None of them were surprised that Han Shuo defeated Batúk. After all, Batúk's strength wasn't even on Ralph's level. It was reasonable that Batúk would lose.
However, they could not believe Batúk when he said that he did not even saw Han Shuo attacking. It didn't sound logical!
Under Laurel's suspicious gaze, Batúk said annoyingly, “I'm reporting the fact as it is. I did not see how he attacked at all!”
“Then how exactly were you defeated?” asked Laurel.
“Right from the start of the battle, I feel as though I was trapped in a prison cell. A very corrosive energy and a frigid energy simultaneously attacked me. I had no choice but to deploy defensive barriers. When I have nearly exhausted my divine energy, I finally feel that I was no longer imprisoned. It was right then that Bryan appeared and restrained me!” explained Batúk in a depressed manner.
Laurel was astonished. He exchanged glances with the other two major patriarchs listening to their conversation and they turned silent.
While the few were discussing, Aobas.h.i.+ had arrived at the arena.
Han Shuo who was resting suddenly opened his eyes and stood up. “Hullo!” greeted Han Shuo smilingly. He seemed less at ease than usual.
Han Shuo had previously witnessed Aobas.h.i.+'s strength just once. He also knew that in the City of Shadows, her strength was second only to Wallace. Although Han Shuo was confident in defeating Aobas.h.i.+, he had a very good friends.h.i.+p with her. It was because of this that Han Shuo did not know if he should attack Aobas.h.i.+ with his full strength.
Unlike Han Shuo, Aobas.h.i.+ was untroubled. She walked towards Han Shuo with a big grin on her face. After giving Han Shuo a glance with her bright eyes, in her lovable voice, she said, “I have not made it out until this day. You have concealed your secret well. Turns out you are so powerful that you can defeat Ralph and Batúk without much effort. It appeared that I must go all-out in this duel!”
“Mercy, big sister Aobas.h.i.+! Please don't be too harsh to me!” replied Han Shuo modestly.
“Sorry, but I can't afford to do so, or I might end up losing very horribly! Hehe, Bryan, just use your full strength and show me your true power! Don't be a chicken like Erebus!” said Aobas.h.i.+ loudly. She suddenly started accelerating towards Han Shuo like a spirit.
A violent gust abruptly appeared in the arena, kicking up sand and stones. Multiple strong and rapidly revolving winds converged around Aobas.h.i.+ before wrapping her tightly in the center. The element of wind from far and near started wildly converging to the center of the superstorm and formed an impregnable barrier around her.
Once a cultivator of the energy of wind learned to form a domain of divinity, they could direct the element of wind to wrap around themselves to form a s.h.i.+eld. They could also use it to increase their movement speed. Aobas.h.i.+ had just shown great mastery of her domain of divinity. While cramming the s.p.a.ce around her with the element of wind, she formed a colossal tornado around herself.
The apocalyptic tornado uprooted every towering tree that she flew past. An entire forest of ma.s.sive trees became a part of the tornado. Nothing remained on the ground, save for the earth, and several tottering trees that had energy towers concealed within.
The tornado whistled ever louder and grew ever more powerful. After sucking in countless trees, stones, sand, and anything on the ground, the tornado turned greyish and seemed to have strengthened by an order of magnitude. The gargantuan whirling wrecker laid waste to everything in its path as it moved towards Han Shuo.
With the presence of such a terrifying and devastating megtornado, Han Shuo did not need deploying the Banner of Hallucination in this battle. The ma.s.sive tornado had kicked up more than enough sand and dust around the arena. Those gathered around the sand table could not see through the turbulent atmosphere filled with dust.
Han Shuo remained motionless and stood as still as a mountain. He was waiting for Aobas.h.i.+ to acc.u.mulate her wind energy to the peak before he would attack so that she will be more accepting of her defeat.
When the tornado had stored up energy to its peak and started engulfing him, Han Shuo finally made a move. Cauldron Spirit's energy gushed into his body. In an instant, a tremendous amount of energy filled every one of his organs and bones. Han Shuo felt not just immense pain, but also immense power.
Instead of taking out the seventeen flying swords, Han Shuo used the Demonslayer Edge. It shot out from his body like a dark thunderbolt. The bright-dark Demonslayer Edge glowed with bewitching red radiance as demonic yuan poured into it. Shafts of red radiance started unfolding as though the blooming of a flower.
The blood-red radiance started spinning rapidly and turned into an enormous sphere of light. It shot towards the tornado-like a wrecking ball.
The Blood Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts spread apart as soon as it touched the tornado. They shot through the barriers made of crushed rock and wood as though nothing was there and pierced deep inside, straight for Aobas.h.i.+ at the center of the tornado.
Aobas.h.i.+ clearly took a shock when she saw that the barrier made of objects aggregated by the tornado had no effect. She hastily slowed down the speed of the tornado so that she can divert more elements of wind to her s.h.i.+eld. The wind energy s.h.i.+eld that formed a spherical layer of absolute nothingness around Aobas.h.i.+ protected her from the red swarm of destructive sword radiances.
Han Shuo observed that the speed of the tornado was abruptly reduced and he made use of the very brief window to attack. As though a crystal cannon that had been energized, he launched himself into the tornado.
The enormous tornado of several hundred meters tall and several dozens meters thick, a.s.sembled using Aobas.h.i.+'s divine energy and her domain of divinity, instantly engulfed Han Shuo. The fierce winds carrying rocks shards and splinted wood ruthlessly ground him. It even forced Han Shuo to whirl around uncontrollably.
