What does "Kai Piao" mean?
Ghost Shadow didn't understand, but looking at Freya's raised two fingers, he suddenly had a bad premonition.
"Rose bush..." Freya spun gracefully in front of the pink crystal main stage. Before she could fully unleash her move, she heard Ghost Shadow's voice.
"I surrender!"
Ghost Shadow was called Ghost Shadow not because he had many ghost shadows, but because he was a coward.
His life creed: Fight if you can win, run if you can't. If you see injustice, come back another day. If something's wrong, retreat immediately.
Thus, Ghost Shadow was undeniably a coward.
Freya hadn't finished her spin, her body still twisting, and she looked at Ghost Shadow's sudden surrender with disbelief.
Meanwhile, Ghost Shadow was breaking out in a cold sweat. Spikes suddenly rose from the crystal ground beneath him. Fortunately, he had spoken in time. The sharp spikes had already reached him. Another second later, both his front and back would have been impaled.
"What a bore," Freya said, hands on her hips, looking rather displeased. Ghost Shadow felt incredibly wronged.
Boring? What would make it interesting? Becoming sisters after the match would be the most interesting, right? Ghost Shadow was close to tears.
"Next is our match," Athena said with a light laugh, her eyes filled with undisguised fighting spirit and anticipation. "Let's go directly for the championship and runner-up next."
Going directly for the championship and runner-up meant completely excluding Astrea. There was no room for sentimentality.
Bai Cha rubbed her nose, finding it rather amusing. She watched Freya and Ghost Shadow leave the stage one after the other before walking towards the main arena with Athena.
"Chacha," a sweet voice sounded by her ear. Bai Cha subconsciously slowed her pace and looked down at the audience.
Below the stands, Freya was leaning over the edge of the arena, waving her little hand in protest. "Chacha, you can't walk shoulder to shoulder with others. I'll be jealous."
Bai Cha: "..."
Athena: "..."
Anyone could see that their relationship was as pure as could be. It was likely that this little girl wanted to act spoiled again.
"Your little girl has been quite a handful lately," Athena teased. "How many times has this happened?"
Previously, Freya also liked to act spoiled towards Bai Cha, finding topics to chat about and engaging in all sorts of banter, all stemming from a desire for Bai Cha to pay more attention to her. But lately, even Athena could tell that Freya seemed to be particularly attached to Bai Cha.
"The honeymoon phase?" Athena inquired. "Aren't you two not officially together yet?"
In fact, it was obvious to everyone that Freya was pursuing Bai Cha. But everyone also knew that it would be difficult for Bai Cha and Freya to be truly public. With both of them holding high positions in two different opposing organizations, if they were to be together, their subordinates would surely erupt.
Take Bai Cha as an example. Bai Cha's reciprocation and special treatment of Freya had already pushed many people's boundaries. If they were to officially announce their relationship, the other two factions in Z country would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar.
"I'll agree to her after the World Competition ends," Bai Cha said, not shy in the face of Freya's teasing. She rubbed her nose and frankly admitted, "After the World Competition, I'll retire, and then we'll go traveling."
"So suddenly?" Athena was a little surprised.
"It's not sudden. I've been preparing for a long time, and the subsequent handover is almost complete," Bai Cha shrugged, looking somewhat innocent. "Aren't those people wishing for me to step down every day? I'll just follow their wishes and step down, which is good for everyone."
"Of course, I'll still show up later to save the world," Bai Cha said with a smile.
"Oh, it seems Miss Bai really likes Miss Freya," Athena nodded thoughtfully. Others might not understand Bai Cha's sense of responsibility, but Athena certainly did. Sharing the same stance and responsibilities, even across different countries, made it easy for souls to connect; this was the tacit understanding of the strong.
Athena felt that anyone who could make Bai Cha abandon her responsibilities couldn't be ordinary, and it also meant that Bai Cha was truly in love. Just as she was pondering, Bai Cha negated her thoughts.
