Bad Omen was not frozen, but he was slowed. Added to his originally slow movement speed, he was still close to Jack after Jack finished off Wonderman. Seeing that he couldn't flee, he decided to attack instead. He cast Reaver's level 30 spell, Steal Life. A beam of ominous light shot out from his staff and headed to Jack.
Jack zipped to the side and dodged the beam. Jennifer had come again by then, she sent Hundred Spears at Jack. Jack turned to her and used his burst slashes. Sword and spear collided with a speed unseen by naked eyes.
Jennifer was using skill while Jack was using martial art. In Jennifer's opinion, her assault should be superior, because her damage was multiplied by the game system. While Jack's art, although impressive, was still considered as normal attacks. Yet, it was her that was pushed back.
At this time, Jack felt someone coming behind him.
"Oh, no. You don't," Jack turned around and smashed Grace's mace aside using his other sword.
Grace was still surprised that her attempted ambush failed when Jack's straight kick came. Grace blocked the kick using her shield but was forcefully pushed away.
With one hand, Jack parried Jennifer's stab while his sword snaked in three quick slashes on Jennifer's arm.
"That's…!" Grace who was being pushed away uttered.
Jennifer's life which was in danger was healed by Bad Omen. Bad Omen had used up all the HP inside his soul orb to save Jennifer. At the same time, he cast another spell. A ghost-like spirit flew out from his staff.
Jack jumped and ran from the spirit but it continued to follow.
"Forget it, you can't escape," Peniel informed.
Hearing that, Jack let the spirit hit him while he rushed to Bad Omen. The spirit stuck on him, damage numbers started appearing.
"That is Haunting Spirit, Reaver's level 40 spell," Peniel explained. "It summons a spirit that clings to a target, dealing 10% soul damage every second and converted 50% of this damage into HP to heal the caster's ally with the lowest HP."
Jack turned and saw Jennifer was indeed healing slowly.
"Soul damage?" Jack asked.
"Remember when I mentioned another type of damage other than chaos damage that has no resistance? It is soul damage," Peniel answered. "Reaver's attacks mostly carry soul damage."
Bad Omen was casting a spell again, but Jack beat him to it. Jack's mana beam punctured him and interrupted his casting.
While they were fighting, a blizzard suddenly hit. Grace who was about to go back to help had her visibility covered, but at least she managed to throw a last-second heal to Bad Omen before she lost sight of him. As long as Bad Omen moved away from his position and hid in this blizzard, he should be safe for the time being.
But when she was thinking that, she heard Bad Omen's scream, which then abruptly stopped.
That guy is so unfortunate to stumble into the opponent in the blizzard?
While she was still wondering, she heard clashes of metals and Jennifer's yelling.
'What?' The sound of clashings came from another side. Which meant their opponent after dealing with Bad Omen had run directly to where Jennifer was. How did he determine their positions inside this blizzard?
The sound of battle didn't last long. Grace stayed his ground. Although she had a good perception, it was basically nullified within this blizzard. A shadow appeared in front of him. Grace used Judgement Strike and slammed her mace forward.
Jack came into view as her mace arrived. Yet, it simply passed through Jack.
While Grace was in consternation, she felt rapid slashes from behind her. She cast Heal on herself but it was not enough to offset the damages. Her HP zeroed soon.
Jack deactivated his Body Double spell when Grace fell. If he didn't count wrong, he already killed five opponents. Which meant their team had won.
He heard the confirmation soon after. Pallas' voice was heard from the sky, announcing the human team as the winner of the first team match.
*
At human team's original starting position, Giant Steve was still standing beside Princess Purple, who was currently painting her nails.
'Where did she get the paint?' Steve was curious, but she asked a different matter, "I've always wondered, why girls like to paint their nails? Men never find it attractive. Well, at least I don't."
Princess Purple stopped upon Giant Steve's question. She gave him a disdainful glance before saying, "Sir Giant, how about I ask you? Why do you play games?"
Steve was bewildered by her completely unrelated question. He answered, "Well, because I enjoy it. Don't you play games because of the same reason as well?"
"Girls never find men playing games as attractive, so why do you keep on doing it?" Princess Purple uttered then returned to painting her fingernails.
Steve was still pondering Princess Purple's words when he noticed the words on the sky had changed color. Their names were written on the sky, as with their opponents. Two of their opponents' names which were white color before, had now turned grey. Steve was still wondering about the greying when the remaining ones also turned grey rapidly one after another.
