Overtime: A Team Battle of Life and Death Together
The five heart-pounding individual duels had settled, and the glaring word "Tie" on the scoreboard made the air so heavy it almost solidified. The magical light curtain enveloping the arena rippled slightly, reflecting the undried sweat and tense expressions on the faces of Fa, Arya, Zhamisi, and the others. As everyone held their breath, the mysterious figure on the high platform let out a low chuckle that pierced the silence, carrying a hint of amusement and unquestionable authority.
"Brilliant, truly brilliant!" The mysterious figure's voice echoed through the space. "It seems fate wants to see one more good show. A tie? That doesn't fit our script. How about we add one more round? A team battle, with your remaining three—" His finger pointed vaguely, accurately aiming at Fa, Arya, and Zhamisi standing at the forefront. "Against our 'Spectral Guardians.' Win, and you take everything; lose..." The words trailed off, but the threat was clear as day.
Fa took a deep breath, and a silver glint seemed to flash and vanish in the depths of her right eye. She exchanged a glance with Arya beside her; the elf archer's emerald eyes held a gentleness mixed with rock-solid determination. On the other side, Zhamisi boldly swung her venomous fang curved blade, the edge slicing through the air with a "hiss" sound. She grinned, revealing sharp venomous fangs: "Ha! Just what I wanted! I've fought five rounds and still haven't loosened up my muscles! Yuyuer, watch this—I'll show you a thing or two!" In the distance, Yuyuer nervously waved her webbed palms, her mechanical exoskeleton emitting a faint hum.
"We accept!" Fa's voice was clear and decisive, cutting through the heavy atmosphere. She gripped her short blade, which swirled with earthy yellow and watery blue auras, as if holding onto her companions' trust.
"A wise choice." The corners of the mysterious figure's mouth seemed to curl under his black robe. He slowly raised his withered palm, facing upward, and a thick, ink-like black mist infused with powerful magic suddenly surged, churning and condensing violently in the center of the arena. Within the mist, three tall figures emanating an ominous aura gradually became clear.
The Spectral Guardians Descend
The black mist dissipated, revealing three spectral warriors clad in grotesque, dark purple rune-flowing magical armor, standing arrogantly. They had no physical faces, only hollows in their helmets where two points of burning ghostly blue soul fire flickered. The first gripped a rune greatsword nearly as tall as itself; even unmoving, the blade hinted at a faint air-rending sound. The second was relatively slender, bearing a longbow made of bones and dark energy, with ominous lightning coiling around the string. The third was like a mobile fortress, its massive tower shield engraved with defensive incantations almost obscuring its entire body, emanating a suffocating heaviness. The intense magical pressure crashed like tangible tsunamis, wave after wave assaulting the nerves of Fa and her team, filling the air with a mix of rust and death.
Facing the formidable foes, the three instantly entered combat stance.
Fa lowered her center of gravity, her feet seemingly connected to the earth below. Earth magic's solidity and water magic's agility intertwined on her short blade, the edge humming with swirling light like breathing. Her right eye widened slightly, a star-like silver point slowly rotating in the depths of her pupil, capturing the enemies' slightest magical flows.
Arya gracefully and swiftly drew her "Storm Bow" from her back. The elf's fingertips caressed the string, and five distinct elemental energies—like obedient spirits—condensed into five arrows of varying attributes at her fingertips, ready to fire. The air around the bow began to swirl restlessly, emitting a low wind howl.
Zhamisi let out a low hiss, thick dark green poisonous mist surging from the gaps in her scales and her dancing venomous fang curved blade. This mist not only carried a pungent, sweet, and highly corrosive scent but also, under her mental control, coiled and condensed around her like a living entity, quickly forming a constantly flowing, thick poisonous mist barrier—serving as both a defensive wall and an offensive outpost.
The Storm Erupts
Without unnecessary probing, the battle exploded with a simple gesture from the mysterious figure!
The greatsword-wielding Spectral Guardian unleashed a silent roar, its heavy steps shattering the ground. The greatsword, wrapped in a terrifying air-tearing shriek, transformed into a dark purple crescent sword aura, slashing toward Fa, Arya, and Zhamisi with mountain-cleaving force! Before the aura arrived, the violent wind pressure yanked their clothes and hair backward, stinging their skin like cuts.
"Disperse!" Fa shouted lowly, her figure blurring just as the sword aura neared. It wasn't high-speed movement but a subtle folding of space—she activated her still-unrefined instant teleportation, narrowly appearing several meters behind the greatsword Spectral's side. At the same time, her left hand slammed the ground, roaring: "Rock Barrier!" With a thunderous boom, a thick stone wall riddled with sharp rock spikes rose from the earth, precisely intercepting the greatsword's attack path, buying time for her allies.
