Boom.
Giordo's body was slammed to the ground by the sheer force of Magic Bullet's explosion.
Without hesitation, Theo stomped the shield while covering his foot with Cannon Blast, dispersing it to create a greater impact. Unfortunately, he first planned to concentrate it like a drill but stopped because the attack might kill Giordo.
Even though there was a Mythical Rank Expert assuring the match, he didn't know whether the Mythical Rank Expert was beside them or not, considering there were many battles going on simultaneously.
Instead of killing him, he tried to break some bones to make Giordo admit defeat.
Unfortunately for him, his plan didn't work as Giordo had already launched himself away.
Theo's foot hit the ground and the Cannon Blast created a crater around him along with a powerful shock wave that blew the smoke away, revealing their current situation.
Giordo managed to escape but soon stumbled to the ground, failing to flee from the crater.
He hurriedly landed on his two feet while glaring at Theo. "Seriously? You almost defeated me… I guess I am the one who is underestimating you."
Theo glanced at him with a poker face as if he didn't care about his words.
To his surprise, Giordo smiled and slightly lowered his head. "For that, I apologize. I won't underestimate you anymore… This way, I can see the gap between us."
"Ho?" Theo was slightly amused by Giordo's action. He was supposed to be a few years older than him and his level was also above. With these two alone, Giordo didn't need to apologize. Yet, the latter admitted such an embarrassing mistake to him.
"I like fighting, but I don't want to look down at my opponent. And it seems it was foolish of me to think you were just a newbie. I guess… I should say as expected from Theodore Griffith." Giordo took a deep breath and calmed his heart down.
Now that he had recognized Theo as a worthy opponent, he became even more serious.
Albeit… Theo actually turned around the situation by saying, "Unfortunately for you, it's impossible to defeat me."
"I looked down on you first, so I don't mind you talking like that, but…" Giordo leaped forward while saying, "I will make sure you can't say that anymore. Haha."
Theo waved his fingers up as a stone pillar emerged from the ground. The pillar had no pattern on it, showing others that it was just a simple pillar.
"Earth Affinity Skill?" Giordo widened his eyes before correcting his words. "No, you should have no affinity. This must be an illusion."
Without hesitation, Giordo raised his foot to the front while summoning the blade under his shoe, trying to pierce through the illusion and hit Theo.
A smile appeared on Theo's face as he saw how Giordo's blade hit the stone pillar and stuck.
Bam.
Giordo sucked a cold breath when his prediction turned out to be wrong. "Wait, my blade has enhancement… Yet, it can't even destroy a normal pillar?"
There were a few cracks around his foot, but the pillar completely stopped his momentum.
Theo used this chance to loop around the pillar while swinging his spear.
Giordo clicked his tongue and raised his left hand, trying to block Theo's spear.
However, twenty Magic Bullets suddenly appeared from the other side, attacking Giordo from two directions.
"You are really ruthless." Giordo smirked and stomped the pillar with his other foot.
The stomp destroyed the pillar, allowing Giordo to move again.
Theo didn't want him to leave, so he pushed Giordo down with Telekinesis, restricting his movement.
He might be falling down, but Giordo managed to spin his body, hitting Theo's spear while rolling on the ground as soon as he landed, avoiding the Magic Bullets by the sheer speed of his roll.
Boom.
The Magic Bullets ultimately hit the ground, but some managed to hit Giordo's left arm. Theo confirmed it when Giordo rose again.
Blood dyed his sleeves as Giordo couldn't help but take a look at his arm.
Before he stabilized his body, Theo continued his onslaught, forcing Giordo to leap back.
Unfortunately, Theo's speed was faster than him, and he soon caught up.
Instead of giving up, Giordo stomped the ground and created a small shock wave that kicked the dust up, turning it into a smokescreen.
Theo furrowed his eyebrows and raised his vision, noticing a tree in front. He instantly came to a halt.
Giordo re-emerged from the dust cloud with two daggers on his hands, trying to make a counterattack, only to find Theo standing still.
"Tsk, you're a monster." Giordo smirked and continued his charge because his momentum was too fast for him to stop.
Theo raised his finger again, summoning his stone pillar to block Giordo's charge.
'Is he going to use that pillar to trap me again?' Giordo stomped the ground, forcefully decreasing his momentum. "Kh!"
His right foot began to feel numb, but he managed to lower his speed enough to change his direction, albeit he had lost this battle.
Theo, who was supposed to be behind the pillar, came out while swinging his spear, cutting through the pillar and hitting Giordo's on the stomach.
"Ha!" Theo used all his strength to launch Giordo to the tree.
"What? The spear went through the pillar? Illusion?" Giordo spat a mouthful of blood as his body crashed to the tree thirty feet behind him. After that, he coughed a few times and assessed his body's condition. "Three ribs are broken…"
Theo obviously didn't want to let go of this chance, but the moment he arrived in front of him, a notification appeared.
"Giordo is eliminated."
"…" Theo soon came to a halt and looked at Giordo before pulling his spear back.
"Haha, seriously…" Giordo facepalmed and looked at Theo. "You're not even twenty years old, but your strength is already like this. To be honest, I am glad that I could have a fight with you. I have learned a lot from our fights, especially how you use your illusion and combine it with other things.
"Although it's a shame that I couldn't challenge you with your clone, I am already satisfied." Giordo smiled and sighed. "My name is Giordo Guerrero, it's my pleasure to meet you, Theodore Griffith. And… Welcome to the War God Family."