Chapter 143.2: Team Tournament - Part 2
"Seriously?" Barbara was irritated to be underestimated like this.
Her aura grew huge as blue flames surrounded her while she went into battle mode. Even her sword seemed to sing as it vibrated in her hand. Her eyes narrowed as if she wanted to see something very far away.
"Hahaha, that girl is crazy!" Ariel laughed so hard she couldn't help herself.
"... I'm speechless. In real life does anyone really say something like that?" Julia looked at Xena as if she were some kind of alien.
Maisa lit a candle for the girl who had spoken up when she saw how furious Barbara was. Although she didn't know how strong Xena was, she didn't think she was stronger than Barbara, who, in addition to creating the first genetic factor, used the medicinal bath after that and managed to climb a few more levels. Apart from that, Barbara's flames were no ordinary flames.
Xena didn't look intimidated. Her expression was still cold as she went into battle mode and the aura around her took on a praying mantis form.
Assimilating and getting into a praying mantis battle mode was not easy. What made it even more intimidating was that it was perfect for those who use swords and wind genes, and thus, for Xena it made it even more perfect.
"I think this girl might be a bit of work for Barbara." Maisa found Xena's battle mode quite intimidating.
Elder Wilian, who remained as the referee, started the match. "Start!"
At the same time, Barbara's battle mode took the form of a blue flame lioness that surrounded her body like an embodiment.
"Get ready, and don't say I didn't warn you," Xena said in a cold voice as her posture turned offensive.
Xena created a wind blade with her sword, attacking Barbara with great speed. Barbara didn't even seem to take these attacks seriously and merely stood there as she let the attack approach her, to the surprise of many. The wind blades hit the blue flames, but it was like pouring gasoline on a fire, making the flames burn, causing a small eruption whenever a blade of wind hit her flames.
That was a huge blow to Xena's ego - something Barbara clearly had done on purpose. She could have simply used her sword to counter, or even dodged, but she treated Xena's attacks as insignificant.
"Hahaha! I knew it! Barbara was angry at Xena's earlier comment," Ariel laughed out loud once more.
If not for Xena's earlier comment, it was unlikely that Barbara would have not shown respect toward Xena. However, hearing her speak like that made Barbara act that way now.
"I hope you can take more than three blows from me," Barbara said word for word what Xena had spoken with cold indifference.
Worse still, the moment she uttered the same words Xena had said to her earlier, the audience collectively gasped. Some were even excited to hear those words spoken in an even more dominant way than how Xena had said them. It was so amazing that many in the audience were red-faced with excitement as they enjoyed the duel.
Almost using the same offensive stance as Xena, Barbara created a blue flame blade with her flexible sword and attacked!
*Whoosh!*
It was unimaginable, but it seemed to be faster than Xena's wind blade. In less than the blink of an eye, the attack reached Xena, giving her no room to dodge. Holding the hilt of her sword, Barbara made a very skillful slashing motion, using the wind to build more momentum, and slashed the blade of blue flames.
Although...
Xena couldn't remain happy for long. The blue flames didn't go out when being cut and kept moving forward, and despite losing speed for only a fraction of a millisecond, it only gave her time to dodge to the right side. As she dodged, she ended up scraping her shoulder.
"Ugh!" She moaned in pain but didn't make a loud sound.
Xena used the wind to douse the flame residue on her shoulder and then returned to holding the sword with only her right hand.
"That's one," Barbara's cold voice echoed. She didn't enjoy playing games like this, but that didn't mean she wasn't affected when Xena had spoken to her as if she was inferior.
"Hahaha! Amazing, simply amazing!" Xena suddenly started laughing out loud as the sword in her hand was raised.
Her laughter took everyone by surprise, well, almost everyone. Those closest to her muttered, "It's started."
"She's going to get serious," Amon commented in a low tone.
