The moment the battle began, a smaller display screen appeared for the people present. It was a kind of convenience brought by the Planet Master System but for them, it looked like the miracles manifested.
“What’s this? I can see the situation inside the sphere well.”
“Do you also see this? This is not a hallucination, right?”
“Everyone here can see this? Check the others to see how far this can go!”
Most of the people present started to check not only each other but also the conscious members of their race to check the other who were far from the location. This was done just to see how far the influence of the thing they had witnessed went.
Then there was a confirmation and that caused all the people present to look at each other.
Individual Duel was a feature that the Planet Master System had so it could relay the event that happened under its influence to anyone under its administration, even if it was a race on a planet.
“Tatsumi!” Ame came in suddenly when she perceived the panel screen that she could see. She knew about Long Wu as Tatsumi’s teacher and came to his location right away.
“I know.” Tatsumi was sitting on a sofa right now but his eyes were focused on his own display screen.
“This verifies the theory that we have regarding a higher power holding dominion over us and over the Father God and the rest.” Tatsumi did not expect that the influence it had was this large.
Ame was glad that Tatsumi did not react much; it meant that he had confidence in his teacher to accomplish things.
“Sit beside me then, since you are here. Let’s watch this together.” Tatsumi said while looking around and there was no one else to share the sentiment.
“Alright.”
Uproar happened but then the people relaxed and decided to watch. This was actually something that came after an announcement about the Star Battle changing the condition for winning. Then they were able to see this display screen that only they could see.
Even though the others were also getting the exact same thing, but when one looked at them, it looked like they were staring into thin air.
They decided to see what kind of thing they had to watch and as expected, the exchange between the Queen and Long Wu was getting started.
Long Wu was moving in the blade limbs attack by the Queen. She decided to use her many limbs to her advantage and made things difficult for Long Wu.
But Long Wu noticed something during their exchange of moves. The Queen was learning slowly the way a warrior fights. Specifically, from the way he moved and handled the dagger.
She swept the blade limb and Long Wu moved back a bit, barely dodging the attack. Then he used the shield to hold the most limbs that came his way and used the dagger to cut through one of the limbs.
Corrupt Cut!
Undead element permeated the dagger’s blade as it landed on the limbs, causing it to rot and decay before being separated from the Queen’s body. The Queen felt pain but she pushed her advantage as she swung all her blade limbs in a circular motion.
She could not use a domain because it cost much more energy and Long Wu kept improvising with each exposure of her move. So she decided to do the same to him.
But what she did not expect was that Long Wu was several steps ahead of her. He already knew what her reaction could be and prepared a counter to that.
Long Wu moved carefully in the chaotic limbs that moved without pattern. His combination of shield and dagger was unprecedented but he still used them effectively. He blocked the limbs that he could not dodge while slashing at the possible weakest limbs that dared to stray closer to him.
The limb was hit but this time, the Queen strengthened it so that it would not be cut easily.
Long Wu narrowed his eyes but he moved as if he was dancing, gracefully dodging whenever possible while potentially whittling the limbs that obstructed him.
‘But this is just a warm-up. She is not even unleashing all her energy.’ Long Wu noticed that the Queen was releasing some of the Ether she had to prevent her limbs at her back to be cut but it consumed some of her energy.
Long Wu also used some energy when attacking so it was also in his favor to preserve energy. But he realized something important.
‘She is in fusion with the Sacred Tree which means that her energy storage capacity should be increased manyfold. I am at a disadvantage here.’ Long Wu thought and realized the issue.
If both fighters spent the same amount of energy, then the one with more energy would likely come out as the victor. Assuming that the rest of their techniques, body and mind were the same, it was possible for one with more energy to outlast those with a lesser amount.
So he had no other choice other than to take the initiative to attack the Queen. But he needed to be familiar with her style first before he could decisively launch a lethal blow.
That was why Long Wu prepared himself, patiently gauging the Queen’s reaction and even perceived habit.
‘Now! Gate of Opening, open!’ Long Wu willed it and his specific point in his body was opened slightly, not fully opened. But it was enough for the current him as he could withstand the effect with his Body Refining Technique X version 1.0.
Berserk undead element flowed through his energy pathway as the core spun faster. Long Wu had already located the weakness of his opponent. Since the Queen was assimilating the Sacred Tree, they had to share the weakness.
From what the scientists and his own observation told him, the weakness of the Sacred Tree was directly above the Ether Production Source. Find it and the weakness became more obvious. The Queen had the physiology of a Gling so her weakness should be her head or her heart.
