Chapter 1277 Endurance

The last clash between them inflicted severe wounds on both Emery and Mahinder, leaving them unable to throw another punch. This situation turned the spectators wild, hoping their champion would finish the fight.

The Monk quickly struggled up and sat in lotus position, closing his eyes without caring for anything, as he focused his entire attention to heal his wounds. This situation was such a relief for Emery as he himself quickly tried to heal himself.

As a result, several minutes of silence ensued in the arena as both participants focused on recovering. Even so, the audience could feel the tense atmosphere rising in the air, as they understood who stood up first would most likely be the victor.

Surprisingly, even though Emery possessed [Undecaying Flesh], which was a powerful regeneration innate ability, and a top-tier healing spell [Nature's Blessing] helping him, Mahinder was the one who could get back to his feet first.

The steady breathing the monk exhibited proved he had mostly, if not completely, recovered from all of his injuries.

Emery quickly forced himself to also stand up. But even though most of the major wounds on his body were healed, the same couldn't be said to his spirit pool which was left with only a miniscule amount of spirit energy.

Not only was it because of the continuous offensive spells he cast before, he also needed spirit energy to use and maintain the healing spell. It was at times like these that Emery couldn't help but envy his opponent; it must be really nice for the latter not to have to worry about this sort of problem.

Unaware of Emery's thoughts, Mahinder stretched his body to relieve all tension. It only took him a moment to be ready for another round. Staring at the former, he beamed a smile,

"This has been an interesting fight. For that, I must thank you."

After saying those words, he then once again summoned the golden figure and his figure disappeared. He darted towards Emery at breakneck speed and bombarded him with his [One Thousand Sacred Palm] again.

The ease at which he did it made it seem as if the Divine skill cost nothing to be used repeatedly, flabbergasting the audience as well as Emery.

This time, Emery knew he couldn't afford to take the beating. Therefore he immediately cast [Blink] and escaped to the other end of the arena. However, as if he had expected it, Mahinder quickly moved to chase after him at an even faster speed.

[Repulsion]

A powerful domain of gravity force exploded out of Emery, pushing the approaching Mahinder in the process. However, it only managed to push him a little bit before he resumed his chase as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, Emery's reserve in his spirit pool kept falling.

Thus, the moment his physique finally returned to its optimal state, Emery immediately attempted the same plan he tried before, turning off his [Twilight Transformation] transforming into his [Night Transformation] form, gradually replenishing his depleted spirit pool.

Alas, the situation only lasted for a few minutes before the Monk gained up on him. Without the support of spells, it proved too difficult for Emery to fight in his declining prowess against Mahinder, who was basically at his peak.

Bammm! Baaaamm! Baamm!

Palm strikes relentlessly struck Emery from all directions like a heavy downpour. The sheer number of them completely overwhelmed him as he flickered in and out of void evading them. With one wrong move, the Monk managed to break his sword arm and send his sword flying away.

"Arrgghh!" Emery gritted his teeth from the pain of the attack as well as the consequences of his lack of spirit pool.

"You have done your best," the Monk said as he stopped his attack. "There is no shame in giving up now."

Emery heaved when he heard such words. It seemed no matter how hard he tried, unless he found a way to deal with the bizarre tattoo that summoned the golden figure, he probably wouldn't be able to defeat Mahinder.

At this juncture, the duration of their match had lasted for an hour and a half. As he was caught in his opponent's words, Emery's gaze landed on his terrace area by chance. There, he clearly saw the people who were rooting for him.

Seeing the expression on their faces, he turned his head and looked back at his opponent before speaking in a firm tone, "I have gone this far, I'm not going to back down now."

"I understand." Mahinder put his palm together in front of his chest when he heard the response. "If you have something else prepared, I'm ready to accept it."

Emery looked the Monk in the eyes, and when he saw the latter didn't seem to have any intention of taking action, he said, "I hope you don't regret asking for it."

In reality, Emery had another plan to deal with the Monk's endless spirit pool. It was the last idea he thought of, and one that was extremely outrageous.

