The stands temporarily quieted down again when the members on both sides stepped in the field.
Dylan Norton watched Lotton come his way with eyes dripping with disdain.
Apart from hot-bloodedness, arrogance and worshiping the strong were the trademark of youth.
The two brothers Dylan Norton and Feit Norton were celebrity contestants in the national tournament, the same as Joyce or Audrey. They were called the "Double Radiant Stars" of Hornwood Academy. That was why, just like how Mountain Kings Academy totally looked down on team Holy Dawn, Dylan was also completely looking down on this team Hellfire.
"You walk so slow, are you trying to stay a moment longer in the national tournament?"
That was why, when he saw Lotton walking very slow, he couldn’t help but mock him in a soft voice once Lotton stood in front of him.
"No."
His short brown hair in a mess, the oval-faced Lotton raised his head and softly said, "I’m merely letting you see the sunlight for a bit longer."
This member of team Hellfire had seemed a little humble, as though he had some stage fright. But the moment he lifted his head, Dylan saw his pair of gray eyes seemingly without pupils.
Just then, Lotton seemed a little afraid of the cold when he spoke. He looked at the sunlight sprinkling down from the sky, his gray eyes seemingly a little greedy for the brilliant light, as though it had been a long time since he enjoyed such a warm sunlight. However, the same time, Dylan felt inexplicably cold instead.
"What does that mean?
"Why is he so strange? He seems to look at others like dead men.
"Why does it feel like there’s a terrifying monster that’ll drill out of his body at any time!
"Is there something strange about this guy? Impossible, team Hellfire’s only a small second-rate team. How could they have someone stronger than me?"
Feeling strangely cold all over, Dylan was actually momentarily stiff enough that he couldn’t say anything.
"What’s going on, what a fearsome… murderous aura!"
The referee Kleis also felt slightly stiff just then. He looked at Lotton in disbelief.
"What… Weren’t mocking me to your heart’s content just now? Why are you so afraid now you can’t even talk?" Lotton didn’t look at Dylan. Instead, he once again slightly raised his head and looked at the stands where sat the other teams that’d previously mocked him the loudest. In a whisper only he and Dylan could hear, he said, "Carefully enjoy the taste of fear."
"What are you saying?" Dylan went into a sudden rage. "Are all the weeds-level teams so arrogant?"
Lotton didn’t say anything further. He merely, without any hurry, gestured at Kleis he was ready to fight.
"The atmosphere seems very tense. What did that Hellfire guy say to Dylan?"
Many team members in the stands hadn’t heard the dialog; they could only see Dylan looking extremely angry already.
"What’s the matter?" Sophia and the others noticed that Ayrin didn’t say anything. He looked extremely solemn.
"I don’t know. The weird feeling is here again. I have the nagging feeling he was looking at me right now." Ayrin exhaled. "I have the nagging feeling something terrible is going to happen."
"Where does that feeling come from?" Sophia and Chris exchanged a look. Looking at Lotton standing in front of Dylan, they only felt that Lotton seemed particularly cold and detached, but he didn’t have any kind of weird aura.
"This guy’s clearly very young, there’s no way he experienced many real fights. Why does he have such a murderous aura about him? It’s even thicker than around many real elite masters. Is it merely because he learned some special arcane skill?" The referee Kleis was lost in thought at this time, in spite of himself. He only recollected himself when an assistant referee at the side reminded him. He glanced at Lotton again, then declared the start of the match.
"Let me see sunlight for a bit longer? Let me carefully enjoy the taste of fear?"
When they heard Kleis’ voice, the seemingly sunny face of this tall boy suddenly tuned overcast.
"First, I’ll let you enjoy the taste of not seeing the sunlight anymore!
"Holy Radiance!"
With a sneer, he stretched his right hand upwards at the sky.
A fountain of arcane particles gushed out of his palm. As though they were immediately sucked into his hand, the dazzling rays of light falling down from the sky directly formed a radiant scepter of light in his hand.
Without the slightest warning, this scepter of light scattered around and became an intense white light that completely enveloped the field.
Everything illuminated by the white light seemed to ignite into white color. Even the spectators in the stands, looking from afar, felt as though the world had become dazzling white in front of their eyes, as though their eyes had become white fire burning in their sockets.
"Avarice – Beast of Fear!"
However, a low chant rose at the same time in this arena brimming with whiteness.
"What?"
Many people, their visions hazy, suddenly saw something like a huge shadow spreading inside the light, as if there really were a huge beast born inside.
After invoking a mighty secret skill just a moment ago, Dylan suddenly shouted, shrouded in the light, "What’s going on?"