Arya's reaction was lightning-fast; at Fa's shout, she lightly tapped her toes, propelled backward by wind elements. Her slender fingers released, the bowstring vibrated, and an arrow wrapped in gales and lightning—"Eye of the Storm!"—turned into a roaring cyan tornado. It didn't target the greatsword warrior but plunged straight at the bow-wielding Spectral! The small tornado precisely engulfed the bow Spectral, violent wind blades scraping its magical armor with ear-piercing metal screeches, the strong updrafts temporarily trapping it in mid-air, interrupting its impending deadly shot.
Facing the remnants of the slashing greatsword's might, Zhamisi didn't retreat but advanced. "Bring it!" She snarled with a grin, her surrounding poisonous mist barrier churning violently, actively meeting the sword aura's edge. Sizzle! The mist and dark purple sword aura clashed and eroded each other, producing teeth-gritting sounds. Using the barrier to neutralize most of the impact, Zhamisi slithered along the ground like a spirit snake, instantly closing in on the shield-wielding Spectral. "Corrosive Venom Kiss!" Her dual curved blades crossed in a slash, two dense, almost liquid venom blade auras—like a venomous snake's fangs—biting viciously into the massive tower shield. The venom clung to the shield surface, immediately raising pungent green smoke; the sturdy magical metal corroded into pits at a visible rate, the defensive runes flickering rapidly and dimming.
Desperate Counterattack
However, the Spectral Guardians' power far exceeded expectations!
Though the greatsword Spectral's aura was blocked by the stone wall, it paused only briefly before swinging downward, its magic-infused blade cleaving the hard rock wall like a hot knife through butter, shattering it with a boom! Shards flew like rain. Its hollow "gaze" locked on Fa, who had just teleported, and the greatsword swept horizontally with even fiercer might, the sword wind stinging Fa's cheeks.
The bow Spectral trapped in the tornado had its soul fire leaping wildly. It fiercely drew its bone bow to full moon, condensing not an arrow but a compressed orb of dark energy on the string! "Dark Erosion Burst!" The orb shot boldly into the tornado's core. Boom! The cyan storm was tainted, torn, and detonated by the dark energy! The violent shockwave churned Arya's blood, forcing her back several steps, nearly dropping the Storm Bow. The bow Spectral broke free, immediately pulling distance, firing a barrage of pure shadow energy arrows at Arya, angles cunning and sealing her evasion paths.
The shield Spectral, though corroded by the poisonous mist, retained astonishing physical defense. It endured Zhamisi's storm-like curved blade hacks, emitting muffled "thuds" like war drums. The shield's edge thrust forward suddenly, erupting a heavy shockwave that sent Zhamisi flying back with her blades! Simultaneously, a short spear hidden behind the tower shield struck like a venomous snake at Zhamisi's landing spot.
"Zhamisi!" Fa cried out, ignoring her own peril from the pursuing greatsword, forcing another instant teleportation. The spatial distortion stabbed her brain, her right eye burning. She appeared before Zhamisi, her short blade surging with watery blue light. "Vortex Guard!" A high-speed rotating water barrier formed instantly. "Clang!" The short spear struck the water barrier, most of its force dissipated by the swirling layers, but the residual impact cracked Fa's palm, a trickle of blood spilling from her lips.
Arya dodged through the shadow arrow rain, her elven agility at its peak. She continuously drew her bow, firing fire arrows, light arrows, and wood arrows in alternation to disrupt the bow Spectral's rhythm. "Light Barrier!" A pure white light curtain unfolded before her, blocking several of the trickiest shadow arrows before shattering. Her breathing grew rapid, magic consumption immense.
Zhamisi flipped to her feet, wiping the dark green blood from her lips, her eyes gleaming with fiercer ferocity. "What a tough shield! Fa, thanks!" She urged the poisonous mist again, this time not concentrating on defense but spreading it like a living thing, carrying strong neural paralysis effects to slow the three Spectral Guardians' movements. The greatsword Spectral's steps noticeably heavied, and the bow Spectral's shooting speed slightly dropped.
Star Eye Blooms, The Decisive Kill
The battle descended into a desperate struggle. The three Spectral Guardians were like tireless killing machines, their assaults relentless, with perfect power, speed, and defense. Fa, Arya, and Zhamisi held on with extraordinary courage, exquisite skills, and the tacit understanding forged in life-and-death moments. Fa's teleports grew increasingly strained, the sharp pain in her right eye blurring her vision in waves; Arya's elemental arrows were powerful but struggled to truly damage the spectral cores; Zhamisi's poisonous mist corrosion was effective, but the opponents' armor self-repair accelerated. Their wounds multiplied, magic drained rapidly, and their defenses were pushed back step by step, nearly to the cold walls at the arena's edge.
