There was a momentary pause in all movement on the battle stage as Harvey and Nick both stared at each other, each sizing up the other.
SILENCE
After about five seconds of in action, Nick flexed both his arms and the light sound of his joints 'popping' could be heard in his own ears.
(Man, my body is stiff. I don't know what Harvey is waiting on since he was the first to cast a spell but I'm sick of waiting.)
Nick suddenly stopped flexing his arms and mobilized his power.
(Dreadful Aura.)
A dark and fear inducing aura immediately enveloped the battle stage and slightly spilled into the audience. Harvey felt disturbed as an indescribable discomfort took hold of him when Nick's aura washed over him but he was not affected by the aura in any other way.
In fact, Harvey was pleased that Nick spread his magic power out. It meant that he did not have to wait anymore. Dark Abomination, whose head currently rested on Harvey's right shoulder raised its head slightly and a bright, navy-blue light appeared in each of its two empty eye sockets.
Dark Abomination's expression then took on a human like sneer and it stood up straight before raising both of its arms, radiating a navy-blue colored magic power beyond Harvey's front, encompassing the rest of the battle stage.
(Weakness Curse)
Nick sensed the magic power but had had no way of dealing with it since Harvey had not directly attacked him and the magic power just flowed over him like air. Only a moment later, Dark Abomination degenerated into sludge and a faint pitch-black miasma began rising from all over Nick's body. Nick was shocked by the development.
"Huh?"
Not even one second later, Nick suddenly felt weakness all over his body and he was forced to bend his knees slightly before he regained his footing by contracting his leg muscles. Dark Abomination then reformed itself from the sludge beneath Harvey's feet as if in response to Nick's current difficulty; it remained standing upright behind Harvey.
Dark Abomination's now blue eye sockets glowed as the creature stared at Nick. Despite his current weakness, Nick felt his blood boil for some reason and he mustered the strength that he had in order to stand up straight again, forcing his dreadful aura to dissipate in the process.
Nick didn't talk and simply waved his right hand forward towards Harvey. All of his forty five ghost-white blades were launched at Harvey simultaneously. Harvey sneered as he watched the incoming blades and Dark Abomination immediately responded to his will by running forward from behind him at superhuman speeds and met the ghost-white blades at a nine meter distance away from himself.
At that point, Dark Abomination silently exploded, enveloping all forty five blades within an impenetrable darkness that forcefully halted their movements. What was left of Dark Abomination's form became sludge on the floor that flowed back to Harvey's feet. The darkness that held Nick's blades in place faded within three seconds, after which each blade seemed to emanate a dark miasma similar to the miasma that currently plagued Nick himself.
The blades visibly began to rot from some kind of corrosion but Nick did not withdraw them and instead sent them forward once they were no longer contained by the dark magic power. Each blade flew at Harvey like an arrow but the black sludge that rested at Harvey's feet quickly raised itself onto his body, wrapping around him like tape.
Harvey then proceeded to dodge every blade with superhuman quickness and agility. Each blade crashed into the ground when Harvey dodged it and because of the ongoing corrosion of the blades by Dark Abomination's influence, they all broke into shards upon impact. Nick raised his brows, not in surprise but because he was impressed.
(Harvey's creature is...strange to say the least but its utility is exceptional. Alright, time to get serious.)
Nick cast Battle Armor and his body oozed silver miasma, from his head to his toes, that instantly consumed the dark miasma that was left behind by the power of Harvey's creature. One second later, Nick became a silver man as his soul miasma fused with his body and clothes, giving them a metallic texture and consistency. The weakness that Nick had been feeling up to that point lifted and as he stepped forward with his right foot, he pointed his right index and middle fingers towards Harvey.
A basket ball sized, grey sphere of light immediately appeared at Nick's finger tips and within one moment, it shrunk to the size of a marble before twinkling with bright, grey light.
(Venus.)
