Chapter 544

The fight with Roman went smoothly and without surprises. The curse did not manifest itself in any way. No wonder, because, as Kyon realized, it does not seek to spoil his life in every detail, but is focused on the main thing. In this case, it perfectly understands that the young man does not even have a theoretical chance to lose to any of the junior disciples, so it is inactive, waiting for its finest hour.

The first round lasted several hours. All the fights proceeded predictably until it was Clementine’s turn… She defeated her opponent in one blow! As it turned out, an imperial phaser appeared among the junior disciples of the empress!

The audience whispered in shock: at the tournament of the best, she was the royal phaser at the 9th stage, and now the imperial phaser! Where did this girl come from? And she’s still so young! Gifted monsters are growing up in the current generation. Such an incredible talent for development made people feel pathetic. They did not yet know that Seraphima was also an imperial phaser.

General Richard’s face darkened. Of course. Now Artemis’s chances of becoming the empress’s senior disciple have dropped to almost zero, which could not but disappoint.

A few hours later the second round started.

Dick Baker and Elmira Russell entered the arena. The girl could be called a real beauty, but in the presence of Elsa, the twins and the empress, her beautiful face seemed to fade and get lost, like a firefly in a forest fire.

~ding~

The signal to start the fight sounded. The audience held their breath. The royal phaser at the 8th stage against the noble phaser at the 9th stage! Such a difference in development in any other situation would be perceived as an insurmountable abyss, but Dick seemed to have wings for this case.

Kyon, as before, put the Scourge on his shoulder and, chewing gum, headed towards the opponent. It seemed that he was going to win the whole tournament in such a manner.

When the fat man took a few steps, Elmira threw up her hands, launching a stream of lightning at the enemy. It resembled the breath of a thunder dragon.

However, Baker did not react in any way. The stream collided with him and… Nothing happened. He was still moving on at the same speed, as if the stream of lightning that could incinerate the royal phaser at the beginning stage was unworthy of his attention!

«H-how is this possible?!» – someone blurted out. The spectators held their heads in disbelief, trying in vain to understand how the noble phaser could simply ignore such a terrifyingly powerful attack from the royal phaser at the finishing stage.

Elsa had a lump in her throat. She remembered the tournament of families in Boston, where neither heat, nor cold, nor lightning, nor darkness affected the messenger of the goddess, and realized that her own lightning would only tickle him, and she intended to send lightning to him during the last tournament… It turns out that she hoped in vain. Would she have been able to defeat him at all? Yes, definitely. After all, he will not protect himself from arrows in any way!

Meanwhile, Elmira turned pale and even trembled slightly. Even if her strongest lightning attack didn’t work, she doesn’t stand a chance. She was afraid that something terrible would happen to her when the fat man approached, so she hurriedly shouted: «I-I give up!»

Catching her majesty’s nod, the imperial representative announced the winner.

~pop~

The gum burst, and Kyon, with the same imperturbable look, headed back. Defeating opponents by intimidation is pleasant, and most importantly, it saves time and effort.

The tournament continued.

The 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds passed in the blink of an eye.

Dick prevailed over each of his opponents according to the same scheme, which cannot be called anything other than “total suppression”. He walked towards his opponent with the same imperturbable look, ignoring the heat, cold, wind, water and lightning, and when he got close enough, they gave up under the yoke of panic.

No one condemned them, because almost everyone knew how strong Baker was in close combat, since he was able to force Elsa to use the elements during a duel with her.

This mighty gum lover made an indelible impression on the audience. Elsa watched his every fight with special interest. The twins also closely followed his fights. And only Stein and Lanatelle outwardly remained indifferent.

«Semifinal round, first fight! Dick Baker, the noble phaser at the finishing stage, against Artemis Clinton, the royal phaser at the peaking stage!» – the imperial representative announced.

General Richard clenched his fists until they cracked and pierced his grandson with a stern look, as if saying that if he dares to surrender like everyone else, he will beat him half to death.

Artemis swallowed excitedly and looked at the fat man.

Baker, with his detached look, resembled a sage who was filled with knowledge of the world.

~ding~

The signal for the start of the battle rang.

Kyon put the Scourge on his shoulder in his usual manner and strode towards the opponent.

Artemis was in no hurry to fight, but instead spoke: «I must admit, your cold technique is very strong, and your resistance is incredible. The magicians of water and heat are extremely weak against you. I’m just one of them. I’m one of them. But unfortunately for you, I’m also an earth magician!»

With the last word, Clinton clenched his fists, and a shiny gray mass rushed out of him, like boiling milk, in all directions. In its consistency it resembled a jelly-like liquid.

Enthusiastic comments poured in from the audience: «The Clay King is serious!» … «I heard he can instantly dry up clay with the element of water, and then harden it with the element of heat, which will make it harder than steel! Its strength will not be inferior to the strongest rocks of other earth magicians!» … «An earth magician who controls his rock like water?! Isn’t that too strong?!»

Earth magic stands out from the rest with its destructive power, coupled with excellent defensive functions, but it is extremely awkward and clumsy. Artemis was able to largely get rid of these shortcomings. His clay is almost as fast and mobile as water.

The entire territory of the arena was flooded with liquid clay ankle-high, and with every second it was getting more and more. In half a minute it will be knee-deep, in a minute it will be waist-deep, and in 3 minutes it will be possible to drown in it at all. It is impossible to stand on it, because it is too liquid, while moving in it is many times more difficult than in a swamp. And surely Artemis can make it solid at any moment!

Kyon stopped and snorted thoughtfully, which spoke volumes. Azure clouds burst from his body, light and delicate, like soap bubbles.

