Chapter 807 – Ink Crystal

When the Star Maiden Party and the Ink Crystal Party appeared in the canyon designated as the battlefield for their match, Rin approached Garuda and curiously asked, “Who do you think will win?”

The Star Maiden Party’s performance thus far could only be described as outstanding. Elise’s ability to fully utilize her Divine Artifacts’ potential made her utterly invincible, and she single-handedly dominated all of her party’s opponents. In contrast, whether it was Ink Crystal or the Ink Crystal Party, both had displayed unremarkable performances thus far. Yet, it was an undeniable fact that the girl named Ink Crystal gave off an extremely dangerous feeling, and she was likely to be a pseudo-sixth-floor expert.

“All I can say is that the little girl is very dangerous,” Garuda answered after some thought. “The feeling I get from her is the same as when I am in front of the old people from my Guild.”

“The old people from your Guild?” Rin couldn’t help but look at Ink Crystal’s figure on the screen in surprise. “Doesn’t that mean the Star Maiden is destined to lose?”

The Thunder Empire, the Guild Garuda belonged to, was one of the Holy Race’s ten strongest Guilds. It was also among the three oldest royal powers among the Holy Race, and it was considerably well-known even among the Crystallian race.

Meanwhile, every one of the Thunder Empire’s old monsters could strike fear into a royal power. They were all pseudo-sixth-floor experts who had developed their own Advanced Gold Holy Arts. They had also developed their Concentration to the Tier 6 Limit standard and hence could utilize 100% of their Divine Artifacts’ potential.

“I wouldn’t say that.” After pondering for a moment, Garuda said, “Aside from having Tier 6 Limit Concentration, Elise has also learned a Primordial God-ranked Mana Technique. Not to mention, that black book is essentially a copy of herself. Overall, I don’t think she should be underestimated.”

Rin didn’t refute Garuda’s statement, finding it reasonable.

Elise’s black book was extraordinary. It was even more powerful than the Sun Dynasty’s Sunlight Blade. On the surface, it might seem like the black book only allowed her to create an extra version of herself. However, it should be noted that it was a doppelganger that was invulnerable and did not consume Concentration to maintain.

There were many Doppelganger Skills in God’s Domain, with some being able to create doppelgangers that could use all of the user’s Skills. Some of these Skills could even create multiple such doppelgangers. However, while powerful, all of these Doppelganger Skills shared a flaw—they all required the user to split their attention to manipulate. This, in turn, placed a huge burden on the user’s Concentration and prevented them from perfectly manipulating their doppelgangers.historical

However, the Star Maiden’s black book was different. Besides being impervious to attacks, it could perfectly replicate Elise’s Spells without any active manipulation, essentially granting Elise a double-casting buff.

…

While Rin was chatting with Garuda, the members of the Star Maiden Party and the Ink Crystal Party quickly maneuvered through the canyon. The canyon had a muddy, forested terrain, and there were cliffs all around. The environment also prevented players from flying, so the members of both parties could only travel on foot. However, as the canyon’s cliffs provided a panoramic view, it only took a few minutes before a chaotic melee broke out.

Unlike their party members, though, Elise and Ink Crystal did not participate in the fight. Instead, they walked toward each other as their party members were embroiled in battle.

“Aren’t you going to help your party members?” Elise asked, wearing an indifferent expression as she looked at the Crystallian girl in front of her.

Glancing at the five-on-five fight happening in the distance, Ink Crystal chuckled and said, “What about you? Aren’t you worried your party members might not be a match for mine? If we are comparing combat standards, my party members are superior.”

Of Elise’s five party members, only Phoenix Flame was at the Unthinking Realm. Although the other four were strong, they were only fifth-floor experts who had learned a set of Gold Combat Techniques. In comparison, Ink Crystal’s party members consisted of two Unthinking Realm experts. Additionally, the three other members were slightly stronger than the four fifth-floor experts in Elise’s party.

Unless Elise intervened, it was almost certain her party members would lose.

“I believe in their strength,” Elise answered calmly. “Also, this is the ideal option for me. If I let you join the melee, my party’s chances of winning will be slim.”

Although Elise did not speak loudly, everyone from the audience could hear her clearly, and many couldn’t help but be surprised by her evaluation. They didn’t think an expert like Elise would be so wary of Ink Crystal, so much so that she would assume her party would lose in a full-blown battle with the Ink Crystal Party.

However, before the spectators could recover from their surprise, Elise spoke once more.

“I originally planned to swap opponents with the Verdant Rainbow Party again, but I decided against it after thinking about it,” Elise stated. “Whether we swap or not, my party will still have to face you. Since everyone in the top four will get to enter the Crucible’s central area, I might as well take you on first.”

“I wouldn’t say your judgment is incorrect, but are you sure you can defeat me?” Ink Crystal asked with a smile.

“Of course,” Elise said as she turned to look at Phoenix Flame. Then, when she saw Phoenix Flame suddenly gaining a burst of strength and killing the Ink Crystal Party’s two Unthinking Realm experts in one move, she understood the time had come. “After all, I won’t be fighting you alone.”

When the rankings for the preliminaries were announced, Elise only needed one look at Ink Crystal to understand the latter was an existence on par with Demon’s Gate’s old monsters. Hence, she grew vigilant of Ink Crystal, even more so than she was of Garuda and Rin. After all, she had watched Garuda’s battles in the last championship, so she more or less knew what he was capable of. However, she knew nothing of Ink Crystal. The fact that Ink Crystal never met any decent opponents throughout the championship didn’t help, either.

Fortunately, Phoenix Flame’s strength improved significantly after she learned several Legacies from the Sixth Goddess Tablet. Although not as strong as experts like Rin and Garuda, she should be as strong as Gentle Snow after the latter had learned Fleeting Thunderclap.

So long as Phoenix Flame could quickly eliminate Ink Crystal’s five party members, Elise was confident they could work together to defeat Ink Crystal.

While Elise spoke, Phoenix Flame charged at Ink Crystal in a straight line. Although the Ink Crystal Party’s three fifth-floor experts remained alive, she judged that her four other party members should be enough to deal with them. Hence, she decided to regroup with Elise to fight Ink Crystal ahead of time.

“Very well!” Ink Crystal nodded, smiling as she raised a hand. Immediately, the many trees in the surroundings were uprooted and lifted into the air. “Let’s see if your words can hold true.”

Subsequently, before Elise could even react, Ink Crystal launched the hovering trees at Phoenix Flame.

The trees struck one another as they flew across the air, transferring their speed and Strength. This process repeated 15 times in the blink of an eye and resulted in the trees at the front achieving an Attack Speed that even Dead Soul, who spectated the match from outside the ring, had difficulty keeping up.

“Dodge!” Elise instinctively shouted.

Unfortunately, Elise’s warning came too late. Before Phoenix Flame could react, over a hundred accelerated trees bombarded her and erased her from the battlefield…

…