The gravity acting on the battle stage was immediately almost all removed, except for the portion still acting on Nick himself. Harvey, still wrapped in black sludge, suddenly felt the loss of his own weight and he then began rising off the ground; the shards of Nick's destroyed blades also rose into the air. Harvey's vision dulled a little and his body slightly trembled in response to the change but he kept his eyes on Nick without flinching, saying:
"I didn't realize that you were in the habit of lifting other men off their feet."
Nick's right eyelid twitched in response to hearing that but he did not hesitate to follow up by mobilizing twenty more of his ghost-white blades from their adjacent space. They appeared like phantoms at Nick's front, pointing at Harvey and they were once again launched like arrows, each blade aiming to skewer Harvey.
At that time, Keller turned towards Aston and asked seriously:
"What are the consequences if Harvey Nefari dies in this mansion?"
Aston waved his right hand, replying:
"There is not even a remote chance of that happening."
Back on the battle stage, the black sludge that was wrapped around Harvey gathered at his rear and morphed into Dark Abomination, which proceeded to hug Harvey from behind and rest its head onto his right shoulder. While still in midair, Dark Abomination opened its mouth and pitch black miasma emerged from it in large amounts.
The black miasma then quickly condensed into a solid sphere that completely enveloped Harvey and Dark Abomination. Nick's intentions did not waver and he willed for his blades to stab at the black sphere from all angles, soon turning it into something akin to a pin cushion. The blades only sunk in by half a foot before they could go no further into the black sphere.
(Blink.)
Nick disappeared from his position and reappeared above the black sphere some six meters away. Nick quickly raised his left index finger and a basket ball sized sphere of red light was formed at its tip before it shrunk to the size of a marble. Nick blew on the red marble and it then flew rapidly towards the black sphere.
(Mars.)
Nick cast Blink again to arrive below the black sphere and watched as Mars resolved. When the red marble came into contact with the black sphere, it enveloped the black sphere in a dull-red light within an instant and then Mars's internal collapse began. Nick's blades as well as Harvey's magic power were consumed by Mars's gravitational pull within milliseconds, resulting in the creation of faint dust that blew away after the red light dissipated.
Much of the audience gasped, shocked that Harvey Nefari was defeated in such a manner. Someone in the audience asked aloud without thinking:
"Is he dead?"
No one answered and they all remained at the edge of their seats. Nick frowned, thinking:
(Did he really die just like that? I don't care that much about the blades that I lost since I can always make more but if beating Harvey is this easy, I'd rather have saved them.)
Just then, black miasma once again appeared emanating from many places on Nick's body, following which it all flowed away from his body to a position over ten meters away from his immediate left flank, concentrating to form the flesh and blood likeness of Harvey Nefari, who was forced to float upwards because of the still active effects of Venus.
(Cursed Target)
Nick was now free of the black miasma but he briefly examined his silver body anyway. After a few moments, he concluded:
(Whatever method that he used to save himself involved using laws that were on my body to do it, that is most likely. If I assume that it was laws that remained because of Harvey's initial attack on me in response to my dreadful aura, then the situation that we have now makes sense.)
Nick had to admit that Harvey had some fancy methods but so did he. Nick cancelled Battle Armor and cast several spells while drawing Pressure Piece with his left hand and turning to face Harvey.
(Prolonged Courage.)
(Blade Aura.)
(Blade Escape.)
A heavy gust of grey blade aura enveloped Pressure Piece and Nick's lower body before he flew forward towards Harvey like a shot put ball. Harvey's thoughts were spinning extremely fast at this time:
(This nobody is actually tough. Forcing me to sacrifice Dark Abomination has caused me a bit of trouble since I lost 30% of my magic energy reserves as a result. Dark Abomination Level 1 is a rank 2 advanced grade darkness path and curse path spell that creates a kind of magic puppet using a deposit of my magic energy that acts as the puppet's own magic energy reserves. The puppet had its own mindscape that it used to cast spells which was convenient because the spells that it cast were curses that also harmed itself. My Cursed Target spell allowed me to save my own skin by using the affected target of one of my curse path methods as an immediate movement channel. I'll have to take things more seriously from here on out or I'll be embarrassed. First, I have to deal with the issue of no gravity...)
