Final Round Battle

[Not reviewed by ed... I could imagine this to be painful to be read]

[I just finished this in the middle of the night so heck I totally expect to find some hard to understand spots down the chapter]

"Hehehe… I happened to be in Ruteshia when they announced the tournament. I wasn't interested at first but when I heard that one of the prizes is one of the Tier 11 Healing potion, I just thought… Maybe I could still do that ritual again after all?" After getting used to being small again, Sinov used her cuteness instead of her beauty to invite the gasp of many spectators with just a simple smile while she was speaking.

Shaking his head, Iledoya replied "It would be troublesome if you actually did complete the ritual. I guess that potion would be one of the things I would have to choose once I defeat you. Why do you even want to do the ritual again anyway?"

"Cause I can" Sinov replied instantly, as if it is obvious.

"..." Iledoya was left speechless. 'Maybe I should also search for the other lost potions' Iledoya was starting to consider this option. After all, once the Underground Union becomes powerful enough, searching for the other 13 missing potions should be possible.

"By the way, how did you recognized me through the mask?"

"It was easy. What are the chances of me meeting another person with such great control over magic that he can materialize them into objects? Not only that, you're still wearing the same grey clothes you were wearing back at Egner! I'll be stupid not to recognize you." How could Sinov not recognized the grey magic that not only restrained her but also resurrected her?

This made Iledoya speechless. He could understand the reason of him being the only one with great control over magic but the clothes? It was as if being struck by thunder, Iledoya came to a realization that he has not changed clothes! This made Iledoya consider getting a new look. It might help him to be cooler!

Sinov continued to stare for a while. "What's up with the mask?"

"I plan to create trouble under this name. I'll tell you and the others the details when we gather."

"Okay" Sinov answered while nodding.

At the same time as they finished talking, the announcer started speaking again "Ladies and Gentlemen. It is the round we've all been waiting for. The Final Round!" The crowd was especially energetic today since it was the final round.

"Allow me to introduce our Final Competitors.

Coming from Egner town, surviving the rain of swords in the battle royale and winning all the rounds after without moving from her spot, we have… Sinov the Blood mage!"

Chaos! As the announcer introduced Sinov, the crowd went bananas. Everyone cheered for the cute red-haired loli that was able to reach the Final round!

"On the other side, he who has literally died 2 times yet still stands, his name explaining it all, he is… the Immortal mage!"

Silence! As the announcer introduced Iledoya no one made a sound. It was almost as if the previous chaos never happened at all!

This made Iledoya shake uncontrollably. Inside his heart, Iledoya felt like screaming his lungs out. 'If only all these people had souls of the damned'. Even the announcer felt pity seeing no reaction for Iledoya. He was an Immortal after all.

What he didn't know however, was that the crowd didn't know if they should cheer or not, in fear of the wrong choice would bring the whole stadium flat to the ground. Of course there will always be that one person who was different. Nicholas. His face was already beet red from trying to hold down his laughter.

"M-moving on. As it is the Final round for the Ruteshia Battle Tournament, please welcome our esteemed guest, the City Lord of Ruteshia Lord Grun!" After hearing the name, everyone's eyes was redirected to a special place in the spectators seat that only had two seats. From behind, a person approached.

Lord Grun, the City Lord of Ruteshia. As the City Lord of the city renowned for its aesthetics, this Lord Ghun fits in very nicely. With his handsome face and golden hair, some might think he is the City Lord just because of his looks.

Lord Grun walked slowly yet gracefully to the front of his seat. Before sitting down however, he lifted up his finger and pointed in the direction to the center of the stadium.

It was quiet for some time. Many could only see that Lord Grun suddenly pointed his finger but those with keen eyesight, including Iledoya who always have his magic eye technique used, noticed that a butterfly is emerging on the fingertips of Lord Grun.

The butterfly took off towards the center of the stadium. As it flew, it started to grow larger and larger to the point people start to notice it.

