78 – Elite vs Elite 2

30F Archimedes

Three silver Light Cubes revealed themselves all around the stadium in a wide triangle, covering all of the Regulars in it, including Varagarv, just before the first Regular attack reached Axion.

"Lighthouse Flow Control? Somehow that doesn't seem quite as impressive as the Mad Dog," said Novick to Ran. The two former Khun team members keeping to themselves and slightly away from the FUG team that forcibly recruited them.

"Because it's not. Aguero Agnis could have probably done better than that," said Ran, referring to his cousin Khun A.A. "It's only three Cubes and doesn't seem very strong."

Axion moved in a burst of speed, aided by his Lighthouse field, grabbing onto the attacking Regular's plug handle and then twisted around to swing him after separating the plug from him.

The Regular was thrown directly at Varagarv, and just before the top E-Rank Regular was hit. The offending projectile was stopped in the air, blood exploded out of the Regular's back and he fell down lifeless.

Before the other Regulars had processed what had even happened, Axion had already launched two more of his assailants at Varagarv at different angles, where something similar happened.

By the time the remaining three Regulars realized they were out of their league, it was too late for them to escape.

Axion appeared inside the guard of one Regular, kicking him upwards slightly before following up with a second strike from his plug, batting the Regular up high into the air.

He grabbed the other Regular's plug which had fallen, launched that towards Varagarv as well.

There was a loud sound of a collision, but the plug itself, being made of highly durable Workshop materials, did not explode, it was merely knocked aside.

Axion was already leaping in the air though, and above the Regular whom he'd batted upwards, and then batted him again back down towards Varagarv.

A momentary scream as the victim flew through the air could be heard before multiple parts of his body exploded beside Varagarv.

The last two Regulars were dispatched similarly by Axion, each one launched towards Varagarv from a different angle, and each one dying from whatever power Varagarv was using.

Axion finally stood in front of Varagarv, about half the radius of the stadium away.

"Fascinating. The protection seems to extend all around you, with no obvious blind spot," said Axion.

"He's fighting like you, witch. Using his opponent to get rid of other competitors," said Anak, recalling the way Androssi baited her around during their Fisherman test to knock out all of the other participants.

Androssi shrugged. "What can I say? When the opponents are stupid, isn't it only natural to make use of them?"

"He used all those people to test Varagarv's defense? That's cold…" Wangnan said from their team waiting room after they exited from the first round.

Many observers had similar reactions.

"You are looking for death, Knight," said Varagarv darkly.

"I wonder why you don't retaliate against me then?" Axion asked, tilting his head. "Why did you kill those Regulars I used, instead of coming after the one who actually attacked you?"

"I don't care about you. I'm here to fight the FUG slayer nominee. Unless you want to challenge me?" Varagarv asked.

'It's surprising that I couldn't actually see his counterattacks either. He certainly has the untouchable aura done right. But even if he is offering to let me pass without a fight, this is a good chance to measure this avatar against the top E-Rank, and make a small contribution to the bet for Viole. Although he claims to be opposed to FUG, he's just pretending. This guy is actually part of the FUG scheme and will become our side's enemy in the next stage,' Kaleidus thought.

"Isn't the real reason…that you can't retaliate against me with whatever is protecting you? You can only counterattack with it. And if you came at me, it might not be fast enough to disappear before I figure out whatever it is," said Axion. "Does it get weaker the farther away from you it has to defend? Or do you keep it close around you simply because your own body is a weakness that needs to be defended?"

"…" Varagarv glared at the other Regular with eyes that seemed to be glowing balefully red with a black sclera.

In the gamblers' den, Ron Mei put a hand to her mouth. "Wow! I thought he was another wrecking ball like your princesses, but he sure is perceptive! So smart!"

"So is he right?" Ship asked back. 'Getting this info in this round will be useful. Axion must be trying to give us a leg up before the final round.'

"Heehee, not telling!" Mei answered.

'That guy said he's here to fight the slayer nominee…which is Baam. If his tricks are revealed here, Baam is less likely to be in danger from being taken by surprise,' Khun thought.

