NOVGO.NET Chapter 760: One Up, One Down
Chapter 760: Chapter 760: One Up, One Down
Although he was focused more on the mental attribute, naturally, as a member of the high-nobility he’d undergone combat lessons from childhood. When a loud shriek rang out above him and a creature resembling a pterodactyl dove, Theo countered.
Pulling out a bow without any arrows, he injected his energy inside. A shimmering beam of light condensed and nailed the Windworn Runebreaker through the wings as it was flying toward him.
It crashed.
The crowd roared.
But Damon didn’t slow. He called out the Thistleback Tunneler, sent it straight under Kitsu’s position, who was now isolated from its allies and Theo, and detonated a terrain trap.
Kitsu was swallowed by a sinkhole.
Aegolith activated a glowing circle composed of sigils—an array.
Theo knew that array meant terrain-lock.
He tried to move.
His feet didn’t respond.
The last thing he saw was a ridge of earth curling over his position like a wave—then Damon stepped forward and gave the order.
Geo-Goliath punched straight down.
Everything went dark.
—————————–
Theo woke up with a dull ache in his ribs. He was standing. Someone had helped him up.
The announcer’s voice came back into focus.
“The winner of the second match: Damon Hest!”
Funnily, at the announcement, half of the crowd’s energy dropped like a stone. From explosive cheers to stunned silence, the arena felt like the bottom had fallen out on just the side neighbouring the Dark Moon bench.
In stark contrast, the other half of the arena, as if separated by an invisible dividing line, was practically throwing a festival and declaring First Celestial’s win early.
Dark Moon’s section slumped.
Mires didn’t move. His fist had unclenched. His lips were pressed into a hard line.
Cassian, from the First Celestial viewing platform, simply watched. Isolde crossed one leg over the other, expression unreadable.
Theo walked off the field slowly.
He didn’t look broken.
But he was breathing hard. Three of his contracts hadn’t even been recalled—they were knocked out cold.
The score was now 1–1.
Hope had risen.
And now, it trembled.
——————————
The silence after Theo’s loss lingered like smoke.
Damon Hest stood calmly at the center of the battlefield, arms folded behind his back, his mountain of a frame exuding slow, steady confidence. Though his expression remained passive, the cracks in his stance were there—if one knew how to look.
And Chewy did.
Tucked within Kain’s sleeve like a fat, sleepy cotton ball, the yellow-grade spore gave a soft twitch. Kain didn’t even need to look down. He caught the signal immediately.
Drained.
Naturally, due to its greedy hunger for any and all energy, if Damon had a lot left, Chewy would have sensed it. But he didn’t.
Not just Damon—his entire contract lineup. The Aegolith was low on energy. Geo-Goliath’s core pulse had slowed. The Windworn Runebreaker lay unconscious, wings folded awkwardly. The Mauler and Leaper were out. Only three contracts remained active, and of those, one was green-grade.
It was a façade.
Kain glanced toward Professor Mires. The man was hesitating, fingers pressed to his lips, eyes flicking between his student profiles. The atmosphere was heavy with the weight of a decision.
“He still has half his lineup,” Mires murmured. “But Theo only took out three… Damon looks stable. Should we save Serena for later and send Reed in to more confidently finish him off? The worst case scenario would be if I sent either of the second years and they didn’t take him down. Then we’d be down in numbers…best to use those two during moments I know they will win…”
“He’s bluffing,” Kain said.
Mires turned to him.
Kain nodded down at his sleeve. “My contract can sense energy. They’re running on fumes. Send Serena now, while he’s still trying to look composed.”
Mires paused.
Then his shoulders eased. He stood and made the call.
“Next up for Dark Moon College… Serena Storm!”
The crowd murmured.
Then it swelled.
Kain caught the faintest twitch at the corner of Damon’s eye. That, more than anything else, confirmed it.
Serena stepped onto the field with the poise of a noble, back straight, head high, face cool.
Three flashes of light.
Starweaver. Elemental Guardian. Prismarin.
The announcer hesitated. “Miss Storm has elected to summon only three contracts…”
Murmurs rose across the arena.
“Still only three? Against Damon Hest? This isn’t Phase One anymore when they can only summon three!” “Is she insane?” “She’s underestimating him. He still has half his team.”
But Kain just smirked.
Serena wasn’t underestimating anything.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
The match began without fanfare.
Damon gave a low grunt and gestured. The terrain rippled again, but this time, slower. The Aegolith strained, trying to reactivate the arena formations. Pillars rose, but unevenly. The tempo was fractured.
Serena wasted no time.
Starweaver’s constellations on its wings lit up. Beams of starlight laced the field, erasing half-formed traps before they finished forming. The Elemental Guardian surged forward in a rare fire-water fusion form, boiling hot water swirling into a high pressure blast that shattered a rock wall with one blow. Prismarin hovered low, its delicate form wreathed in icy mist and pale light.
Damon tried to flank her with the Hollowcairn Leaper.
Starweaver blinked out of sight.
The Leaper struck only air, then shrieked as it was struck mid-pounce by a searing arrow of light. It spiraled and collapsed.
The Thistleback Tunneler tried to intercept Prismarin—but its claws trembled, lacking power. It emerged from the earth and was instantly swept aside by the Guardian’s wave crash.
Then came the Geo-Goliath.
It lumbered forward, arms spinning, stone orbitals slamming down.
Serena didn’t flinch.
Prismarin’s eyes glowed. The air around the Goliath shimmered.
Suddenly, the Goliath jerked back. It turned—
And slammed its fist into the Aegolith.
Gasps erupted.
Kain smiled. Hypnotism. Seemingly a new skill addition after it evolution.
The Aegolith cracked. Its runes glowed in warning—and then winked out.
Damon cursed for the first time.
Serena raised her hand.
Starweaver descended, lances of light falling like divine punishment. The Elemental Guardian roared. Prismarin surged forward.
The last of Damon’s contracts fell.
He didn’t collapse like Sevra. But the look in his eyes was unmistakable.
He knew it was over.
The horn sounded.
“The winner of the third match: Serena Storm!”
This time, the cheers were more cautious. The arena was still recovering from Theo’s fall.
But Dark Moon’s bench exhaled.
Kain looked toward Mires, who was already scanning the opposing team.
“That makes it 2-1,” Mires muttered. “And next is Albrecht.”
He didn’t look hopeful.
No one did.
Albrecht Velin was brutal. Dangerous. Borderline sadistic once he got a prey in his sights.
Serena lingered only a moment longer before walking back toward their side of the arena.
They made eye contact, neither said a word.
But in that brief look he saw it.
In the tilt of her head, the set of her jaw.
She hadn’t broken a sweat.
And she still hadn’t summoned her true trump card–Balens.