But despite the sudden realization of the appearance of the butterfly, no one still made a sound. It was because the butterfly was too breathtaking! The butterfly was half blue and half red with beautiful breathtaking patterns to decorate it. But it wasn't just simply half-blue and half-red.

All the mages in the stadium would notice that the butterfly was actually magic being controlled to take on the form of a butterfly! Not only that, but it was actually of Water and Fire Attribute!

Iledoya can't help but click his tongue in amazement. 'Though it's still far from what I can do, but still. Not many can do the same.'

As the butterfly reach the center of the stadium, it was already almost 8 meters in height. The butterfly then suddenly curled into a ball before exploding! But it didn't just randomly explode. The Water Attribute exploded forming what look like a blooming flower while the Fire Attribute exploded forming numerous small butterflies that circle around the flower.

After the flower appeared, only then did Lord Grun started speaking "Welcome everybody, to Ruteshia Battle Tournament. As the City Lord I would like to thank you all for coming here. I would like to take this chance to introduce an esteemed guest that would also be watching the finals" As he looked back towards the entrance he came from, he added "Please."

Another man appeared. When everyone saw the man, most of them showed look of confusion. 'Who is this man?' This question filled many of their minds. However, when the higher-ups in the local Alchemist Association saw the man, they almost instantly stood up, shocking the people around them.

As Sinov saw the man, she showed a look of surprise at first before started chuckling.

"Iledoya"

"Hm?"

"You know that man over there?"

From the moment the man appeared, until Sinov calling him, Iledoya had a look of confusion on his face. But he did felt something familiar about him. But no matter how much he racked his 10,000 years of knowledge, he can't seem to recognize him.

Iledoya shaked his head. "Do you?"

"Hehehe" Sinov gave a giggle that creeped Iledoya out. "He's the one that made the Alchemist Association aware of the powers of the Tier 11 Healing potion"

"Oh…" At first Iledoya didn't think much about it. But as he thought about it more, he remembered what Sinov told him about how they knew about the efficacy of the potion.

"Wait hold up. He was the one the Alchemist Association experimented the Tier 11 Healing potion on?" Iledoya then look again at the smiling person that just arrived. He soon realized that the familiarity that felt was because he could feel traces of his magic on that person.

Sinov smiled. "Yep, that's him"

"Then that means… He is… the current Head of the whole Association?"

"Yep."

"But why would he… Oh yeah nevermind." Iledoya was about to question why the Head of the whole Alchemist Association would be here. Then he remembered about his darn potion that became a world treasure.

When the Head of the Alchemist Association arrived at the front of his seat, he sat down at the same time as Lord Grun.

Seeing them sit down, the announcer let out a breath of relief. "Now for the moment we've all been waiting for. The battle!"

.

.

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"Ughh finally… That took you 1394 words. Shame on you!"

"..." Chronotia sighed. "Is it so hard for you to just stay quiet for even a moment?"

"Yes! It IS!"

"Ughh… Just watch would you…"

.

.

.

"In 3… 2… 1… BEGIN!" With that, the Final round battle has finally started.

Yet, contrary to the hot and wild battle that the spectator was expecting, Sinov and Iledoya… simply walked toward each other.

Everyone was bewildered at first. But then they started hearing Iledoya talking. "Sinov the Blood mage. Surrender now, and I could still let you leave with your body and head."

Everyone felt chill running down their spine when they heard that. They wanted to start an uproar. 'HOW DARE YOU THREATEN SUCH A CUTE LITTLE GIRL' they thought.

Contrary to the spectators thoughts, Sinov was thinking '... is this guy trying to show off?' so she decided to open her mouth and say a few things. She was going to question what the hell was Iledoya saying. But when she opened her mouth "Immortal mage, do not feel so high and mighty yet. After all, I might not be the one going home with a mutilated body"

When she realized that what she said was totally different to what she wanted to say, her face turned sour. As she glared at that grey mask on Iledoya, for some reason, she felt like she could feel a smirk under that mask.

She gritted her teeth.

"OOHH Sinov is making the first move!" The announcer noticed that she has taken out a dagger making a slit on her 10 fingers almost instantly.