"Don't think of me as that romantic, Athena. Perhaps you should see me as more stoic," Bai Cha said with an awkward shrug. "Actually, I'm not sure about my feelings. I just feel like I can't let her down."
Athena was stunned for a moment. She stood there, thinking for a while before finally reacting, "Oh, I see. So, it's a shift from one responsibility to another, but this is good too."
To make such a fair and just person abandon the great responsibility of their nation for someone else's sake must mean that person had given a lot. Although a bit surprised, Athena quickly accepted it.
Below the stands, the crowd was murmuring.
Despite it being a tense World Competition, the two individuals competing on the stands seemed not at all nervous, nor was there any atmosphere of confrontation. Instead, they were chatting and laughing, with a very harmonious atmosphere.
Athena leaned down and whispered something in Bai Cha's ear, which surprised her for a long time. Then, she chuckled and glanced down at the stands as if hinting at something.
The gossips in the audience immediately ignited. Unfortunately, the distance was too great, and the voices of the two on stage were kept too low. The crowd was like unacquainted guavas, anxiously sitting in a field of them, only able to guess the situation from the expressions of the two on the arena.
After a considerable time, Bai Cha and Athena finally stood on opposite sides of the arena.
The audience below finally quieted down. The duel between these two had been long anticipated. The battles between the strong were much more engaging than those of ordinary people. Without needing the judgment of the audience, the combatants themselves would know where they stood.
The stronger the competitors, the smaller the actual damage in the match.
The arena was vast. A tall, graceful figure stood on the opposite side, appearing as just a tiny speck.
Athena and Bai Cha's betting odds settled between forty-two and fifty-eight. Although Athena, as a diplomat, was very popular, Bai Cha, even before reaching adulthood in the previous session, was already the third-ranked in the world. Even though she didn't often appear in public, she was highly regarded among espers and was the most mysterious.
Moreover, even though Bai Cha didn't actively show herself, she held high prestige in Z country. Bai Cha's presence could be seen in countless natural disasters and man-made calamities. The video from two years ago, where Bai Cha single-handedly repelled a super tsunami, was still a top headline on the official Z country website.
In the video, a crimson force, aided by mechanical support, formed a barrier and forcefully pushed back the tsunami. The super tsunami, a once-in-a-century event that would have turned one of Z country's three most prosperous cities into ruins, was contained within a loss of one hundred million thanks to Bai Cha's assistance.
No one dared to underestimate this girl who had only recently reached adulthood.
As the starting bell rang, Athena immediately stepped forward. Raphael merged with Athena in an instant, spreading brilliant six wings behind her. Athena's slender fingers drew a stroke in the air, and a magnificent golden scepter was grasped in her hand.
This sequence of actions was extremely fast. Within a single breath, the arena was enveloped in a dense holy light.
There was a difference between divinity and the position of a supreme god. In the battle between Thorn and Athena, Thorn was at a significant disadvantage in terms of hierarchy. Unfortunately, this move had no effect on Bai Cha.
Lucifer stood at the edge of the arena, maintaining his gentle and amiable smile. Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, he should have been unnoticeable, but his demeanor made the audience instinctively look in his direction.
Bai Cha moved. She took a step forward. It was such a simple action, yet the holy light that originally enveloped the arena momentarily stagnated. With Bai Cha's step, a string of ripples appeared.
They were ink-black ripples, floating upon which was a dense, unresolvable flame. The ink-black color, like oil, made it impossible to discern the nature of this dark power for a moment.
This was pure darkness, concentrated to the extreme.
In the eyes of the audience, Bai Cha and Athena seemed to have reached a stalemate. Athena's holy light was compressed to half of the arena, while Bai Cha's dark power occupied the other half perfectly.
However, Athena's confidence began to waver. She could feel that when Bai Cha compressed her power to half, it seemed incredibly effortless, as if this division into halves was deliberately controlled by Bai Cha.
