Chapter 51: The Gray color

Lu Bao's blow was very light, but at the same time incredibly strong. Stroph flew into the wall like a bullet, but he didn't even have time to get out. Lu Bao took their fight seriously, so immediately after his punch, he reached Stroph in one rush, and punched him in the chest with all his might.

"Hey, take it easy, you'll cripple the audience like that." Lu Bao's punch was powerful enough to shatter part of the arena wall, but to his surprise, Stroph was able to dodge that punch, moreover in the next moment something, he couldn`t have expected, happened.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

Three white belts braided around Lu Bao's two legs and arm in a flash, then Stroph grabbed his other arm and quietly said: "I'm sorry, but I wish the ring, too." Then Stroph grabbed Lu Bao by the hair and slammed his knee sharply into his face.

Lu Bao's nose immediately bled, and his face was no longer as beautiful as before. But, unfortunately for him it was far from over.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Stroph continued hitting Lu Bao relentlessly in the face with his knee, and Lu Bao could do nothing, the straps were as strong as steel bars, and Stroph's grip didn`t allow him to move his hand even a millimeter.

<Damn, and if I had taken the weapon, we would have won by now.> Stroph did some pretty serious damage to his opponent, but if he'd had a weapon, he would have finished the fight by now.

<You're right, but I wouldn't have helped you then, heh, heh.> Hearing the words of "Snow White Darkness" Stroph realized that it didn't matter if he'd taken a weapon or not, he couldn`t been able to win quickly.

The audience was stunned by this turn of battle, for a few seconds ago Stroph had been rammed into a wall, and now he was beating Lu Bao furiously, moreover, most of the audience didn't understand how he used straps, but some special persons made their own conclusions about it.

…

< This boy has a Magical Item, I wonder...>. There were the thoughts of every powerful and influential people who were sitting in the hall and looking for talents at this tournament.

Naturally, all their attention was on the final. Stroph`s coat was a surprise to them, but this was far from the first time they had seen the magical objects.

"Find out more information about this young man, I`m interested in him." The speaker was a man in his fifties, with a thick red beard and short hair.

He was Virgo Verres, one of the "Anarchy" officers who had ordered to organize this tournament.

…

Stroph kept beating Lu Bao, but at one point he loosened his grip and stopped beating his opponent, but that was only the calm before the storm.

Lu Bao needed to come to his senses, so he failed to react to what Stroph did.

After he stopped holding Lu Bao, he spread his arms out as wide as possible.

Then a thick, dark haze appeared on his palms.

Bam.

Stroph struck Lu Bao's ribs with his palms, and the use of Negative Energy multiplied the power of his attack.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Lu Bao could no longer hold back, he began screaming in pain as many cracks went through the bones of his ribs and some of the flesh was torn off.

The next second the straps let go of Lu Bao, and Stroph kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying to the other end of the ring.

The audience was stunned, literally within minutes they saw one contestant being printed into the wall, but then the same thing happened to the second contestant.

Quite some time passed, but Lu Bao didn`t show up, so the winner should be announced.

"And our winner..."

"Come on, it's time to play big." Stroph interrupted the announcer, for he was well aware that Lu Bao still hadn`t used his Spirit, but if he wanted to win, he had no other option.

Whoosh.

As Stroph had predicted, after a while a battered Lu Bao emerged from a hole in the wall. His clothes were torn and stained with blood and his face was swollen because of Stroph's constant blows.

But, none of that mattered, because the next moment Stroph finally saw what he had been waiting for all tournament.

"Bitch..." Stroph simply had no other words as he saw the Spirit of Gray color.

That would be all right, but an ordinary Fighter or Magician couldn't have a gray-colored Spirit.

When a person gets a Spirit he becomes a third-ranked Fighter or a Magician, and the weakest Spirit is white.

Next comes green, blue, purple, turquoise, red and orange.

There are only seven levels of Spirit and nine ranks after which a person can become a Phantom. Of course, different people could have very different levels of power with the same Spirit, but there was a big difference in power between each rank, especially the last three.

But, there was no gray one among them, and Stroph knew why.

<This is the Perimortem Spirit>. When he had been at the Phantom Association branch, Anthony had told him about this special kind of Spirit, and now he was seeing it with his own eyes.

"Stroph White, you're a worthy opponent, but it's time to end." Lu Bao was not angry at Stroph for his repeatedly smashing face, as always he was calm and collected.

The audience was greatly shocked by the turn of events, all holding their breath and eagerly awaiting the continuation.

Stroph prepared to attack, and in the next second, Lu Bao delivered a crushing blow.

In an instant, Lu Bao was in front of Stroph, and he struck him in the chest at lightning speed.

Stroph took no chances, and began to use Negative Energy at full power.

"Аh?". Lu Bao was greatly surprised, for his attack was blocked, moreover, he could feel his arm gradually going numb.

"I agree, it's time to call it a day." Stroph grabbed Lu Bao's arm tightly, then lifted him into the air, and drove him into the floor with force.

Bam.

Stroph wanted to continue attacking Lu Bao, but his opponent was behind him in an instant, so he had no time to dodge. The next moment his head sank into the ground.

Lu Bao had been fighting to the best of his ability, even when he reached the final he didn't regard Stroph as an opponent worthy enough to use his Perimortem Spirit on him.

But, in that moment, he was fighting without retaining any trump cards. His punches were fast and powerful, and his speed was simply abnormal.

If Stroph hadn`t had Negative Energy and "Snow White Darkness", he would have lost consciousness long ago and got many fatal wounds.

Lu Bao wanted to finish Stroph off, but at the most important moment three white belts wrapped around his arm at once, whereupon Stroph flipped over and abruptly knocked Lu Bao over, nailing him to the ground.

Stroph thought they had switched places again and now it would be his turn to hit Lu Bao, but his opponent was very nimble, so right before Lu Bao's back should have hit the ground, he pushed off the ground with his arm and got to his feet a few meters away from Stroph.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Lu Bao and Stroph were breathing heavily, their battle was quite tense and long. Each of them was already quite tired and had suffered many wounds.

Lu Bao prepared to attack again, but the next moment he saw a dark haze appear at Stroph's feet, then he was right in front of Lu Bao's face.

Lu Bao quickly reacted to such a lightning fast attack and was ready to defend himself against Stroph's blow. But, unfortunately for him, this attack was just a feint.

The next moment, a small dark wisp of Negative Energy appeared at Lu Bao's back, then a deafening explosion followed.

Bam.

That was the end of their fight.