Chapter 448: The End of Waiting
The first clash pushed the defensive line two meters back.
Boom!
A large warrior with a double-edged hammer broke one of the defenders’ shields, two others passed through the gap..
"Elena, take the east side." Rodrick’s voice came immediately.
Elena, who had been standing a few meters below the platform until that moment, answered him without looking at him.
"Got it." Mana gathered around her fingers.
But unlike the large and flashy attacks of most mages, what she created was thin and precise.
𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Six tightly formed strands of mana separated from around her hand, the first wrapped around the wrist of the warrior in front, the man wanted to bring his hammer down, but the path of his hand changed by a few centimeters.
That was enough to make the attack land beside the defender’s shield instead of his head.
The second strand caught another attacker’s leg.
The third hit the blade of a sword and changed the angle of the attack, and the fourth went directly toward the mana shield of the next person.
Clack!
The defensive shield shook for a moment.
Elena moved herself and raised her hand, a thin blade of mana formed in front of her palm.
Slash!
It hit the same weak point of the shield and the shield broke, the student’s Protective Seal activated and his body turned into light.
She did not even look at him disappearing.
The fifth and sixth strands moved from both sides and changed the attacks of two other people at the same time so that they hit each other.
Boom!
Both were thrown backward.
"She has gotten much better." Seraphina, who was standing at the bottom of the mountain, watched the fight carefully.
"Elena?" Kain looked at her.
"Yeah."
Elena had a mage class, but she was not one of those normal elemental mages and her talent was completely special and allowed her to make strands from almost anything and use them like deadly whips.
Of course, it was not like she could make strands from nothing, and she had some special conditions, and as far as she knew, she mostly used mana to make the strands and sometimes combined elements with them.
She did not take her eyes off the girl, controlling several paths at the same time, while also fighting at close range herself, was not easy.
Especially when the battlefield was full of dozens of moving targets, Elena had not only become stronger but her control had also become better, much better.
At the top of the mountain, Rodrick only gave the east side a short look.
His girlfriend had closed the gap, so he turned his attention back to the center.
But Elena’s eyes left the enemies for a moment and looked down the mountain, toward the distant height, where Lian and the others were standing.
Her eyes stayed on his figure for a few seconds.
He still was not coming.
She did not know why this bothered her so much.
Maybe she expected Lian to be the first person to attack Rodrick without thinking.
Maybe she wanted to see his new power.
Or maybe...
No.
She looked away. This was not the time to think about these things.
[21:37]
The second wave had not been broken and had actually turned into a third wave.
More groups from the distant islands had reached the mountain and now the stairs had turned into battlefields in several places.
The light from the skills lit up the sky every few seconds.
Arrows.
Flames.
Summons.
Rocks breaking off from the mountain wall and hitting students, and the sound of Protective Seals activating continued almost without stopping.
For the first time, Rodrick’s group started to retreat, although it was a planned retreat.
The first line moved five meters higher and the second line took its position again, the healers pulled two seriously injured people back.
And Rodrick was still standing at the center of all these movements, until three people broke through the defensive line and all three were above Level 30.
The first was a tall warrior with a round shield and a short sword, the second was a fast spear user and the third was a man with heavy gloves who was going directly toward the Crown.
One of Rodrick’s guards wanted to step forward.
"Stay back." But he said.
The man stopped and he himself came down, the first shield warrior made the first attack and his sword came from the right.
Rodrick only took half a step forward, his hand hit the attacker’s wrist and changed the direction of the sword, at the same time his other fist hit the center of the shield directly.
Boom!
The shield hit its owner’s chest and the man was thrown three meters back, the spear came from behind on the left but he did not even turn his head.
His body turned and his hand grabbed the body of the spear and moved it downward, causing the spearhead to sink into the stone.
Clack!
Rodrick’s knee hit the spear user’s stomach and the air left the man’s lungs.
But the third person had arrived and his heavy fist came directly toward his head and this time he was forced to raise both forearms.
Boom!
The stone under his feet cracked and he took two steps back.
The attacker smiled and thought that they might have a chance to get the Crown.
"Not bad." But Rodrick also gave a very short smile.
The man punched again but instead of defending, his target moved forward, the attack passed beside his cheek and his own fist hit directly between the attacker’s ribs.
Crack!
The man bent over but at the same time the second punch hit his chin and his head was forced upward and the third punch also landed.
Boom!
It hit the center of his chest and at the same time his Protective Seal lit up and the man’s body disappeared into particles of light.
Rodrick did not even stop to watch the result and turned around.
"Close the center’s distance. Two people take Alden’s place, second healer come forward."
As if those few seconds of close combat had never happened.
[18:04]
"Should we go now?" Kain asked.
"No." Lian answered lazily.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"God."
At the top of the mountain, the number of Rodrick’s people had decreased.
About eight members of his main group had been eliminated and several others were injured.
The mages’ mana was also no longer as much as at the beginning of the stage, the big attacks had become less common and the healers were acting more carefully.
But the structure was still maintained and more importantly, the Crown was still in his hands.
Lian had no reason to hurry because of this, every minute that passed, all the other participants were doing something that he would eventually have to do himself.
Wear them down.
[15:26]
"Now?" Kain asked again.
"No."
"I don’t even know why I keep asking."
At the top of the mountain, a large explosion destroyed part of the stairs.
Three students were thrown downward at the same time, but their Protective Seals activated before they fell.
Rodrick was also no longer completely unharmed and a long cut could be seen on his left forearm, the upper part of his armor was torn and blood was running down from the corner of his eyebrow.
But his eyes were still the same, cold, focused and controlled, even tiredness had not been able to remove his commanding attitude.
Elena also had a small wound on her cheek and one of her sleeves was burned, but the eastern side was still under her control.
Five more students attacked and the girl sent the strands made of mana between them.
One of the attackers jumped upward and the second came forward from below and the third tried to pass through her blind spot.
She did not move back and two strands moved, the path of the first one changed in the air and the second attack hit the stone.
Then the girl suddenly moved forward herself and with a direct palm strike, she threw the third attacker toward the edge of the stairs.
His Protective Seal activated.
A moment later, Elena looked down again, Lian was still there and this made a very slight frown appear between her eyebrows this time.
What was he waiting for? Why was he not attacking himself?
[12:03]
Kain said nothing else and only looked at Lian, hoping that maybe his time had finally come.
"Not yet." But he said without turning his head.
"fuck you."
Liana laughed and even the corner of Rindo’s lips rose slightly, none of them knew what they were waiting for, but if the Special Area had taught them one thing, it was to trust this man.
But the young Vorhelm really had not been waiting just to annoy Kain.
The situation at the top of the mountain had become exactly what he wanted, Rodrick’s group was still dangerous but more tired, fewer in number, with less mana, and the healers were more exhausted.
And dozens of other students who were also injured enough that they could no longer be a complete threat to Lian.
He was not going to hurry for the Crown, in fact he had not even decided to take the Crown, getting it would only be an extra reward.
There were five hundred points for defeating the King.
And more importantly, there was Rodrick himself, he had known for a long time that sooner or later he would have to settle this rivalry between them.
It was better for it to be today.
A place where no family, teacher or outside pressure could come between them.
[10:03]
Lian separated himself from the stone wall he had been leaning against.
Kain looked at him.
[10:02]
[10:01]
[10:00]
"Is it finally time?"
"Yeah, now almost everyone is tired enough, so now its our time"