Seventh match winner: Loving Aunt!
With Loving Aunt's victory, the final match of the Round of 16 was about to begin.
8th Match: Killer Queen vs Quiet Blade (Cobra)!
Keira entered the stage as she usually did, by jumping up and landing smack dab in the middle, causing the entire thing to quake crazily. Cobra did the direct opposite as he leaped on soundless and deftly, like a snake.
The two faced off, Keira smashing her gauntlets together to create a small wind that ruffled Cobra's hair while the Slayer simply twirled his daggers lightly. When Amber called for the match to begin, Cobra immediately used Extreme Stealth.
Keira seemed unbothered by this as she smiled lightly, then punched the arena below them. The next moment, the entire thing was destroyed by her enormous strength, sending huge chunks of marble flying all over the place.
Dust was kicked up and covered the entire stage. Keira's eyes darted left and right until she saw a shadow appear to her left, at which point she grinned..
However, instead of punching that shadow in the fog, she punched towards her right with all her power. Her fist connected with something as Cobra coughed blood and was forced out of his stealth.
He gazed at Keira with a dark look, acknowledging that he was fighting against the strongest of the Three Pinnacles. Cobra couldn't know this, but Keira had been the most powerful of the three in both timelines.
In the previous timeline, she alone had been able to fend off the attacks of Kiran and Cobra while Hera had handled Rina and Uno and Lucia had tackled Boyd. Cobra had hated her with a passion and right now this timeline's was beginning to experience that same feeling.
Keira didn't let go as she pursued Cobra by activating a skill right away!
Flurry Kicks!
She jumped forward and tracked Cobra who could not re-enter stealth so soon and began furiously kicking towards him while spinning in midair. Cobra simply dodged her kicks with his superior speed and stabbed towards her abdomen when the animation was on its last 'frame'.
Keira was shocked by this and quickly activated her Fists of Fury skill.
｢Fists of Fury - Active skill
Effect: Channel your rage into your punches, unleashing a set of blows that are unending and full of white-hot fury coming straight from your heart! Each attack deals 10% unarmed damage and you possess invincibility for the duration of the skill.
Duration: 30 seconds
Cooldown: 10 minutes.｣
Keira needed the invincibility that came with the skill the most, and she used it to put pressure on Cobra at the same time. However, her heart darkened when she saw Cobra display a crazed smile as if he had gotten exactly what he wanted.
Cobra dodged her attack and took out a blowdart. He blew into it, firing off one dart that struck Keira who was still locked in the animation of her skill, unable to dodge.
｢Disable - Active skill
Effect: Fire a special dart of poison that silences the target, preventing them from using their skill or spells. Some enemies might also be paralyzed for a short period.
Duration: 30 minutes
Cooldown: 20 hours.｣
Keira immediately stopped her movements as she came to a halt in the middle of the destroyed stage, her body freezing up. One could see her twitch violently like she was fighting the effect, and Cobra knew it would not work too long given her power.
As such, he entered stealth right away and disappeared from the senses of Keira. He then came behind her and used his trump card, Sure-Kill Strike!
His dagger plunged into her back, making the eyes of the woman widen in horror as she felt her life energy leave her body slowly. Cobra gripped her and gazed in her eyes all this while, a sick sort of pleasure reflected in them for dealing with an enemy that had actually managed to harm him.
Keira, unfortunately, died just like this, unable to retaliate against one of the Five Generals who had been fortunate enough to gain headstart over her in this timeline.
Her body turned into pixellated sprites as she disappeared, leaving Cobra to bask in the cheer of the French as he came down from the stage.
As for the Japanese, they could only sigh as their cup run ended here, but they had fared better than China, so that comforted them greatly.
Eigth match winner: Quiet Blade (Cobra)!
Keira came back to life and was pale for a bit, but felt an arm wrap around her. When she saw it was Armonia, her heart softened as she leaned into his embrace and sighed weakly.
Amber then hovered closer to the stage as she spoke. "With that, the Round of 16 has come to an end. Now, we move onto the Quarter Finals!"
She then gestured to a screen that appeared behind her. "Here are the next round's contestants!"
1st Match: Essence Stalker vs Slim Fatty!
2nd Match: Alpha Male (Uno) vs Dark Monk (Kiran)!
3rd Match: Rambunctious Buttlover vs Deployed Soldier!
4th Match: Loving Aunt vs Quiet Blade (Cobra)!
The crowd buzzed with excitement and fervor at the thought of seeing the intense matches that would be coming up next!
First, Essence Stalker teleported onto the stage casually, smiling with battle intent as he gazed at the valiant Slim Fatty who jumped up from the other side.
Slim Fatty had a severe expression on her face, not looking forward to the herculean task of having to fight Essence Stalker and try to win, but she wouldn't be cowed either.
Essence represented the final barrier for every core member in Umbra. He was the strongest below the top two, yet even was unable to handle a single one of the White-Haired Duo on his own.