"Blood magic: Set of the Blood Warlord" Casting her spell, blood flowed from the slit she made on her 10 fingers, creating a full body armor and a spear.

Once the set was formed, Sinov rushed towards Iledoya. Almost at the same time that Sinov decided to rush forward, Iledoya also decided rush forward.

"Both participants have now rushed towards each other! Sinov however, has worn full armor and is holding a weapon. What could the Immortal mage be planning?"

As Sinov and Iledoya got closer and closer, and so did the angle of which the spectators was leaning towards the arena, it happened.

At the last moment, After numerous contemplation, Iledoya decided to take out a sword. Yes, he was walking and rushing forward without a weapon was because he didn't know what to use until the final moment!

"What fast speed! The Immortal mage at the final moment took out a sword to block the spear that was heading towards his heart! How peculiar. The whole sword is grey just like his 'Punishing Damocles' and 'Fallen Palace'"

Sinov and Iledoya both retreated a few meters back.

"You… You're Immortal right?" Sinov asked.

"Of course." Iledoya answered full of pride.

"Then whatever would happen if you had your blood drain?"

"Huh?"

Before Iledoya could question more, Sinov has rushed forward once again. But instead of piercing, Sinov was aiming to make a slash.

Reaching Iledoya, Sinov did a slash with her spear and as expected, Iledoya once again blocked.

"Hm?" But there was something different with Sinov's attack this time. "This…" Needles. Made of blood. In truth, Sinov's slash was just a feint for the actual attack. The blood needles.

Announcer was amazed "Amazing! Sinov has managed to land an attack on the Immortal mage!

"Hehe… Time to find out… If it's possible to bleed out an Immortal…"

When Iledoya heard that, he finally understood the purpose of the blood needles. He hurriedly tried to remove the needles but he couldn't be faster than Sinov's spell chanting.

Pointing her palm toward Iledoya, Sinov instantly chanted "Blood Magic: Overflowing Dragon Burst!"

"Damn it." Iledoya's body bursted as blood flowed out forming a dragon. With the dragon made of blood flying out of the burst of Iledoya, Sinov relaxed a bit. But then she remembered 'Wait. The dragon was only supposed to flow out from the holes of made by the needles. The dragon would then attack the blood's owner. Why did Iledoya's body…"

"Hm. It appears that the Immortal mage has once again died. Due to his Immortality, the organizers has decided that he must revive in 10 seconds. If not, he will be disqualified" Hearing the announcer's words, Sinov finally knew her victory conditions.

She continued paying her attention to the bursted body of Iledoya. It didn't take long before another blood dragon appeared. "W-what?" Sinov was quick to know the reason 'I see. His regeneration creates new blood and then the blood forms another dragon. I just need to hold on for a few more seconds…'

3 seconds soon passed and the number of dragons are now in the teens. Sinov was starting to feel the burden of keeping the spell up. She felt like she was about to drop at any moment now. The speed of which Iledoya was regenerating blood was getting faster and faster, causing the speed of which new dragons form to also become faster.

The announcer who was keeping track of time, said"The Immortal mage would be disqualified in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

Just as the announcer was about to disqualify Iledoya, a voice could suddenly be heard "Last second appearance is a must I believe."

After which, grass like grey strands suddenly appeared from beneath Sinov as they binded her. 'Oh no!'

It was too late for Sinov. She was too focused on keeping up the spell to hinder Iledoya that she didn't have the mental energy to react to the sudden appearance of the grey strand

In front of her, the grey strands changed form into a more fluid like state as they formed a winged armor that simply hovered there. The hand of the armor then grabbed Sinov's chin and said in a low voice "You've lost".

It was Iledoya. Since his body could not regenerate to form a body, Iledoya decided to take the simple route of simply using soul once again.

With his soul he simply had to form some armor to possess, making him look like a golem. It was hard for him however to mimic a vocal organ to allow him to speak.

Sinov dropped to her knees, which also made all the blood dragons drop to the ground turning into a large puddle of blood. "I've lost" She said with a bitter smile.