, "Muay Thai, a long lost martial technique from the pre-apocalypse period just like those arts Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, and Taekwondo that you learned under me. I was planning to teach you after you mastered those but you disappeared. Anyways, I can teach you the moves in my free time, later on."
"Nah, I think I will be too busy with work." Azzy felt that muay thai was too dangerous for him to learn.
Because of his superior physique, one small mistake from him will result in the loss of human life. What he needed is to master complete control over his strength, not another offensive technique.
"Alright, your loss…" Evelyn shrugged her shoulders.
Roughly an hour later;
"The time limit is over. The match is void. Winslet Silver has defended his position as the Elder of the orange Pavilion."
The ground was repaired by Albin Ash once again as the pavilion master and the failed challenger left the arena.
He then announced, "Last but not least, it is time to challenge the elder of the red pavilion. Those who wish to challenge me can come forward. You have ten minutes for the first challenger."
According to the rules, the pavilion masters cannot stand still without any challenger for more than ten minutes. If it happens, then, it is considered that the supposed pavilion master had defended his/her position for the rest of the year.
Not many were challenged today and the audience was also under the impression that even Albin Ash might not get an opportunity to battle.
However, the person in question was damn nervous as his attention was largely grabbed by a person sitting in the VIP Box.
Yup, it is Azzy he was paying attention to.
When Azzy showcased the ability of the hourglass in front of everyone, he also announced his participation as a challenger.
However, Azzy has yet to make his move. As the pavilion masters got ignored by Azzy one after another, Albin Ash's excitement grew.
As a pavilion master and an experienced fighter, he was confident about his win against Azzy.
While he won't be able to earn any praise from his fellow clansmen even if he overpowered Azzy for the latter is nothing but a 14-year-old brat, Albin Ash thought that he could still take revenge for his dear friend (Prince Velez).
And now, he is the last one left. So, what will Azzy do now? Will he come forward or not? The time is ticking…
Albin Ash waited and waited until he almost ran out of patience and decide to directly throw a challenge, reminding Azzy about his announcement.
But, thankfully for him, Azzy acted right then. Standing upon his feet, he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him, "I challenge you, Elder Ash."
As everyone's attention shifted toward Azzy, the latter slowly started to walk away from his seat.
"Be careful, Azzy," said Izora.
Evelyn then commented with a smirk, "If anyone should be careful, it should be his opponent, Izora."
Izora shrugged her shoulders and calmly replied, "I also wanted him to hold back so that his opponent is left with some face. Albin's sister was already humiliated by you."
"I wonder whether he shares his mother's sentiments," Evelyn highly doubts that Azzy will hold back his strength as Albin is someone who is known to be a close friend of Prince Velez.
Meanwhile, Azzy made his way to the field. With the host participating in a battle, Francis Blood was once again forced to act as the Proctor. As for the audience, they couldn't stop cheering his name now that Azzy is once again their beloved young master.
Soon, Azzy reached his opponent. The latter spoke, "Don't you think that you are rushing to become a pavilion master? You are the age where you should be attending school, not teaching others."
Azzy didn't know whether Albin was trying to insult him or advice but he doesn't care either way as he knew that Albin will get beaten up in the end. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "If you defeat me, I will surely listen to your words, Elder Ash."
Albin's facial expression changed upon hearing those words. Was Azzy mocking him that he cannot win? Albin's ego was hurt and he clenched his fist and made up his mind to give his opponent a humiliating defeat.
But, the reality ended up being harsher for Albin Ash.
As the signal for the battle was given by the Proctor, Albin summoned his gourd full of sand while Azzy summoned his Hourglass. He didn't summon the other arcana spirits, wanting to finish this battle with his fists while showcasing his time abilities.
The moment Albin saw the hourglass, he quickly decided to cover himself with a condensed ash shield to block whatever spell Azzy was about to unleash. As his defense barrier didn't form from only energy but a solid physical object, he thought that he can protect himself.
How could he have known that Azzy possessed the ability to affect the whole world?
As soon as the battle started and Albin went on the defensive, Azzy unleashed the first soul skill of the Hourglass.
"Soul skill: Time Stop"
Time stopped all across the solar system the planets Gaia and Arcana were located.
All the Supreme Beings in the world sensed it too but Qridus was the only one to be fortunate enough to see it in person.
As the world froze in time, Qridus' eyes darted left and right, trying to look around. His whole body is in the same condition as the others.
He then saw Azzy rush forward. Reaching his opponent, the teenager clenched a fist and gave a powerful punch to Albin's abdomen which the barrier has yet to cover.
The shield was broken and Albin Ash flew away with great force. He crashed onto the translucent barrier placed by Francis Blood and cracked it a little bit before falling onto the ground.
By the time everything became normal, all spectators saw Azzy standing in the position where his opponent was standing earlier and the latter was lying far away in an unconscious state with a couple of bones in his ribs broken.
"What the hell just happened?"
Francis stared at him in silence and so was everyone. No one understood what happened earlier. As for the sub-clan leaders, they saw Azzy turning the hourglass upside down and then the result is in front of everyone.
In the end, they could only assume that Azzy did something with Hourglass to defeat his opponent and became extremely wary of him. But then again, it isn't their fault. People always fear the unknown.
Back to the arena, as Albin Ash was taken away by the staff, Francis announced Azzy's win before informing the interested individuals to come forward.
New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on free(w)ebnovel(.)com