"Freya! What do you mean by that!"
The crowd instantly erupted in fury. Freya's arrow had just "stolen" the monster, igniting the white tea flames into an explosion that also repelled them. How could they not be enraged?
This existence, which could be both a favor and a handle, was blown to ashes.
"Mm-hmm~ It's a monster fight, the strong come first," Freya lightly touched her lips, smiling triumphantly. "Look at them, not only did they save someone under my arrow, but they also contained the aftermath. And look at you, oh my, the aftermath alone repelled you~"
These words were utterly unapologetic, yet no one could refute them. The slaps resounded like thunder against their faces.
After all, this wasn't a competition of equal footing.
They could only be considered ordinary dragon riders or ability users, but Bai Cha was already one of the world's top three even before resonating with a dragon. Freya was someone who could rival Bai Cha. It would be bizarre if they could snatch a monster from under their grasp.
So, isn't it natural to neutralize your attack? How could ordinary dragon riders compare? Some people grumbled indignantly.
"Freya! Your balance beam illegally trespassed and cleared customs, and the Bai family are the enforcers. You can't escape either!" someone loudly reminded her.
"Exactly! Miss Bai, you should execute Freya on the spot!" another person chimed in.
"You're talking about this?" Freya lay back in her chair, her beautiful white miniskirt accentuating her slender curves. She winked playfully, two slender fingers holding a customs pass, showing it off before everyone's eyes.
"Oh dear, what a coincidence, my visa was approved three days ago~" Freya's smile was sweet.
As sweet as this smile was, it was that much more glaring to those with ulterior motives.
Bai Cha lowered her head, concealing the faint smile at the corner of her lips. She leaned down and whispered gently into the ear of Liliya, who was still stunned and hadn't recovered, "Your husband is fine. Just listen to Lucifer later."
Liliya was a bit bewildered, but she keenly caught the important point in Bai Cha's words.
Husband is fine? Corro is fine?
Liliya gasped for air. She seemed to have finally come back to her senses. A hint of blush appeared on her pale face.
"Your turn," Bai Cha flew to Lucifer's side and handed Liliya to him. "I might not be present for the next part..."
"It's alright, my master. I understand your meaning," Lucifer took over Bai Cha's words, his tone gentle. "Please go with peace of mind. I am behind you."
Bai Cha: "..."
"Heh..."
Bai Cha chuckled, feeling a sense of relief. This was her dragon, her butler, her partner.
At this very moment, people in dark uniforms with stern expressions surged from all directions. Leading them was Meng Qinghuan, clad in a dark blue monk's robe.
Without any preamble, Meng Qinghuan took Bai Cha's place beside Lucifer. Others also quickly exchanged positions, their movements swift and uniform, as if rehearsed countless times.
Only Bai Cha remained, hovering in mid-air, confronting the "Scales."
The "Scales," Asteria, the leader of Balance Beam, was already a top contender in the world when Bai Cha was still a child.
Meng Qinghuan's shift to Lucifer's side seemed to be the starting pistol. Black chains materialized in Bai Cha's hands, instantly raising her dark power to eighty percent, but she wouldn't take another step further.
Going beyond eighty percent would result in physical sensations. The higher the perception, the more complete the energy sharing. However, Bai Cha absolutely did not want to experience that strange feeling generated by the physical contact between two pairs of bodies.
She wasn't conservative, but she would never be willing to have the sensation of her entire body being touched for no reason. Eighty percent of her dark power was more than enough.
From the moment she knew whether this Winter Olympics would be peaceful, Bai Cha knew that this Olympiad was unlikely to go smoothly. With internal and external troubles, why not add something more interesting?
Why not use a few more sensational news stories to cover up the minor news in Country Z!
Make it bigger, don't let her be disappointed!
You want to make a move? Then think about who will lead you back. Those who were detained for their dirty hands shouldn't expect to get out without losing a layer of skin.
Pure black and blood-red, like sharp blades tearing through the sky, the demon and the sun confronting each other drew everyone's attention.
In an instant, darkness surged upwards like a blooming abyss. The black scythe fiercely slashed down at the golden scales, forcefully pushing the golden sun thousands of meters high.
The crowd gasped in disbelief. They never expected Asteria, the president of "Balance Beam" and currently the world's number one, to be at a disadvantage right from the start.
"Alright, audience, let's momentarily forget this farce and turn our attention back to these athletes."
Unlike Bai Cha's clear, pleasant, yet slightly low voice, Lucifer's voice was like soft, dense bubbles in a warm bath at night, scattering colorfully in the light, so gentle it made one want to let down their guard.
Lucifer put down the microphone and smiled warmly. Those who had intended to cause trouble while Bai Cha was away were easily subdued by Lucifer and carried away by the guards. Even those with further intentions meekly sat down.
In the air, black and gold fought fiercely, each occupying half the sky. The agile black chains either wrapped around or whipped, or the sharp chain heads directly stabbed at Asteria, making Asteria, who had carelessly brought only a pair of scales, unable to fight freely.
A long time ago, Asteria had suffered from the chains in Ye Feng's hands. He hadn't expected his daughter to be so adept with chains.
When Bai Cha was eight, Asteria could control her with just one hand.