"But since you're standing right next to the sockets like that, it seems rather dangerous for me, huh? By claiming that spot, you now have a significant terrain advantage. You don't need to come after me since you've already passed, but I have no choice but to get close to you," said Axion.

"Why don't you…try it?" asked Varagarv.

Axion chuckled. "Do you know why I allowed you to approach the sockets first? I'm sure everyone watching right now thinks that I was being cautious, observing you first. But the truth is…"

"You talk too much," said Varagarv.

"…I just thought it'd be boring if I eliminated such a strong competitor quickly in this round. Since we have such a large audience, why not make this more entertaining for you all? What do you think, everyone who paid so much to see the Workshop Battle? Isn't this so much more interesting?" Axion said to the audience with a gesture, looking all around.

The Workshop hosts looked towards each other from their flying podiums. Although their expressions weren't visible, they silently shared an understanding.

"A fine sentiment! Let's give it up for this talented showman, we and the audience are eager to see more exciting things from you!" Io shouted with an applause.

The crowds cheered.

"But can Mr. Axion back up his words? How will he get through the seemingly invincible defense of the top E-Rank Regular?!" Punk asked. "Even the Regulars from the other groups are watching this intensely, not one of them have officially concluded their own battles by plugging in all three sockets yet! What an incredible scene for the first round of the Workshop Battle!"

"Invincible defense? Perhaps. Perhaps not. When faced with an impossible challenge, one must merely think clearly and approach it from different angles, and ask the right questions," said Axion, as if treating the stadium like a lecture hall.

A Baang formed in front of Axion and fired a beam of Shinsoo at Varagarv.

The beam hit Varagarv's chest, eliciting no reaction.

"Curious. Did you allow it through because it was too weak? Or does your protection only work for physical attacks?" Axion asked.

Another Baang formed in front of Axion. This time, it did not fire right away, allowing it to continue powering up. The Lighthouse Cubes flew to him and enclosed the Baang tightly.

"First, melee combat like a Fisherman! A Lightbearer's Lighthouse control! And now, a Wave Controller too? Just how many positions can Mr. Axion fill? How many different skills does he have?" Io asked.

"A Lightbearer who can form Baangs simultaneously with their Lighthouse Flow skill is terrifyingly rare at this level! And terrifyingly dangerous, as they can enhance their own attacks, not just those of their teammates!" Punk shouted. "I can't think of a single other Regular in E-Rank that can do it!"

Axion unleashed his Shinsoo beam, which was larger than Varagarv's whole body.

Varagarv raised a hand into a punch and snarled, creating a purple Baang of his own which enlarged into a huge ball and punched it at the incoming beam.

The two attacks fought for dominance, and then Axion's beam lost.

A Lighthouse barrier formed just as Varagarv's attack ran over Axion's own.

After a few seconds, the attack faded, and the barrier held.

"Not bad," said Axion.

"The untouchable Varagarv shows that he also has powerful Shinsoo of his own! What will Axion do now?!" Punk asked, flying his podium around to the other side of the grand stadium.

Then Axion repeated the attack. This time, Varagarv didn't let Axion power up, and immediately punched forward a blast of Shinsoo.

Axion let loose his Shinsoo beam prematurely before jumping to the side. He then fired a second Baang at Varagarv while the first two attacks were clashing.

However, Varagarv's first attack overwhelmed Axion's so quickly that he immediately returned fire onto the second Baang without having to create a second Baang, simply allowing the first to dissipate.

Suddenly a conch-like yellow cannon appeared behind Varagarv and fired a powerful Shinsoo beam almost the exact instant he countered Axion's second Baang.

"…!" Varagarv turned his face but was unable to create another Baang.

Black shadowy things appeared in front of the cannon's beam, blocking the beam, but exposing their existence to the world.

It was a group of wolf-like creatures of pure darkness, which had soaked up the damage from the beam until it was over, and then they disappeared, though not without appearing to be singed.

