NOVGO.NET Chapter 762: An Embarassing Situation
Chapter 762: Chapter 762: An Embarassing Situation
The Leechling darted forward, slamming thin metallic tendrils into the Guardian’s ankle. The fusion destabilized, and sparks danced along its elemental circuits.
“I wish for its draining ability to redirect to that one,” Serena murmured, subtly gesturing toward the Copper-rot Weaver.
The Leechling spasmed.
Its body rippled, and then in a horrifying twist of its liquid-like form, it surged toward its teammate. Tendrils stabbed into the Weaver, siphoning energy rapidly. The copper-toned threads it had been spinning snapped and curled, falling slack across the field.
Behind Albrecht, the Copper-rot Weaver convulsed, green and silver energy being siphoned from its core.
Kain blinked. “Did she just make it siphon its ally?”
Albrecht didn’t hesitate to retaliate.
He raised one hand and Balens’ structure began to warp slightly. For the first time, Kain realized that the scale was actually made out of metal, and it wasn’t just taking on the appearance of a metallic scale.
The invisible bindings around Balens tightened and with it frozen in place, the Wyrm’s chains coiled around it as well soon after, one glowing a red-hot and the other a toxic green. The very space around Balens distorted—as if trying to fold in.
The audience gasped.
Serena whispered again, calm and unhurried. “I wish for the chains to miss.”
Balens blurred, his frame briefly phasing out of sync with the battlefield. The chains passed through like phantoms, tangling themselves around a large piece of stone instead.
On the other side, the Ore Demon slammed a molten punch into the Guardian’s flank, disrupting its balance. The Guardian reeled, its elemental harmony fluctuating. A blast of steam erupted from its form as the fire-wind fusion teetered.
The Leechling, after stopping its skill upon seeing the friendly fire, tried to start it up again, but Prismarin bolted in to intercept—only to be intercepted itself by the Virulent Iron Elk. Its antlers flared with a noxious green light and released a burst of corrosive gas. Prismarin narrowly dodged, its fur darkening from the edge of the toxic mist.
Serena’s gaze narrowed. In the spot Prismarin happened to dodge into, a figure was lying in wait.
She whispered again. “Increase its corrosive ability.”
The Corrosteel Tiger, mid-leap at the unguarded Prismarin, snarled—then buckled. Its claws hissed. The plating on its limbs began sloughing off in steaming sheets, its corrosive energy spiraling out of control. Jagged fractures split across its shoulders, smoke pouring from its joints.
A shimmering thread of spiritual power burst from Albrecht, suppressing the reaction just before it consumed the creature entirely, slowing the spread of the corrosive meltdown.
’What a strange gift?’ Undeniably Albrecht was coming to the rescue via some kind of gift, but the specifics of said gift were hard for those watching to glean. They can only tell that it appeared to be related to support.
Balens raised one hand its scales, while lowering the other, intentionally making them unbalanced.
Kain’s stomach churned as the familiar ability of the scale that caused him quite a bit of trouble appeared.
A pitch black thread of energy appeared. It wasn’t visible to those watching, but Kain had activated his spiritual skill Threads of Destiny, in order to see it.
It stretched between Balens to the Leechling, and the Corrosteel Tiger.
Then the Scaldhide Ore Demon.
Three contracts in total.
’Did she take it easy on me during the re-ranking? Or did they only figure out a way to pass bad luck on to more than one target recently?’ Kain thought.
Serena watched in silence without any visible changes to signify to the opponent that his contracts were being sabotaged.
And everyone watching, unless they had a skill like Kain’s that allowed them to see luck and/or fate, was also none the wiser.
Three of Albrecht’s contracts froze in place.
Albrecht’s jaw tightened.
The Scaldhide Ore Demon twitched violently.
Its core ignited—far too fast.
Kain shot up. “Dodge! It’s going to—”
BOOM.
The explosion rocked the stage. Lava burst outward in a cone, chains snapped under the shockwave, and dust swallowed the arena.
Shards of stone, scorched threads of metal, and melted fragments of armor rained down. The barrier around the stage flared with protective wards as the shockwave slammed into the shields.
Dust clouded the field—but within it, shadows moved.
Balens emerged.
His polished, metallic surface was now veiled in thick gray ash. Every inch of his antique brass frame had lost its luster. His once-radiant scales were caked in soot, the detailed engravings dulled beyond recognition.
He didn’t say a word. But the way his frame subtly shuddered spoke volumes.
He hated it.
He was dirty.
Ash clung to the filigree on his arms, dulled the shine on his balance plates, and masked the meticulous craftsmanship of his structure.
Balens gave a soft twitch. A minuscule movement—but deeply expressive.
He was disgusted.
Serena coughed softly, swiping a smear of soot from her cheek. Blood trickled down from a small nick above her eyebrow. Her sleeves were scorched at the edges, but her expression didn’t falter.
Albrecht, opposite her, stood tall.
He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, face still composed—but his gaze had shifted.
For the first time, he was wary.
One of his contracts had self-detonated. And none of his instructions caused it or could have prevented it. In fact, if not for his gift, he may have not even been able to preserve its life and withdraw it back to the star space.
He stared at Balens, the filthy, ash-streaked scale construct across from him.
“What are you…”
What was it? Some kind of cursed construct that could sabotage one’s actions? Although dark-attribute creatures didn’t often have the effect of wielding luck, it also wasn’t unheard of…
Naturally Serena would not be solving his confusion.
In the stands, murmurs grew louder. The audience was catching on that many of the strange events on the field were due to Serena.
Some of the older more experienced watchers were exchanging hushed whispers, glancing between Balens and the battle log displays.
Albrecht lowered his hand slowly, eyes flickering with thought.
He’d underestimated her.
Not just the strength of her contracts.
But the synergy. The ruthlessness. The precision.
The Ore Demon’s explosion had taken more than a contract. It had rattled his strategy since he’d needed to quickly recall and stabilize one of his strongest contracts while also accounting for the damage done to the remaining contracts.
He needed to adapt—fast.
He gestured sharply.
The Hooked Chain Wyrm uncoiled fully from where it was protecting itself from the explosion.
At the same time, the Leechling moved away from the now unconscious and severely injurred Copper-rot Weaver, its form twitching erratically from a lot of the blast. The two green-grade contracts had tried to work together to resist the blast, but clearly it wasn’t too effective. One was unconscious and the other was barely moving still.
Albrecht needed to finish things quickly. One of his contracts had imploded, another was unconscious, and another was heavily injured. The remaining 3 also had varying, lighter injuries.
Albrecht’s heart burned with embarrassment and anger. He never would have thought a mere second-year could push him this far!