When Valentina reached where Damien was, her body froze just as she recognized him. Before she reached his location, she had thought of eliminating everyone using her invisibility without having any need to fight and end the match quickly.
She never thought it would be this easy as so far she never even had to use her weapon to fight.
But upon seeing Damien, she suddenly didn't know what to do. She remembered that she should pretend not to know him but had no idea how she should exactly do that.
"Big Brother, take my wristband." Valentina sent a mental transmission to Damien after she revealed herself before him.
She had absolutely no plans on winning by defeating Damien, even if she was confident of defeating him.
She would rather lose than see Damien lose and didn't want to fight him.
Damien knew she would say something like this and spoke assertively, "No way. You have to fight me, or it will mean you think that I am weak. Besides, people are watching us, and they will disqualify both of us if we do anything suspicious. Now fight and show me how powerful you are. Don't worry about anything and just take this whole thing as a game."
Damien had no choice as he said those words because he knew Valentina wouldn't fight him seriously otherwise.
Damien knew that even if he defeats Valentina, she would still get selected as they wouldn't let go of such a genius without even taking into account her status.
Valentina bit her lips as her hand scythe manifested in her hands. She knew if she stalled any longer, the invigilators would get suspicious, just as Damien said, and didn't want Damien to get disqualified because of her.
Just then, two of her remaining team members also reached the spot, and they saw Valentina facing off against Damien, who was only at the Peak Level Nascent Ethereal Realm.
"Stand right there. This is my fight." Valentina said in a firm tone to her team members.
Both of her team members were baffled how she could even call this a fight when she could simply swing her hand to defeat any number of Nascent Ethereal Realm cultivators.
They also knew that Valentina eliminated four members from Damien's team and couldn't understand why she can't defeat Damien in the same fashion.
They wondered why she even needed to have a face-off with Damien when she could eliminate him within just a blink of an eye.
Damien didn't dare to underestimate Valentina and took out his sword - Knightfall. It was a long sword made of Darksilver steel, and its razor-sharp tip would make people feel as if it could pierce and turn them into a sieve.
The sword's crossguard had ornamental designs, and the hilt of the sword seemed to have a good grip.
He knew Valentina's true combat prowess was not the same as her cultivation level, especially considering her talent in Illusion Laws. Her body was also too strong that it wasn't of a normal Earth Ethereal Realm Level One cultivator's body.
Damien knew that if she fought him in her terrifying ethereal beast form, his chances of winning would only reduce even further. This was the first time he was going to fight an ethereal practitioner using his sword.
Valentina thought of purposefully losing to him but remembered Damien's words that if she does anything like that, then it was proof that she looked down on him, which was not something she wanted.
Her expression became determined as she clutched her weapon tighter.
Damien smiled and said aloud in a casual tone as if he was flirting, "Beautiful fairy, that's quite a weapon you go there. I hope I can defeat you without hurting an inch of your precious body."
But inwardly, he chuckled, seeing her serious expression. He could guess the kind of thoughts going on in her mind and felt happy that he had someone like her in his life.
Valentina strangely felt happy hearing his words as he had never talked like that to her though she knew that he was simply pretending.
The girl in Valentina's team wondered if Damien went mad to talk about defeating her and felt pity that he also was taken in by her beauty and trying to act manly before her. But the boy who got slapped earlier was looking forward to seeing Damien get thrashed just like him with an expression of schadenfreude on his face.
But the audience, especially the proctors, speculated the reason why Valentina seemed cautious. They all were dumbstruck when they saw Damien sent Cedric flying away with just a single punch!
Damien's and Cedric's ethereal cultivation differed by a whole realm, but Damien somehow surmounted an entire realm and even caught Cedric off guard.
They also were shocked by the speed at which Damien could move, a speed which even Peak Spirit Ethereal Realm cultivators can't achieve.
They couldn't understand what was going on. Damien not only had the legendary Lightning seed but can also surmount a whole realm? Even the proctors cross-checked many times if Damien was really at the Nascent Ethereal Realm, but the fact was still the same.
In order to make it more believable, they told themselves that it was just a once in a million fluke, and probably Cedric was not feeling well.
Meanwhile, far away in a simple pavilion, a sapphire haired girl was looking at the huge screen before her. Her eyes were focused on Damien's figure on the screen.
She waved her hands as she beckoned the maid near her, "You said he was coming from the Rong Empire, right?"
The maid bowed as she answered, "Yes, Your Highness."
"Hmm, Damien Godwin...who exactly are you?" The girl muttered to herself as her brows knit together.
"Big Brother, here I come!" Valentina mentally sent a transmission to Damien as she charged forward.
Damien sighed with a smile, hearing her warning. He instantly zoomed forward, aiming for her wristband.
"Undying Wrath!!"
The ethereal energy aura on his body suddenly increased explosively at a frightening rate! His aura was still at the Tenth Level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm, but the power being carried in his ethereal energy had already crossed the limits of Nascent Ethereal Realm and had neared the Peak Level of the Spirit Ethereal Realm!
But he knew that he would only be able to last around fifteen minutes while using his Anti-God Arts, and that's without considering the usage of his ethereal arts.
Valentina's teammates felt the change in his aura and were flabbergasted as they felt the thickness of Damien's ethereal energy rapidly skyrocketing. They sensed that it was not something that a Nascent Ethereal Realm cultivator could emit.
Valentina didn't falter as she already knew about Damien's explosive strength. She fell back and swung her hand scythe towards Damien to bind him with its chains.
But just as her hand scythe bound around him, Damien's figure faded away as if he was never there in the first place.
'An afterimage!' Valentina's brows raised when she realized that it was just an afterimage and instantly turned around.
*CLING!*
Valentina moved her hand instantly and protected her wristband from Damien's sword by locking his sword with her hand scythe.
"Wow, your reaction time is improving!" Damien smirked as he tried to apply more pressure with his sword on her sickle but was surprised that it didn't even budge.
'Phew, she is too strong.'
Valentina smiled but reverted to her stiff expression as she knocked back Damien with her hand scythe.
She gave a playful smile as she suddenly disappeared!
Damien's brows raised as he shouted in his mind, 'Illusion!'
Comments