Chapter 73: Class Black Meets its Competition
After a awkward and silent lunch, Louis finally calmed down. They still had group battles in the afternoon. The rules to the group battle were simple. Each group consisted of five people, four team members and one leader. Only the leader is allowed to surrender, and if the leader dies, the battle will end immediately. Arthur, Connor, Freddy, Vlad, and Jeanne were the first group, with Arthur being the leader. Because Fen was still unable to battle, Jay had to fight in two different groups. The second group consisted of Louis, Jay, and three unfamiliar faces that Jay couldn't recognize.
He heard from Louis that the three people were originally from Class Purple, but they were going to potentially put in Class Black since they somehow learned to cast tier four spells. The leader was originally going to be Louis, but after a argument between the three students and Circe, the leadership was taken by them. Jay and Louis didn't really mind, they knew that they could only rely on themselves to survive.
The third group consists of Jay, the Third Prince, and three of his followers from Class Gold. Although people could argue that students from Class Gold only managed to enroll at the academy due to special connections, they couldn't deny that with crazy amounts of gold invested, they were still stronger then normal students. The Third Prince was obviously the leader, he still kept his arrogant and haughty attitude towards Jay.
The first group fight was going to start, and the five students from Class Black entered the stage, drawing attention from all across the stadium. Their performance in the solo fights didn't go unnoticed, the crowd cheered as they recognized the powerful students. Vlad seemed to enjoy the attention quite a bit, waving back and smiling at the crowd. The others however, were already in battle mode, ignoring everything except for their opponents. Arthur stared at their opponents, who were from the Holy Empire. There looked to be two paladins, two clerics, and a priest. From what Circe told him earlier, clerics were special summoners that specialized in summoning low tier holy beings. The priest specializes in light magic, but also have the healing capabilities close to a life mage. Paired together, they were not an easy group to fight against.
The referee launched a Flare, announcing the beginning of the fight. Vlad instantly sunk into the shadows. Being a vampire, he wasn't really useful against people who specialize in holy magic. Freddy casted a large array, covering every member of his team, supplying them with small amounts of life force that regenerates their stamina and heals small wounds. The priest casted a holy barrier, covering the two clerics. With a rumble, two golden beams of light shot down from the heavens. Two beings emerged from the light, a weird looking creature and an angel. The weird looking creature had two pairs of wings, and four faces. A face of a lion, ox, human, and eagle. It was standing on two straight legs, with bull like hooves that had a metalic feeling to it. The angel was lean but muscular, emitting a holy aura. The two clerics were kneeling on the ground, murmuring something under their breath continuously. When the two angelic beings appeared, the Holy Barrier seemed to shine even brighter, as if it was powered up by an unknown power.
Vlad poked his head out of the shadows, staring at the two beings. He seemed to instantly recognized the weird being with four faces. "Cherbium. I'm definitely not gonna fight that," he said, as his eyes narrowed down when he saw the two kneeling clerics. "Lackies of tyrants, I'll wipe you out first," he said, licking his fangs. Connor fired a tentative shot at the priest, wanting to see their response. The arrow flew towards the priest's head with perfect precision. The arrow wasn't ignored by the paladins, who stepped in to block the attack. Their shields seem to be a decent graded gear. A transparent wall appeared immediately once they poured mana into the sheild. The arrow bounced off the wall, doing nothing.
A terrifying aura bursted out from the two angelic beings as they began their attack. The cherub flew towards Arthur with breakneck speed. The angel conjured a glistening bow, also taking aim at Arthur. Arthur sheathed his normal sword, and took a deep breath. A golden glow shone from his hands as Excalibur materialized in his hands. A white hologram of a lion emerged from one of the faces of the cherub. Letting out a ferocious roar, it leaped towards Arthur. With a swing of his sword, Arthur easily shattered the hologram into thousands shards of light. The shards of light glistened as they returned to the cherub, who was quite shocked by Arthur's power. The single arrow that the angel shot suddenly glowed as it split into a couple thousand beams of light. The angel's arrows came showering down on Arthur. But Arthur chose to ignore it, believing in his teammates. Jeanne instantly created an ice wall, intercepting the beams of light. The cyrstals of ice glistened with holy light as the attack was reflect again and again, as if it was trapped in a cage made out of mirrors.
This time, the cherub didn't hold back, all four of its faces glowed as four beings came out. The constructs this time seemed more opaque and elaborate then the previous lion it summoned. The eagle soared in the sky, looking for an opportunity to strike an unsuspecting Arthur. The man, lion, and ox charged towards Arthur from three different directions, completely entrapping him. Excalibur glowed with a golden light as Arthur prepared to forcefully break through the encirclement. An powerful aura burst out as Arthur activated Heroic Aura, increasing his team's morale.
Jeanne was going to help the surrounded Arthur, but she was stopped by an whistling arrow. Turning around, she barely dodged the attack. Drops of blood dripped down from her cheeks as it was grazed by the arrow. The wound instantly closed with the help of Freddy's array. "Frost Area," Jeanne casted with a wave of her sword. The air around the angel instantly dropped below zero degrees, with ice cyrstals forming midair. "Ice Bind, Piercing Cold," Jeanne casted her most adept skills. The ice crystals formed chains and spikes, shooting towards the angel. The two paladins were going to help the angel, but were stopped right in their tracks by Connor.
The angel, who was a skilled archer, wasn't really the best when it comes to defense. The ice shackles locked on its limbs, and the spikes shattered once they failed to penertrate its skin. He pulled on the shackles, trying to break free. Although cracks instantly covered the chain, it still managed to barely hold the angel in place. "Ice Lance," Jeanne casted her tier three spell, creating a huge ice lance that was enhanced with mana. As she waved her hands, the lance shot towards the angel. It tried to dodge the incoming attack, but the ice chains managed to slightly hinder its movement. As the ice shackles shattered under the strength of the angel, the lance pierced the angels chest. No blood came out of the angel, only a gaping hole that emitted a holy glow could be seen.
The three creatures charged at Arthur, not leaving any space for him to dodged. Thinking that the human would be the easiest to break, Arthur swung his sword at the human with his full might. The human construct shattered into pieces, returning to the Cherub. Although he managed to defeat the human, the ox and lion both ram into him, rocking his world. A cracking sound can be heard as Arthur's bones shattered. The sky spinned out of control as Arthur was launched into the air. Freddy instantly created a life force link that connected to Arthur, supplying him with huge amounts of life force. The surround botanical life instantly withered, as well as Freddy's own life force. His hair turned silver, and wrinkles formed all across his skin. Spatting out a large amount of blood, Freddy steadied himself. Receiving large amounts of life force, Arthur instantly healed back into perfect condition.
Looking at Freddy, who definitely couldn't heal him again this fight, Arthur was preparing to forfeit. The gaping hole in the angel's chest disappeared easily after a simple glow, and the constructs that Arthur shattered would just return to the cherub. With a priest and two paladins guarding the clerics, Arthur saw no possibility of winning. "Did we lose?" he thought.