"You!" the young man freaked out a little seeing the princess bring out a level of Essence that he didn't think she had. He stopped in his tracks and quickly flew back away from her.
Once he was at a safe distance, he looked at her with confused looks. He had thought he was the only one who had managed to hide it from everyone, but it seemed the princess was even better at it than him.
What he didn't know was that he had only managed to hide it from the other participants who were weaker like him. The referee and various teachers had most definitely already noticed it.
However, even the referee was confused when sensing the aura that came out of the princess. That was not what he was expecting seeing someone like her on the stage.
Was she not weak? Was her Moonlight Essence Core that well hidden that even the adults hadn't seen it?
It wasn't just the referee, of course, everyone but a few people were surprised at the sudden revelation.
Up in the tower where the Royal family members and other rulers of the dominion stayed, the Emperor couldn't help but scoff. "These idiots!" he spoke out. "They thought my granddaughter was weak. If they keep it up, they'll be killed by people they underestimate."
The crown prince chuckled a bit.
As for the rulers, they were wide-eyed at the situation. Saburn Foreman especially was more than surprised as he had watched her fight through multiple battles the other day, and nowhere had the princess shown such a capability.
'How did she hide it?' he still couldn't believe.
Aside from them and the crowd, even Ning and Yorsha were equally surprised, including the teacher.
"What… what is going on?" Yorsha couldn't help but ask. "The princess was in the High Essence Soul realm? How was this hidden from us for multiple days?"
Ning stayed silent, trying to make sense of the situation. He had definitely sensed only a Low Essence Soul realm from her. Even if he was mistaken, what about the machine that tested their Essence? It had shown no sign of the princess having such a strong aura.
"How is this possible, Prince Allen?" the teacher asked. "We've seen the princess bring out her Essence Soul. It wasn't strong before. Did she break through last night?"
"Haha!" the prince laughed. "You guys still haven't caught onto it, have you? You're in for a treat then."
Hearing the prince's excited sound, everyone looked toward the screen, in hopes of seeing just what it was that made the princess's situation so incredible.
On the stage, the princess stood at a distance without any weapons, not even the light sword, and faced the young man whose mind was going through a lot of turmoil.
The young man had a Water sword in his hand and Fire armor inside. Even then, he hesitated at the weirdness of the situation and didn't immediately attack again.
He thought for a few seconds before confirming something. "It really is the High Essence Soul realm, isn't it?" he asked. "So it is not some sort of illusion to dupe me."
The prince narrowed her eyes a little, giving a slightly disgusted look toward the young man, who was immediately offended by it.
"Hahaha! So you hid it until now," the young man shouted. "What does that matter. You've merely stepped up to my level. All you've done is placed yourself on equal playing field as me. That does not mean that you will win at all."
"You still have to fight."
The princess finally sighed. "Are you expecting me to give up after hearing your long speech, or are you actually going to fight against me?" he asked.
"You— haha~ hahaha! Princess, do you truly believe that you have a chance at victory here?" he asked. "You might have the same Essence rank as me, but please do not forget that while you have a Moonlight Essence core, I have an Earth Essence core. You have no chance at victory here."
The princess lifted her two arms in front of her. "It will soon be apparent who is the victor here."
Then, she started using her technique.
The young man instantly started using his to create a simple barrier of stone as he would need nothing more to stop the incoming Moonlight Essence attack.
As the stone barrier finished forming, his eyes changed a little while his face fell. "What?" he couldn't help but be surprised when he sensed that the Essence being used on the other side was not that of Moonlight, but something else.
Something he rarely sensed.
Before he could realize what it was, the attack landed on the stone wall, breaking it immediately as the rest of it started spilling around him. The young man immediately recognized the direness of the situation and brought out his Earth Essence soul, a 10 meters tall earthen figure that was completely humanoid and seemed to be made out of many pieces of stones.
A layer of rock grew out from the ground and only then did the princess's attack was finally stopped.
The young man stared in awe at the remainder of the attack.
What had remained was a pool of glowing red liquid that seemed to have molten most of the stones that came into contact with it.
The young man gulped in fear when he realized that the attack the princess had used was in fact not Moonlight Essence, but rather something entirely different.
The Princess had used Magma as her attack. She had a Magma Essence core.
The young man couldn't believe what he was seeing, but the truth was right in front of her. The truth became even more true when two giant, glowing orange arms appeared from behind her, followed by the rest of the Essence Soul, which was 10 meters tall as well.
Her Magma Essence Soul was fully on display in the fight, surprising the many thousands of people who had not expected to see something like this at all.