If Bai Cha heard this thought, she would likely exclaim her innocence. She wasn't effortless at all; she was simply poker-faced during fights.
Should I use the power of the Blood Sea?
Bai Cha hesitated slightly. Although the power of the Blood Sea was immense, a trace of the Dragon Mother's will still lingered in its deepest recesses. While Bai Cha had suppressed it with ease, she worried that if she truly used the Blood Sea's power, the Dragon Mother might take advantage of the situation to harm Athena.
After all, the Dragon Mother's children were not just the demonic dragons; the holy dragons like Raphael were also among them.
As Bai Cha was contemplating, Athena's figure became ethereal, and the holy light solidified into a tangible holy temple. Angels bowed towards the center, and in the very middle, a colossal, wise, and elegant phantom appeared – the divine image of the Goddess of Wisdom.
Are we comparing divine images?
Bai Cha smiled. Her black magic instantly rolled back, conjuring rugged mountains and winding paths, also transforming into a holy temple. However, this sinister temple, while grand in appearance, was chilling with its black and red color scheme.
And this scene felt strangely familiar.
Everyone secretly glanced at the Virgo, whose expression had soured slightly, and could tell that what Bai Cha had conjured was the Asura Realm.
And the unnaturally beautiful woman behind Bai Cha, who could she be if not the Asura King?
This phantom beauty was soul-stirringly beautiful, truly exquisite, but anyone who met her gaze was invariably filled with fear. The twelve arms behind the Asura were each exquisitely delicate, but gathered together, they became a source of profound dread.
Lucifer floated in the air and vanished like a shadow. The Asura grew another pair of arms behind her. This time, Athena's expression finally changed, and she blurted out, "You actually absorbed all the negative energy of the demonic dragon?"
To be able to control a demonic dragon was already difficult enough. Bai Cha had absorbed all of the demonic dragon's energy, which, in the eyes of most, was tantamount to playing with fire and inviting self-destruction.
"Since it began with me, it naturally must end with me," Bai Cha said, pressing her left hand downwards. The Asura naturally extended an arm to lift Bai Cha into mid-air. Its massive face leaned close to Bai Cha's, smiling with a bewitching and terrifying demeanor.
Despite being merely a shadow, it was remarkably lifelike.
That shadow was truly, indescribably beautiful, a beauty not of this world yet terrifying to the bone. It could only be referred to as a monster. Despite its alluring smile, the audience's expressions turned grim, sensing a chilling spread of fear.
"Is this power controllable?" Athena hesitated, asking softly through telepathic transmission, "Do they obey you?"
If this monster could be controlled, it would be manageable. But if it slipped out of Bai Cha's control, it could surely wreak havoc upon the world. The Asura King, who had absorbed the energies of the seven great demonic dragons, was something very few in this world could suppress.
"Hm? Oh, of course. I just unleash her to scare people," Bai Cha blinked and replied through telepathic transmission, "I've never let her fight before. I just want her to boost my strength by one or two times when I release her."
That's good, Athena breathed a sigh of relief and readjusted her fighting stance. She swung her scepter, and the phantom of the Goddess of Wisdom behind her also moved her scepter. The holy light on the arena had become somewhat dazzling. Bai Cha glanced down at the audience, frowning slightly. With a wave of her elegant hand, the Blood Sea suddenly churned up several-zhang-high giant waves, dispelling the holy light.
The ability of waves was a group attack. For the arena, a targeted attack was naturally more effective. Although these waves were huge, they were too dispersed. Athena hadn't exerted much force to stabilize herself, which was somewhat strange.
Her holy light was only for illusion and augmentation, a form of display. Such superficial things shouldn't require Bai Cha to expend so much effort to dispel. The consumption of such a vast Blood Sea must have been considerable.
As Athena was wondering, she looked at Bai Cha and found that Bai Cha was also frowning, staring intently at the audience below.
"What's wrong?" Athena asked curiously.
"Where did she go."