"And he's done it! With what appears to be a powerful Shinoo item, Axion has managed to outnumber Varagarv's Baangs, a classic tactic for Wave Controllers! Just what are those things that defended the top E-Ranked Regular? Some form of rare Shinheuh?" Punk commentated.

"Ahhh…he managed to force it out into the open," said Ron Mei.

"What are they? Was Varagarv an Anima?" Ship asked.

"Not exactly…they're a kind of special ability gained from 'blood fusion', the ultimate counter attack," said Mei.

"Blood fusion…?"

"Mhm. A powerful bloodline was mixed into him from birth. All of Yama's Mad Dogs have an ability like that," said Mei.

"So your wolf things can block Shinsoo attacks after all, but you didn't want to reveal them huh? Each of them are too small to fully block such a large blast. But it seems like they might be more suitable to killing people who get close, rather than defending from somebody who simply unloads attacks from afar. I wonder how much damage your wolves can sustain until they give out?" Axion ruminated aloud.

"As many attacks as you can throw," said Varagarv.

"Hahaha, I've already seen the measure of you, so there's no need for me to play around with you anymore. You are not worthy of the title of top E-Rank Regular anymore, let alone facing my full power. I believe there are at least two others watching us right now who could defeat you," said Axion.

"You are foolish to think you have seen my power merely from that," said Varagarv. "You are not FUG, so I am not here to fight you, but if you insist on seeking death, I can oblige."

"Just finish it already, Axion!" Androssi shouted from the gallery. "You're holding up the tournament!"

"Well, if the princess asks, I shall end this now," said Axion.

An arms inventory rack appeared beside him, on which were a number of Shinsoo ball capsules.

He took out a ball from the rack, upon which it disappeared back into invisible mode.

"What? He also uses Shinsoo bombs?! So I'm not the only one! Such a powerful guy also uses them!" Wangnan said excitedly.

"He can probably afford very expensive ones, unlike your cheap toys," said Akraptor.

But Axion pressed the button on one immediately, without throwing it.

"What? What's he doing?!" Wangnan looked shocked.

The ball opened and something burst out of it.

Within seconds it expanded to an enormous size along with a typhoon of Shinsoo, even as Axion's 3 Light Cubes moved together with it

An earth shattering screech filled the grand stadium, along with a massive amount of raw Shinsoo expanding into the air, after having been Decompressed out of the Closed Bowl.

The sudden emergence of this Shinsoo created a pressure on the nearby Shinsoo in the air, creating winds that Regulars on the other platforms had to shield their faces from.

The denser Shinsoo did not form a clear boundary as Axion's Lighthouse control field was not capable of containing it all, but the area of the platform for Group 6 where Axion and Varagarv was noticeably thicker In Shinsoo now.

"That's…not a bomb…" Wangnan said dumbly, watching the screen zooming out to show the Shinheuh from different angles.

Many viewers on the galleries almost unconsciously took a step back. There were no screens separating them from the action, and this gigantic creature loomed over the fighting platforms menacingly, seeming able to float or swim in the air.

Its mouth was multiple people wide and could easily swallow Regulars whole, its width was largest near the head but most of its body was thick enough to fit four or five regulars head to feet. Its length was of such a span that it could curl around a whole fighting platform, and its "wingspan" with its two fins was easily longer than the diameter of the platforms.

"Un-unbelievable! This is a White Steel Eel! One of the most ferocious species in the Tower, that only make their nests in extremely dense Shinsoo that even Rankers find troubling to move in!" Io commentated while flying far away from the scene.

"Are you kidding me? My entire team faced one of those for the 25th Floor test, all we had to do was try to pop a small ball it was guarding, not actually defeat it, and we lost with a team wipeout. How does this guy just pull one out like that?" A Regular with orange dyed hair asked. It was Edin Dan from Khun's team in disguise under the name "Dinn".

