Xiao Huo, the poor phoenix, plunged down as a trail of fiery blood dripped from her wounds. She fell on top of the stage with a loud crash.
"Hmm? It seems like I held back too much."
Fang muttered as she looked at Xiao Huo below. The phoenix's wounds were closing rapidly. In just a few moments, she could already return to the skies as if nothing had happened.
As Fang was freefalling, Wan Er and Da Longwei launched attacks aiming for the spot where Fang would land in. They both used the same attack, which was a wide-area flame attack similar to Igni's [Fire Breath]. I was honestly surprised at seeing Wan Er use it, as I couldn't even imagine myself launching one.
Looking closely, she wasn't actually using it but was using some sort of artifact that looked like a small flashlight. Flames gushed out in a conical area as she pointed it forward. Its intensity was way above what a monster at the 3rd-stage of evolution could exert.
Fang smiled, not panicking one bit, even with the ground below her turning into a hell of flames.
"It's not only you guys who can improve, you know?!"
With a fierce grin, she focused dark energy on her feet. Then, as soon as it materialized, she "kicked" the energy and launched herself forward. The kicked black mass flew towards Da Longwei, making it doge to the side, canceling its skill's activation.
"Hahaha!"
Fang laughed as she flew straight toward Wan Er. As soon as she landed, she raised her claws again and slashed. Wan Er twisted her body to avoid the claw, but the darkness covering Fang's claws extended further, opening a gaping wound on her shoulders.
However, similar to Xiao Huo, the wound burst into flames and quickly recovered. What's more, since Wan Er's body was burning with [Flame Clad], Fang's claws were slightly hurt.
"..."
Although I was worried about Fang getting injured, I decided to still not give her instructions. This is her fight, and it could even be called a rematch for them. Although it was Aster who controlled Fang back then, this was still a fight between her and Wan Er's tamed monsters.
Of course, Fang wasn't giving up in any way. Given that the phoenix and Wan Er were impossible to incapacitate without landing a heavy blow, Fang decided to reduce the enemies first.
Da Longwei was still off balance. It had yet to recover from the forced posture it used to dodge. Fang took advantage of it and used [Shadow Skip] as soon as her feet touched the black smokescreen.
In an instant, Fang was already in front of the dragon. Surprised, the dragon tried to roar and wave its front claws, but Fang lightly punched the claw back before landing a high kick straight to its jaw.
The difference in their stature may be large, but the power gap between them is insurmountable. The dragon fell unconscious with just that hit.
"One down."
Fang muttered as she glanced toward the Phoenix diving down towards her in an attempt to attack.
The fire covering her body was changing into a gigantic palm shape. If this attack landed on Fang, then, with her defense, she would end up getting heavily injured.
"But it's too slow."
While leaving those words, Fang vanished from her spot.
Xiao Huo panicked as she couldn't see where Fang went and tried to rise up again and look for her target. However, just as she was about to climb, a shadow landed on her back.
"I'll be rougher with you now; bear with it."
Fang warned as the murky black energy under her feet solidified. The Dark Energy became like spikes and punctured holes in the phoenix's body. Fiery blood flew out of the wounds, but it didn't close.
The spikes were left inside the wound, preventing it from closing on its own. With the foreign object still stuck inside her body, it was impossible to use her regeneration skill. Xiao Huo fell like a stone, crashing toward the stage one more time.
*Screeech!*
However, this time, she stayed down. With holes in her body, she can't even move her limbs. It was a painful sight to look at.
"Curses!"
Wan Er roared in anger as she dashed forward. Without her two tamed monsters to provide backup, she knew that it was impossible to win against Fang.
Seeing her desperate attack, Fang waved her hand and slapped Wan Er's face. With the difference in physique and the superior strength of Fang, Wan Er ended up flying a few meters away before landing on the hard stone floor.
As Wan Er was about to get back up, Fang pointed her claw to her throat and declared,
"Surrender. I'd rather not hurt you."
Wan Er gritted her teeth in chagrin, glaring at Fang. Then, after a few seconds, she sighed.
"Haaa, alright. I surrender."
With her words as the signal, Vermeil quickly announced the end of the match.
"The first round is over! Winner, Fang!"
The entire exchange lasted no more than a minute. The audience, which was quiet the whole time and unable to clearly follow the rapid exchanges, cheered in a confused manner.
"Congratulations, Fang. I knew you would win."
As Fang returned to the bench, I quickly patted her head and praised her. Fang's tail wagged wildly, showing how happy she was for winning, or rather, for getting patted.
"Leader, Leader! Did you see how I hid my presence? I mastered Chiyome's technique already!"
Fang boasted with sparkling eyes. Although it seems like she really increased her stealth ability, her observation skills were still lacking. I looked over to my right side, where Chiyome's energy was floating in space.
If Fang had noticed that Chiyome was right beside me, then she wouldn't have boasted like that. I smiled bitterly as I patted her head even more. I don't know how strict a teacher Chiyome is, but Fang would surely get a scolding from her later.
With that, the first win for our team was secured. There were two matches left—two more wins to clutch.
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