Chapter 34: Sudden Outburst
Martha, Daisy, and Arthur watched worriedly from the galleries as Derek was being cornered by three mages.
But inside the rift, in another dimension...
Derek moved, weaving through the chaos of attacks. It seemed like every strike, every fireball or lightning bolt was about to land on him, but he dodged them all. Some narrowly, some effortlessly.
Though the three mages were attacking at once, all of them were newbies. They had only recently developed their dantian, so while they could hurl basic spells like fireballs or lightning bolts, their spell-casting speed was still greatly lacking.
And so, for Derek, who hadn’t just developed his dantian but had even reached E-Class level, it wasn’t too difficult to dodge their attacks.
Yes, he was having a bit of a hard time, but it wasn’t an impossible task.
Derek twisted his body to dodge a lightning bolt. But just then, two more fireballs came flying. He flipped and spun in the air, dodging both... One passed above him, the other zipped just beneath.
"D-Did you see that?! How does he move like that? How old is he? Is he really that young, or is he a veteran disguised as a kid?"
"Yes... I can barely believe my own eyes."
Those who had been watching other panels hovering above other rifts, where their children or relatives were fighting, couldn’t help but steal glances toward the panel showing the rift Derek had entered.
Arthur, too, was shocked. ’Those moves... It’s as if he’s fought in countless battles,’ he wondered.
Daisy excitedly grabbed her mother’s hand.
"Mom, just look at Derek! I can’t believe it’s him. When did he become this skilled?!"
Inside the rift, a few minutes passed. Derek was still dodging the barrage of attacks. Ever since the three had started their assault, it had been a while, he had done nothing but defend and evade.
’I need to take them out quickly before my stamina runs out.’ With that thought, Derek gritted his teeth and decided to go all out.
Suddenly, his speed exploded.
Before anyone could react, Derek closed the distance toward Sylvie. ’Her attacks are weak, but they’re troublesome if they hit. The lightning will cause numbness, which would slow me down. I can’t let that happen. So she goes down first.’
Seeing Derek dart toward her, Lucas, Theo, and Sylvie were all caught off guard. It was already too late to prepare a proper defense.
Derek weaved through the incoming attacks, swiftly approaching Sylvie.
As he got closer, the intensity of their spells dropped. None of them wanted to risk hitting one of their own by mistake and weakening their formation.
Derek took advantage of that opening.
He thrust his fist forward, aiming directly at Sylvie’s face.
Sylvie stopped casting and raised both arms in front of her as a shield, lightning still crackling around them.
However, the impact she had expected never came.
Derek had pulled his punch at the last moment, and before she could realize it, he was already behind her.
The earlier attack had been nothing but a feint.
And in the next instant, his right palm struck the side of her neck like a blade. Swift, precise, and controlled.
Sylvie’s body stiffened. Then her eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness, falling limply to the ground.
Knocked out.
As for the audience seated in the gallery, their eyes were wide as saucers with their jaws dropped to the ground, looking like they had just witnessed something impossible.
"He... he took down another one with a single blow!"
Even all the judges straightened in their seats, leaning forward.
"It’s my first time seeing a cultivator his age perform such swift maneuvers. And he’s taken down two mages on his own while being cornered by their combined assault! Am I dreaming... or is this really happening?!" the female judge exclaimed, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"I told you earlier, Meredith. This one’s an interesting oddball," the male judge who had approved Derek’s second time taking the test in the second phase chuckled.
"True! I don’t even know what else he’s hiding inside," even the goofy-looking judge remarked this time, chuckling while stroking his moustache.
Meanwhile, Derek didn’t pause after taking down Sylvie. As her body shimmered and vanished behind him, he was already sprinting toward his next target...
And this time it was Theo.
Seeing him move again snapped both Theo and Lucas out of their daze. Panic surged.
They began hurling fireballs one after another frantically.
Their hearts pounded louder and faster... so loud that they could hear it in their ears.
’Who the hell is this guy?!’ Theo cursed inwardly.
The barrage of spells was so overwhelming that dust and smoke quickly engulfed the battlefield, shrouding everything in a thick haze.
Even Cecilia couldn’t see what was happening inside.
But just when Theo’s heartbeat started to settle...
Just when he thought maybe... just maybe.. Derek was finally down...
A palm emerged from the smoke.
Theo’s eyes widened.
His heart skipped a beat. He tried to leap back, tried to scream.
But it was already too late.
Bam!
The palm slammed into his face, toppling him backward with crushing force.
It was Derek.
And then...
Thud!
Derek pinned him to the ground, his hand pressing Theo’s head down so hard that spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground beneath his head.
Theo didn’t move anymore.
One more down....
His body shimmered out of existence as he was transported back... eliminated.
Derek stood up straight and slowly turned his head in the direction where Lucas was standing.
Due to the thick smoke still lingering in the air, Lucas hadn’t yet realized that Theo was already down.
Derek then bent slightly and leapt into the air, shooting toward Lucas.
Lucas felt it.
Someone was approaching... fast...
He reacted instinctively and tried to leap away from his position, but...
It was too late for him too.
Derek landed gracefully beside him and without hesitation, buried a punch into Lucas’s stomach.
"Blaarghhh!"
Lucas gasped as the air left his lungs. He clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, eyes wide with pain.
The smoke finally cleared.
The battlefield became visible once more.
But what everyone saw next...
Shocked them to their core.
Only Cecilia and Derek were left standing.
Lucas lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain.
And Theo?
He wasn’t even there. Eliminated, already transported out of the rift.
A heavy silence spread across the spectators.