Almost as if he was the one who started the match, Xena's aura changed completely. It was still in praying mantis battle mode, but the color of her aura changed to a mixture of white and blue shades. The burn on her arm healed at incredible speed, leaving not even a trace that it had been burned.
From the sword she held out towards Barbara, drops of water dripped onto the floor. Her cold, indifferent eyes were replaced by a fight-maniacal gaze. Her entire body gave off a fighting vibe. It was as if she couldn't wait to fight using the water.
"Double genes." The audience's surprise was indescribable.
It was not that it was entirely surprising to see. However, most have to choose between the two to create the first genetic factor. Not everyone was able to merge two genes and create a twin genetic factor.
"As expected, she is a genius," some of the teachers praised.
She was just a rookie at Heavenly Sky University, however, she had already managed to make her name even before entering the university, and when she entered, she won many duels.
Barbara's posture changed to a more predatory style, she was more hunched forward in a way that ordinary people would think would be difficult to move, but when she ran, she looked like a ferocious beast running deftly with great speed. Her flexible sword coated with blue flame slashed vertically.
Despite being fast, her attack was defended against by Xena's sword that was coated with water and wind. The two layers of genes managed to extinguish the blue flames before they affected Xena. The impact caused both of them to rebound and retreat five steps back. At this point, the strength of the two seemed to be about equal.
Like a praying mantis, Xena moved first this time. She attacked horizontally with full force, using wind to increase speed and sharpness and water to make the sword more solid. Barbara channeled many blue flames around her flexible sword. It was as if the sword was now made of flames, making it almost impossible to see the sword behind the blue flames.
*BOOOM!*
When the two attacks collided, the shock wave made the wind violent. Sparks scatter from the swords as they clashed.
Soon, without retreating, they exchanged several high-speed blows. A series of explosive sounds resounded. Suddenly, the ground was shaking. Under the influence of powerful shock waves, rocks and bits of ground flew in all directions. The spell around the arena prevented the boulders from breaching crashing into the audience, turning them into specks of dust.
Barbara retreated and advanced again, attacking with more power. At this moment, the Flexible Blade was carrying a lot of power, and with a powerful impact, it swept away all obstacles in its path. The thunderous sound shocked the entire place, and Xena's sword was eventually destroyed by the flexible sword. The body of the blade quickly hit Xena's body, opening a huge gash along her side as blood gushed violently. It was a scene full of brutality.
Before Xena died, she disappeared before everyone's eyes and appeared pale-faced outside the arena. She was panting heavily as she looked at her hand and there was a little sadness when see registered that her sword destroyed.
"Barbara won!" Maisa cheered, clapping.
Encouraged by Maisa's applause, the audience began to applaud together, some whistled.
"Good fight, it was amazing!"
"Both were awesome!"
Right now, it didn't matter if they were rivals or not. All were infected by the outstanding fight of Barbara and Xena.
"The winner of the first match is... Bárbara Abravanel!" Elder William announced.
When the audience had calmed down, he asked Barbara, "Do you want to continue or do you want to give the next turn to another member of your team?"
Barbara looked at Xena, then she looked back at the judge. "I'll make room for another member of my team."
"Me next, okay?" Maisa asked almost rhetorically, as she was about to jump into the arena.
At the same time that Barbara left the arena, the wreckage caused by her and Xena's fight was repaired with a simple wave of Elder William's hand.
"Go on, finish them off," Patting Maisa's shoulder, Ariel smiled.
"Understood." Maisa jumped into the air and landed in the arena.
In the arena, she looked at Xena's team. Besides her, there was no other member that had created the first genetic factor. Even though it was wrong to underestimate one's opponent, Maisa didn't believe it would be long before she beat them all.
Meanwhile, Xena's wounds were completely gone. Even though she had lost to Barbara, there would be no change in the rankings. With her full recovery, her team could still defend the top 3 or attack the team that was in second place. Although they were all from the same university, it was a tournament that was offering rewards...
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Edited by: Azurtha