Chapter 170

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Episode 39 - Team Competition [6]

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As a cold breeze swept through the forest, a girl walked calmly.

She was alone, with no one behind her; her two teammates had probably already been eliminated.

Even so, Lumina simply kept looking ahead.

’She should be somewhere around here.’

Lumina looked around for a certain person, like a hunter searching for her prey.

Earlier, several cadets had ambushed her, but she had defeated all of them in a short time.

Crack!

As she walked, she stepped on a small branch lying on the ground. Lumina lowered her head for a moment and then suddenly raised it.

She narrowed her eyes and looked in a particular direction.

About a hundred meters away, there was someone.

If he were not wearing bandages over his eyes, he would probably be looking directly at Lumina.

"....."

Silence settled over the forest as Lumina stared at Adel. Then, unconsciously, she smiled.

It was the smile of a hunter who had finally found her prey.

"....?"

Adel seemed to notice something and, without wasting any time, swung his sword.

Then, suddenly, a dozen cracks appeared in the air just centimeters away from Lumina’s body.

Slash!

The cracks opened, and mana in the shape of blades burst out from them.

Lumina’s senses made her body move on its own.

Kaaang!

A thin silver blade—her sword—moved and blocked the attacks.

Lumina stepped back while using Mana Sense.

"....?"

Suddenly, sensing mana twisting right behind her,

Lumina turned her body and, using a large amount of mana, poured it into her sword, creating a fragmented blade.

Second Form of Fallen Moon: Shattered Moon.

The mana turned into fragments that formed a kind of shield around her.

Kaaang!

A powerful explosion echoed as Lumina’s mana twisted violently.

Crack!

Then, the mana shield she had created cracked and soon vanished.

Lumina assumed a combat stance.

Second Form of Fallen Moon: Void Within the Eclipse.

Her body became a firmament of silver frost and disappeared.

Then she swung her sword, and Adel appeared before her.

Slash! Boom!

Both swords collided as the mana of the two fighters clashed fiercely.

Lumina poured mana into her arms and legs as she tried to push Adel back.

Kaaang!

Charging forward like a battering ram, Lumina’s sword struck with tremendous force.

Adel angled his sword and used both hands to form a "\" shape with it, blocking Lumina’s strike.

However, his body was sent flying backward.

Boom!

Lumina struck the ground and propelled herself toward Adel without wasting any time.

Lunar Mana covered her entire body as she dashed forward and reached him.

Then she swung her sword toward his neck; however...

"....?"

Lumina’s body suddenly froze in the middle of her step.

Adel’s hand was pointing in her direction as he stopped and regained his footing.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Adel moved his hand.

Immediately afterward, Lumina’s body shot toward the trunk of a tree at an astonishing speed.

’It’s different, yet at the same time the same as I remembered his fighting style.’

After graduating from the Academy, Adel and Lumina had constantly run into each other by "coincidence."

Many of those encounters happened when the two had to join forces to defeat some villain who was far too powerful.

Or like the time Lumina ended up gravely injured after fighting a Class 10 villain while she was only a Nine-Star Awakened.

Back then, the two of them had fought together, and Lumina naturally knew what Adel’s fighting style was like.

However, somehow it seemed... different.

Kaaang!

Lumina crashed into the tree trunk.

She fell to the ground while feeling immense pain coursing through her body.

’It’s extremely difficult to counter his Unique Trait: Gravity.’

As she stood up and wiped the blood from her lips, she could not help but remember the past.

Gravity was a rather powerful Trait that Adel possessed.

The first time Lumina fought Adel was to determine who was stronger.

Lumina had lost solely because of that Unique Trait.

But after training extensively, she managed to find a way to counter it.

In front of her, Adel extended his hand once more.

Then, an invisible grip tightened around Lumina’s entire body.

However, remaining remarkably calm, she murmured:

"Cosmic Manipulation."

A Unique Trait she had obtained from a Memory Gate during her previous regression.

It was a strange Trait, since she had never heard of it before, but...

"I have the ability to control both space and time."