Nick reached within arm's reach of Harvey in mere moments and struck with ruthlessness.
(Mystic Blade.)
Pressure Piece moved towards Harvey's left carotid artery faster than he could see it coming, but he did not need to see it in order to respond after sensing it. Harvey flicked his left index and middle fingers and two figures made of darkness emerged from them, a python from his middle finger and a crocodile from his index finger.
(Darkness Puppets)
The darkness python wrapped itself around Nick's left arm and shoulders with agility that could hardly be matched, forcing Pressure Piece's blade to stop a few millimeters short of cutting into Harvey's neck as the darkness python restricted the movement of Nick's left arm. The darkness crocodile then bit at Nick's right side, clamping down on his right arm and torso and produced a sickening crunching sound.
Nick was immediately bombarded with sensations of pain from his right side but he reacted quickly in order to counter by cancelling Blade Aura and casting:
(Courage In Sacrifice.)
(Dominate The Space.)
A grey magic power radiated in all directions and Nick then instantly disappeared, reappearing behind Harvey the next moment. Harvey sensed Nick's presence and tried to mobilize his darkness python and darkness crocodile but their movements were being suppressed for some reason and so they only moved inches at a time. While Dominate The Space impeded Harvey's method, Nick did not hesitate to swing down his sword, casting:
(Big Cleave.)
A three foot wave of sharp, formless magic power surged forth and washed over Harvey, cutting into his three-piece suit and body. Harvey suffered shallow cuts at many areas of his body within moments but he did not allow himself to be fully consumed by Nick's method. Harvey bit his own lower lip and symbols drawn in Valteese immediately appeared on its surface, glowing with pitch-black light. The magic energy reserves within Harvey's mindscape fell by two levels and a method of his activated as symbols similar to the ones on his lower lip appeared over his entire face:
(Puppet Curse)
The laws glowing on Harvey's face quickly morphed into a pitch-black darkness mask with a frowning face, following which the darkness crocodile and darkness python generated by Harvey's Previous spell dissipated. Harvey, whose body was still being cut apart at this time, suddenly turned his head a full one hundred and eighty degrees in order to face Nick. Nick noticed at that point that Harvey's cuts no longer bled as before and that when his skin was stripped away, only darkness could be seen.
Harvey's head began to shake from side to side erratically and his body then exploded silently, erupting with dark, corrosive magic power in all directions that fell onto the stage like a downpour of rain, forming numerous puddles of black sludge.
(Dark Tribute Curse)
Nick quickly cancelled Venus and covered his entire body with his defensive method, Battle Armor. When Harvey's dark magic power splashed onto him as he fell towards the stage, Nick's silver body visibly resisted the corrosive effects of Harvey's power by sparking with dull silver flashes of light. Nick cast Blink in order to arrive on his feet at one far end of the battle stage.
The battle stage was now covered with many puddles of black sludge that emanated a black miasma. Soon, Nick watched as all the black sludge moved towards the center of the battle stage and concentrated into forming Harvey, whose suit appeared as good as new while his face still sported the same black darkness mask as before; Harvey faced Nick with a straightened, open stance. Nick found Harvey's last few actions strange so he now planned to quickly break Harvey's momentum.
Nick quickly cast Dominate The Space once again and Harvey was forced to appear right in front of him. Nick took a step forward and stooped slightly before he punched out with his right fist at Harvey's midsection which resulted in Harvey bending over Nick's shoulder after Nick's fist made impact. Nick's right fist sparked with flashes of silver light, following which his magic power was poured into Harvey's body.
