Unaware of the undercurrents happening all around, Alex was gritting his teeth thinking about the upcoming matches.
He had thought of sneaking into the Transcendent group but from Master rank onwards, the participant's rank would be tested before the entry.
Currently, the Master rank group fight was going on and not so surprisingly, all the top four were his subordinates.
The first match was between Aeon and Antwan while the second match was between Ben and Harry.
In the first semi-final.
Aeon and Antwan collided fiercely.
Antwan used his strength to suppress Aeon but before the well-balanced Aeon, he fell short and lost the match.
On the other hand, Harry defeated Ben quite easily.
It would be odd if Ben could defeat Harry who was at the peak of Epic rank but still the defeat made Alex's mood sour.
"Damn Ben! You cut my nose. I will have to give you special training."Alex grumbled.
Been who was returning with a saddened expression suddenly sneezed and his body shivered.
"Why do I feel that something bad is going to happen to me?"Ben muttered while looking around.
...
Sounds of beating drums echoed around the ground as two men stared at each other.
"Since you are younger and less experienced one. I will be generous and let you make the first move. Come at me with everything you have got!"Harry spoke arrogantly.
"Don't regret it later, "Aeon shouted.
Aeon dashed forward like a predator on the hunt.
Like a fierce gust, he covered much distance separating him from Harry.
Harry's lips curled upward with a scheming smile.
[Sword Materialisation]
A huge sword materialised before Harry and as his eyes narrowed, it followed his will and vibrated intensely and like a bullet it shot towards Aeon.
The sharp tip of the materialised sword threatened to pierce everything in its way but Aeon remained fearless in the face of it and continued to press forward.
Aeon rushed forward looking like an idiot hurrying his way to meet his death but just then, he raised his sword leaning sideways.
The materialised sword brushed past his sword emitting a clicking sound and its direction changed.
Aeon's hands shot out in the direction of the sword and he instantly grabbed it tightly while Harry summoned various types of swords out of thin air and shot them at him.
Harry swung his hand downward and all of them plunged downwards to Aeon.
Aeon holding his sword and Harry's materialised sword jumped forward and swung his weapons towards them.
CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!
He received the attack head-on while deflecting them with increasing ferocity.
Harry's creations were blasted all around and started to crumble slowly.
Harry pressed his foot forward and stabbed Aeon.
His sword shot straight out aiming at Aeon's face but Aeon blocked it with his sword.
Harry attacked a few more times. His sword aimed at his left shoulder but Aeon hit the tip of the sword with enough force to change its trajectory.
It moved away instead of reaching him, Harry brought his sword and aimed at Aeon's thigh but that was also parried by Aeon easily.
Aeon gracefully blocked and parried Harry without breaking a sweat but with time, Harry's attack became fiercer and fiercer.
Harry stepped back and directly thrust his sword at his torso but before it could land on it, Aeon kicked his wrist out of nowhere making it miss the target.
At this moment, Harry was defenceless, Aeon made his move and with the sword, he slashed at the opponent and met empty air, as Harry slipped past it but Aeon narrowed the distance and it was impossible for Harry to dodge it from so close distance and it landed on its body pushing him a few steps back.
They exchanged moves again. The battle wasn't about who landed how many hits or who injured the other more, it was gonna continue until one fainted or surrendered or one died.
The onlookers were already biting their lips and chewing their nails due to nervousness. Both of the participants were fighting fiercely and seemed to be equal for now.
Many even bet their entire fortune on these two hoping for their respective wins.
Aeon landed on hit.
Harry landed a hit.
Harry has Aeon cut on his torso.
Aeon's sword brushed past Harry's cheeks.
Blood started to sprinkle and splatter all around.
Both of them seemed to be getting tired with every passing moment.
Aeon attacked Harry who seemed to be able to read the trajectory but unexpectedly his sword took a U-turn and he smashed Harry's face with the handle of the sword.
Harry jumped back while blood trickled from his nose.
Harry gathered all his mana preparing to finish the match.
"I also have something like this." Aeon snorted and his sword started to vibrate rapidly emitting a shrill cry.
Ten bluish swords made of pure mana materialised behind Harry's back.
Aiming his sword at Aeon, he stepped forward and all his swords followed him flying straight toward Aeon.
Seeing Harry charging at him, Aeon confronted him head-on instead of shrinking back.
"If you are man enough, take my strike head-on, Harry."
"Bring it on," Harry shouted.
His sword glowed and he slashed at Harry.
[Blaze of Fury]
BOOM!
The ten swords made of mana collided with a huge fiery arc of the blade and were instantly crushed into pieces while Harry's sword made a dull sound unable to press forward and a flash of horror appeared on his face as he was unable to neutralise the attack.
Aeon roared, gritting his teeth while fiercely slashing forward.
BANG!
Harry's body was sent flying like a kite cut off from the string with a large cut on his chest and he slammed against the wall.
His eyes still had a look of disbelief. He never thought that Aeon would defeat him as had countless fighting experiences and talent.
.....
In the spectator seat, the parchment fell to the ground as Catherine stared at the outcome with disbelief
"He lost!"
"How!"
According to her analysis after seeing these two abilities, he was sure that Harry would win the match but seeing him losing the match she was at a loss for words.
More than that, she had betted 100 gold coins on him.
Catherine stared at Alex with a guilty expression and said" Sorry! I lost the money"
"Hahaha!"
"It's Okay," Alex muttered.
"Christina, on whom did you place the bet?"Catherine asked.
"Aeon!" Christina replied nonchalantly.
"What! You bet on Aeon but how did you know he would win when Harry seemed to be better than him." Catherine asked curiously.
"Because I was also in charge of him in the training. I believed in him."
Alex laughed seeing the Daughter of Goddess of Wisdom in such a shocking state.
Sometimes, statistics, probability and logic don't work. In some places, you need to use your experience and place trust.
But since Catherine hated the warrior paths and he hadn't seen their training and true skills, it was natural for her to believe in the person based on the facts one knew, like Harry who had made quite a name, unlike Aeon who hadn't even time to shine.