To find a source that would allow him to have an endless spirit pool as well, and the answer was the one stood in front of him.

Howwlll!

Emery once again turned to his [Twilight Transformation], but this time he didn't pull out his sword nor another weapon. Instead, he clenched his hands to fists and brandished them forward with renewed vigor.

[Blade Claw]

A pair of three blades shot out from the gaps in his knuckles, and with his devouring ability, Emery planned to make Mahinder his source – turning the Monk into his endless supply of spirit pool.

Amplified by the ferocious innate urge brought by his bloodline, Emery smiled at the thought. On the other hand, the Monk looked amused at his actions. Immediately after, the two of them clashed again.

A barrage of palm strikes once again rained upon Emery. He could vividly feel their power, especially when they struck his body. But in return, he managed to land a few counters with his claws.

Unfortunately, with Mahinder's defensive barrier, Emery was unable to get his claws deep into Mahinder's body. Still, several scratches he scored were enough to devour his opponent's spirit energy, albeit slightly.

The energy he devoured was not enough to replenish his depleted spirit pool, but was able to make him barely maintain his regeneration rate and use several [Jade Skin] and [Slipstream] spells, which proved to be of great help in his current situation.

This new approach Emery adopted managed to erase the smile on Mahinder's face, as he realized what he was doing to him. His expression was now very serious, as he increased the intensity of his attacks.

"You are practicing a demonic art!"

On the other hand, the audience couldn't stop cheering for the fierce bloody battle that seemed like it would never end. As if driven by their passion, the two people in the arena kept going at each other, using their best abilities to bring down the other.

Since this match was a semifinal, all the other top 100 acolytes were present amongst the audience observing the fight. Every single one of them couldn't help but compare themselves, thinking about how different they were from those two monsters.

Before long, another half hour passed, marking the duration of the match to have reached two hours. Yet, Emery and Mahinder were still fighting, even more fiercely than before.

Even though this match had been extremely painful and exhausting, Emery was still somewhat alright. It was all thanks to his bold idea of devouring his opponent's divine energy and using it to fuel his spells.

However, this idea was not without consequences. After his first attempt, he quickly found himself with another problem as not all of the spirit energy he devoured from Mahinder was dissolving.

Because of that, a familiar mist began to form around his spirit cores and interfered with his devouring speed.

If this was left unattended and caused a complete halt to his devouring ability, not only would Emery completely lose his chance to fight back, he would even struggle to keep up with his opponent.

Time was ticking, yet the battle was still going on. Eventually the two and a half hour mark had been reached.

Mahinder finally lost his calm at this point. Even though he possessed an endless spirit pool, being constantly drained of his power brought about a totally uncomfortable sensation as if he was wrung over and over.

"I cannot let this black art continue!'"

Faced with the persistent struggle Emery put up, Mahinder lost his patience. He once again used his Divine ability, wanting to lay down a conclusion on this fight once and for all.

The figure tattoo on his chest opened his eyes once again, a drastic surge of power was instantly felt from the Monk, causing Emery's face to become extremely serious. Alas, before he could do anything, his opponent's resolve came bearing down on him.

A combination of fists and palms attacked Emery like a raging storm, breaking several of Emery's bones instantly and finally burning the last bit of oil from the flickering ember that was Emery.

In other situations, Emery could certainly try his hand at his rebirth spell. Unfortunately, he did not wish to go that far in such a tournament. He couldn't and didn't want to spend the whole night in the medical tube, especially not with his master situation still a mystery.

The current time showed 2 hours and 45 minutes. It wasn't the full three hours as requested, but it should be enough to pay his dues to the Zodiac City people.

With this thought, Emery decided to surrender, the referee immediately caught on his announcement.

"Mahinder Nieves wins!"

The crowd cheered loudly to see the Monk was able to beat the half-blood.

As Emery was brought to the medical center by the staff, he was welcomed by the grand magus with a sour expression on her face. Immediately, a storm of words were directed towards his direction.

"Why did you give up?! You should be out there for another 30 minutes! Zach's still not ready! Because of you, the fate of the half blood might end here!"