When Bai Cha was fifteen, on the world competition stage, they confronted each other. At that time, Bai Cha had not yet resonated with dragons. Her blood control was superb, almost on par with the world's second-ranked fighter.
At that time, Bai Cha's progress had already made Asteria wary and shocked.
And now, after only two years apart, Bai Cha's power had astonished Asteria again. Asteria fought with increasing alarm. Bai Cha always fought with a desperate posture, attacking without defense, which gave him a great headache.
She truly lived up to being his nominal disciple.
He had once wanted Bai Cha to be his successor, and they had a master-disciple relationship. However, the enmity between them could not be easily resolved.
But if he were truly defeated and detained by Country Z, Balance Beam would suffer a great loss of face.
"Elpis, there's a saying in Country Z, 'Be merciful when you can be.' " Asteria drew away Bai Cha's dark chains with his golden spear and rebuked sternly.
"Did you get your customs pass?" Bai Cha raised an eyebrow.
Asteria: "..."
"The Olympics are underway, and aren't you the one causing trouble now?" Bai Cha asked again.
Asteria: "..."
"Using both soft and hard tactics, were you the one who sent your subordinates to take the people of Country Z hostage?" Bai Cha asked.
Asteria: "..."
This was truly a death triple question. Asteria had no rebuttal for any of them.
"So," Bai Cha, condensing dark power in her hands into a strange scythe, fiercely slashed down at Asteria's head, sneering, "Country Z also has a saying, 'Strike when the time is right!'"
The scythe was somewhat peculiar. Its long handle was as black as ink, and the head and tail each had a sharp, curved blade, forming a double-edged scythe. The tips of both ends were inlaid with black skulls. Blood-red thorns snaked out from the empty eye sockets of the black skulls, coiling around the long handle and piercing Bai Cha's palm.
Or rather, these thorns had absorbed Bai Cha's blood to turn blood-red. The blood spread over the blades, condensing into strange patterns. The original dark power had been transformed by Bai Cha's blood into another terrifying force.
"Azure Sky Divine Light!"
Asteria had no intention of delaying any longer. His eyes glinted with coldness, and he raised his golden scales high.
The golden scales immediately emitted a dazzling light that, at that moment, surpassed the brightness of the actual sun. Even people thousands of meters below could see the brilliant radiance, piercing and bright.
In this instant, the darkness was completely dispelled. Darkness and light are mutually exclusive, but when one gains the upper hand, the other retreats like melting ice and snow.
Creatures illuminated by the golden light involuntarily saw a golden scale floating in divine light in their minds. Asteria, bathed in divine light, stood amidst the radiance, like the judgment of the gods, evoking no desire to resist.
A pure white feather was placed on one side of the scales, and Asteria, with a sweep of his long arm, pointed directly at Bai Cha's heart.
Everyone gasped, thinking Country Z was about to lose face. But when they looked up, they found the people from Shadow faction still calmly seated on the high platform.
Meng Qinghuan smiled, holding his little white loli, and Lucifer also had a calm expression.
"Let the golden scales judge your sins, and let the pure feather weigh your deeds," Asteria said solemnly, as if he were a true judge.
The golden scales were specifically designed to measure good and evil. If a creature was absolutely good, its heart would weigh the same as this feather, and the scales would be balanced, resulting in zero damage.
However, this was also the most problematic aspect.
Since it was a living being, there was a food chain, and it couldn't be purely good. Who hadn't eaten meat? Even a vegetarian would be wrong for damaging plants and trees. All things have spirits; who hadn't stepped on a few blades of grass?
And this was a judgment of the heart. Once the heart's weight surpassed the pure feather, the heart would suffer a severe blow.
This skill dealt immense damage. If it hit, the battle would be over.
Is this the application of divine power? Mo Ziye, watching from below, was involuntarily awestruck, but in the next moment, the illusion before his eyes was shattered.
On the floating platform, Lucifer's right hand had transformed into a dragon's claw. The majestic, neatly arranged scales on the claw, along with sharp talons, tore through the divine light in the arena.
The entire arena was dimly lit, with several spatial cracks twisting and distorting.
Beside him, Meng Qinghuan's eyes had opened halfway, with golden light flowing within, almost blinding.
This was the first time most people had seen Meng Qinghuan open his eyes. His golden eyes were sharper than thunder, more dazzling than divine light. Just by opening them halfway, Buddhist light enveloped the entire venue.
Wherever Meng Qinghuan's gaze fell, people's hearts seemed to be purified, becoming peaceful. With every breath, the venue remained remarkably calm.
"Amitabha..." Meng Qinghuan clasped his hands together and murmured softly.
"The match continues," Lucifer picked up the microphone and announced again.
But no one could focus on the match within the venue anymore because the outcome of the aerial battle had already been decided!
That cluster of golden light shone like the sun in the sky. Although it had dispelled the darkness, a mass of blood-red light, accompanied by ink-black darkness, like a rainbow piercing through the sun, forcefully collided with the sun's interior.
To Asteria's astonished gaze, the "Goddess of Hope" he had once named was covered in blood, her long hair flying in the divine light.
It was the appearance of a demon from hell breaking through the celestial barrier and confronting the heavens. That blood-red mass surged upwards, colliding with the sacred scales.
She, had shot down the sun!