The shadow of despair began to loom. Arya fired a powerful "Explosive Flame Arrow" to temporarily repel the greatsword Spectral, gasping as she looked at Fa, her eyes filled with worry and resolve. Zhamisi's poisonous mist barrier thinned from another brutal charge by the shield Spectral; she gritted her teeth, preparing for a final desperate assault.
At this critical juncture!
"Urgh!" Fa was grazed on the shoulder by the greatsword's aftershock, sharp pain surging as she staggered back, slamming into the cold wall. This impact seemed to trigger a switch, unleashing an ancient, vast power from the depths of her soul—like a dormant volcano—erupting in her right eye at the brink of her limits!
Hum—!
Time froze.
The world lost all color, reduced to monotonous gray. Flying shards hung suspended in mid-air, Arya's wind-blown hair locked in a fluttering arc, Zhamisi's ferocious expression frozen, droplets of venom from her curved blade hovering midway. The three Spectral Guardians' movements completely stilled—the greatsword halted mid-swing, the bowstring paused in vibration, the tower shield's thrusting shockwave ripples clearly visible. Utter silence enveloped everything, even the air's flow imperceptible. Only deep within their armor, three pulsating, glaring purple-black magical cores—like beating hearts—throbbed vividly in Fa's right eye vision, like sinister beacons in the night.
"Now's the time!" Fa shouted inwardly. This time-stopping power was extremely unstable, a massive burden on her mind and body, each second accompanied by soul-tearing agony and a burning sensation in her right eye as if it would burst. She could even feel the frozen spacetime trembling violently, on the verge of collapse.
No hesitation! Enduring inhuman pain, Fa channeled her last magic and will into her legs and short blade. Targets: the three cores!
First instant teleport! Space folded before her; she appeared behind the bow Spectral, her body wracked with bone-dislocating pain from the forced move. Her short blade condensed earth magic's sharpness and water magic's penetration to the extreme, silently piercing the throbbing purple-black core!
Second instant teleport! The bodily strain doubled, blood seeping at her vision's edges. She appeared at the shield Spectral's side, in the tiny gap between tower shield and body; the short blade drilled in like a venomous snake, precisely striking the second core!
Third instant teleport! As if crossing the boundary of life and death, her body's pain nearly numbed, only her will burning. She appeared below the greatsword Spectral's front, its shadow enveloping her. Facing the frozen blade, she poured all her strength into her arm; the short blade became a streak of light, thrusting upward from below, ruthlessly piercing the final, strongest core!
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three crisp sounds, like shattering crystal, rang out无比 clearly and pleasingly in the absolute silence of the gray world!
Time's shackles shattered with a boom!
Colors, sounds, airflow... everything instantly resumed!
Under Arya and Zhamisi's astonished gazes, the three aggressive, invincible Spectral Guardians suddenly stiffened. The dark purple runes flowing on them extinguished instantly, their sturdy magical armor crumbling like millennia-weathered sand sculptures, spiderweb cracks spreading from the pierced cores. The cracks rapidly covered their bodies.
Then, dense, impenetrable black mist surged madly from the fissures, instantly devouring their forms. The mist roiled and twisted, emitting unwilling shrieks, but unable to halt the collapse. In just one or two breaths, the three powerful Spectral Guardians completely disintegrated, turning into three violently churning then swiftly dissipating clouds of thick black mist, leaving only the greatsword's gouged trenches, poisonous mist corrosion marks, and a few wisps of rising black smoke on the ground as proof of their existence.
Silence descended upon the arena once more. This time, it was not oppressive but filled with the daze and disbelief of survival.
"Huff... huff..." Fa knelt on one knee, her right hand clutching her intensely burning, vision-blurred right eye, blood seeping through her fingers. Her body trembled violently from overexertion, each breath tugging at her wounds. The earlier limit-surpassing triple teleport and Star Eye power eruption had nearly drained her completely.
"Fa!" Arya's voice carried a sob and endless worry; ignoring her own injuries, she rushed to Fa's side first, warm natural-scented life energy attempting to soothe Fa's ravaged mind and body. Zhamisi dragged her injured form over, her dark green vertical pupils filled with shock and gratitude.
"I'm... fine..." Fa managed to lift her head, her left eye looking at her two life-and-death companions, offering a weak but brilliantly radiant smile. "We... won."
As her words fell, the mysterious figure's shadowed silhouette on the high platform seemed to sway slightly. Silence enveloped him, his expression hidden. But that intangible authority seemed to ripple subtly from this unexpected team battle victory.
Fa, Arya, and Zhamisi supported each other to stand, battered and exhausted to the point of collapse, but their eyes burned with the same light—that of unyielding will blooming in despair, deep bonds forged through shared trials, and the flame of victory! The sixth team battle ended with a thrilling punctuation, thanks to their tenacity and Fa's pivotal Star Eye power.