‘Finding the weakness of the fused being is proving to be difficult. My eyes are scanning for the true weakness of the being in front of me but so far it is proving to be difficult. Or the weakness is actually something else.’
Long Wu thought but he had to push things to get a clear view of his enemy’s movement and energy pathway to determine her weakness.
Then he unleashed a slash that could even fly for a while, targeting the Queen’s limbs. The Queen shifted into defense, protecting her limbs by stacking them together to bear the attack.
The sound of steel clashing could be heard, and her limbs could feel the pressure of the attack increasing so much that she felt familiar with it. She was actually afraid. This was the power that overwhelmed her and she had a slight trauma regarding it.
Then she remembered that she also wielded similar power and should not be afraid. With determination in her eyes, she launched another attack.
Long Wu finally could see something faint in his sight. Although it was fleeting, he could perceive the pathway of his enemy, even to the weak point.
‘Found it! Now I need to make sure to land it securely.’ Long Wu thought while deflecting the blade limbs that could not be dodged, while he severed another limb.
But he also noticed that the severed limbs were regenerating quickly, making his effort worthless. He felt that it also consumed quite a lot of Ether and it was not wrong.
‘I say that we are about equal in our situation.’ Long Wu assessed the condition of himself and the Queen, trying to break the balance and turn the tide in his favor.
Long Wu then used his movement skill, creating several afterimages and all of them lunged at the Queen. The Queen realized that the afterimages had a faint trace of Long Wu’s real self, making identification in a short time quite difficult.
Long Wu and the afterimages were closing in the distance before letting out an attack. Then the Queen realized where the real body was but it was a bit too late to respond since the attack came with such an unavoidable speed.
Long Wu gripped the dagger and stabbed the Queen in the solar plexus, feeling the resistance and Ether there to be concentrating. When the blade of the dagger penetrated her skin, it reacted with the Ether and caused secondary injury.
Then before the Queen’s counterattack came, Long Wu infused the dagger with his berserk undead element and pulled the dagger out and retreated.
The Queen coughed up quite a lot of blood and Ether she could not control. Long Wu absorbed the released Ether and converted it to his own energy, replenishing some of his lost energy.
“Damn it!” The Queen was enraged but could not prevent what was happening at all. The injury she had received was quite lethal, even if she had quite an amount of transcendent energy. She had never seen the berserk undead element like what was injected into her body.
It rampaged throughout the injury like a hungry beast, even devouring the Ether nearby and started to multiply. She suppressed her injury and even tried to overwhelm it with the Ether she had.
It was successful but it needed quite a lot of her Ether to do that. Even then, the damage was done and she even felt that her strength had dropped quite a bit.
For those who saw the battle, it looked like the jade-colored mist met the black ones and they were intertwined, clashing and facing each other head-on.
Chikara was frustrated that she could not help the Queen at all. Frie looked grim but she realized that some things were inevitable, no matter how one struggled.
Dian looked like he had something on his mind and stared at the arena as well as the two opposite him.
“Should things really go this way?” he murmured. He had a dislike of forcing one’s ideals and power on others. It did not mean that he would not use it. But he was afraid that a certain Planet Master would not be able to take it.
After all, there was no cure for a broken mind. So far, Dian had not discovered any indication of that. Or he was just too low to access that kind of information.
“It will be fine.” It was Leif who surprisingly spoke up. He had seen and often carried out Dian’s instructions so he knew slightly what was on Dian’s mind.
“Do you think she can handle the bitter truth that she is inferior to someone else? That her race is inferior in front of another?” Dian asked.
“It will be hard.” Leif admitted. He was the one who had been faced with this the earliest so he knew exactly these feelings. “But believe me when I say that she can overcome that, just like me.”
Dian turned his head to look at the first Planet Master he had defeated. He did not expect that Leif could say such things.
“Besides, she has a good subordinate. Her mistakes will be covered and her objective becomes more focused. They will be a good addition to our group if we win.” Leif added.
“Yeah, we need to win first. From the looks of it, our fighter has an advantage and is now pushing it without giving his enemy a chance to even think.” Dian commented on the situation in the arena.
Long Wu was pressing his advantage, often striking the Queen with the shield, bashing and pushing her slightly before delivering another lethal attack that could prove fatal.
The Queen was slowly learning something important during battle. Her instinct was sharpened as she felt the deathly blow when Long Wu struck and she shifted the damage from fatal to just a slightly worse injury.
