Law of Space and Time

Chapter 19: A Perilous Match

For this match, Erwin's opponent was a martial artist once again, and he heard that his opponent was from Tisdale Academy of Burmen.

Erwin's opponent had prepared quite well for his match against Erwin, wearing a suit of heavy silver magic armor that concealed the entirety of his face. It was clear that this suit of armor was specifically being worn to deal with Erwin's instant-release spells, and Erwin was quite exasperated by the lengths that his opponent was willing to go to in order to counter him.

Once the match began, Erwin didn't allow his opponent to approach him as he did during the last match. After firing off a few instant-release spells, he immediately unleashed a space split technique to open up some distance between himself and his opponent. However, his opponent had no intention of engaging him in close-quarters combat, either. Instead, he remained still on the spot as he enhanced himself with martial techniques.

Erwin's instant-release spells struck his suit of armor, but they dealt minimal damage. Erwin was quite bewildered to see this, and it seemed that the efficacy of this suit of armor was even greater than Erwin had anticipated. Thus, he unleashed a few advanced spells. As a result of the staff that he was using, all of the spells that he unleashed were of the darkness attribute, and darkness-attribute spells were all aimed at destroying the opponent's mind. However, even the barrage of advanced spells was unable to interrupt his opponent from applying more enhancements onto himself. Instead, the spells merely exploded into magic turbulence upon his suit of heavy magic armor.

As a result, the situation was already looking to be very much against Erwin's favor. Ever since the beginning of the match, his opponent had constantly been applying advanced martial techniques that enhanced magic resistance onto himself.

So he's relying on his suit of heavy magic armor to buy himself time to unleash his martial techniques, then using those advanced magic resistance martial techniques to nullify the power of my spells, Erwin thought to himself with tightly furrowed brows, clearly not expecting his opponent to have prepared so extensively for this match.

Most importantly, Erwin didn't dare to stop to search for holes in his opponent's defense. If he were to stop harassing his opponent with spells, his opponent would definitely take advantage of the opportunity to charge him and engage him in close-quarters combat. Thinking back to the sticky situation he had been in during his last match, Erwin had no intention of letting another powerful enemy martial artist get close to him again.

At this point, many of the spectators could already see that the tide was quickly turning against Erwin's favor, and they were beginning to wonder whether Erwin's fairytale run in this tournament would end here.

Erwin had no choice but to bring out his signature ability, which was to conjure up his light shield, and that was exactly what all of the spectators wanted to see.

Thunderous cheering began to ring out across all of the spectator stands, and no one seemed to care that Erwin was risking his own life every time he used this spell.

Erwin could manipulate the size of his light shield by controlling his own magic power output, and at this point, his mastery of this aspect of the light shield spell was already at a very high level. However, if he were to expand the light shield to a degree that was outside of his control, which he had done during the first day of competition, then he would put himself in life-threatening peril.

Erwin's opponent raised his head, and he became slightly agitated upon witnessing the formation of Erwin's light shield. He immediately raised the long spear behind him, then dug his feet into the ground, launching himself forward before thrusting his spear toward Erwin's light shield.

However, up to this point, he had only used martial techniques to enhance his own magic resistance and none to enhance his own power, so his attack naturally posed no threat at all to the light shield. From Erwin's perspective, this attack was far weaker than even the elemental matter surging into the light shield.

Erwin's opponent wasn't fazed in the slightest as he unleashed another seven attacks in a row. This was clearly an extremely well-rehearsed sequence, with flawless transitions through the seven attacks, all of which were imbued with considerable power.

As the seven attacks struck Erwin's light shield, he could clearly sense that each successive attack was more powerful than the last one. By the time the final attack struck the light shield, Erwin had been shaken around so severely that he was feeling completely disoriented and dizzy. It was clear that if the light shield were to withstand too much power at once, then it would take a physical toll on Erwin's body.

His opponent's spear techniques were the type that became more and more powerful with each passing attack, and with every attack that he unleashed, he was able to absorb more beneficial matter from the surrounding environment. Furthermore, there were large quantities of elemental matter surging toward the light shield to begin with, so that further enhanced the speed at which he was able to absorb elemental matter.