Beside him, Rak Wraithraiser, also wearing a disguise of a cloak and a plastic orange and white bird mask, had his arms crossed and scoffed. "Of course he has one. He's the super turtle." Rak had tailed Khun back to their room the night before and barged in on Team Sweet and Sour while giving Khun a piece of his mind

"Okay…I might have to take back my advice. Don't ever fight the Mad Dog, unless you have a fucking White Steel Eel for a pet," said Chang Blarode to Horyang and Goseng.

Horyang chuckled, knowing how powerful Axion truly was, if he was Dr. Dua and the same one who attacked the Ranker on the 21st Floor after the Zygaena test.

"Sheesh, I don't know if it's better or worse that the Shinsoo over there is probably not as dense as their normal habitat. That might mean it's even faster than it normally is, but Varagarv probably won't have as much trouble moving around either?" Chang thought aloud.

Varagarv looked tense and guarded, staring up at the giant creature who was encircling him from above like a predator would prey.

"Get him out of the way," Axion commanded with a hand gesture.

Another screech and the Eel launched towards Varagarv at incredible speed.

Varagarv formed a Baang in his hand and punched forward a powerful Shinsoo wave.

The Eel shifted its body slightly and the wave made a glancing hit onto the heavily steel-like armored dark green area covering the upper portion of its body and head.

The wave was strong enough to break through the armor and draw a bloody gash from the Shinheuh, but it continued charging forward and used its left fin to slam into Varagarv.

The shadow wolves appeared to attack the Eel, and although they caused multiple bursts of blood, they failed to stop the Shinheuh from crashing into Varagarv.

The Regular grunted as he tried to stand his ground momentarily but was pushed back with the tremendous force of the assault, and then sent stumbling back towards the edge.

The Eel turned and flipped its body around, flinging its enormous tail like a whip that swept through the entire platform, crashing into Varagarv again and this time sending him flying off the circular stadium.

Without a technique to fly, he was unable to halt his momentum before crashing into the pool below with a huge explosion of water.

The Eel flew up and circled around again with a victory cry.

Axion picked up another plug and finally walked to the sockets, plugging both his own and the third plug required to end the battle.

"What a stunning turn of events!" Punk shouted. "Varagarv, the strongest E-Rank Regular, has been swept off the stadium by Axion's White Steel Eel in a devastating combo! If he hadn't already passed by plugging a socket, he would have been disqualified from this round! Does the title of the strongest still belong to him?!"

"And so, the Group 6 battle has concluded, with Axion and Varagarv as the winners!" Io announced.

Varagarv surfaced out of the water looking none too worse for wear, but was forced to exit the arena via a teleportation door that appeared beside him.

"Noooo waaaay," said Ron Mei. "You really have another monster on your team."

"That was a surprise to me too. I've barely seen him fight before," said Ship.

'He really hasn't changed. Just like back on the Floor of Tests, he starts by pretending to be weak, relying on strategy and tricks, and then brings despair by revealing that he could've just crushed you with overwhelming power from the beginning,' thought Ship. 'He didn't even have to use his crazy sword this time.'

"Hmm…you think we could fight that?" Ran asked Novick.

"Depends. If it were wild, probably? It's not that smart. Also depends how thick the Shinsoo is. I can't be sure from here," said Novick. "But since that guy is controlling it, who knows? Good Anima can strengthen their Shinheuh even more."

"If we have to fight him, I will handle it. I've fought one before," said Viole.

Ran turned to him questioningly. "Like…by yourself?"

"Yes."

Ran and Novick shared a look. "If you say so…" Ran said.

Axion opened his Bowl ball again and the White Steel Eel went back inside, along with a large amount of the Shinsoo that had been previously released, before exiting the arena through a teleportation door as well, to the cheers of the crowd.

"Typical show off," said Anak.

"It's important to have good style, especially when you outclass your opponents," said Androssi. "Otherwise it's just boring."

"If we're in the same group, don't pull me into your schemes," said Anak.

"What? I don't scheme. I just kick ass and look good," said Androssi.

O O O

In the third round of group fights, Jyu Viole Grace had the spotlight.

At first, four other participants wore FUG shirts and pretended to be helping him, thus discouraging the remaining members from attacking for fear of Viole.