Harvey's body trembled silently but stood its ground and did not move an inch backward, contrary to what Nick expected, which was for Harvey to be thrown away from the battle stage, bones broken but alive. Instead, Harvey palmed the right side of Nick's face with his own right hand and Harvey then cast a spell:
(Dark Corruption Curse)
Harvey's body immediately degenerated into black sludge and flowed to the other far end of the stage while Nick coughed up blood from his mouth continuously. Blood began to flow heavily from Nick's eyes, nostrils and ears. After Harvey's darkness crocodile had bit at Nick's right side, his right arm and torso had been bleeding slightly from the exchange and despite Battle Armor now covering and suppressing the injuries, Harvey's last spell forced them to worsen and blood soon came pouring out from them.
Nick gritted his teeth and cast his methods:
(Courage In Sacrifice.)
(Involuntary Sacrifice.)
Nick's magic energy reserves were instantly restored by a level using his former spell and the latter spell effectively closed his open wounds and stopped his bleeding by making use of some of Harvey's residual magic power still within Nick's body. Nick mused:
(Many of Harvey's spells have the familiar magic energy signature of rule path magic but my Eyes of the Fated can't see their laws. Did he use curse path magic on me?)
Curse path magic specialized in residual and delayed methods. It was a sub-branch of rule path that used the same kind of magic energy despite requiring laws involving different principles and so rule magic and curse magic presented differently and seemed different to those not familiar with main stream rule magic but since Nick was intimately familiar with rule magic, he could intuit their identical essence but functional and sensual difference.
(It just took me a while to notice because Harvey is using a mix of darkness magic and curse magic.)
Nick was in a fair amount of pain, stemming from his previous injuries. Although Involuntary Sacrifice had mostly healed the physical damage, Harvey's residual cursed power still remained within Nick and Nick could feel it like a persistent discomfort, like bugs crawling under his skin.
The black sludge that flowed to the far end of the stage, opposite Nick, quickly reformed into Harvey, who stood up straight but weakly. His frowning mask of darkness suddenly developed spider web like cracks, then shattered, its pieces falling to the ground and becoming black sludge. Harvey's complexion looked deathly pale and blood slightly oozed from both sides of his mouth. He cursed inwardly:
(Dammit, Puppet Curse allows me to transform into a magic puppet and use my curse path methods without harming my own life but it leaves me physically weak and slightly hurt when it expires. That Nick Capitol still looks like he's in decent physical condition despite my power's effects on him. Why won't this bastard go down?)
Harvey immediately clasped his hands together and magic energy erupted from his body before gaining a pitch black hue and thickening into pitch-black magic power. Nick wasn't going to wait for Harvey to make another attack so he unsheathed Failed Tool with his right hand and crossed both his swords, one in front of the other like an 'X', then swung them both apart to his opposite sides with a speed that made the movements seem instant. Two crossed arcs of red colored magic power immediately shot off towards Harvey like cannon fire.
(Dominating Splice.)
Harvey noticed the attack despite its quickness and finally cast his own spell to counter it:
(Bonded Cursed Puppet)
Nick suddenly sensed the residual magic power that Harvey left within him dissipate as his internal discomfort eased, however, he frowned when he saw what Harvey did next. Harvey's pitch-black magic power suddenly flowed to a position three feet in front of himself and condensed to form the likeness of Nick, made entirely of darkness, without his two swords. The darkness figure then opened its arms wide to receive Dominating Splice.
The two red crossed arcs sliced into the darkness figure's front and dissipated as soon as they flew out of the darkness figure's body at its rear. The darkness figure was visibly cut into four pieces before red streaks of light branched out from its injuries and by the time the four pieces reached the ground, they were further sliced into dozens of pieces. When those pieces hit the ground, they then degenerated into black sludge.