He wasn’t affected by his own light, hence he could clearly see the shadow radiate from Lotton. Also, the radiant light didn’t seem to burn or illuminate Lotton in the slightest. His gray eyes open, Lotton coldly approached him.
What made him even more incredulous was, his body suddenly became very heavy, as though an invisible force was restricting him.
He even couldn’t resist turning his head around and looking behind him, checking if there was any huge shadow monster pressing down on him.
Lotton looked at him, not at all disturbed by the radiant light, and coldly said, "Are you starting to get a taste of fear now?"
"Chains of the God of Light!"
Dylan fell back a step for some inexplicable reason. Almost subconsciously, he used his strongest arcane skill, the fruit of his hard labor for an entire year, a skill he never formally used in the national tournament until this moment.
Dazzling arcane particles gushed out wildly from his fingertips. Tremendous shouts of astonishment came from the stands. A huge golden halo of light more than twenty meters wide descended from the sky, pressing in Lotton’s direction.
"Twining Death – Shadow Coffin."
Facing such a grand arcane skill, Lotte didn’t even move his hands. His arms hung at his sides. Many arcane particles flowed outside, and countless black granule-shaped shadows actually rose from his back, taking the shape of a coffin.
"What!"
What overwhelmed the stands with shock was, this shadow coffin directly swallowed the huge halo of golden light descending from the sky.
"This Chains of the God of Light is the taboo skill of a taboo-level Hornwood master from long ago, nicknamed the Son of Light. It can automatically perceive the fluctuations in the opponent’s arcane particles. The opponent can dodge any way he likes, it won’t have any effect.
"This arcane skill, invoked with Dylan’s arcane level, it’s simply a skill only a handful of people can withstand! Wasn’t team Hellfire a weeds-level team, why is there such a powerful figure in it!"
"What on earth is this arcane skill? How can it directly annihilate such a powerful attack!"
"What!" As shocked cries poured from the stands, Dylan was also utterly astounded. On top of that, he could feel his body become increasingly heavier.
"Blazing Tide!"
The only possibility he could think of was the spell’s arcane energy being a natural restraint for his. That was the reason why he instantly switched to a formidable arcane skill with an entirely different arcane energy.
A flaming tide several meters tall swept in Lotton’s direction.
"It’s useless."
At this time, in team Hellfire, that slender boy who looked the oldest among them was actually mumbling to himself, his face a little pale, "Lotton’s ‘Twining Death – Shadow Coffin’ is an absolute defensive skill. Unless the arcane level and the power of the arcane spell thorough surpass him, you can’t break through no matter the arcane spell you use."
"Puff!"
As he mumbled to himself, none of the flames rushing in front of Lotton could go through that coffin-shaped shadow. The shadow utterly eroded and shattered them, as though the coffin loaded them inside and buried them.
"Ah…"
Dylan shouted out loud like a madman, to the point even the other members of team Hornwood froze while getting ready in their preparation area.
"What’s going on?"
They saw there was really a shadow appearing on Dylan’s back. It seemed to enlarge increasingly bigger, and Dylan’s body also looked heavier and heavier, to the point even moving seemed to become an issue.
"How do you like the taste of fear?"
"The arcane skill I used at the beginning is one that stimulates your nerves. It’s as if it absorbed the power of your fear. The more afraid you are, the heavier your body becomes and the less control you will have over it."
Lotton’s cold and detached voice floated to Dylan’s ears.
"Now, it’s about time."
When these soft words reached Dylan, Lotton suddenly lifted his arms that were previously hanging at his sides. He made a farewell-like gesture with both his hands.
"Coffin of the Death God – Funeral!"
Countless twisted shadows suddenly appeared around Dylan, forming a coffin even more gigantic.
Dylan stood precisely at the center of the open coffin. The coffin’s lid was slowly closing.
"Ah!"
Dylan shrieked in utter fear.
Countless sand-like shadows struck the surface of his body, drawing countless tiny droplets of blood.
"Oh no!"
With a tense face, Kleis bellowed, "The fight is over!"
A hammer made from golden lightning direly appeared near Dylan and pounded ferociously on the shadow coffin.
At the same time, Kleis already put himself between Lotton and Dylan, only a few meters away from Dylan.
"Boom!"
The entire coffin crumbled with a rumble.
However, the power of the coffin was already crushing Dylan’s body.
One side of Dylan’s body seemed shattered to pieces. Bits of flesh and bloody foams splattered outward, together with fragments of shadows!
"What!"
The entire stands were frozen and still. Silent like death.
There was only genuine fear sweeping across the stands like a hurricane.
"Dead… he’s dead…"
Everyone could see that even Kleis hadn’t blocked this skill’s power in time!
With Dylan’s injuries, even the best medical team would have no hope of bringing him back to life!
