327 Triumph ? (1/2)
Zhao Yao's mind whirled with possibilities.
He still felt fairly relaxed. After all, there was no way that the Butcher would defeat him. He did not have to worry about surviving; He just had to focus on how to win.
”Even if he breaks my neck, my cognitive function should still be active for a minute or so. That should be enough time for me to switch to Matcha's TimeFreeze. It's risky though.”
”Also, what if he just squishes my head like a grape?”
”If I died outside of the belly, I would have to wear that appalling dress.”
He recalled the first time he had to put on that dress.
”Nope, not gonna happen. I'm never cross-dressing ever again.”
The fear of being seen in a dress was enough to make Zhao Yao drop the idea.
”I could just use Elizabeth's power instead. I'll distract the Butcher and put on the armor,” he thought.
Ten seconds had passed before Zhao Yao landed on this option. He quickly turned to stare right into the Butcher's eyes, his own gleaming red.
”Eh?” the Butcher uttered as he felt his control of his body gradually slip away.
He could not stop his hand from loosening its grip on Zhao Yao's neck. He could do nothing as he dropped into an involuntary squat, then leaped upwards with astounding strength, rocketing straight to the sky.
The impact of his take-off was so great that a thick crack had split the earth beneath his feet.
In an instant, the Butcher had diminished into a speck that soared further and further away, growing smaller still.
Zhao Yao smiled. Elizabeth's mind control was an unrivaled form of defence in one-on-one combat. Even the Butcher was no match for it.
He could have compelled the Butcher to hurt himself, but he did not do so. Conniving was not a good look for a Cat King.
”I'll have to face him head-on.”
As the Butcher began his long descent to the ground, Zhao Yao cut to Dust Ball's skill.
Supercats began appearing on the battleground, each concealed by Roly Poly.
”Let's go into Stealth Mode.”
”Assault Arm!”
”Electric Arm!”
”Defence Shield!”
”Ground Liquification!”
As Zhao Yao issued one command after another, supercats began rolling into the real world and leaping onto different parts of his body.
The contestants were not paying any attention to him. Their eyes were glued to the Butcher.
”What's happening? Why has he jumped so high into the sky?”
”Haven't you heard of the Buddha's Palm Technique?”
”You've got to be kidding. This guy is a kung-fu master too?”
While some of them remained rooted to the ground, waiting to see what the Butcher would do next, others had fled the arena.
A handful of them watched Zhao Yao, whom had his head raised towards the sky, unmoving.
”Why isn't Daniel Wu running? Now's his chance.”
”How would I know? That choke might've compromised his mental capacity.”
”Who cares about him? C'mon, we've got to go before that monster returns.”
Soon, the Butcher was but 200 meters from the ground. He threw punch after punch at the air around him, hoping to chalk up enough friction to slow his neck-breaking descent.
While he struggled, Zhao Yao remained absolutely composed. His hands were folded behind him, head raised to the sky. There was an air of dignity in his face.
”Our mystery man had taken straight for the skies!” the Cat King of the North exclaimed, ”What could he be trying to do? Use the force of gravity to flatten Daniel Wu? I would worry if I were him, but Daniel isn't running. Does he actually have more secret tricks up his sleeves?”
”By the looks of it, I doubt anything could help him win this time.”
The elimination zone broke into a clamorous racket.
Fish Ball stood up, shouting at the screen.
”Fool! You've got to run! Why would you mess with someone like that? Are you out of your mind?!”
Every pair of eyes in the audience was glued to the screen, waiting for Zhao Yao's catastrophic defeat to play out. There was no doubt in their minds that he would lose. The Butcher was just far too powerful.
The gap between the two final opponents grew smaller still.
Zhao Yao maintained the same position and self-possessed demeanor as before.
”I must look so frickin' cool,” he thought.
While he appeared to be doing nothing, he was actually preparing for the upcoming battle.
He had entered the Diamond Hall to exchange two power-up cards.
One card was obviously for himself. The other was for Ares. Now that the supercat was unquestionably loyal to him, he had no qualms about strengthening his ability as well.
The combined power of Ares and Zhao Yao's magnified force fields cast a golden glow around them that soared towards the heavens.
”I...I feel like my veins are bursting with...with power!” Ares exclaimed in surprise.
”You sound like you're about to blow your load,” Gaia commented.
Zhao Yao hushed him.
”Can we please focus on defeating this piece of s**t?”
The activation of the power-ups, coupled with Ares' recent level-up, pushed the potency of the force fields to unprecedented heights.
They were ready for the Butcher, whom was now a mere 50 meters from reaching them.