Chapter 181: [Castle Bonus Chapter] The Strongest Race
Without remaining stationary any longer, Alden suddenly stepped forward. He intended to forcibly seize control of the battle’s rhythm through a shield charge.
Because he had already realized that continuing to passively endure the attacks would only allow his greatest defense to be dismantled piece by piece.
"Guardian Charge!"
Boom—!
Pale golden light completely erupted across the shield’s surface.
Alden’s originally cumbersome body instantly transformed into a golden blur, charging forward with enough force to smash apart fortress gates. As the tower shield surged ahead, the air before it was compressed into a visible shockwave, attempting to force the hidden Ainos to evade.
However, before he had even advanced ten meters, a streak of black light suddenly appeared directly at the very center of the shield.
There was no collision or any earth-shattering explosion.
The black light seemed to completely ignore both the shield’s sturdy metal surface and the Guidance Barrier covering it.
It merely touched the center lightly before instantly spreading along every dark trace left behind by the previous attacks.
Crack.
A tiny fracture appeared at the center of the shield.
Alden’s pupils shrank violently.
The next instant...
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Countless fractures exploded outward from that single point, spreading madly across the entire shield.
At the same moment, the pale golden Guidance patterns completely lost control.
Every bit of force that had been redirected and accumulated within the shield suddenly surged backward along the now corrupted pathways before exploding violently inside.
BOOM—!!
Alden’s charge came to an abrupt halt.
Under countless disbelieving gazes, the enormous tower shield exploded apart from its center.
Fragments of metal and countless specks of pale golden light scattered wildly in every direction.
Hidden behind the shield, Alden himself was struck head-on by the backlash generated by his own defensive skill.
His body was instantly blasted backward before crashing heavily onto the ground more than ten meters away.
The cheers that had just erupted from the Human spectators abruptly ceased.
Before Alden could even stand again, the black-robed figure that no one had been able to track suddenly appeared beside him for the first time.
The Nullborn merely extended a hand hidden beneath his black sleeve and gently placed it upon Alden’s shoulder.
The movement appeared slow yet so fast that no one could react.
Bang!
A strange force instantly penetrated the armor.
Alden’s body, only halfway upright, suddenly froze. The strength throughout his body seemed to vanish all at once.
BANG!
His knees slammed heavily against the ground.
The broad great sword slipped from his grasp, striking the cold stone floor with a crisp metallic clang.
He gritted his teeth and struggled to raise his arm once more.
But Ainos had already stepped backward.
The next moment, three incredibly fine black cracks suddenly appeared across the breastplate capable of withstanding heavy weapons.
Pfft!
Blood burst simultaneously from all three fractures.
Alden’s body completely lost all support. He collapsed face-first onto the ground.
From beginning to end, the battle had lasted no more than a minute.
The entire Central Arena fell into a silence even heavier than before.
Because everyone had witnessed with absolute clarity that Alden’s tower shield, which had withstood countless attacks and had long been regarded by Humanity as their most dependable defense, had not been shattered by overwhelming force.
Instead, after only a handful of probing strikes, Ainos had located every weakness with almost ruthless precision before using the shield’s own accumulated power to completely destroy it from within.
After remaining silent for a moment, Arthur calmly announced the result.
"Alden has lost the ability to continue fighting. The winner....Ainos."
There were no cheers. Everywhere was deathly silent.
Throughout the Human spectators’ section, the countless flags that had been raised high slowly lowered in unison.
Many faces still carried expressions of hope that had not yet completely disappeared before they were replaced by indescribable disappointment and fear.
They had believed Alden would at least endure for a long time. They had believed that the tower shield which had blocked countless attacks would finally force the Nullborn to reveal more of their true strength.
Some had even believed that if Alden could simply withstand the opening assault, he would eventually drag Ainos into the prolonged battle he excelled at most.
Yet in the end He had not even lasted more than a minute.
Even more despairing was the fact that from beginning to end, Ainos had still not displayed any truly overwhelming skill.
He had merely used several attacks so simple they almost appeared casual to accurately dismantle Alden’s entire defensive system before ending the battle with almost no unnecessary movement the instant his opponent lost balance.
Upon the floating commentary platform, Mithrash opened his mouth, clearly wishing to say something to ease the heavy emotions weighing upon the Human spectators.
However after remaining silent for several seconds, he could only speak in a rather dry voice.
"Alden made the most reasonable choices possible. From the very beginning of the match, he exposed almost no openings, and through the Guidance Barrier he elevated his defense to its absolute limit."
"Unfortunately, Ainos never intended to overcome it through brute force."
Dragon Count stared at the shattered fragments of the tower shield scattered throughout the battlefield.
His expression was graver than ever before.
"The truly frightening thing is not his speed. It’s his judgment."
"He only needed several attacks to completely understand how the Guidance Barrier redirected force."
"From that moment onward, every strike landed precisely upon the most critical locations."
"By the time Alden realized the danger and attempted to change tactics, all the force accumulated inside the shield had already become a trap waiting to explode."
"And the final strike Was merely the spark that ignited it."
After that analysis echoed throughout the arena, those who had still attempted to find some comforting explanation within the battle finally fell completely silent.
Because it meant Ainos had not won through a single extraordinary ability alone.
He possessed not only impossible speed But also observation, judgment, and combat experience that vastly surpassed those of his peers.
Within viewing centers scattered across the real world, countless Human viewers immediately erupted into even fiercer debates.
"Even Alden couldn’t stop him?"
"That shield could withstand attacks from second-layer monsters!"
"It wasn’t that the shield wasn’t strong enough! He completely figured out the skill itself!"
"What kind of monsters are the Nullborn? Four contestants and not a single one has even been seriously injured!"
"At this rate... are they all going to reach the Top Eight?"
"Dammit at this point just give the chosen championship already. There’s no way anyone is beating them!"
...
This Chapter was sponsored by Mithrash. Thanks for your support
Comments