However, Viole did not accept these fake FUG supporters and attacked them instead.

"Don't try to make me your god, I'm not a convenient machine that makes your wishes come true," he said before knocking them all out.

"So…that's him," Beta muttered with a strange glint in his eyes.

"Are you interested in him?" the shifter Beastiont said.

Beta shrugged. "He's like me."

In the other rounds, most members of Sweet & Sour, Team Ship, and Team FUG all passed without too much trouble, and then there was a break before the last set.

"I'm going to meet that guy," Beta said. "You gonna keep following me?"

"You going to fight him?" The Beastiont asked.

"No, just to talk. To see if he can…handle the truth," Beta said with a dark chuckle.

"Cool. You do that. I'm heading back to the Workshop," said the Beastiont. "Since you snuck out, they must be sending people out to find you soon. I'll make things a little more difficult for them so you have more time."

Beta snickered. "You mean you're going to sneak in while I'm out distracting them. Whatever. Works for me."

O O O

"Beta! Beta, where are you!" Sophia shouted, after finally realizing that Beta had gone missing.

The guards came to see what the commotion was, and she told them they needed to get Beta back.

And so most of the guards moved out.

After they all left, Axion's Beastiont came out of its hiding spot and entered the Acorn Workshop.

O O O

[Kaleidus]

"…are they even E-Rank Regulars?!" Wangnan asked fearfully from a section that had suffered massive collateral damage from the ongoing elite fight.

Because the Regular Ranks were separated by the test on certain floors, and not necessarily by their actual combat strength, those at the peak of the E-Rank Regular combat rankings were actually potentially much stronger than many Regulars among the D-Ranks.

I stood beside Androssi watching the epic final group showdown between Khun Ran and Anak Zahard, after having come to the gallery once I was done healing the White Steel Eel in private.

This had been a memorable battle in the original story as well, that was interesting to me from an analytical standpoint, where Ran asked the hosts for a 1v1 with Anak and got it, and they were allowed to use the entire grand stadium for their battle instead of just their own platform.

All the team leaders were given a chance to go all-in during this set of fights (there were only three groups left), for a 3 million point bonus if they bet correctly.

It was both impressive as a high level fight and entertaining for multiple reasons.

Parakewl, the shameless green skinned comedy relief from the Floor of Tests, having secretly followed Rak to this Workshop Battle, had been in one of the other groups doing his usual arrogant boasts about "revolution" before running around screaming profanities at the Regulars trying to chase him.

Ran and Anak looked to be evenly matched for a bit, both simply using brute force physical combat with no particular special techniques, perhaps not having the time to try anything more complicated as they were neck and neck.

But if this went on, Ran would ultimately lose because Anak had the superior physique and endurance.

Then Ran used a secret skill of the Khun family: the "Lightning Pill", which he seemingly generated out of Shinsoo before swallowing.

His entire body gained a new aura of lightning, sparks flying all around him, and the Shinsoo pressure which he exerted rose dramatically too.

I did not know if this sort of thing could be done with any other Shinsoo Quality or element, but it was a tremendous power up I could not miss the chance to see in person.

The other Khun, Aguero Agnis, either didn't have this Lightning Quality, or just didn't have the talent that his genius younger cousin did.

And what a talent it was. The previously near even contest changed completely into a one-sided smackdown.

They soon destroyed parts of the other platforms and knocked out Regulars from other fights as collateral damage while Parakewl miraculously got out of the way of each attack.

Eventually, Ran explained the mechanics behind his Lightning Pill and the dot on his face signifying its active use.

It would only last five minutes before exhausting him, but made him more powerful than Anak in a frontal fight, allowing him to goad Anak into fighting head on even though she could just wait it out.

"Five minutes is all I need to deal with the likes of you," Ran said.

"I'll kill you!" Anak charged out of the rubble she'd been blasted into.

As the fight went on, Anak was clearly losing ground and getting bloody all over.

"Maschenny Style Lightning Spear!" Ran roared while his whole body crackled with powerful lightning and he charged up a huge spear of lightning to throw.