Han Shuo's Omen Invincible Body did not automatically deploy when he faced the attack as the base defensive power of his demonic body was enough to handle it. Han Shuo was unharmed by the harsh abrasion and blunt force. He even allowed his body to spin with the wind and carefully maneuvered himself closer and closer to Aobas.h.i.+ who was at the center of the megstorm.
Although the crushed rocks and splintered wood were not as incisive as swords or spears, they nonetheless carried an astonis.h.i.+ng amount of power after being accelerated by the tornado to extreme speeds. Even if one could handle the attack, the person would at least suffer some cuts and bruises. Han Shuo, however, was completely unharmed. Aobas.h.i.+'s astonishment was renewed after she discovered that through the element of wind found all around her.
While Aobas.h.i.+ was baffled and confused, Han Shuo got closer to her by flying with the wind. Then, at some point, the barrier of wind made using wind divine energy and wind element stopped Han Shuo's path. Han Shuo was yet again obstructed from getting closer.
With one thought, the seventeen flying swords whistled out from his body. The indestructible seventeen flying swords carried intense corrosive and frigid energies, making it an excellent weapon against any kind of s.h.i.+eld or barrier. Under the control of Han Shuo's consciousness, the seventeen flying swords focused their attacks on a single point on the s.h.i.+eld.
The wind energy s.h.i.+eld was spinning rapidly with the tornado. However, Han Shuo was able to keep track of that single point with insane precision and accuracy. No matter how or where the s.h.i.+eld spun, the seventeen flying swords would always manage to hit the same point again and again. That single point on the s.h.i.+eld was bombarded with ferocious impacting force, terrifying corrosiveness, and frigid energy.
Thanks to his absurdly good sight, the seventeen flying swords took just three waves of attacks to make a hole on Aobas.h.i.+'s s.h.i.+eld of wind energy. Han Shuo abruptly got beside Aobas.h.i.+ the instant that the wind s.h.i.+eld broke. He grinned and said, “Gotcha!”
Aobas.h.i.+ was stunned for a nanosecond. Before she could react, she discovered that she was confined to a bizarre s.p.a.ce that abruptly formed within her s.h.i.+eld of wind. She also discovered that the instant she fell into the strange s.p.a.ce, she lost connection to the element of wind in the environment and could no longer operate her wind s.h.i.+eld that had a tiny crack.
Once a G.o.d with a strength lower than Han Shuo's fell into the Ceaseless Pain formed from his seventeen flying swords, the only thing they could do is to have a fight of endurance with Han Shuo. However, Han Shuo would have a great advantage in the fight as the seventeen flying swords had corrosive and frigid properties. In addition, Han Shuo had Cauldron Spirit who could provide him with an endless stream of energy. Therefore, they had practically no chance of winning in an endurance fight against Han Shuo!
And Aobas.h.i.+ was no exception!
At the center of Soaring Cloud Mountain Range, the spectators gathered around the sand table did not see that hated mist. But the spectators soon discovered that the vision they received was even worse than before. Just the tornado made by Aobas.h.i.+ occupied around one-tenth of the arena. And when the dust, sand, and soil were driven everywhere by the tornado, the entire arena was shrouded by a brown-gray atmosphere. They couldn't see s.h.i.+t.
“I wonder what's really happening in the arena,” Erebus seemed anxious. He did not know who he was hoping to win the duel. One was his best friend while the other was the woman he loved. He was torn between supporting either one of them.
“This battle is longer than the previous ones. It seems that Bryan is having some trouble in defeating Aobas.h.i.+!” remarked Rugersey who was feeling very upset. “Though we can tell that the ongoing battle is very fierce, it's such a pity that we can't see what is happening in the arena. Sigh, even till now, we have no idea which elemental or edictal energy Bryan is using.”
“I believe that Bryan will win this duel and Aobas.h.i.+ will have to hand over the t.i.tle as the strongest Chief of Divine Guards to him,” remarked Batúk. Although he felt very sullen, he had no choice but to admit that Han Shuo was unfathomably powerful. He was most wary of enemies with strengths he could not gauge. Although Aobas.h.i.+ was mighty, Batúk could see Aobas.h.i.+ when fighting her and he had a rough idea of her strength. Against Han Shuo, however, Batúk felt as though he was fighting against an incorporeal monster. To him, it was much more terrifying to fight something that he could not see.
“Carmelita, who are you rooting for?” asked Wallace suddenly.
Carmelita stared blankly for a moment and started thinking about it seriously. She replied, “I'm not sure. Sister Aobas.h.i.+ has been very good to me, but so has Bryan. Hmm, Sister Aobas.h.i.+ has sat on that position for many years. Perhaps it's time for a change. If that happens, it will make the City of Shadows more refres.h.i.+ng!”
Wallace's mind was between laughter and tears after he heard Carmelita's response. He thought, This foolish girl, if only she knew all the troubles and disputes that the youngster's rise will stir up. Sigh, being a City Lord is not easy at all…
Soon, the tornado started slowing down. The crushed rocks and trees started returning to the earth. Dust gradually settled and the arena slowly became visible again. Han Shuo wasn't pointing his Demonslayer Edge at Aobas.h.i.+ but the unruffled smile on his face could clearly be seen through the sand table. Aobas.h.i.+, meanwhile, looked dejected.
It was clear to all the spectators that Han Shuo was yet again victorious!