Nick opened his eyes wide as he was forced to kneel using his right knee as support. At that point, blood poured out of his mouth like water from a broken pipe and only stopped flowing eight seconds later. Nick's blood formed a small pool below him which represented at least two liters worth of blood loss. With Failed Tool and Pressure Piece still held tightly within his grasps at his sides, Nick willed for thirty ghost-white blades to appear around him and then he launched them forward, this time rotating at varying speeds and approaching Harvey at different angles like angry birds.
Harvey was already prepared for Nick's counter and cast his signature spell in response:
(Dark Abomination Level 1)
Pitch-black miasma radiated from Harvey and flowed off him to form a pool of black sludge beneath his feet, which quickly moved to his rear in order to form the shape of a cloaked skeleton with a navy-blue glow in each of its eye sockets. Dark Abomination quickly hugged Harvey from behind and transformed into black sludge that wrapped around him like tape. As Nick's ghost-white blades reached Harvey's position, the black sludge guided Harvey's limbs and body in dodging them as they flew at him, sometimes allowing him to dodge the blades with seemingly superhuman movements, speed and agility.
While Harvey 'danced' among blades, Nick was trying to get a grip on his own physical condition. Nick's vision had long since become blurry and he was evidently hurt very badly despite the presence of Battle Armor. He continued to manipulate his ghost-white blades from a distance while he mused:
(Sigh. This is the annoying thing about curse magic - it easily seeps through defenses and leaves loopholes for your opponent's methods to directly harm you. That guy's method did a number on me. I can feel blood pooling within my body at inappropriate places and I've already cast Involuntary Sacrifice but it's effects have been minimal. Curse magic apparently also impedes healing spells if the cursed power accumulates enough...great.)
Nick still had more than half of his magic energy reserves remaining within his mindscape but his body was about to give out. He felt lost.
(I have magic energy to employ, I have numerable methods to use and my skills are off the charts. Why the hell am I still losing? Sigh, fancy methods and a large magic energy reserve seems to only take you so far when your opponent is also skilled in the use of their own powers. Harvey's magic definitely belongs to some kind of legacy, like William Rollins's magic.)
Nick had been cultivating cumulatively for about thirteen years and he had been through many trials but still seemed to fall short when competing with legacy Magicians. With blood shot eyes, he looked at Harvey, who was still dodging his ghost-white blades like a maniac, and decided that he could not let this man beat him.
(I have to step up here, I can't keep buckling because others have a better background or more unique methods than I do. Remember, there is no strongest magic, only strongest Magician.)
Nick struggled to get to his feet and despite the intense physical pain and discomfort, he managed to do it somehow. At this point, a faint red magic power began radiating from all over his body; Nick noticed it immediately.
(This is Prolonged Courage's power no doubt, giving my magic energy a boost in quality. I can still win, I just have to push harder.)
At the table of honor, Aston turned to Keller and commented:
"Your man is certainly skilled and powerful but clearly lacks extensive combat training. People like Harvey have been schooled in combat and using their bodies for the same since they left their mother's womb. How do you expect that obvious commoner to beat a Nefari?"
Keller snickered at Aston, replying:
"Last time I checked, you and I are both commoners but we killed plenty of entitled brats on the battlefield. You know as well as I that it's not about where you come from but who you are on the inside that matters when things get rocky and the enemies strike at you from all sides."
Aston smiled lightly and shook his head, saying dismissively:
"You are comparing that young man to us? Hmph! Laughable."
Keller went silent after that and Veera, who had been listening to their conversation from her seat beside Aston, watched the match with intense desire, thinking:
(I want to fight like Nick and Harvey too. If what pops said is true, then it shouldn't matter that I'm a woman. I can be a hero just like any of the great men that he has told me about. Even greater than Nick and Harvey will be.)
