Chapter 196 :

Episode 38 : Semifinals (2)

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Hidden Skill, ‘Extraordinary Multitasking’ Lv. 5.]

"Sorry, Mya." Louis apologized in advance as he waved his poisoned hand up to the sky.

His conducting baton that emerged before him because of his newly Hidden Skill, ‘Oceanic Orchestra’, illuminated a faint light at the tip.

Clattering!

Sooner or later, the surrounding instruments began to play as its music beautifully connected to one another to form a perfection.

‘Whether luck or not, I'm glad I got this skill!’ Louis thought.

To receive a new skill like that in this situation, Louis figured it was his opportunity and the grace from the above.

However..

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Nature's Melody’ Lv. 3 (+4)!]

A masterpiece that is seemingly..

..Failing to overcome mother nature's melody.

"Huh?!" Louis gasped, only hearing the sound of melody instead of his.

Wherever Mya was, she exclaimed after she expressed her awe from Louis' new skill. "Brother Louis, it won't make a difference!"

"..Ugh."

From what Louis was seeing and noticing, he realized his hidden skill still has its uses after all.

Louis pondered. ‘Isn't this..? Thank god.’

Seeing how Mya's melody was combating against the orchestra, both of them fortunately canceled each other out which at least put a stop to Mya's skill from making Louis feel drowsy.

Although Mya's melody wasn't completely neutralized, it was endurable for Louis to remain conscious.

‘And that's good enough!’

WHOOSH!!

‘I don't have time to think about this!’ Louis sort of panicked.

In a blink of an eye, tons and tons of thorns proceeded to shoot at Louis who remained injured from the thorns earlier.

Even the poison was getting inside him while he was leisurely standing there in a daze, spreading without a stop until it reached Louis' neck.

The more noticeable the poison was, the more painful it was to Louis when his body was feeling numb to the touch.

If the thorns were to strike him now, Louis will absolutely fail to survive from Mya's attack, and might as well add the poison that was killing him internally.

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

Swooshh!!!

Escaping from the maze Mya created, Louis speedily used his javelin to hover into the air while getting passed plenty of thorns on his way.

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ballistic Blossom’ Lv. 3 (+4)!]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ballistic Blossom’ Lv. 3 (+4)!]

But..

Before Louis could take a breather, Mya was prepared for this moment because from what Louis witnessed, there was a pack of giant flowers pointing directly at him.

BANG!!

All charging with dangerous seeds and petals to pierce Mya's opponent, those ballistic plants were already blasting away all its might at the bewildered Louis.

As quickly as he goes, Louis tossed aside the conducting baton to one of the seeds and commanded every one of his javelins to clash against Mya's offense.

BOOM! BOOM!!

Shifting through the sky with his poisoned body, Louis was trying to dodge the chaos to uncover Mya's location before receiving a surprise attack from the bottom.

Slash!

A thorn to Louis' waist, he managed to evade it a little, nonetheless the poison still got injected into his body, furthering the dreadful sensation to him.

"Urghh..!" Louis groaned, perceiving the poison that had already spread to his chin.

No matter the poisonous pain..

What Louis had gained from the agony was Mya's location where she stood behind her wall with her bow fully drawn.

"Found you." Louis mumbled until his eyes widened in surprise.

Swoosh!

An arrow to the face, Louis immediately dodged when he spotted it at the last second, returning his glance back at Mya to realize she had been climbing up the walls like a staircase to get to a high ground.

Amidst her climb to the top, Mya didn't falter from the height while piercing her arrows at Louis to prevent him from approaching her, nor allow him to obtain the higher advantage.

"I want you to stay away from here, brother Louis!" Mya kindly asked while aiming an arrow at Louis.

..Trembling!!

The moment Mya let go of the arrow, a section of the maze below started to rise up to cause disturbances to Louis who was navigating in the sky.

Not only an obstacle to block Louis' path, but a deadly trap to him if he gets close.

Fwooshhh!

A trap in which the thorns on the walls launched out in a herd, interfering with Louis as he parried and avoided, leading him to have less time while giving Mya the advantage.

TEARING!!

"Eehh?! Eek..!" Caught off guard, Mya felt the wall that she was stepping on was shaking as if it was tumbling down.

Behold to Mya's eyes, she discovered the problems which were Louis' javelins that were ripping apart the walls.

On the other hand, Mya took a glimpse of Louis who was already dealing with her traps and plants, knowing that he could still do this meant that Mya had to go all out.

‘If brother Louis could still fight in this situation, then I have to do my utmost!’

At that moment, Mya grasped her hands firmly, standing tall on the highest wall to finally begin her purpose of climbing high up.