‘She is learning after all.’ Long Wu was still in a state of slightly opening the Gate of Opening, around 20%. This was the ideal state he needed to maintain his foundational power without experiencing backlash.
‘But her condition worsens with each exchange.’ Long Wu noted this fact and decided to make haste since his energy storage capacity was not as high as the Queen's.
He kept launching attack after another, a slash to the body, a stab to the joint and another one to the solar plexus, further worsening the condition of the Queen. But she also landed two hits on Long Wu since she improved even during battle.
Long Wu felt the sting of pain from his wrist; the injury was light but it was there. He faced the same issue with the two energies reacting and he needed to take care of that. While he tried to take care of the Ether on the injuries, he also realized that the condition for both of them was no different from two Velociraptors fighting for prey.
It was pathetic and even dirty but it was a fight nonetheless.
Different from him which could immediately treat the injuries with so much haste, the Queen could not do the same. It was because the way to convert the two transcendent energies to the other differed.
From Ether to the undead element, it was easier but the reverse was proven to be difficult. It was because the process was more complicated and needed more time.
But Long Wu opted for a short but decisive fight rather than prolong the battle.
“Why don’t you surrender?” Long Wu said after landing another fatal wound on the Queen. His speed was increasing as he suddenly increased the opened points on his body. His energy became even more berserk, even affecting him in various ways.
But the injury he had caused was already affecting the Queen. The Queen even coughed another mouthful of blood and her legs buckled as she kneeled down.
But her expression was telling Long Wu that she was unwilling. Extremely so.
“I…have promised my god that I will not bring any shame.” The Queen said in the familiar language that Long Wu knew.
Long Wu realized that the Queen was just like the humans who were devoted to the Father God in his civilization. He found this to be troublesome since it meant that their purpose in life was to please the figures they deemed supreme.
Long Wu managed to get rid of the lingering Ether by slowly converting it to the undead element and overwhelming it. The process was fast since Long Wu was familiar with it. But the same condition could not be solved so easily by the Queen.
At this time, they were quite spent since their energy reserve was running low. The final moment was fast approaching.
“Fine. If you want to do so, no one will prevent you from doing that. Just remember the consequences of doing that.” Long Wu lunged at the Queen while the Queen riled up her Ether and used her arms to prevent Long Wu from moving.
But it was proven to be futile as Long Wu broke free from the restraints, with injuries and plunged the dagger into the torso and deeper. Purple blood flowed out as Long Wu infused his attack with his transcendent energy.
The Queen screamed in pain as it hit directly into her weak point. But Long Wu was full of killing intent, so he would not let go of the prey in front of him.
He fully channeled and tried to even explode the two energies right in the weak point. But this turned out to be the right decision as the limbs from the Queen’s back were returning and attacking him in retaliation.
Long Wu raised his left arm and used the shield to repel the attack and pushed to damage more of the Queen’s body.
The Queen felt her vision was turning blurry as she could perceive that her weakness was being used to end her life. She struggled with all her might, rolling around and making things difficult for Long Wu.
Long Wu could only follow as his dagger was stabbed deep into her body and he needed to finish her off.
The undead element invaded her source and corrupted it, making the Queen feel pain like no other. But her resistance became weaker as the two fought with all their might, despite the ugly display.
Until Long Wu could feel the life force of the Queen diminishing and then it was gone. The limbs that flew around and were defended by his shield stopped.
At the same time, the shield which was covered by the undead element finally unable to hold structurally and shattered into numerous pieces.
Long Wu then closed the Gate of Opening since it kept draining his energy. He took a deep breath and also let the Ether in the Queen’s body convert to the undead element.
“It is a pity that you are stubborn. But it is commendable.” Long Wu nodded his head as he finally placed his hand on the injury he had inflicted. He absorbed the undead element that had multiplied, all of it.
It recovered most of the spent energy and then the clash of colors between jade and black finally subsided.
After that, the winner was determined.
[The winner is the Planet Master Dian’s side!]
[Due to the Individual Duel concluding, the Star Battle results in the default win for Planet Master Dian.]
Dian looked at the appearing system panel and could not help but let out a sigh. He could finally rest easy since the result of the Individual Duel was out and with it, the result of the Star Battle.
Ghylea looked at the two opposite of him with an indifferent expression. He had no care for the others because he could not get used to it, since most Planet Masters would just look down on him.