Back on the stage, Harvey kept moving quickly from one side to another as he narrowly dodged the spinning blades coming at him from multiple angles. His stamina was normally low but Dark Abomination was basically forcing his body to move like this despite the fact that he was already physically spent from the accumulated damage resulting from his own curses and Nick's methods. He gritted his teeth and encouraged himself:
(Nick is definitely in bad shape after I cast Bonded Cursed Puppet; he basically attacked himself by slicing up that magic puppet. I don't know how he's still standing but it won't be long now before I take him down. These damn blades are the only reason I haven't put him down yet. I need to get rid of them but they are better controlled than during the first two times that Nick used them. Is he improving mid-battle?)
Harvey knew that battles had a way of stimulating one's potential which allowed someone to get better at a faster rate but to see it happening so rapidly was rare, at least in his experience. Nick's control of his blades was no longer one dimensional and presented a real challenge, in contrast to how he just threw them at Harvey in the beginning.
(Never mind that, since he's standing again, I have to act fast before my magic energy reserves empty. Casting Dark Abomination Level 1 again basically drained my mindcape of most of the magic energy that I had left and my recovery rate is currently being impaired while the spell is still active so I have to rely on Dark Abomination to finish this match.)
Harvey willed for Dark Abomination to begin preparing a spell by using up most of its magic energy reserves and therefore the black sludge around his body began emitting a large amount of black miasma that spread out around Harvey and infected the ghost-white blades that he dodged with a dark, corrosive power.
Nick noticed the surge in Harvey's magic power and knew that he had to end the battle before Harvey developed reasonable momentum. Nick cancelled Battle Armor and so his clothes and skin regained their natural colors. Nick then swung Failed Tool down towards Harvey with his right arm's muscles bulged, casting:
(Dominating Splice.)
And arc of red magic power rapidly shot out from Failed Tool, heading towards Harvey's current position. Harvey adeptly dodged an attacking ghost-white blade and readied himself to dodge Nick's incoming magic attack but Nick was a step ahead of him. Nick quickly cast Space and spread out his special space in order to instantly envelop the battle stage. He then swung Pressure Piece down at Harvey with his left arm's muscles bulged, casting:
(Big Cleave.)
Using the power of his special space, the moment that Big Cleave's effect resolved, the three foot wave of sharp magic power appeared only two meters away from Harvey, forcing him to hold his ground where he was and defend himself. Harvey cursed:
"Damn it!"
Harvey rushed the activation of his method and luckily for him, Dark Abomination was ready to act. The black miasma already spread into the surroundings suddenly thickened and all the blades already affected by it could no longer bare with the corrosive effects of the miasma and they crumbled into fine shards, relieving Harvey of their constant pressure.
The black sludge that was wrapped around Harvey's body then flowed off him to form a pool directly in front of him before reforming into Dark Abomination. Dark Abomination's cloak radiated with a thick haze of black miasma that quickly spread throughout the battle stage like wind and even bombarded the power of Big Cleave, which arrived at Dark Abomination's front at that very moment, with corrosion that quickly consumed it almost entirely, turning it into a harmless gust within milliseconds.
Before Harvey could even sound a sigh of relief, Dominating Splice's red arc rushed at Dark Abomination with imposing presence and Dark Abomination responded by sporting a human like expression of struggle while retracting all the black miasma that it had spread out back towards itself within milliseconds. As the 'red arc' reached within one foot of it, Dark Abomination's black miasma completely enveloped itself, following which the accumulated miasma morphed into a fifteen meter tall, ten meter wide mass of pure darkness that had two hands at its opposite sides and two glowing navy-blue lights at its apex for eyes.
(Cursed Apparition)
The red arc was completely consumed by the Cursed Apparition's corrosive body of darkness and was quickly corroded into nothing. By that time, Nick had already sheathed both Failed Tool and Pressure Piece and used what was left of his physical stamina to cast two spells simultaneously:
(Venus.)
(Mars.)
Two twinkling marbles of light appeared at Nick's two hands, a grey marble at his right index and middle finger tips and a red marble at his left index finger tip. Nick immediately joined his right and left finger tips together and a brightly twinkling cream light appeared as grey and red lights mixed together along with an intense surge in magic power that made much of the audience grow nervous.