After that sequence of seven attacks, his power had already increased to twice its normal level.

Erwin was naturally aware that his opponent was using the massive amount of elemental matter around the light shield, but there was nothing that he could do about that. The light shield was already extremely taxing on his magic power and stamina, and to make matters worse, his opponent was exerting immense pressure upon the light shield with his persistent attacks. Thus, it didn't take long before Erwin felt like he was on the verge of overexertion again.

At this point, Erwin could already unleash one or two devastating ancient advanced spells by absorbing the energy gathered on the light shield, but his opponent had already significantly increased their own magic resistance with that suit of armor and the various advanced martial techniques he had deployed, so Erwin didn't dare to take the risk. If his opponent were able to weather the storm, then Erwin wouldn't have sufficient magic power left to conjure up the light shield a second time. At that point, he would have to surrender.

Thus, Erwin continued to endure his opponent's relentless assault. He was accurately gauging the limits of his own body's physical tolerance, and he was making sure that he would be able to defeat his opponent with a single burst once he decided to retaliate. If he couldn't control the flow of elemental matter into his own body, just like what had happened during his first-round match, then no one would be able to save him. However, if he couldn't absorb sufficient magic energy, then there was a very good chance that he wouldn't be able to defeat his opponent.

The spear-wielding martial artist's confidence was increasing by the second at the sight of Erwin's agonized expression, and his attacks were also becoming more and more fearsome.

Erwin's brows were tightly furrowed as he looked on at his opponent's ferocious attacks while chanting incantations in the ancient magic language with a grim expression. His magic power and stamina were quickly fading, but he remained calm and collected.

"Your resistance is futile!'' The martial artist scoffed in a derisive manner, then quickly backtracked three steps before placing one hand on the base of his spear's shaft and pulling it back as far as it would go in preparation for an all-out attack. It was clear that he was planning to use this attack to end the match once and for all.

The spear strike was imbued with unstoppable momentum and tremendous power, and the wielder of the spear gave off the appearance of a silver-armored god of war! In this instant, it was as if his spear had truly become an extension of his own body, and every single fiber of his being was dedicated to plunging the spear forward with unstoppable might.

All of the spectators in the venue could sense that a devastating attack was about to come, and many of them had already risen to their feet in anticipation.

Onean could hear the cries of alarm ringing out from the spectator stands, and she emerged from the contestants' passageway to watch the match. According to the rules, the contestants for the next match weren't allowed to enter the venue early, but all of the administrators turned a blind eye to this seeing as she was the princess.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she looked at the agonized Erwin inside the light shield, and internally, she was denouncing Erwin for being a suicidal idiot, but her hand was already holding tightly onto her silver staff.

In the spectator stands on the bottom level, Lana was standing beside Prince Lazaar, staring intently at the competition platform with sweat pouring profusely out of her palms.

"There it is. Looks like he's going to put his life on the line again," Larwood sighed with a resigned expression. Kaiba and Chase were standing beside him, and both of them were also looking on with grim expressions.

A loud clang rang out across the entire venue as the tip of the spear struck the light shield, and the spear was almost jolted out of its wielder's hands from the tremendous force of the impact. However, the outer wall of the light shield remained completely still and resolute. Despite the devastating power imbued within that spear strike, it hadn't managed to leave even the slightest of marks on the surface of the light shield!

However, a quick look at Erwin's face was enough to tell everyone that withstanding that attack had been far from easy. Blood was pouring out of his nostrils and flowing down from the corners of his mouth. It was clear that his entire body had been jolted violently by the attack, and as a result, his stamina and magic power began to rapidly seep out of his body in an uncontrollable fashion.

"Now!" Erwin roared, and an unprecedentedly vicious look had appeared on his face.

