Yoo Kwang Sung looked around in a panic-stricken face as fierce tornadoes surrounded him. As soon as the referee announced the start of the battle, his opponent summoned countless tornadoes around him. He tried to cross over, but the wind tore his clothes underneath the armor.
"I am not going to go down without fighting." Yoo Kwang Sung used a skill as a blue barrier formed around him. He wanted to break free the encirclement from the tornadoes forcefully. He charged toward the two tornadoes that were close to each other, trying to go through the small gap between the two tornadoes.
Yoo Kwang Sung thought he had a chance to pass the tornadoes, but it was just a futile effort. The barrier did not even last for five seconds before it disintegrated. As the barrier disintegrated, the wind blade hit his armor, pushing him back at the same time. His skin that the armor did not cover was sliced apart by the wind.
He endured the pain as he let out a sigh. Even though he had another defensive skill, it would still be hard to win the fight. More like impossible to win the battle, and he came up with that realization when his barrier was destroyed almost instantly. Yoo Kwang Sung put his sword back into the inventory and raised his hands. "I surrender."
Just like that, the Tang Empire forced the Legion Guild to surrender. Another clean sweep from the leader of Group A. Wen returned to his booth indifferently despite his win while Yoo Kwang Sung returned to his booth in a gloomy countenance. The Legion Guild suffered two losses, meaning their chance to go through the playoff stage was small.
"It's fine, Kwang Sung." Park Nam Hoon hugged his friend and tapped his back. "I don't think I can win against that monster. You don't have to blame yourself for our loss."
Group A's match proceeded to the next match, The Houston Legacy against the New Nation. To everyone's surprise, the New Nation forfeited from the Earth Tournament. After announcing their forfeit, the New Nation left the arena. It was understandable because the System did not allow the New Nation to add more fighters after seven of them left the arena.
It might be the split of the New Nation as well as seven core members leaving the faction.
Just like that, The Houston Legacy got one free point and got the chance to reserve their fighter from the battle. A big advantage, but the other factions in the same group had the same advantage except for the Tang Empire, who had fought the New Nation. The next match was the Tachibana Clan against Osiris Guild.
The surprise from this match was that the leaders from both factions fought in the first round. The Tachibana Clan's leader had a katana as his weapon, while the Osiris's leader used a trident. An hour into the tournament, the spectators were given an intense and suspenseful battle.
The battle lasted for twenty-five minutes before the Tachibana Clan's leader finally made a blunder, getting thrown away from the arena by a single strike. The arena was in a shamble with broken tiles, and a chunk of the arena was missing.
The Tachibana Clan's leader immediately got up, showing that he could still put up a fight, but it was over after the referee announced Morcos as the winner of the battle.
Morcos bowed toward Izuhara Tachibana, the leader of the Tachibana Clan. The latter let out a sigh and bowed his head as well. It was a good fight from both sides. Then the audience followed with claps to appreciate the fight.
"What do you think about them? Have they reached Epic Rank yet?" Zhang Mengyao asked Tang Shaoyang, who looked bored. She thought it was a good show, but her man had a different opinion regarding the fight.
"Maybe?" Tang Shaoyang answered indifferently. "But I doubt they have reached the Epic Rank, though. Why didn't they use the Bloodline transformation? There's no way they don't choose the bloodline reward from clearing the Trial of The Epic, right?"
"Maybe they want to save it for the playoff or the deciding match for second place?" Zhang Mengyao thought saving the ability for the later battle was the only explanation for why they did not use the Bloodline Transformation. "So, do you think they haven't reached the Epic Rank based on their battle?"
"I am not sure either," Tang Shaoyang shook his head. While he had met with the Epic, Myth, Ancient, Primordial, and Legend, he could not tell their rank by looking at them. He was not that omnipotent, but he could tell how much mana they had with his Dragon Eyes. However, the amount of mana one person had, did not determine their rank.
A pure mage would have more mana than a warrior for sure, so the mana could not be a standard to assess the others' rank.
"That may be the case, but I don't think it's worth it. If the Tachibana Clan loses this match, they are a point behind, and their leader has consumed a lot of energy in this fight. It looks like he suffered a serious injury from the last strike.
With all of those added into consideration, I don't think it's wise not to use the Bloodline Transformation if they have one." Tang Shaoyang shared his thoughts. "Nah, we will find out in the next match. If the Tachibana Clan's members use the Bloodline Transformation to secure their win, then you are right. That Izuhara Tachibana is saving his skill for later."
In the next round was another fierce fight, and the Osiris Guild made another upset by defeating the Tachibana Clan's member. Less intense, but the ending was scarier than the previous fight as the Osiris Guild's fighter managed to pierce the Tachibana Clan's member in the shoulder. The spear went through the body, and the faceless avatar stopped the fight with the Osiris Guild's win.
The Osiris Guild's member pulled the spear without hesitation, causing the Tachibana Clan's member to bleed profusely. To everyone's surprise, the Osiris Guild's member licked the blood on the spear afterward. It was clearly an act of provocation toward the Tachibana Clan.