Pallas' voice then boomed in the sky, announcing their victory.
"Oh, it's finished?" He said.
*
Red Death, who had escaped, was currently hiding and adopting a precautionary approach after her rash approach failed. Her HP was still low. Yellow Death didn't come to her. She didn't know where the guy was. Yellow Death had moved away from his sniping position after aiding her in her escape.
When she heard the victory notification, she didn't feel happy. She was gritting her teeth instead. There was only one person that could score their victory this fast. Her impatience due to the desire to beat Jack to the punch had instead backfired on her.
*
Outside, the human side cheered upon the victory. The other spectators were speechless. What kind of a team match was this? When the battle happened between the elven team and the red-haired human assassin, it was still within expectation. The red-haired assassin was good. If it was a one-on-one battle or even one-on-two, she could probably come out on top. But going against five was rather short-sighted in everyone's opinion. Not to mention assassin was not a class built for direct confrontation. They were more suited for ambush and hit-and-run tactics.
But when the elven team encountered that low-level Blade Dancer, every common sense they had was thrown out the window. It was a massacre, by the lesser number, by the lower level. Everyone found it hard to grip their mind around it. And what was that about the blade dancer casting spells? Using a sword some more, although the color of the sword on his left hand was indeed reminiscent of Archmage's spell Magic Weapon.
Heck! The human team could probably just send this single player into the team match. The rests were simply window-dressings.
"Hehehe, I am rich," Gruff uttered from his seat.
Paytowin whistled. "I'll be damned," he said.
"He is not kidding when he said all we need to win the team match is simply place him as the participant for the team battle," Duchess Isabelle said to Prince Alonzo.
"Indeed," Prince Alonzo said with a smile.
Rhemos was sour instead. Although he had more representatives in this team match, his champion had been beaten away by the opponent's team while all the credit went to Alonzo's champion. These matches were broadcasted to all the countries. Alonzo had surely gained much merit in the match just now.
In the other country seats, the members of their respective teams were also having tense expressions. A player who could finish five expert opponents with such ease and displayed abilities from two classes. This was unheard of.
The dwarf and ethereal teams were especially anxious. Whoever won between them will go up against the human team next.
"Brother Hung, you are the strongest amongst us. Do you have the confidence to defeat that blade dancer?" One of the dwarf team members asked Jet Hung.
"Hm… I'm not sure. If it is our original world. I will say I beat that kid no sweat. But this game world can be confusing sometimes," Jet replied, but then he broke into a smile. "But do not worry. Although that kid is very strong, their team has one major weakness. We will surely win when we go up against them. All we have to do is just beat up the ethereal team first."
His dwarf teammate gave him a questioning look, but Jet didn't elaborate any further.
*
On the arena before the spectators, a flash of light and the ten contestants from the team match appeared before their eyes.
"This concludes today's matches," Pallas uttered. "You have all fought well! Those who lost, do not be discouraged. Train harder and claim your victory in the next tournament. For those who won, we of the Council of Virtus congratulate you. Do not get carried away, though. Your trial has just begun. You still have another two matches to win before you become the champions. Now, take your rest and we will continue this tournament tomorrow!"
Everyone dispersed.
Prince Alonzo came to congratulate those that had won today, especially Jack and Jeanny. Prince Rhemos wasn't in the mood, but he had to put up an appearance. He came to congratulate as well, with emphasis on Selena since she was part of her representatives.
Everyone went for their own business after.
Jack asked Paytowin if there was any exp grinding spot nearby. These matches only lasted till noon, there was still plenty of time left in the day. He would spend his remaining day practicing martial arts, otherwise.
Paytowin told him there was not. No monsters inhabited the top half of this mountain due to the presence of the council here. Going down half the mountain would take more than half a day, not to mention the path was not a smooth journey. Additionally, they were not allowed to leave this place as they like, so using the zone portal or return scroll was out of the question.
However, there might be something he could offer Jack to spend his time while waiting for the next match. Paytowin asked him to wait, he would need to ask his superior first if they could allow an outsider like Jack to use the facility.
Jack asked what facility Paytowin was talking about. Paytowin said he would rather tell Jack after he got the permission. Otherwise, he was afraid Jack might be disappointed if he failed. He asked Jack to wait for him over in the Agora where they chatted yesterday.
Paytowin rushed away after, leaving a curious Jack.