A poisonous smirk appeared on Artemis’s lips: «Oh, didn’t I say that my clay is not afraid of the cold? Ha-ha!» – he stretched out his hand and clenched his palm into a fist.

The clay under the fat man’s feet soared up and tried to enclose him in a cocoon to immure him alive, but suddenly the first azure clouds burst…

~crunch~ ~crackle~ ~quack~

A dense stream of heat instantly dried up the clay within a radius of 5 meters, because of this it stopped moving and cracked due to a sharp and uneven temperature drop. It became as hot and dry in the arena as in a sultry desert.

The audience was once again surprised by Baker’s abilities. General Richard gnashed his teeth. It pissed him off that some vile freak so easily suppresses any attacks of his grandchildren, thereby exposing them in a bad light. The twins chuckled thoughtfully. A faint smile bloomed on Elsa’s face. The girl did not understand why it was so interesting for her to watch Kyon’s every fight and it was nice to see his victories.

«D-do you know the heat?!» – said Artemis, whose eyes bulged from what he saw.

«I’m generally very smart, and also modest. At least, unlike some people, I don’t talk during the fight. I should teach you the rules of etiquette.» – Kyon accelerated sharply. The clay under his feet was drying up due to bursting clouds of plasma nearby, so nothing hindered his movements. He very quickly overtook Clinton, jumped up and, having weighted the Scourge to the maximum and enveloped it in plasma, ruthlessly brought it down.

And although Artemis was told that it was better not to shorten the distance with Baker, how could he show weakness? His nickname “The Clay King” was dragged through the mud! If he does not regain at least a little honor, then he will not be able to look in the mirror.

«Triple clay shield!» – Clinton shouted, and a huge round clay shield formed in front of him. Even the royal phaser at the peaking stage won’t leave a crack on it.

~BA-A-ANG~

However, the Scourge destroyed the shield as a sledgehammer would destroy a plate. The residual energy hit Artemis in the face. The heat burned his hair and eyebrows, and the force of the blow slammed his head into the floor.

«ARTEMIS!» – Richard shouted in horror and instantly found himself near the protective barrier.

Under the oppressive gaze of the first general, the imperial representative quickly declared Dick Baker the winner and deactivated the protective barrier.

Richard Clinton ran up to his eldest grandson to give him curative medicine…

Before Kyon had gone even five meters, an orderly voice full of rage reached him.

«You’re not going anywhere!» – Richard stood up to his full height and strode towards the fat man with a menacing look. – «For deliberately hurting my grandson, I sentence you to destruction of the keys of pure energy, cold and heat!» – he proclaimed in the tone of a great judge in whose power it is to decide the fate of people. It seemed that nothing could prevent the execution of his verdict.

Elsa opened her mouth in indignation. It was as if she had been doused with cold water.

Kyon tilted his head in bewilderment: «Hurting? Deliberately? What are you talking about? According to the rules, it is not forbidden to injure each other. It is forbidden to mutilate, and intentionally. And this is a temporary injury, and that’s an exaggeration. Any intent is out of the question…»

The presence of the empress forced the general to justify his intentions. Through clenched teeth, he snarled: «You were well aware that you would break through the shield with a blow, and you used the heat only with the intent to injure! This is unforgivable!»

Kyon snorted coldly: «How was I supposed to know that your grandson was such a weakling…»

«WHY YOU LITTLE!» – the first general went berserk and rushed towards the fat man.

Clementine and Seraphima even got up from their seats in anticipation.

Elsa already wanted to intervene, she was so angered by the behavior of the 1st general she had previously respected, but Kyon’s voice in her head stopped her from stupid things.

Suddenly Richard froze a meter away from Baker and turned pale, then slowly turned to the empress and, bowing low, said haltingly: «Forgive me, your majesty… I was hasty in my judgments… I will accept any punishment…»

The audience stared at Lanatelle, but she remained silent. There was not a single emotion on her beautiful face. It became apparent that the woman had telepathically threatened him. It seems that Dick is more important to her than the opinion of the 1st general!

Richard suddenly shuddered, turned to Baker and said loudly: «Excuse me!»

The respected 1st general apologizes to the young man who is not even part of any Rosarrio family! Nobody expected to see this. Many people have already begun to doubt whether they are asleep or awake.

Artemis really wanted his grandfather to kill the fat man, but instead, the stern warrior asks the freak for forgiveness! Humiliation made him want to sink into the ground…

«I forgive you.» – Kyon nodded indifferently. Usually he doesn’t leave something like that so easily, but in this situation it would be stupid to escalate the conflict.

Holding back his anger deep inside, general Richard left the arena.

Artemis, looking down in shame, followed his grandfather. He lost without revealing even a tenth of his abilities. He didn’t even last half a minute! He also lost his hair and eyebrows, because of this he looked like a scarecrow. A more shameful defeat could not be imagined… What a humiliation.

When the conflict had exhausted itself, Elsa breathed a sigh of relief.

The twins flopped back into their seats in disappointment.

The audience was finally able to relax. Once again, Baker won, showing overwhelming power. People didn’t understand at all what a monster you had to be to break common sense like that.

There are two fights left until the end of the first stage of the tournament: the twins must fight each other, after which one of them will clash with Baker in the final. The winner will receive the title of senior disciple and will be able to compete for the honorable right to become a direct disciple of the empress.

The imperial representative announced the names of the next fighters, and two unusually beautiful twins descended from the stands into the arena.

{«I’m offering a deal.»} – Seraphima suddenly sent a telepathic signal.

{«You? To me?! Have you lost your mind?!»} – Clementine was surprised.