Chapter 1441 (2/2)

The expressions on the faces of their opponents turned ugly. Huang Li did feel a bit of sympathy for his fellow individuals from Zone 7. It was certainly disrespectful that Paolo and Kayle had apparently bet with each other not to use their most powerful weapons in the tournament.

Yet these two had the capability to be so domineering. Relying on the opposites' weapons, they had already won and reached the third round. And the previous fights of theirs had not been close.

As the crowd's cheers turned to excited whispers, a member of the Order Ducis stepped onto the arena. The woman glanced at both duos. “Is everyone ready?”

Both sides indicated that they were ready. Paolo and Kayle’s bodies were loose and relaxed, while tightly controlled fury made their opponents look as stiff as puppets as they inclined their heads. Huang Li tsk’d lightly. So much tension before a fight. If you don’t ready your muscles, when it begins-

“Begin!” The woman announced. Both Kayle and Paolo instantly sprung into motion.

The space between Kayle and his opponent was instantly slashed in half and the man blinked in surprise as Kayle stood in front of him, his hand raised to strike. Then he struck with the same brutal efficiency. The downward blow was so fast that Huang Li even felt Huang Shou next to him lean forward with a solemn expression.

The man receiving the blow jerked backward slightly too late, his eyes widening as he looked down at the deep gouge in his shoulder pauldron from the palm strike. Still, he definitely had the power to back up his presence in the third round. After Kayle’s first attack failed, the man teleported several meters backward and crossed his arms. A dozen javelins of ice appeared and accelerated forward.

Kayle walked amongst those javelins with the pointer fingers of his hands outstretched. He flourished and twisted, looking more like a renowned composer than a warrior. But those conjured weapons of ice were sliced and diced into pieces until only a gentle swirl of falling snow reached Kayle’s body.

He uses his hands, but each of his fingers is just as dangerous as his knives, although the range is slightly decreased, Huang Li thought as he watched Kayle’s quick advance. Before the man could conjure another wave of ice javelins, Kayle planted his feet and accelerated forward. But even more than his fingers…

Kayle’s entire shoulder rotated inward, culmination in a spinning palm strike that seemed to tap lightly against the man’s chest. The man’s mouth twisted and moved; likely he habitually released a curse. Kayle smiled.

A small geyser of blood erupted from the man’s back; instantly he went pale and stumbled several steps backward. Just as he regained his footing, he shook his head helplessly and collapsed. Blood continued to hemorrhage from his back.

There was a hole about two fingers thick from the spot that Kayle had hit him. Even more impressive was the fact that Kayle had managed to land the strike in a position that didn’t clip the man’s lungs or any other organs.

Paolo was even more overwhelming, charging forward while guffawing uproariously. He moved like a boulder bounding down a hill. In terms of which of the two most closely adhered to the spirit of using the other’s weapons, Huang Li leaned toward Kayle. Paolo simply held two long daggers in a reverse grip and threw vicious haymakers forward.

Rather than using long knives, he seemed to be throwing punches while coincidentally holding knives. But each time he threw a punch, the knives in his hand would leave deep scars on the ground. His normally unstoppable punched that could break through steel had now grown claws that could rip a person in half.

While Kayle had faced someone who leaned toward Mana Skills, Paolo’s opponent was more of a speed-based fighter. He wielded two hatchets and seemed like he was used to weaving between his opponents blows. Paolo did not allow him to dodge. With the addition of the long knives, his punches hit a large area.

If he avoided the punches, the knives would cut so deeply into the man’s leather armor that blood would begin to seep outward. If he tried to meet Paolo’s strikes directly, he would be smashed backward and sway dangerously for a few seconds while Paolo continued to laugh and bound forward. The stage shook as Paolo began to gather momentum.

It was a match with very little suspense.

In short order, both of the independent individuals from Zone 7 had been beaten. Huang Li checked his watch. Twenty-three seconds.

“It is what they deserved,” Huang Shou snorted. “We forbade them from participating in this tournament for their own good. Perhaps this will be a lesson to them.”

No, you forbade them from participating so you could threaten our Glorious Leaders with our own Zone’s international standing, Huang Li thought calmly. You wanted to cut off the nose so our face would realize that it was powerless if it couldn’t control both of its hands…

But Huang Li didn’t bother to argue with the older man. It was still too early for that. And in his current condition…

Huang Li smiled, showing his sharp canines like a carnivore.