With Rex mostly targeting Akor's torso, his condition worsened, and he appeared as if he would faint any moment.
Despite the initial advantage Rex held over Akor, he was in no different condition from Akor.
His every successful hit on Akor not only disrupted his healing process but also flared up his injuries due to the impact.
Neither of them no longer had Stamina left to even move. Both barely held themselves from falling unconscious.
Even the passive Health and Stamina regeneration couldn't keep up with their physical exertion and the toll accumulated in their body.
While facing one another, they stood five metres apart as they stared at each other.
Rex's aggressive approach while bearing such heavy injuries was no different from self-harm, and the blood oozing from those injuries was evident to that.
With the blood-soaking his fur all over, Rex squeezed a few words as a reply to something his opponent asked a while back, "I…do…have….what it takes….."
Akor didn't counter those words nor harrumph at them. His first impression of Rex was not so good due to the way the Lycanthropes conducted themselves and tried to enslave the weaker teams, and that went down a steep curve when the latter attacked Jay back during the 2nd Intermission, whereas Rex developed hostility towards Akor for beating him up without learning the whole situation of Urzo possessing his body to attack Jay.
However, contrary to the initial opinion they held of each other, they came to unknowingly respect each other after such strenuous combat.
Within their weary eyes, hints of admiration for each other could be seen by those with keen observation.
Although they didn't say it out loud, either one of them looked down on the other anymore. That didn't make them friends but established a mutual understanding in them.
Despite them simply standing while facing one another, the spectators didn't even make a little noise.
From the very beginning, the Bout between Akor and Rex went beyond everything the audience imagined.
Whether it be the scale of their fight or the intensity, no other Bout before came close to the one ongoing in front of them.
Even the final standoff was so intense almost everyone held their breaths, not willing to miss the deciding moment of the Bout.
Before the Bout began, everyone believed Akor would be the victor. It was their assumption based on the strength Akor displayed prior to Round-3.
But as the fight progressed, that assumption continued to shift from one end to another, never flashing certainty to the spectators on who the victor would be.
After what felt like ages for them, one of the combatants succumbed to over-exhaustion and lost consciousness.
Only after seeing Akor fall on the Stage floor did Rex give in to the fatigue and pass out.
Felarial stepped in and announced the result of the Bout, "As Rex was the one to last longer, I declare him as the winner for the 1st Bout. But since he was in no condition to proceed further, the Atlantis team could send whomever they wish for the 2nd Bout."
Following the announcement, the audience burst into chatter; most of them were regarding the one hell of a Bout that had just ended.
Meanwhile, the Atlans and Lycanthropes carried the unconscious Akor and Rex to the Earth team's seating area.
Those who weren't aware of the relationship those two Trial Zone teams had with the Earth team were puzzled by that.
The Altans and Lycanthropes would have treated Akor and Rex using the pulp of Spiritual Fruits but didn't do so under the instructions they received mentally from Jay.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the Colosseum, Andrea stepped forward to heal them both at the same time.
It didn't take long for the wounds to completely disappear as if they weren't injured, to begin with. But Akor and Rex didn't wake up right away.
After all, the mental toll on them would take a while to recover.
The Atlans and Lycanthropes bowed to Andrea before carrying Akor and Rex, who were sound asleep, back to their respective seating areas.
Among those two teams, Atlans were the ones who had grim looks on their faces since, other than Akor, they only had another member in Tier-3, whereas their opponent team had three more aside from Rex.
The one to step forth as the combatant for the 2nd Bout was the Sea Lord, Aton and facing him was the strongest one among the three Tier-3 Lycanthropes, Raul.
Their Bout could be considered the deciding point of the Match. After all, if Aton were to win the 2nd Bout, he could just choose the weakest among the Lycanthropes in the next Bout and come out as the winner with ease.
Raul didn't dare to be careless despite the advantage his team held. Once the Bout began, he gave his all against Aton.
Although their fight couldn't compare to the jaw-dropping Bout that took place a while ago, theirs still caught the attention of the audience.
Not for the intensity of the fight or its magnitude but as the sheer contest between a Water elemental user and a Wind Innate Talent user.
The command each of them had over their respective element was something only a handful of the participants could accomplish.
Thanks to the ORIGIN SIGIL Synergy, the Innate Talents of both Aton and Raul were near Grade-9, which was why their control over their respective elements was so exquisite.
While Akor and Rex had even higher Grade Innate Talents than them, their Bout didn't bring the full glory of Water and Wind elements.
In the previous Bout, the aggressiveness of Akor's Volatile Aqua element took over, and in Rex's case, the Wind element utmost acted as a support for the Pseudo-Speed Energy, not displaying the pure elemental might.
Despite both being at the Low-Phase of Tier-3, the prowess they displayed had met the standards of those at Tier-3 Mid-Phase.
That made everyone look at them in a new light, adding Aton and Raul to the list of top candidates in the Tournament.
After a long and arduous fight, Aton barely emerged as the victor in the 2nd Bout, bringing joy onto the faces of the remaining Atlans.
As the winner of the 2nd Bout, Aton chose the weakest one among the Lycanthropes. The fact that he ran low on Spirit Energy didn't hinder him from using a pure physical approach in winning against someone at Tier-2.
Just like that, the Atlantis team won the Match against the Ragath team, concluding the 1st Rotation, making the next Match to be among the teams from Group-A.
Group A: ~Vatruter (Rank-10)3, Falud (Rank-15)4, ~Zudars (Rank-17) 2, ~Ilara (Rank-21)0, ~Auclite (Rank-24) 1
Group B: Silephe (Rank-3)4, ~Geigawa (Rank-11)3, ~Cremonope (Rank-18) 2, ~Thyria (Rank-20)1, ~Relnara (Rank-23)0
Group C: Earth (Rank-1) 4, Owlite (Rank-6) 3, ~Pizion (Rank-9) 2, ~Nuenia (Rank-14) 1, ~Zapwa (Rank-25) 0
Group D: Tilephe (Rank-4) 3, Polyphaga (Rank-5) 4, ~Saphus (Rank-8) 2, ~Cegriea (Rank-12) 1, ~Muitis (Rank-22) 0
Group E: Atlanis (Rank-2) 4, Ragath (Rank-7) 3, ~Viogawa (Rank-13) 1, ~Phudaclite (Rank-16) 2, ~Bucille (Rank-19) 0
With 5 Matches in each Rotation, the remaining 9 Rotations went by one after another, and there wasn't much suspense.
That was especially true for Group-C as every other team right away conceded when they were up against the Earth Team.
It took a whole 7 hours for the 1st Segment to come to an end, leaving just 3 hours for the Tournament to end.
Before the 2nd Segment began, the finalised Performance Score of all 25 Teams was displayed on the large screen floating above the podium ground.
Comments