If one could defeat Essence, it meant that one could at least have hope of ever reaching Draco and Eva's power. This was the dream of every core members, which was why they all treated Essence like the ultimate barrier.
Essence himself didn't mind. The other core members were welcome to use him as their goal, since he himself was using Draco and Eva as his goals, so he couldn't begrudge them for it.
In Essence's mind, he understood that in terms of bloodline power, he would never be a match for Draco given the purity gap. That was fine and acceptable, but he could at least be on par with Draco in terms of system class and skills/techniques.
After all, he of all people had no excuse since he also had the Innate Technique Generator, but for combat only.
Amber soon called for the match to begin, and the two powerhouses exploded toward each other. Slim Fatty especially knew that there was no manner of tricks or careful calculations she could make against a broken monster like Essence.
As such, she roared then charged at Essence, swinging Swordblade directly at him while fighting with the support of her three other swords, Forte, Seeker, and Wilde.
The sheer power of her main sword clashed against Essence and his halberd, knocking the fellow back a few steps as he dug a groove in the area with his boots.
Slim Fatty's face darkened when she saw that her usually overwhelming strength had little effect on Essence, not even unbalancing or making his legs actually move.
Essence steadied himself and pulled his legs out of the groove calmly and then cricked his neck. He glanced at Slim Fatty and smiled widely, showing his clean white teeth.
"I've always wanted to feel your strength for myself, and I have got to say, it is every bit as impressive as I thought!"
Slim Fatty's Forte sword suddenly slashed behind her, as Essence swung forward where he stood without moving.
"However, it is simply not enough to overcome the gap between us!"
Essence's halberd looked like it would strike air o hit the arena floor behind him, making onlookers wonder whether he had sight problems. However, their faces changed when they saw a portal open before Essence that was shaped like a tear.
The head of his halberd passed through it during its swing and exited from behind Slim Fatty while the woman herself was clueless. However, she was saved by Forte which had already moved and met the strike of Essence, rebounding it back through its portal.
Essence frowned and pulled his halberd back through the min wormhole with surprise, wondering how Slim Fatty predicted his attack so fast. However, looking at the woman's horrified expression as she gazed behind her, it was clear to anyone that she had no idea what happened.
Essence was informed of many things, so he looked at the sword that blocked him, Forte, and understood. That lad had been crafted by Draco for Slim Fatty, along with her other 3.
Draco must have put an enhancement on the sword that gave it precognition towards attacks on Slim Fatty, and something that gave it the ability to rebound attacks despite being a sword.
Essence was sure of this, because only Draco could create such OP enchantments on a weapon. Now that she realized this, he looked at the other weapons hovering around Slim Fatty and realized that they too must serve different purposes with useful enchantments from Draco.
This did not discourage him, rather exciting the battle maniac. He bellowed and teleported right beside Slim Fatty, swinging his halberd down in an arc to bisect her.
Forte moved to defend her once again, but it was not able to rebound Essence this time as he turned the head of his halberd into an ethereal item. He had temporarily sent it to his void, so nothing on this side could interact with it though it could be seen.
In essence - heh - it went through the defensive blade. After that, Essence naturally returned its corporeal nature, meaning that it was now back in normal spacetime.
Slim Fatty could only defend using Swordblade at this point, but Essence seemed to want to use the same trick on her again. However, he was shocked when he felt pain in his abdomen as Seeker, the speedy sword, had used this chance to stab him.
It seemed to have an enchantment that let it ignore some amount of defenses, so it dealt a bit of damage to Essence. The fellow turned that part of his body into void, continuing with his attack straightforwardly.
Nothing could save Slim Fatty at this point as the halberd maintained its speed and crashed into her right shoulder. Slim Fatty had moved her head out of the way at the last moment, but it didn't change much.
Essence had coated the edge of his halberd with void energy, meaning that it had become the sharpest item in the world - after something coated with Destruction Energy - and it cut through Slim Fatty like she was paper.
The entire crowd grimaced with horror at seeing such a lovely woman split into half by the side, the right half of her body falling to one side while the side with her head still connected fell to the other.
Slim Fatty herself wore a terrifying expression of fortitude, as if despite the pain, she would persevere. She might have done so in reality, but it was not possible once the game decided that attack had depleted her HP.
She disappeared into pixels and re-appeared by the side of the stage, her ferocious expression still there for a while till she came down from her brutal death.
When she relaxed, she felt weak and tired, almost collapsing to the ground until a set of hands held her firm. When she looked and saw the familiar blue robes of Fitter, she smiled stupidly.
"Hey handsome…" Slim Fatty managed to say before she fainted.
Fitter sighed and lifted her up gently. Essence came down from the stage and patted Fitter on the shoulder with a tough expression.
"Sigh, best buddy I tried to treat sis-in-law well, but who knew she was so tough? Are you sure you are the one who does the thrusting at night?"