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Poison Ivy’ Lv. 5 (+4)!]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Poison Ivy’ Lv. 5 (+4)!]

.

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[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Poison Ivy’ Lv. 5 (+4)!]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Poison Ivy’ Lv. 5 (+4)!]

Constantly dispatching a cloud of poisonous gale, Mya swiftly confined the whole area with nothing but poisonous clouds.

Eventually, Louis cried out. "Poison ivy..! That's too much for my body to handle the potent poison!"

Without a doubt, Louis had witnessed that a storm was propelling toward his direction, restricting him from retreating to a safer place with the sky and ground entirely covered by green clouds.

"I'm really sorry for this, brother Louis!"

Like how Louis apologized to Mya earlier, the latter was now the one who is giving the former an advance apology.

‘I hope this isn't too painful for him.. I don't want to accidentally kill him! No, that's bad.. Please survive after this, brother Louis!’ Worried, Mya thought with an anxious expression.

———

20 minutes later..

Mya and Louis were managing somehow within the area where there were poisonous gasses in every single spot.

‘How long has this fight lasted?’ Louis tiredly mused.

Parrying against leaves sent by Mya, Louis repeatedly unleashed and manipulated the javelins to continue striking in Mya's direction.

Mya's focused gaze directed at Louis as she mumbled. "The poison ivy isn't working.. Maybe I should use 'that' after all?"

"No, I don't wanna." Mya shook her head after letting go of her bowstring to shoot.

While Mya concentrated on shooting arrows and sometimes rose projectiles toward Louis' javelins, she was also breaking away his attempt in forcing the thorny walls to fall.

Clattering…! Clattering!

At that point, they were both getting increasingly tired by the seconds, depleting plenty of their MP and SP midst their match.

"The poison is killing me." Groaning to the point of biting his lip, Louis panted.

The only unfortunate one is Louis who has his HP dropping down and down by the poison status effect on him.

Slowly but surely, Louis gently touched the poisoned area on his hand, only to be met with intense pain. "Argh..! Argg!!!!"

Not a glimpse, and anyone could notice how agonizing Louis must be feeling by the poison wholly covering him.

As a result, there wasn't enough time for Louis to keep on fighting and persisting in this battle.

If he wants this match to end quickly, either he rushes into the poison clouds to swiftly get to Mya or presumes on his attempt at destroying the thorny walls.

And what Louis chose was…

WHOOOSHHH!!!

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

To the poisonous clouds he goes, Louis was sent flying toward Mya's location by his javelins as he held his breath to not inhale a single poisonous scent.

Although holding his breath for too long was impossible, Louis persisted through it all before pointing his trident right at Mya.

‘I can't let him get here! Or else I'm in trouble!’ Only a little panicked, Mya drew her bow and rapidly shot her arrows.

In no time, Mya's arrows were no use to Louis' javelins as Mya suddenly found Louis getting as near as to stretch out his trident close enough to penetrate her if she didn't do anything about it.

"I'll be gentle!" Louis spoke before regretting what he just uttered. "Ahem, I'll not hurt you!"

Baffled by Louis' trident being close to her, Mya gasped not because Louis came too close, it was because Louis' poisoned body looked so horribly awful that it pretty much bewildered her.

Thud!!

Afterwards, Mya accidentally tripped and fell after recovering from Louis' terrible state and having to step back from Louis' slash of a trident.

And so as Louis sees this as a chance to strike when Mya is vulnerable, Mya immediately figured that out after seeing Louis' trident falling down straight at her.

It was at this moment when Mya was putting up walls to defend herself from Louis that she unleashed her offense incorrectly from her bewilderment…

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ballistic Blossom’ Lv. 3 (+4)!]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ballistic Blossom’ Lv. 3 (+4)!]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ballistic Blossom’ Lv. 3 (+4)!]

With a mistake on Mya's part for spawning a noxious skill in-between her and Louis, she immediately tried to cancel it only to realize that she set off the self-destructive option of her skill.

"No! Not this!" Mya panicked.

Her ballistic flower can either shoot seeds, petals, stems, and then there was the last option being an outburst of everything.

At point blank range as well, Louis and Mya were looking at a potential death nearing toward them.

"Get back, Mya!" Louis was concerned over his opponent instead of himself.

'How foolish' is what Frostina would think of this act from Louis.

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Wall of Thorns’ Lv. 4 (+4)!]

Fwoosh!

Even if Louis didn't say that, Mya was already way ahead by growing a roll of walls in front of her to protect her from the blast.

"Oh." With a thought, Louis stared at the ballistic flowers. ‘Mya is able to protect herself while I..’

‘I can only focus on offense..’ Louis lowered his head for a second, reminded of the time where JoonChul warned him to learn defense over offense.

