All the spectators were waiting for the outcome of the fight, especially the last attack, which was supposed to show which of the two strongest Players would be the winner in this most difficult fight.
At first, a lot of fans were with Elein, then all of them were puzzled by the unusual strength that Zayne had developed, and now people simply didn't know which side to take.
However, in fact, nothing depended on them. Even Alex, Luke, and Alice weren't making any decisions here. They could only watch the final act of their battle and hope that their favorite would win.
'Fuck... This is definitely not going to end well...' Eagle internally muttered with a complicated expression as he watched the hundreds of wind blades.
His job was to prevent too much destruction and he had to make sure that neither Zayne nor Elein died. There was little he could do about it now, all he could do was hope that he was lucky and something irreparable wouldn't happen.
Zayne's shining eyes went wide as the world slowed down for him for a moment. It was only for a heartbeat, but it was enough for him to realize which of the blades was closest to him.
'Can she wield them...? Zayne thought, stepping sharply to the side as at the same moment the first windblade crashed at his feet. It went through the iron and concrete bridge with ease.
Zayne's eyes followed the blade closely, but he had too little time as the next blade was already near his neck.
Crackling.
Zayne tilted his head back, once more dodging successfully, but that was only the beginning. Dozens of blades were rushing at him like a hail of arrows, all for the sake of victory.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
As the blades came crashing down, a great cloud of dust rose, covering part of the bridge and hiding Zayne's movements from view.
Elein, unable to stay on her feet for a moment lost her balance, falling to the ground as if there was not even a drop of energy left in her.
'NO!' Elein inwardly exclaimed, leaning on her katana, supporting herself from falling. She couldn't pass out right now, for everything depended on the outcome of her attack. Either she had already won, or Zayne had managed to survive and would end this fight with her crushing victory.
"Fuck... This is not good at all... Looks like we'll have to say goodbye to this bridge." Alex muttered with mild pity. He loved driving across this bridge that connected parts of the city, but soon it would become impossible.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
No one knew how Zayne coped, but the bridge could not withstand such pressure for too long. Cracks appeared in the massive structure, as the supporting columns slowly collapsed, each windblade that broke through the road brought the bridge closer to catastrophe.
A cloud of dust slowly settled, revealing the silhouette that had been inside all this time. Everyone saw Zayne again, and the eyes of onlookers from all over the city went wide.
Zayne's body was covered in blood, his shoulders, arms, legs, and back were clearly visible with long cuts as if from the tip of a blade. His coat was practically torn to pieces, however, he had no serious wounds.
"Holy shit..." Luke muttered with a dazed expression, "Some blades were able to hit him, but only partially... Doesn't that mean that..."
"Yeah." Alice nodded confidently, "No blade has hit him yet, I'm sure the bleeding cuts won't stop him."
Step. Step. Step.
Suddenly a broad-shouldered silhouette appeared behind the three of them, who stopped, breathing heavily as if after a very long run.
"Oh, Galahan, you finally made it. I was beginning to worry you wouldn't make it." Alex smirked, turning to his friend.
Galahan smiled bitterly, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and took a deep breath, gradually coming to his senses.
"Damn! Though the stats have made me much faster and stronger, it's not at all enough to beat my age!" Galahan looked at him, then he turned to the others, "Who's winning?"
Luke smirked as he silently pointed to the bridge.
Galahan's eyes went wide. He watched as Zayne dodged multiple wind blades, each one capable of killing him.
"Well, looks like I came just in time for the fun part!" Galahan clenched his fists with an excited expression.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
At the same moment, debris began to break away from the supporting pillars due to the tremendous pressure that had been exerted on them for some time.
The pillars were rapidly collapsing, falling into the water as well as the part of the bridge that Zayne was now on. Despite the deadly blades he had to get out of there, otherwise, he would sink into the water and there was no way out.
Zayne sighed slightly before leaping forward sharply, passing through several blades that seemed by some miracle not to have hit him. In fact, he had already clearly seen all of their movements and hadn't been wounded in a long time.
'It was quite difficult in the beginning, but now... It's just nothing.' Zayne muttered inwardly, with a glance at the wind blades flying next to him, 'She can't control them and those blades aren't trying to chase me in any way. It's a powerful attack, but completely useless against someone who has complete control over all their movements.'
Step.
Zayne landed on the edge of the spot before the huge piece behind him collapsed, falling into the water. At the same moment, the last of the wind blades flew behind him, fluttering his hair slightly.
Zayne looked at his bloodied palms, ran two hands through his hair combing it back, and took a deep breath, directing his gaze toward the starry sky.
"Agh... I can't say it was the hardest fight, but it was a valuable experience." Zayne lowered his head, looking at Elein, who was in complete shock, "I learned a lot today thanks to you. If we had fought a few weeks ago, I would have lost in a second, but sometimes things can change quickly, can't they?"
Elein was trembling; she couldn't fully comprehend what had happened. She had always won before, she was the best in her family, among others, and even in Fallen Fate Online she had been able to do better than the others.
However, now there stood before her a guy whose life without Fallen Fate might have been over by now and he was striding confidently toward her with a winning smirk.
'Agent Eagle!' came an anxious voice in her earpiece.
"Agh...? What is it?" Eagle was puzzled. For a while, he had completely forgotten that he had certain tasks, for he, like many onlookers, could not believe what Zayne had done.
'Urgent! Get Elein Ferger out of there! If you don't hurry, Zayne Fellen will kill her right in front of you!'
Eagle gulped, that was his job, and he had to do it. The government didn't know what would happen to the world next, so they needed to keep all the strong fighters. Letting any of them die was the worst disaster since they could potentially become a major force in their world in the future.
"Got it. I'll do my best. I'm sure Zayne Fellen is severely weakened. Eagle out."
At the same moment, Eagle jumped from the helicopter onto one of the beams that supported the bridge above. He clung to it, reducing the speed of his fall and looking intently at Zayne.
'Fine, he seems too focused on his victory. He hasn't noticed me yet.' Eagle muttered inwardly with a serious face, 'He's pretty fast, but he's obviously not at the peak of his powers right now, he's exhausted. I can probably outrun him if I run right now.'
Crackle.
Eagle touched the ground as he was about to rush forward, but something stopped him. A cold aura emanated from behind him as if death itself had decided to visit him right at this moment.
Eagle unhurriedly turned around. He met his gaze with Zayne, who was smiling faintly, but at the same time, he radiated a clear threat that Eagle could clearly feel.
'Agh...? How did this happen...? I just looked at him... He couldn't move that fast!' Eagle inwardly exclaimed, unwilling to accept it, then he shuddered, 'Wait... What's wrong with his eyes?'
Zayne's eyes were dark and deep. The light that had been in them throughout the fight was completely gone as if Zayne himself had decided to rid himself of it for some purpose.
"We definitely don't know each other, and yet you've decided that you can interfere in my fight." Zayne said calmly, pressing his hand on Eagle's shoulder.
'Argh!' Eagle's face creased in pain, but he did not attempt to break free from Zayne's grip.
"I'm not screwed up enough yet to take my anger out on you because of this, so if you don't want trouble, you'd better step aside." Zayne exhaled cold steam, then he whispered, "I don't want to waste the first move on you. It's prepared for her."
Eagle didn't understand what Zayne was talking about, but really he had no choice but to nod and step aside, making way for Zayne.
Elein's last hope had just been dashed right in front of her, and now she was alone with Zayne, who was walking confidently in her direction.