Keller slammed his right fist on the table, saying aloud:
"That's the way, Nick."
Aston snorted and continued to watch. Harvey sensed the sudden rise in the magic power concentrating on the battle stage and willed for Cursed Apparition to rush towards Nick. The dark mass of magic power transformed into a gale and rushed towards Nick, approaching him like the incoming edge of a sandstorm but the moment before the darkness could envelop him, the twinkling cream light at his finger tips burst out and then a half sphere of deep-cream light enveloped the battle stage.
(Jupiter.)
The gale of darkness along with its movements was halted in its tracks and Harvey was held in place while he stood on the battle stage, completely unable to move but still commanding his method even though he could no longer see what was happening on the battle stage because of Jupiter's deep-cream light. Cursed Apparition raged and struggled in place, trying to corrode the surrounding magic power by spreading its black miasma in all directions but the process was slow if not nonexistent and even as the cream light around it was being ineffectively corroded, Cursed Apparition was being forced into submission faster than it could influence the space. The total volume of space that Cursed Apparition took up shrank more and more every second.
Nick walked towards Cursed Apparition with his palms raised and held out, with one facing the other, in front of him. Nick immersed himself in the feeling that his surrounding spacial magic power gave him as he was preparing to completely suppress his opponents. Unbeknownst to himself, Nick's spiraling eyes slightly quickened their spiraling motion.
(From nothing to something to everything. That's what this feels like right now and I want more of this feeling going forward. I won't lose without giving my best and I won't fail without trying my hardest. I swear...)
Sensing his souring circumstances, Harvey decided to make one additional major effort in order to free himself of this predicament. He immediately willed for Cursed Apparition to sacrifice itself. Cursed Apparition complied without resistance. Its magic power surged for a moment before it silently exploded, radiating intense flashes of black light.
(Dark Tribute Curse)
At that moment, however, Nick forced his palms together, clasping them shut and the cream space around him violently warped under the pressure of its own gravitational forces concentrating on Cursed Apparition's position. The silent explosion was immediately suppressed in place and a few moments after, it was forced to collapse in on itself, soon ending up as nothing but residual, free flowing magic power. The gravitational forces of Jupiter had mostly eviscerated Harvey's dark magic power.
Nick then pushed his clasped hands forward in Harvey's general direction. Harvey had already lost his will to fight after he had sensed Cursed Apparition's destruction and was immediately thrown out of Jupiter by pushing forces that Nick sent at him, moving him listlessly and rapidly towards the table of honor, at which point Aston raised his right hand and a a collection of white clouds quickly formed and caught the now very pale young man just before he crashed into their table.
A few moments later, Jupiter dissipated and Nick fell backwards onto the floor, breathing heavily but remaining conscious. The audience went into a commotion as they witnessed the result:
"What happened? I could not see the last moments of the battle because of that damn cream light that spread over the battle stage."
"What's the point of asking that now? Nick Capitol is the clear winner, that's all that matters."
"Are waterfalls suddenly going to start flowing upwards? How did someone from a barely ranked academy defeat a student from the 11th ranked academy?"
"Hmph! I know better than you all and I suspected that Nick Capitol would win all along. I can tell that Nick is slightly older than than Harvey. You now what the saying is - old ginger is hotter than young ginger."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
...
Keller laughed heartily and Veera clapped her hands sincerely. Nick looked to his right side and maybe because his mind had become confused from the physical strain that he went through during the battle but it was as if he saw his younger self standing beside him, dressed like when he was just admitted to Richter Order Academy - in his faded polo shirt, his washed out jeans pants and his pair of worn shoes. The younger Nick smiled at him and gave Nick, who was lying on the floor, a 'thumbs up' and showed a childish grin before vanishing.
A tear was discreetly shed from both of Nick's eyes as he muttered under his breath:
"I am not a loser."