Chapter 1681 Victor [8]


    ??BOOM!


    August refracted another burst of light and returned fire with another tsunami of foaming water.


    He was using mainly brute strength against Mikael. For one, this force was hisstrongestability.It was also the best way to counteract someone who responded so poorly to waterin general.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The swirling water became sharp, adhering to the properties of swords.They became projectiles thatacted in direct opposition tothe ones Mikael was using, but their effect was fargreater.


    Beams of light went everywhere.


    Someof themflew into the walls, others hit the remaining terminals, and othersmorewent into the inner ring and struck the beast and Eris Noct.


    Her eyes darted over for but a second. Seeing August fighting Mikael, she made no move to interrupt.


    Eris wanted August to take the consequences of the terminals in her stead, which meant she technically needed him to remain in the game.


    However, shewasn''tobligatedtoactuallydo anything to help him.


    Unless he was on the verge of losing, unless sheabsolutelyneeded to save him to further herowngoals, shewasn''tgoing to go out of her way to bail him out.


    It was up to August to prove whether he wasactuallyworthy of a podium finishor not.


    Besides, itwasn''tlike shehad the freedom todo anything about it.


    The information she receivedwasn''tentirely correct.


    Originally, she thoughtthat thebeast would only weaken asthe terminals were solved. However, as she fought it, she realizedthat ithad several phases.


    In its first phase, it justclobberedaround and shot mes wantonly, trying to kill everything without putting in too much effort.


    Now, it was in its second phase. It had gotten stronger and sharper. It was specifically targetingherand learning how to adapt toherdarkness.


    Shedidn''teven want to know what its third phase was.


    Regardless, she could tell that her attacks were starting towork better, so she was still confident that she could beat it.


    After all, whenthe sixth terminal was activated, it would be a pig on the chopping block. Its strengthwouldn''tmatter at that point.


    It was just like Mikael in a sense.


    No matter how strong it was, itwas destinedto be defeated.


    BOOOOOOOM!


    August knew how to use water to the best of its capabilitiesevenwithout connecting it to a higher element.


    There weredefinitelyways to make water mimic life, death, or even time. However, thoseweren''tthe paths August wanted to take.


    He wassomething ofa purist, as were the rest of his bloodline. They could be as intricate as they could everpossiblywant, but they would do so with the base properties of water, proving that it alone could matchws of the highest ss.


    August nced towards the fifth terminal before ncing back at Mikael.


    Eris''current situationwasn''tin his best interest.


    He needed her tobe challenged,buthecouldn''tlet her feel like the situationwasn''tin her control.


    After all, at this point, it was practically confirmed. Eris had received information about the boss room beforehand.


    Essentially, she was cheating.


    Augustdidn''tn to call her out. It was too much to draw the entire Noctn''sattentionright now.


    However, he had to punish her actions somehow.


    In the end, Mikael was just a roadblock. The real target was always Eris.


    ''It''sbetter if I end this fast, but Idon''tthinkthat''llbe possible.''


    If there was one thing he could credit Mikael with, it was his resilience.


    He would probably find a way around the refraction problem soon enough. After that, the battle would only get longer and longer.


    ''Should I try to restrain him again?''


    It probablywouldn''twork, but it was worth a shot.


    He would be fine even if it failed, since hehad everything under control.


    August restrained the waves under his control and prepared another trap,this timebuilt tost for ages.


    However, hedidn''thave the time to do so.


    It had been roughly ten minutes since Mikael appeared. It passed fast since most of it was spent with himbeing corralled awayand pushed back, but some time hadindeedpassed.


    Itwasn''ta lot. The audience was still at the edge of their seats, unable to take their eyes offofthe action.


    Still, it was more than enough fora certainsomeone to find a way to the center.


    Valeriedidn''teven know how she got here. She ran and ran. She somehow found a path that made her suffer quite a lot, but got her to the center in the shortestamount oftime possible.


    Perhaps shereallywas lucky, orperhapsit had been rigged soshe''darrive here and give the audiences the most entertaining show possible.


    Either way, itdidn''tmatter.


    Valerie was here.


    And since she was here, there was no way shewasn''tgoing tojoin the excitement.


    ***


    Valerie''ssituation was theexactsame asMikael''s.


    She arrivedte andwas forcedto immediately assess her options.


    On one side, there was Eris Noct and thebyrinth boss.Both of themwere far beyond her level, so shedidn''twant to go anywhere near them.


    Another was August. He was her friend, and even if hewasn''t, shedidn''twant to fight him right now, especially not after both of them had gotten so much stronger.


    That left only one option,didn''tit?


    And it seemed like that option was also bothering August.


    Valerie shot into the room. Every step she took cracked the tile and caused an overgrowth of flora in the natural ground.


    She leapt forward just as Mikael encroached on August, and before he could reach the younger genius, he was body-


    mmed into a nearby wall.


    BOOOOOOM!


    Her eyes went to August, who was staring at her nkly.


    "What? It seemed like the easiest thing to do."


    August blinked a few times and shook his head.


    "Fair enough. Just distracthimfor a whileandI''lltake care of the rest. We can charge to the finish oncewe''vedealt with everything here,"he said.


    Hedidn''teven have to ask if they were allying themselves.


    "Everything?"Valerie echoed.


    "Everything."


    August replied with a grin.


    Since the two of them had made it to this point,both of themwould stand on the podium.


    They couldpete to see who came first and who came second once they had the freedom to do it casually.


    Until then…


    Valerie charged towards the manshe''dbody mmed, giving him no time toprehend the situation.


    And August rushed to the fifth terminal, continuing his n to take care of Eris Noct.


    The dynamic duo, two people who had entered this war through the elimination round formoners, two people who had fought each other until the end of that round…


    Now that they were on the same team, everysingleobserver wanted to seewhat they were capable of.


    And they were going to show them exactly that.