Fitter's face became black as a pot. He swore that if he wasn't using both hands to hold his babe, he would fight Essence to the death right here.
First Match: Essence Stalker Wins!
2nd Match: Alpha Male vs Gentle Lamb!
Uno climbed up the stage on the left with a smile while Kiran also did so from the right with - shockingly - a smile. After all, the Five Generals had an extremely close relationship with one another, so they were looking forward to this fight the most.
Uno banged his shield with his hammer and nodded towards Kiran while the Martial Artist clasped his fists bowed as well. The moment Amber called for the match to begin, they both got into it right away.
Kiran exploded with a mixture of brown and green lights that converged around his body to form a red aura. His blond hair became red and stood up while his eyes changed to a purple color.
He had entered his Super Saiya- *cough* Super Warrior form!
Uno directly used his Shield Toss skill towards Kiran to test the reactions of this form. He was naturally surprised when he saw his spinning shield that was moving faster than a bullet was caught by Kiran easily.
The fellow tried to bend it into scrap, but found that it was futile as the shield pulled itself out of his grip and return to Uno's hand. Uno however, was grim as he knew that his chances of winning hinged on that one trick he discovered in his previous fight.
Kiran frowned when the shield left his grip, but he simply stomped his foot and blasted forward, appearing in front of Uno almost a split second later.
Uno calmly raised his shield and placed it before him, ready to receive the attack. Kiran, who was almost like he was in a God Mode, activated his famous Attack Rush skill.
"My soul resonates... cold enough to freeze... My body is invincible! MOONLIGHT PURPLE OVERDRIVEEEEE!" Kiran roared out as his red aura exploded further, becoming even stronger as he chanted his Soul Mantra.
He then exploded with a flurry and punches so great they took up half the stage's width, going even as high as three times a human. The reason it extended past his reach was due to his aura creating shadows of his fists imbued with the same energy that struck that general area.
"SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA SHAAAAAA!!!" Kiran bellowed continuously as he continued punching so furiously that even Uno behind the shield began to feel the pain.
However, the Vanguard also roared and tried to push back on Kiran. He had a slew of defenses that reduced Kiran's damage, and even had two passives that gave him a reflection chance.
So Some of Kiran's punches were reflected back to him, but this was useless as his barrage would just destroy the reflected attack. Uno was troubled as even though Kiran's damage was greatly reduced, the sheer frequency of them made it such that he was slowly losing HP.
Since the skill had a 2-minute Duration, Uno calculated that he would have 30% or less HP by the time it was done. He quickly formulated a plan in his mind and executed it.
He first roared loudly and broke Kiran's skill by activating his cheat skill for arena battles, All-Out Defense!
Immediately, a barrier appeared from his position and began to spread outward rapidly, trying to extend for the full 20 miles it possessed. The forced Kiran back and broke his skill animation, pushing him towards the Arena's exit.
However, Kiran's eyes flashed as he had been waiting for this! He then roared and flew up into the air by exploding his aura beneath himself, rushing so high that he was able to stand on the top of Uno's barrier casually when it reached its limit.
From there, he sneered at Uno and raised his foot, stomping on the barrier below him casually. While the barrier had a 70% damage reduction, it only had 12 million HP after that.
Kiran's damage in this form though, was not something that a mere 70% reduction could make a difference. Especially since he could attack it without obstruction, he managed to destroy it with 10 stomps.
Uno on the ground did not change his expression as he expected Kiran to shatter his shield. Rather, he used one of his taunt skills Vengeful Roar, which forced Kiran to fly down and try to attack Uno against his wishes.
Super Warrior form was OP, sure, but it didn't grant damage immunity especially against mental attacks like these. Kiran's expression was also shockingly calm despite being captured in Uno's trap.
Uno waited for Kiran to come close before using one of his most precious skills.
｢Deflect - Active skill
Effect: Charge up your shield and deflect the attack of a foe that is beyond your threshold.
Note 1: This requires a shield of the Legendary Rank at the least.
Note 2: Deflect can only work if the incoming attack deals above 10,000,000 damage at once.
Note 3: There is a 10% chance to perfectly reflect the attack at Rank 3.
Cooldown: 20 hours.｣
Uno had gotten a feel for Kiran's attacks and knew that the fellow dealt more than 10 million damage with casual attacks, and if it weren't for Uno's passives, he would be dead a million items over.
This skill was his only chance to kill Kiran using his own power!
However, when Kiran approached him, he smiled and activated his special skill, Realm King Fist!
Uno's face changed as he remembered a key detail that he had forgotten, but it was too late. Kiran glowed with an even redder aura as he shot towards Uno like a bullet and truck his shield head-on in the first hit of this sequence.
Uno's 10% perfectly from the skill plus his 5% chance from his shield's passive triggered and struck Kiran with his own hit while negating damage on Uno.
However, Realm king Fist was a continuous attack skill, and Kiran had invincibility during its duration!
