Chapter 222: 222
When Mavreth finished his speech, he pulled Michelle back into the building. "Why did you challenge them to kill me?" she asked with a frown.
Mavreth glanced at her and shrugged. "The array under the platform will prevent your death the first time you receive a fatal strike. But not the second, so make sure to win."
Michelle sighed and went toward the platform. She had promised to fight, so she wouldn’t back down.
Stepping onto the platform, she felt everyone’s gazes on her. They were clearly confused as to why Mavreth wanted them to kill someone so much weaker than them. It caused hesitation.
But the offer Mavreth made was too good for them to refuse. After a while, a tall man stepped up, holding a flail—a spiky ball attached to a chain.
"I’m sorry, little girl. But you have to die!" The man clearly wasn’t the least bit apologetic as he lifted the flail’s chain.
At the same time, the array under the platform activated, creating a barrier all around to prevent attacks from leaving the platform. It also prevented anyone from getting on the platform.
Staring at the man, Michelle narrowed her eyes. He wasn’t using his spirit energy; otherwise, she would have been crushed by it. It was clear he didn’t want to just straight-up kill her. He probably wanted to play with her before killing her.
But Michelle was determined to use that to her advantage.
With a pull of his hands, the man made the flail swing at Michelle, so she quickly jumped back. The spiky ball missed her by millimeters, and it seemed safe. But the next moment, Michelle felt like she had been punched in her chest, forcing her a few steps back.
That was solely the force of the current around the flail from the swing, and it was able to damage Michelle like that. She couldn’t imagine what she would become if the ball had hit her.
Before Michelle could even recover from the impact on her chest, the spiky ball was flying at her again. The man was not sparing her at all.
Holding her hand to her chest, she jumped to the side, evading the hit.
The spiky ball hit the ground, leaving a dent.
But the moment the man lifted it off, the array got to work, and the platform returned to its former state.
Seeing the ball fly at her again, Michelle realized she was unable to dodge it.
Quickly, she summoned her soul energy to create a small but thick wall of void in front of her to block the attack—or at least a part of it.
The flail hit the black wall and stopped in place. But the current of force affected even the air behind the wall, so Michelle ended up thrown back about a meter. It was even stronger than the first time.
"I see you have some power..." the man pulled the flail back. The moment it retracted from the wall, the wall of soul energy broke down, shattering into small black specks.
That was the first time Michelle had seen her void fall apart. Whenever it disappeared, it was only because she wished so.
The difference between her and the man’s power was just great. And that was when he wasn’t using any spirit energy—purely his physical strength.
Seeing how wary of him Michelle was, the man’s eyes gleamed coldly. The next moment, he started gathering spirit energy in his hand and sending it into the flail.
Feeling the violent aura in the air, Michelle couldn’t help but step back a bit. The man was preparing for a killing blow.
And the worst part was that Michelle wasn’t sure what kind of move he would pull. Usually, she was able to predict her opponents’ movements. But at the moment, she was unable to do so because the man’s violent spirit energy was blocking her senses. That put her at even more of a disadvantage.
If she wanted to have a chance of surviving the fight, she had to defeat the man. And since he was so much more powerful than her, she needed to know how his spirit energy flowed and how he controlled his attacks. That way she could think of a plan.
To find that out, a daring idea appeared in Michelle’s head.
The tall man was a bit surprised that Michelle didn’t try to attack him even though he had to stay in place to gather his spirit energy. It showed that she was smart enough to know that he was circulating some spirit energy around him for protection, in case she attacked.
Waiting for the man’s strike, Michelle squatted down and started pouring her soul energy into the ground. Quickly, it started spreading under her, forming a net on the ground. But it was far from enough to cover the platform.
The next moment, the scene on the platform turned into a race about who could cast their spells faster. The tall man was preparing a killing move, and Michelle was casting an observation skill.
For a while, silence took over the platform as the two did their own things.
And the moment Michelle’s net reached the man, he finished preparing his move.
The next moment, the flail was sent flying at Michelle at such a high speed it was impossible for someone of her level to see.
It hit her shoulder, sending her crashing down into the ground with blood spilling all around. A hiss left her mouth as she saw the spiky ball embedded next to her head. It was perfectly aimed to land on her shoulder joint.
With a thrust, the man pulled the flail back and flung it at Michelle again. The speed was the same as before, making it impossible for Michelle to see it.
But she still rolled to the side even through the pain and dodged the hit.
"And how were you able to dodge that one?" the tall man asked, flinging the flail at Michelle again.
And once again, she rolled to the side, evading the spikes.
"Let me watch how you do it!" The man lifted the flail high up before flinging it again. He made sure to do it a bit slower so he could focus on watching Michelle.
At first, nothing seemed out of place, but as the flail moved forward and the spirit energy around it grazed the ground, the net of soul energy Michelle created flashed black momentarily. The next moment, Michelle rolled to the side.
"That’s an interesting skill you have!" With a shake of his hand, the man increased the amount of spirit energy he was sending into the flail. He wanted to see how fast Michelle could react with the help of her observation net.
The next three times, Michelle was able to dodge the spiked ball even though the man kept increasing the speed of his attacks. But the fourth attack didn’t end the same way.
Blood spilled around as the spikes stabbed into Michelle’s thigh.
The man stopped his attacks. "It’s a good skill, but with our power difference, it can’t really help you. It’s a pity that you have to die now." He showed no sympathy as he spoke.
Then, he raised the flail again and swung it at Michelle. It landed straight on her chest, impaling into her ribcage.
Michelle felt faint. Her gaze turned hazy, and she could feel blood in her breath. Her mind was clouding up.
The next moment, the array under the platform activated. It shone bright red all around, shooting a ray at Michelle.
The ray forced the flail out of Michelle’s chest, and the man had to pull it back to him. Then, the wounds on Michelle’s body healed. Finally, the ray enveloped her to lift her up back to her feet.
With her focus back, Michelle frowned. That was what Mavreth had told her about. When in a fight, the array would prevent a participant from dying upon receiving the first fatal blow.
For a while, she was safe, but it also meant she couldn’t afford to drag the fight on any longer. Another blow like that would take her life for real.
When the red ray disappeared, the array returned to normal.
The only thing that changed was that the barrier around the platform created by the array was no longer blue but red, showing that the resurrection skill had already been used on one of the participants.
Feeling an urgency to act, Michelle sent her soul power into her feet and used it to propel herself toward the man.
Seeing the change in Michelle’s tactic, the man frowned a bit, but he was expecting it. Since the moment Mavreth had announced the challenge to kill her, everyone in the arena knew she couldn’t be just an ordinary Divine Junior.
And that guess was only confirmed when Michelle showed soul energy instead of spirit energy. By what they could sense, she wasn’t supposed to have soul energy. They didn’t sense any from her. But she had it.
And though she was supposed to have spirit energy, she wasn’t using it.
With Michelle flying at him, the man flung his flail at her. Using the remnants of the observation net, Michelle sensed it and sidestepped.
Also, to prevent the current from hitting her, she formed two walls between her and the flail—one to block the flail and the other to stop the current.