..Shhaaa..

"Darnit!"

‘I should have listened. I shouldn't have let my temper get to me. Now just look at me!’

‘Poisoned, injured and bloody. Now an explosion will put an end to me..’ Shutting his eyes as though to give up, Louis recalled something.

「 Louis, focus on the bigger picture with your skills. Not everything is just offense or defense since they can be both. 」

"Maybe I should thank JoonChul for making me realize that my imagination is just an illusion." Louis lifted his head slowly before glancing at Mya.

A smile formed on Louis' face right after his gaze changed with a new profound light within him. "I won't die from this!"

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

.

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[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

[Player ‘414’ has activated the Skill, ‘Marine Javelin’ Lv. 4 (+3).]

Sooner or later, Louis had to summon all the javelins he could ever bring into existence, focusing on both defense and offense by encircling himself and piercing the ballistic flowers to prevent them from going boom.

Time only passed a second when both Louis and Mya set up their defenses, and not a second later, the ballistic flowers glew in an alerting way.

In spite of the warning bells ringing inside his head and the continuous torment of his body, Louis went ahead and gave it his all as he finally gripped his trident and reluctantly threw it straight at the walls Mya created to defend herself.

SWOOSH!

"Urk!?" Gasped, Mya.

‘Sorry, Mya.. But I found that I now don't go out without a fight.’ Louis smiled.

The moment the trident pierced through the thorny walls, Louis' eyes grew in size by what he was observing with his own eyes.

..It was what Louis expected..

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Scattering Leaves’ Lv. 4 (+4).]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Scattering Leaves’ Lv. 4 (+4).]

[Player ‘555’ has activated the Skill, ‘Scattering Leaves’ Lv. 4 (+4).]

..It was his failure at fighting back when Mya made herself float with the leaves to effortlessly dodge his trident.

Though, she did receive an injury on her arm..

There wasn't enough time to celebrate nor feel disappointed by his effort because the situation they both were in was still the same.

The self-destructive flowers were..

BAAANNNNNGGG!!!!

..exploding.

———

Shaa..

"Hontou ni~" Mirai pouted while walking onto the disastrous aftermath of the Louis vs Mya battle. "This is too much to clean up~!"

Raiden exclaimed after searching and uncovering Louis underneath the pile of broken walls. "Oh! I found Louis Kun!"

"Tell me where Mya is, baka! Why are you doing the search by yourself?"

"There's no need to find Mya since she's coming to us right now."

"Fufu.. So she survived? Fufufu, how amazing my tutoring skill is to have Mya win against Louis~!"

"I want to experience that feeling too! But Alaine Kun lost.."

"Don't be sad~! You'll get another chance."

Expecting it, a sudden voice emerged from somewhere. "..Aunt Mirai..?"

In the end, Mirai landed her glance at Mya who was sliding down one of the intact thorny walls.

Those walls must be newly made.

As intact as the walls may be, Mya wasn't at all intact with the injuries she sustained from the blast and one from Louis.

‘This is too pitiful, isn't it?’ Mirai narrowed her eyes after counting the number of wounds on Mya's body.

Bleeding blood from head to toe, Mya grasped one of her arms while her blood cloaked away her right eye.

With damages like those, it wouldn't be shocking for Mya to collapse from then and there.

"Is brother Louis okay…?" Right as Mya asked that, her body gave up and her consciousness faded away from the exhaustion.

Thud.

Without any delay, Mirai came forth to catch Mya before the child could ever fall into the ruins of the thorny walls.

"I got you."

The sleeping child within Mirai's arms slept peacefully after such a long battle, appearing as if she wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

"Rest as much as you want." Mirai spoke softly with a smile, wiping the blood off Mya's eye with her handkerchief that JoonChul gifted her.

Fluttering~

"There you are, Louis Kun!"

Eventually, Raiden whistled after picking up Louis and carrying him. "This place is crowded with nature! But to be fair, it should be fine without cleaning since the next round is just mass destruction."

"Isn't that right, Mimi?" Raiden turned around, noticing Mirai carrying Mya.

"Stop talking. You'll wake up my student~!"

"You look so proud."

With careful steps, Mirai walked toward Raiden before shooting her silk toward the judges' area, swinging away.

"Alright, I'll be quiet." Raiden grinned when he crouched down until he electrifyingly jumped toward where Mirai was going.

"Round 1 of the semifinals has come to a close! So take your time to prepare for the next round, contestants!" Raiden exclaimed while in the sky.

"I said be quiet!" Mirai grumbled with her eyes directed at Raiden.

Raiden chuckled as he apologized. "Haha, gomen gomen."