And Ran had apparently learned some skills from Khun Maschenny, mother of both him and his sister Khun Maschenny Zahard, a top 100 High Ranker princess.

It was only still a fight because Anak, having a half-princess body, was supremely durable, and just kept getting back up for more. And Ran didn't have the advantage of Derf's resistance piercing magic power either.

Nevertheless, assessing the power he was showing, If I had to fight Ran in this state myself, I'd almost certainly lose in my Avatar Body, and even the enhanced White Steel Eel probably wouldn't fare well.

Of course, my Avatar Bodies were weaker than me in several dimensions. Their base bodies didn't have anywhere near the level of long-term "Shinsoo Cultivation" or flows buffed up the body over time permanently, so they relied on Armoriont biology instead.

Plus, the magic I could use through them was more limited, and all were weaker by about at least 25%.

Their Shinsoo manipulation and reinforcement was much weaker too, only about a bit worse than half-strength, also half the Baangs, Light Cubes, etc.

This even impacted the use of the White Steel Eel, because it was too large and powerful already to indirectly activate additional buffs for it through the Avatar Body, even with the spells inscribed onto crests on the Shinheuh's body.

This was also why I resorted to using the White Steel Eel in the earlier battle.

Varagarv was strong enough that I would have serious difficulty actually dislodging him using my Avatar Body alone, and I didn't have any of the monster Beastionts I had assigned to the Sasha identity for now.

"What an idiot, falling for his taunts like that," said Androssi as Anak angrily tried to get back up to keep fighting after more trash talking from Ran.

"She'll learn…eventually…maybe," I said.

"Maschenny Style Sword of Light!" Ran charged his strongest lightning beam yet, and this time it pierced through Anak's chest, sending her into a platform, the impact forming a crater.

The whole stadium shook and fell in pieces, all the other Regulars on every platform fell off into the water.

My eyes closely observed the damage wrought.

Back in the Crown Game on the 2nd Floor, I'd done less damage to Anak with a Level 5 Slash Wave, which only had the power of a Level 4 Slash Beam since it was dispersed as an AoE attack. To overwhelm an older and stronger Anak's Shinsoo resistance outright with a Shinsoo technique and still do this much damage, Ran's attack might have been on par with a L6 Slash Beam or higher.

Considering that Derf's higher end attacks cost impractical amounts of MP and had to be used sparingly, the gap between me and even mere side characters would soon close quickly without something to bring me to the next level.

Something that I hoped I could find on the Hell Train, or in the secrets of Ignition Liquid.

No teleportation doors appeared to help the fallen Regulars leave for whatever reason, perhaps because the hosts were too amped up raving about Ran's awesome power, so the unfortunate Regulars had to grab onto fallen debris to stay afloat if they couldn't swim.

Anak struggled back up even with the huge wound in her chest, much to the crowd's applause and the hosts' raving.

This could've been Ran's victory. He had deliberately missed Anak's heart and could've whittled her down from range, but instead he chose to give a whole speech about arrogance.

Then after some posturing and taunting Anak successfully goaded Ran to keep fighting her in melee while exhausted.

Then at the last moment, as they both punched each other at the same time, the debris piece they were standing on was suddenly flipped over sending both of them into the water.

"REVOLUTION LONG-TERM!" Parakewl yelled as he burst out of the water underneath. "Gosh, I almost drowned!"

Seeing this scene play out again in person, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Both Anak and Ran fainted in the water, Anak because she was too injured, and Ran because his Lightning Pill's time ran out.

At this point, most of the team leader gamblers would have lost due to going all-in and there being no winner.

Meanwhile, my familiar was mapping out the Acorn Workshop and searching for research data and things of interest to take note of.

It was slow work because there were still some people and guards left, but now I had plenty of time, since Beta wasn't likely to be caught any time soon. They didn't actually have any way of tracking him after he got rid of his tracking devices.

After the end of the Plug Battle, there was a short break before all the Regulars were invited to a party in the evening.

O O O