CLEAVER OF SIN

Chapter 869: One-shot Queen [GT Ranking Bonus - ]

AlyxAtlas and Thomasinho floated downward as the crowd finally calmed down from their shameless begging for platinum coins as though they grew on trees."Well, there you have it, folks. The outcome was always destined to be this," Thomasinho said as he floated down.

"I wonder if anyone actually placed a stake on Theodore to win," AlyxAtlas said with a light smile. Theodore had been given a whopping twenty-to-zero odds to win, and with billions of people betting across the world, surely someone must have taken the risk despite knowing how it would most likely turn out.

Her words earned a wave of laughter from the crowd as they mocked whoever had made such a foolish bet.

"And besides that, it seems the Zarethorne Empire and Star Academy are truly going all out this time. After all, out of the final eight, they already have four representatives remaining. Impressive, isn’t it?" Thomasinho remarked.

"Well, it is indeed impressive, but I wonder if the algorithm will pit them against one another. That would only make things even more interesting. Would one side simply forfeit, or would they fight to the bitter end?" AlyxAtlas asked, clearly enamored by the idea.

"Well then, on to the last match of the Top Sixteen." Thomasinho shook his head in amusement as his gaze shifted toward the massive television suspended in the sky.

Everyone burned with zero anticipation because, at this point, only two contestants had yet to fight. They didn’t even need the television to reveal their names, but they watched anyway.

Arianna Haellight versus Amara Charlton.

Woman against woman. A genius of the Velkarin Empire against a genius of the Thalvorn Empire.

Off to the side, Amara sighed, knowing her journey was most likely going to end here. She couldn’t help but glance toward Finch, wondering if the outcome would somehow have been different had she possessed even a fraction of his absurd luck.

AlyxAtlas floated forward and presented the box of cards, from which Arianna drew the green card. Personally, she had no need for any advantageous environment, so she simply created a plain field where only gentle winds and short blades of green grass danced peacefully beneath the open sky, with nothing else in sight.

With that done, Arianna floated downward gracefully before landing with effortless elegance, while Amara appeared several meters away.

There was almost no anticipation from the crowd. Even the betting organizations seemed to have changed their strategy this time. Instead of allowing bets on victory or defeat, they simply created a list of time intervals with corresponding odds, each predicting how many seconds Amara Charlton would last against Arianna Haellight, who now bore the nickname One-Shot Queen.

Needless to say, people all around the world immediately began betting on the shortest duration available on the betting platform.

After all, the only being who had survived more than a single attack from Arianna Haellight since the beginning of the Inter-Empire Competition was the Plasma Crown-Class bird, which she had intentionally spared earlier because she had plans for it.

"Begin," AlyxAtlas’ voice echoed from above.

Amara Charlton immediately entered a battle stance as she cloaked herself in Astra energy, enhancing every physical attribute and parameter while waiting for Arianna to make the first move so she could at least defend herself.

Just as Theodore knew he couldn’t defeat Asher, Amara knew she couldn’t defeat Arianna. But the entire world was watching. Even if her opponent was overwhelmingly stronger, she would still fight for as long as she could before accepting reality. After all, she couldn’t drag the reputation of her Empire and Academy through the mud without even trying.

"Please forfeit."

Arianna’s quiet voice rang out, her tone calm as she made the suggestion, almost as though she genuinely didn’t wish to hurt the girl standing before her.

The entire world was shocked that Arianna had taken the initiative to speak. That was simply unlike her.

But Amara refused. No, she didn’t even respond. Instead, she merely tightened her grip on her daggers as she stared at Arianna with unwavering defiance.

Arianna closed her eyes for a brief moment as she took a slow breath before exhaling softly with a sigh. Yet during that tiny instant when her eyes were closed, Amara moved, seeing it as her only opportunity. Her daggers screamed toward Arianna’s throat from both the left and the right.

Arianna simply leaned backward without taking a single step, allowing the daggers to cross where her neck had been only a heartbeat earlier. With blitzing speed, she seized Amara’s wrist before pulling her upward and over her own shoulder, slamming her violently into the grassy ground below.

Pain exploded throughout Amara’s back as the earth beneath her shattered from the impact. She coughed up a mouthful of blood from that single attack.

She wanted to move, to stand up, and to try again, but before she could even twitch, Arianna multiplied the surrounding gravity countless times over as she silently stared down at her with those calm amber-gold eyes.

Amara felt the climbing gravity crush her body, especially her chest, as though it were slowly caving inward. The ground beneath her continued to crack and collapse as she sank deeper into the earth. Blood trickled from her ears, nose, and eyes, yet her will remained firmer than any mountain.

Her lips slowly parted as she finally forced out the words.

"I... forfeit."

The very moment those words left her lips, Arianna Haellight returned the gravity to normal. She looked at Amara Charlton one final time before silently shaking her head and floating back toward her floating throne in the sky.

Nobody cheered, after all, Amara had been destined to lose from the very beginning.

Amara slowly climbed out of the crater in which she now lay, her body wracked with pain and covered in blood. She was soon escorted out of the arena by the healers.

And with that, the battles of the Top Eight finally approached, a stage where only the true powerhouses remained. Every single battle from this point onward was going to be utterly insane, with every remaining contestant possessing the strength to shake the arena with a single attack.

Although many people found it rather interesting that the so-called random algorithm responsible for selecting opponents had somehow avoided matching the strongest contestants against one another, such as Asher versus Acker or similar matchups.

Still, they kept their thoughts to themselves, unwilling to make baseless accusations. After all, without evidence, such claims were nothing more than empty speculation.

Now that the weak had been weeded out, it was finally time for the main event to begin.

But unknown to almost everyone... the next battle wouldn’t be a mere one-versus-one... it was coming with a twist.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sorry for the late release. I didn’t hear my alarm go off. Sigh.

Also, the month is almost over. How about a few Super Gifts before it ends? This greedy Author definitely deserves them... hehehe.

Also, I sincerely want to thank you all for the love and support I received this month. It was immense, and I appreciate every single drop of effort and support, no matter how little.

And lastly, there were no big fights with these 4 Chapters because I want every genius to face off later together, not have them eliminated early. So, look forward to tomorrow’s Chapter.