BXBX NOVEL Chapter 364: Nearly Immortal
Apache didn\'t slow down. As he increased his speed, his movement had drawn the air away from the center and created a wind wall around Patroclus.
When Apache finally reached the limit of his speed, the space in the middle of the circle had become a complete vacuum. By then, if Patroclus wished to break through the encirclement, it would already be too late.
As the wind wall shrunk in size, a tornado appeared at the center. Suddenly, a glint appeared above Patroclus\'s head that was unmistakably steel.
It was Apache\'s coup de grace—Vacuum Tornado!
Apache wagered that Patroclus would allow him time to deliver his coup de grace due to the Ivantian\'s personality. However, once Apache\'s coup de grace was released, he doubted if Patroclus would be able to counter it.
Apache bore down his blade on Patroclus, who was restrained by the vacuum from all sides. When the blade was only inches away from him, the Ivantian prince raised his finger and blocked its tip. The tip of the steel blade started to lose its edge and become dull.
Apache spun his body and turned the blade into a drill as he continued forcing the blade down. However, no matter how hard Apache pushed on the blade, the spinning tip didn\'t move forward even by a hair. As the vacuum effect waned, Patroclus swept his left hand and forced Apache to spin even faster like a top, although unwillingly. When the wind wall dissipated completely, Patroclus swept his right hand again and forced Apache\'s spinning to go further out of control. Apache was carried by the uplifting force of his motion and flew away like a wild kite. Finally, he hit the energy barrier and thudded heavily to the ground.
After collapsing to the ground, Apache fell unconscious, and was not able to get up again. He was not even able to harm a single hair on the Ivantian Prince.
Not until the big screen played a slow motion of the earlier fight did the audiences realize what had happened on the stage. Not only did the audiences finally realize that Patroclus had been standing in a vacuum all the while, but they had also witnessed him defend himself with a single finger.
Patroclus\'s display of power had unnerved all of his would-be opponents.
"The winner is—PATROCLUS!"
With the host\'s final announcement, the match closed its curtains. Although Apache had prepared well for this fight, he was still far too weak to stand up against Patroclus.
By the evening, the first round of the playoffs was concluded. There were no surprises in the outcomes of battles, except for the defeat of Guan Dongyang, the so-called fire god Aegis.
Among all the fighters that had made the cut, Wang Tong knew only one of them personally—Wang Ben.
The remaining fighters mostly came from the Earth, Moon and the Mars. However, there were a few from the Andromeda Galaxy that had also made it.
The second round was about to draw back its curtain, and everyone knew that the competition was only going to become fiercer.
The Puppet Master, Han Linu, had encountered Li Ruoer. Unfortunately for him, his puppets were quickly sliced and diced out of commission by Li Ruoer\'s blade "Rosy," and he was forced to surrender.
Although the Puppeteer Soul Mastery was powerful, it fell short in front of the top fighters of the Confederation. That being said, people did see hope in the mastery, as some believed that Han Linu might have a chance of winning the match should he have brought more puppets with him.
Wang Tong didn\'t hold back his power during the second round of the playoff, so he quickly finished off his opponent, who was a top-notch level five warrior.
After three days of intense competition, thirty-two warriors remained in the tournament. They were one step closer to their ultimate goal. The name of the fighters was listed below:
Section one: Patroclus, Jiang Long, Samuel, Zader
Section two: Li Shiming, Gong-son Wuce, Gladelus, Victor
Section three: Li Ruoer, Wang Tong, Athena, Lei Long
Section four: Lie Jian, Wang Ben, Tervis, Mo Xie
Section five: Michaux Odin, Ye Kai, Zhang Fan, Qin Yue
Section six: Heidi, Turbolix, Ye Bai, Ma Tiangang
Section seven: Li Xing, Wu Ma, Zhuo Bufan, Euler.
Section eight: Zhang Buyu, Allen, Smite, Dolores, Duan Ren.
The rest of the competition was not only a matter of strength, but also that of luck. For example, one fighter could be slightly stronger than the other in a different section. However, the stronger fighter might be defeated quicker if much more powerful foes surrounded him than his weaker counterpart.
The involvement of the great houses in this year\'s tournament had also shaken things up a lot for the S-Class students. In the previous tournaments, most top students from the S-Class academies were able to make it to the top 32 list. However, they were all eliminated early on during the game this year.
In addition to the surge in the number of great house members, this year\'s tournament also had increased number of fighters outside of the traditional three big players—Earth, Moon, and Mars. One of those fighters, Zader from Ceres, had made it to the top 32 largely due to his luck that kept him away from the powerful fighters.
In addition to Zader, another dark horse of this year\'s tournament was Wang Tong. Unlike Zader, Wang Tong didn\'t lack powerful opponents during the tournament.
Both Wang Tong and Zader had made the history as the first non-Great-House, non-S-Class, and non-sect fighters ever to have made it into the top 32.
Meanwhile, on Earth, a girl was closely following Wang Tong\'s fights. During some nights, she even dreamed of Wang Tong\'s victory in the final.
Ma Xiaoru had never been happier than when she saw Wang Tong successfully enter the top 32. Also, Wang Tong\'s performance during his fight with Guan Dongyang had greatly impressed Ma Xiaoru\'s parents. Wu Xin finally budged under her daughter\'s incessant pleading and agreed for her to watch the rest of Wang Tong\'s fights live on the Moon under one condition: she would have to accompany Ma Xiaoru to the Moon.
Ma Dutian was not worried about his daughter at all. Therefore, he didn\'t disagree with his daughter\'s trip to the Moon. Plus, his attention right now had been completely on the new battery technology.
"Master, I have thoroughly investigated. Or initial suspicion was correct… Wang Tong\'s stepfather was not a simple character. He is very likely related to the incidence that happened in the Hall of Valhalla twenty years ago."
Ma Dutian nodded. "Have you found out his whereabouts?"
"Not yet. He is in hiding."
"Keep looking… I need more details."
"Yes, master."
Ma Dutian paused for a second and then said, "Be careful! I want no bloodshed."
"Understood, master."
Ever since the match entered the top 32 playoffs, even some Einherjars started to pay attention to the fights. The outcome of the battles would not only affect the fighter\'s personal fame, but it was also pivotal for the future of the sect or house the fighter represented. Despite the paramount importance of the tournament fights, another event was able to steal some of the audience\'s attention away from it.
Qin Lanyue, the lord of the Soul Devouring Sect who had retired more than twenty years ago, wanted to challenge Einherjar Wannabe to a fight in the PA system. Not only was Qin Lanyue a top fighter among Ivantians, but her stepdaughter, Qin Yue, had also out-performed her opponents and entered the top 32 in the tournament.
Einherjar Wannabe had promptly accepted the challenge and arranged the time of the fight. The news of the fight had surprised most top fighters of the Confederation, since they knew that Qin Lanyue was not the kind of person who would easily challenge another warrior.