It was not absolute control, but it was enough to break free from gravity’s grasp.

The very next second, the space around Lumina twisted, and everything around her froze.

At the same time, an unknown energy enveloped her body.

Then, the invisible grip that had been restraining her body disappeared.

The space around her created an invisible barrier, and time caused gravity to recede.

"That’s cheating."

At Adel’s murmur, Lumina let out an amused sigh and, without wasting any time...

Whoosh!

Her body vanished and reappeared in front of Adel.

She swung her sword at him and struck with great force.

Mana swirled intensely as their swords collided.

The mana around them twisted violently.

Then, Adel moved a great distance away from Lumina and brought his hands together to form strange patterns.

"Manipulation. Condensation. Manifestation. Creation."

Deep black spheres appeared around Lumina.

Lumina felt a chill run through her body as she also brought her hands together.

"Manipulation. Condensation. Manifestation. Creation."

Silver flowers bloomed around her.

Shortly afterward, the petals detached and flew through the air.

Then, the black spheres moved, leaving afterimages behind them.

The petals of the silver flowers flew toward the spheres.

Both Attribute Skills collided.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of powerful explosions echoed through the area.

Adel moved his hands and manipulated the movement of the spheres.

The black spheres flew through the air, dodging the petals as they headed toward Lumina.

Lumina moved her hand, but then stopped halfway. Instead, she tightened her grip on her sword and swung it.

Silver fragments shone around her, and her mana struck the spheres.

The spheres shattered, but at the same time, a black-purple flame erupted.

Kaaang!

Lumina made the petals move and form a shield, but then...

"...?"

Whoosh!

Adel appeared behind her. Lumina tightened her grip on her sword and, channeling mana into her legs, spun around.

Kaaang!

She managed to block the attack. Then, several petals flew toward Adel.

Adel tried to move, but Lumina released her sword and grabbed his forearm.

"....?"

Unable to move, the petals rained down on him, but...

Boom!

Dark Mana exploded around him as he used the skill called <Dark Mana Expansion>.

The petals vanished; however, his body was covered in deep wounds. Bright crimson blood dripped from every part of his body.

Adel stepped back, feeling that nearly all of his mana had been exhausted.

Just like him, Lumina had also used too much mana, as after using her Attribute Skill, <Moonflower Field>, she had consumed a large portion of her reserves.

The two of them distanced themselves from each other. Then, Adel spoke.

"How about we end this with a single strike?"

As Lumina felt the little stamina she had left reaching its limit, she simply nodded and murmured,

"Alright."

Her stamina had always been terrible, so it actually suited her to defeat Adel right then and there.

But he had become even stronger than he had been in her previous regression, something she had never expected.

’Even so, my goal has already been achieved.’

There was a particular reason why she had decided to fight Adel.

In any case, Adel, unaware of her thoughts, gathered all of his mana.

Lumina did the same.

Shortly afterward, both of them assumed offensive stances, and then...

Boom!

They propelled themselves forward at the same time and swung their swords.

Adel and Lumina aimed directly for their opponent’s heart.

However, just as Lumina was about to pierce Adel’s heart, an image suddenly appeared in her mind.

A scene from her previous regression that made her shudder as intense fear rose within her.

The image of the Adel from her previous regression and the Adel standing before her overlapped, causing her attack to miss.

However, Adel did not miss his attack and pierced Lumina’s chest, driving his sword into her heart.

Shortly afterward, Lumina’s body fell lifelessly to the ground.

"A-ah..."

His depleted mana and the use of the Second Form of Inverted Heaven had pushed his stamina to its limit.

His breathing was ragged, and he could not help but recall the scene from a moment ago.

Lumina’s body soon disappeared into golden particles.

Meanwhile, Adel’s thoughts were elsewhere.

’What was that...?’

He had seen certain emotions in Lumina that left him completely bewildered.

’Because she felt fear and despair right when she was about to pierce my heart.’

It should have been a draw. Both of them should have died at the same time and ended the exam that way.

’What the hell was that?’