The light shield was withdrawn, and an enormous amount of matter energy surged into his body, putting him through a baptism of fire. He could sense that every single nerve and pore in his body was teetering on the edge between life and death, and all types of energy were intertwining in a chaotic fashion. In addition to that, the power from his opponent's spear strike was crashing back and forth through his internal organs like an enraged bull.

"Pwah!" Erwin threw up a large mouthful of blood that completely covered the gemstone on the tip of his staff, but he didn't seem to be able to feel any pain. His eyes were filled with an unsettlingly fervent gleam, and it was as if he had gone insane.

His opponent was staring at him with a blank expression, having been frightened by the terrifying look on his face. However, what happened next struck him with an even greater sense of fear.

All of a sudden, countless bursts of magic turbulence erupted out of the top of Erwin's staff, creating a vast expanse of purple light that concealed the light of the afternoon sun, and all of the spectators found themselves momentarily transfixed by the sight of this spectacle.

"Magic Explosion!" Erwin roared as he gripped his staff tightly with both hands. His hair was dancing wildly around him, and in this instant, all of the magic turbulence exploded in a completely haphazard fashion. This was the basic state of magic energy. Erwin had no idea how to control this type of primitive, violent magic energy, so he could only allow it to explode. As a result, anything or anyone that was close to him would be caught up in the devastating explosion.

The spear-wielding martial artist looked on as the purple magic turbulence surged toward him along his spear like a nest of thin purple snakes, and he was quite alarmed by this sudden turn of events. Before he had a chance to react, he was completely inundated by the magic turbulence erupting toward him.

Initially, he was still holding onto the hope that he had improved his magic resistance sufficiently through his advanced martial techniques to withstand this attack, but only after the magic turbulence began to erode his mind did he come to realize just how naive he had been. The magic turbulence seeped in through his skin before exploding within his body, and this was already a very familiar feeling for Erwin.

However, his opponent had never been put through this type of torture before. The feeling of excruciating pain that was coming from every single part of his body instantly crushed his consciousness. However, the magic energy around him seemed to have a mind of its own, and they were continuing to invade his body without any respite.

The martial artist howled with agony, and his eyeballs were about to bulge out of their sockets. Only after he had come crashing down from the sky did all of the spectators realize that smoke was billowing out of his suit of armor.

An administrator hurriedly raised a hand to adjudicate Erwin as the victor, while all of the other administrators immediately rushed onto the competition platform to surround the martial artist. It was clear that his injuries were very severe, and a stretcher was brought on to carry him off the competition platform. Thus, the martial artist was promptly carried away.

Erwin finally allowed himself to heave a sigh of relief while wiping at the blood that had poured out of his mouth and his nostrils with the back of his hand. At the same time, he was panting heavily, which triggered a fit of coughing, and as a result, he threw up another large mouthful of blood.

The spectators were about to celebrate Erwin's come-from-behind victory, but all of them were very alarmed to see him throwing up blood once again.

An administrator asked him if he required assistance, in response to which Erwin shook his head, coughing as he made his way down from the competition platform. He was feeling extremely light-headed, and his legs were on the verge of giving out from under him.

Lana looked on with a cold expression in the spectator stands, but there was no concealing the concern in her eyes.

Erwin stumbled toward the contestants' passageway in an unsteady manner, and a pleased smile appeared on his face at the sight of Onean's concerned expression.

In response, Onean glared at him with a displeased look on her face, clearly reprimanding him for his recklessness.

Erwin was just about to say something when another large mouthful of blood came gushing up from his chest before erupting out of his mouth, following which his legs finally gave out from under him, and he began to collapse to the ground.

Onean hurriedly rushed forward to catch him before looking down at him with a panicked expression, only to find that he was still smiling up at her like an idiot. His mouth was opening and closing like a spluttering fish, and bubbles of blood were being blown out of his nostrils.

He laid in Onean's warm and soft embrace while inhaling her fragrant scent, and he suddenly felt like it wouldn't be so bad to die like this. If he had any strength left, he would definitely rub his own face against her soft and delicate cleavage. With that thought in his mind, he fell unconscious with a satisfied smile still lingering on his face.